Off The Beaten Path

You Can Die

The carts circled hastily, horses and people screaming as wood splintered and people died. Bernell maneuvered Cerberus expertly, as someone who had been driving a horse for three days would be able to. Her braid whipped along her back. She could hear Lisa in the back screaming instructions at the children as the icy wind kicked up. A sudden blizzard had hit the groups just minutes before they could converge and discuss the next steps to be taken.

Not that Bernell minded as the whirs and snaps of ODMs flew around her. Horses and people scattering in every which way; complete chaos. The snow had rolled in like a devouring maw; consuming the recovery soldiers from the back and blowing over them to engulf the Survey Corps. The smell of such a large group of humans must have been carried on the wind for not much after titans swarmed the area; at least five the Bernell could make out in the snow storm.

And in open country there was nowhere to hide. A shadow descended before her, breaking her out of her concentration for a moment. Bernell winced at Lisa's scream as she yanked Cerberus to the left though he had already begun to navigate away from the falling body. She didn't stop to watch as the titan fell slowly, the giant hand landed just inches from the side of the cart her boys were huddled against. Snow sprayed up and over Bernell, the steam freezing as it rose from the body, falling in glittering ice flakes to impair her vision even further for the next 12 meters. A hard thump made the wagon sway, but between the horse and driver it did not falter from its course.

"Commander Smith..." Lisa sounded awed despite the frightened children and the baby now screaming against her.

"To your right." His voice was calm, strong. It carried over the harsh winter breeze without him needing to move forward.

Bernell complied without another word, wondering why he needed her help when he could have just taken back to his mount. She dared to look behind her. The sight was amazing. He was crouched over the edge of the wagon, his piercing eyes boring into the snow as though daring the blizzard to impede him. His hair was disheveled, a sword drawn. She swept her gaze back ahead, veering around a fallen horse. It dawned on her that his horse may have also fallen in battle. She felt foolish for not thinking of it, turning her attention back to the task at hand.

She thought she heard him murmur 'good' before his ODM whirred and snapped, the wagon barely moving. She was impressed. Compared to that first night when the Garrison Soldiers were using her as a spring board and now with the Survey Corps Commander it was as comparable as a boulder being tossed into a lake versus a leaf landing on its surface. She felt her respect growing as he shouted instructions down to her just moments later. He swung into the carriage, using the momentum of the falling titan to propel him into the back of the wagon and roll to a stop at her back, landing on a knee, foot up to be ready to strike again should he need to.

She felt his gaze scanning the snow before her as she emerged from the blizzard; an angry group of clouds passing by after all. The temperature warmed considerably. She spun the cart around to watch the snow as it moved, far enough removed from the masses that she could afford a moment of peace - no titans in sight. The boys were sniffling, the older one had the younger children braced against him, holding them tightly though his eyes were glued to Erwin in awe. Bernell didn't need to see him to know what his train of thoughts were. Likewise for Lisa, Bernell knew she was eating the vision of the man up like a starving woman would a bowl full of candies.

He climbed over the back of the wagon and sat beside Bernell. She could feel the energy vibrating off him - none of which was malicious.

But Mark hadn't seemed malicious either. She reminded herself, brushing away the logical voice that whispered about that feeling, that odd feeling she had those few times.