Surrender

Chapter 2

Her reflexes saved her life.

Before hitting the ground, she stomped her foot hard on the land followed by the other to regain her balance, then quickly aimed her handgun at her attacker. Petra did not hesitate to pull the trigger to injure his legs, like how she and the others were ordered to do. The man screamed in pain as he fell down, tightly clutching the damages.

"Captain!" She came running to Levi. "Are you hurt?!"

He was quiet. He scanned Petra intently, looking for any type of wound she received. Surprisingly, there was none, which meant she successfully evaded the first and second gunshots. Levi then reprimanded her lightly for being unaware and worrying over him. "I wasn't the one who was attacked, Private Ral. Next time, be more careful of your surroundings."

Levi was amused to see her taking the criticism as something positive. "Yes, sir!" He wanted to compliment her for her competence as a soldier and for taking the initiative to halt the enemy, but he sensed that the man was with other people, lurking in the forest's shadows. He glanced at the opposing soldier, who was miserably trying to stand up. At this moment, Levi ordered his troops to retreat in lieu to Erwin's command.

He turned around and gave Petra a push to go ahead of him. The scouts followed suit, with Levi behind everyone else. "But what about the corpse, sir?!", inquired one of the scouts as they run out of the forest. "Leave it. Someone else will retrieve the body for us. Or we just let it rot there."

His stoic expression and merciless voice caused silence to befall among the soldiers. One of the scouts wanted to rebuke him, however, he was too scared to get a censure for insubordination, so he refused to say anything else. Levi was not uncomfortable with this kind of situation. He was used to other people's reaction towards his remarks, and needless to say, he does not appreciate senseless arguments.

"10 o'clock", mused Levi. He glanced at the direction he notified himself and came another soldier desperately trying to subdue him. Petra simply watched and although she was itching to assist him, she was worried she might burden him instead.

This is where she witnessed her captain in action.

Aside from the one who appeared first to attack him, another soldier appeared in the north. Petra stopped in her tracks and turned to help him, dismissing her earlier personal note, but the scout nearest to her held her by her arm. "The captain can take care of it by himself!"

"So do you want us to run away and leave him?!", she retorted. Petra pried her arm away from her comrade and ran after Levi.

The opponent was clearly no match for him. Levi was too fast and strong to eliminate. When the enemy drew closer to him (the captain noticed how desperate they were to kill them because of their attempts of close quarter combat), Levi evaded his attack and elbowed him in the face. When he stepped back from the pain, Levi ran to him and put the nuzzle of his firearm on the surface of the soldier's leg. For a moment, he heard him whimper out of fear, but Levi showed no mercy.

Blood from the blast soiled Levi's uniform. This made him feel uncomfortable from the filth. "Tch. Disgusting. I need to get myself cleaned afterwards."

He then pushed the man away from him as he focused on the other one in front of him. There was a gunshot noise not far from where he was, and he saw the soldier tripping and falling to the ground as he screamed in agony. His kneecaps were damaged. "Sir, I came to aid you!" Levi turned to look at Petra, unable to hide the surprise on his face. She had never seen it before so she was stunned as well.

Her demeanor altered when she saw the blood on the lower part of his uniform, misunderstanding why he had the stains. "A-Are you alright, captain?! Can you walk?! Here, let me—"