Cornered

Capture 2

Carl held the scout, watching as he fought for breath, then his eyes rolled up in his head and he stilled, blacking out. Carl was tempted to just hold him there till he asphyxiated. It would hurt Levi later when he found out what had happened to one of his loyal men, who had refused to betray him. The decision of whether he would be spared was not made by Carl however. He never saw the mare coming until she had bowled him over forcing him to drop his captive and pulling muscles in his right arm. He yelled in pain, then had to dodge quickly out of the way as she came after him with her hooves, stomping the ground. He scrambled away, grateful when he glanced back to see that she hadn't pursued. Instead she was standing protectively over her rider who was coughing and sucking in air.

Carl turned to glare at the men who were supposed to have been restraining and calming her. They were all trying to figure out what to do with themselves, staring at the ground, some trying to stand behind others, and one or two staring at him in shocked surprise. Carl glowered in fury as he got back to his feet careful of his right arm.

"Captain Anderson, I...I'm so sorry sir..." the leader started but when Carl shifted his focus on the man he swallowed whatever else he had been about to say.

"Listen to me, and listen well. I want that horse taken care of. I don't care what you have to do to complete that task but I expect it to be out of my way. Understand?" They all nodded mutely and Carl spun around leaving them. Amber seeing that Trand's attacker was not coming after him, had turned and was nuzzling him in an attempt to get him to wake. Trand moaned and rolled his head trying to avoid her but he didn't wake. His voice sounded different to her but she knew it was Trand. She kept trying to wake him and finally his eyes drifted open.

"Amber...?" he asked groggily. She nickered her ears coming forward to catch his voice. Trand smiled, and she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. Someone took her reins and started leading her away. She tried to protest but Trand was still smiling. That meant he must be okay right? She allowed herself to be lead away from him.

Trand did his best to recover his breath in the few minutes of peace he had. He didn't know where they were taking Amber, but it looked like they weren't going to hurt her. Once she was out of sight he was pulled up and tied to the tree. Trand continued trying to catch his breath. He knew whatever was coming next was not likely to be pleasant. He was left there all day he guessed to contemplate what was going to happen. He was finally able to clear his head for which he was grateful. Swallowing still hurt, and he wished for some water. Trand used the time to gather as much information as he could, starting with names. He knew now the name of their leader was Carl or Captain Anderson. The brute who had grabbed his cloak was named Robert, and their tracker went by the name of Roger. Carl came to Trand as the sun was setting. He knelt in front of Trand but his expression was not pleasant.

"You listen to me. You know what I want to know, and you will tell me one way or another. It seems you have chosen the hard way."

"I can't tell you what you want to know. I do not have the information."

"Yes, that is what you keep saying." He snapped his fingers. Trand was confused for a moment before he realized there were men to either side of him. The next few moments were filled with pain. They ground down on his shins, drove their knuckles into the soft muscle between his ribs, pinched and dug into the flesh of his shoulders, and twisted his arms causing extreme discomfort. Despite how sore his throat was he screamed in agony. All he was aware of was pain, so much pain.

"That's enough," Carl ordered and the men stepped away. The relief from the pain was slight. Trand tried to breathe but his throat felt raw, and his ribs protested each movement. Now that his brain wasn't overwhelmed with pain he realized he had tears flowing down his face. He noticed Carl was looking into his eyes, He nodded then walked away. It was a long night for Trand but he did his best to sleep through the pain. In the morning he was given a drink of water, and some bread. The water felt wonderful on his throat but he wished he'd been given more. He was given nourishment then lead to his horse. Once he was in the saddle -a task which proved more difficult than he would have liked thanks to the pain still traveling up and down his shins- his hands were tied to the saddle horn, and the reins were given to a member of the military police.

"We keep heading in the same direction they were going. We have to find their trail eventually," Carl was saying to Roger. The tracker looked doubtful and Trand shared his doubts. If Captain Levi had a talented woodsman in his group, one good enough to hide the tracks of an entire force than they wouldn't likely stumble upon anything that wasn't left on purpose. Trand smiled to himself thinking that this was all they would find if anything. They rode on and Trand was grateful for Amber's presence. Although she couldn't do anything to help him, her being with him made him feel better. That day was hard on Trand. He longed for water and was vowing to himself he would never take it for granted again. The sun beat down on them as they rode and Trand was struggling to keep a look out.

The ground they passed had been cleared of tracks and Trand was impressed. Whoever had done this had known what they were doing. Glances at Roger showed that he too was unable to find any trace of where the Survey Corps had gone. Trand took comfort in this also. The mission would succeed if they could give these idiots the slip. They reached the north road without coming across any sign of the corps. Then Trand started to spot traces. Unfortunately this meant that they were on the right trail. Roger seemed not to have noticed the few things that had stood out to Trand, and Trand hoped that there wouldn't be any more obvious signs.

"Well?" he overheard Carl talking to Roger as he dismounted.

"I haven't seen anything Sir. I'm sorry." Carl glowered at Trand as if it was his fault Roger couldn't track the corps. Trand was lead to another tree and tied to it. As they had done the previous night Carl allowed men to inflict pain on Trand. He did his best to remind himself they weren't doing permanent damage but it killed. He couldn't remember the last time he had been in such agony. When they stopped his throat was raw from screaming and his cheeks were wet with tears. Carl smiled at him again then walked away. Trand breathed and listened to Amber's whinnies. Clearly she had heard him screaming and was calling out to him. He didn't have the energy to call back and even if he had he wouldn't. He didn't want to draw attention to her.

The pain was worse this night and made it more difficult for him to sleep. Trand did the best he could but even he knew that he was not getting as much sleep as he needed. He consoled himself with the knowledge that Captain Levi might have been able to disguise their trail well enough that these Military Police goons would lose them up ahead. By the time morning came Trand felt as if he hadn't slept at all. He was tortured again which was unusual and then left to recover for a few moments before being brought some water and a bit of bread. It wasn't enough to satisfy but it was enough to keep him alive. Trand wondered if he wouldn't be better off dead.

That day Trand saw less and less of the trail but enough to know they were still following it. It wasn't until around nightfall that he realized the trail was turning to head up a nearby hill. The Military Police were not. Trand didn't say anything, not wanting to give away what he knew. They were traveling away from the trail and he was grateful. The mission could still succeed. They traveled on until nightfall. Trand was bound to a tree and beaten for the first time. He could feel that this pain was different, more intense and longer lasting. He did his best to bear it but it was terrible. His throat was so raw from screaming that he was losing his voice. As he had every time before Carl smiled at Trand before walking away. Trand slept more from exhaustion than anything else. His body gave out on him and plunged him into the senseless darkness of unconsciousness.

Carl sat by the campfire and looked to Roger. They had talked and Roger figured Trand was a tracker. It was likely that Trand's skill in tracking was good enough that he would be able to find the corps where Roger had not been able to. So Carl had instructed Roger to keep an eye on Trand to see if he gave any indication as to what he had seen. For days it looked like they had been on the right trail.

"Well?" he asked.

"I'm not entirely sure but I think he noted the trail moved up the hill we rode past."

"Why's that?"

"Well, he glanced up towards it after a certain point then carefully kept from looking at it."

"How likely is it that they're on the hill?"

"I'm not the best with percentages but I'd say pretty likely. It certainly wouldn't hurt to look." Yes, Carl thought to himself. It certainly wouldn't.