Cornered

Reunion 3

"There!" he whispered harshly. Reiner turned quickly and spotted the rider galloping across the plain toward them. In the bright moonlight she was clearly visible as she rode. Jean used his gear to return to the ground and Reiner waited long enough to verify she wasn't being followed before he too swung down. Mikasa slowed as she got closer allowing her horse a bit of a reprieve. Even so the horse's flanks heaved with its breathing when she stopped in front of them.

"Well...?" Jean asked expectantly.

"It's the military police," she said.

"You got close enough to see their uniforms?" Mikasa shrugged.

"Not clearly, but I was able to see the face of their leader and it's the same man who came after us before. Splitting up didn't shake them." Jean stared in disbelief up at her.

"But Armin's plan, they were supposed to chase us north." Mikasa nodded.

"Yes they were, but they didn't."

"So now they're chasing us?" Mikasa shook her head.

"I think they are still following the trail east. They were camped beside the road. But we still need to be careful and keep a good look out to make sure." Jean nodded his brain still processing this information. Mikasa handed him her reins and he held her horse steady as she dismounted. "I'll go report to Levi. You two should get back to your posts." Jean and Reiner nodded. Jean took Mikasa's horse back to the line to care for it as Reiner returned to his post.

Though he waited for orders none came. Eventually Jean and Mikasa returned to their posts and the watch continued as normal. Reiner made sure that Bertholt wasn't awakened for third watch and took his friend's place. After third watch he could feel the exhaustion as he struggled to stay awake long enough to reach his sleeping bag. He was awakened in the morning by Bertholt.

"Did you take my watch?" he accused. Reiner did not really feel like he had enough energy to deal with this but he made himself.

"Yes. I wanted to let you sleep." Bertholt looked frustrated.

"I could have taken my shift on watch."

"I know you could have, but I decided to take it for you. What's done is done. Let's get ready to leave." Bertholt grimaced but nodded and started rolling up his sleeping bag. Reiner followed suit, then they walked to breakfast. During the meal Captain Levi announced that they would be moving on shortly and encouraged everyone to hurry so they would be ready. Reiner guessed that Captain Levi had decided their best course of action was to press on and see what their pursuers did.

Levi was getting more and more frustrated by the pursuit every day. He felt like he was doing everything he could and that they should have been able to shake them without too much trouble. Despite this they seemed to have followed every move he made. Part of him toyed with the idea of consulting with Armin to come up with a new plan but he was tired of trying to be clever and it clearly wasn't working. His best course of action now was to try and put as much distance between the corps and their pursuers. If they had to lead them around the entire distance of the wall rose territory so be it. Captain Levi wished he could turn around and teach them a lesson, take them captive, or drive them off but that wasn't a possibility and he knew it. He felt like a deer being chased by a pack of hungry wolves, but this deer was not passive. He approached Sasha after his announcement. He wished Bertrand was back, but in his absence he would just have to work with what he had.

"I trust you know how to hide tracks?" He asked. She saluted and nodded to him. "Good. Take Ackerman and whoever else you feel will be helpful and hide our trail for today. Keep up with us as best you can but your main focus will be to make sure we are not leaving an obvious trail. Understand?"

"Yes sir." she said. He nodded then walked to Mikasa. He wouldn't make Sasha deliver the news. She watched him come with a guarded expression not letting anything show of whatever she was thinking. Levi informed her of what she would be doing and he saw her eyes darken. She saluted and nodded her understanding and he watched her to be sure that she wouldn't try to defy him. Satisfied he returned to his horse and prepared to depart.

Once the column was ready he ordered them to travel in a more spread out manner to keep their trail from being focused in one place. They ate their midday meal on the road, not stopping, even after night had fallen. Levi could tell many of the members of the corps were confused as to why they hadn't already stopped but tonight there would be no rest. As they neared the road he called a silent halt and everyone came to a stop.

"We will be crossing the road; I want you to do so in small groups and quickly trying to avoid being seen. As soon as we are all across and safely away then we will rest." He divided them up, and then sent them one group at a time. If they saw any signs of someone coming they hid themselves and waited until they had passed before continuing. It took several hours during which time Sasha and her group were able to catch up. She had taken with her Mikasa, Ymir, Krista, and Jean to help hide the trail.

"Is it done?" Levi asked her. She saluted.

"Yes sir, we have hidden our tracks." Levi nodded then crossed the road with them. It was eerily quiet with just their small group on the empty road. Even the horses hooves seemed barely a whisper of noise. Once across Levi pressed on for a while before allowing them to camp. He let them rest into the next morning then had them pack up the camp towards nightfall. The watches he had set reported that they had seen no one. Levi was hopeful perhaps that they had finally lost their pursuers. With the cover of darkness they traveled to the hill Armin had originally selected. Levi was pleased to see their destination at last. He ordered his company to set up camp which they did and he wrapped himself in his sleeping bag grateful for a place to sleep.

Levi maintained the watches as the corps began setting up a more permanent camp on the hill. He worked with Armin to make it fairly defensible without leaving something that would be permanent. Things went well for the first week as the preparations were completed. Levi ordered Sasha to go and make some false trails with Bertholt, Reiner, Connie, and Jean. Eren had finally recovered being able to help quite a bit with the work. Bertholt was moving around better and Connie refused to rest any longer although he still had visible bruising on his lower back. Levi did his best to help out where he could without straining his own still healing injuries. The wound above his hip had finally closed, but his shoulder continued to trouble him as he tried to work.