Cornered

Capture 1

Bertrand Allen or 'Trand' as his friends called him, rode hard to try and catch up with Captain Levi. He knew his message wasn't necessarily urgent, but both Levi and Erwin had told him to return quickly. Though he hadn't been raised as a hunter he had learned how to track from fellow members of the corps and it had come in handy more than once. He followed the instructions given to him by Captain Levi to avoid riding through towns if he could help it. His goal was to deliver his message and return unseen. He camped alone at night and rode during the day swinging wide of all towns until he reached the hill they had been ambushed at. He proceeded carefully knowing full well their attackers could have circled back to this point attempting to follow their trail with a more experienced tracker.

Thankfully Trand didn't run into anyone else as he followed the trail they had taken east. Levi had told him approximately where the rendezvous point was. If he didn't meet up with them there he was to follow their trail until he did. Trand had a bit of trouble since he had to follow the road for this portion. When he could see he was nearing a town he would ride off the road and as far wide of the town as he felt he needed to avoid being seen. Then he would circle back to the road once he was past the town to pick up the trail again. It was several long days of riding later that he reached the turning point and headed north west into uninhabited terrain.

Trand had pushed both himself and Amber, his mare as he strove to reach the rendezvous point. He liked it better here, where he didn't have to worry as much about meeting anyone else and he could just follow the tracks of his companions. He arrived only to see that the corps had already come and gone. Even though he could have pressed on a bit further he decided it was a good enough place to rest. He removed the saddle from Amber and brushed her down. She happily grazed as he did so though he was fighting to resist the temptation to lean into her warm flank and fall asleep there. Once he was finished he made sure she also had some water available before laying out his sleeping bag and crawling inside.

Carl was growing more and more frustrated every day. They had followed Captain Levi's trail east until it vanished, then turned around and followed the trail north until it similarly vanished. At last Carl had employed Roger's tracking to follow that trail south east until it reached a large gathering place. Or at least Roger could tell there had suddenly been a lot more of them. They must have agreed to meet up before parting ways, Carl realized. His group was tired and irritated from being pushed so hard to reach this point. They were all careful not to say too much in front of Carl though; he was famous for his temper.

Carl was indeed partially irritated with his men. They had spent time in the wilds during their training days it wasn't like they had never done this before. Clearly they had become soft during their time in the interior. Perhaps Carl would need to suggest more straining exercises for the Military Police to participate in. Right now the Survey Corps was shaming them with the ease that they endured these conditions. At the very least Carl vowed his group would become more used to this for future missions and tasks. Now they waited in the sun as Roger paced back and forth through the grass occasionally bending down and moving a few blades aside before standing and resuming his pacing.

"Well?" Carl demanded losing patience.

"I...I'm sorry sir, I can't find the trail."

"WHAT!?" Carl roared, and he saw Roger flinch. "What do you mean you can't find it? Where did it go? It can't have just vanished! They can't have just vanished!"

"I know, I know, but I can't find it. They might have hidden it; I don't know how, but I know it's possible." Carl felt his arm lifting and stopped it. He wouldn't hit Roger, but he really wanted to.

"Someone's coming," One his men whispered harshly, just loud enough for them to hear. Carl rounded on him and was about to emphatically inform the man that he was wrong and there couldn't possibly be anyone else out here when he was stopped by a sudden thought.