Meanwhile, Cardina did not seem that tense, thanks either to his positivity or to a sense of daring sustained by ignorance. After all, if not for the Titans, the outside world was simply an uncivilized expanse. It would still be a spooky place, but not one that froze one into a stupor.
The noise made by the wagon faded away as Kuklo and Cardina chatted. The fate of the prisoners on it was sure to be as dark as the world that spread before the two. Kuklo felt bad for the others, but there was nothing he could do now.
“Perhaps we ought to be off before we’re set upon by Titans,” Cardina suggested.
“Yes.”
They nodded at each other, and in unspoken agreement, began retracing their path. They’d been thrown into an empty wasteland, but by no means were they at a loss as to which way to head. The watch fire was to their north, and the gate leading into Shiganshina District would be nearby. Since they wouldn’t be able to pass through, the gate only acted as a landmark, but it helped. Dawn would come soon.
“Do you mind if I ask a question?” Cardina said as he ran panting next to Kuklo. “Where did you get that thing from?” he asked, referring to the knife.
“This…” Kuklo struggled for words and scratched his head.
He couldn’t rightly tell him that the Survey Corps commander had helped out. Kuklo still questioned whether such a thing was really possible. Since Carlo’s intentions were unclear, Kuklo was reluctant to offer any false hope.
“Don’t tell me you’re gonna save us?”
“I don’t know.” Kuklo indeed did not. The Survey Corps wasn’t about to ride in gallantly to their rescue. That was why he’d been handed the knife.
We can only proceed north.
Even if Carlo was pulling strings behind the scenes, they hadn’t hashed things out together, and Kuklo had no way of knowing what was in store. God knew, indeed, while he had to believe in his instincts and act on them to find a way not to die.
But aimlessly wandering a wasteland that offered neither food nor water promised physical and mental hardship. If they at least knew Naraka’s location, he’d force his body to its limits. With its very existence in doubt, the town might not do much to spur him on. At the same time, Kuklo was accustomed to crude environments. He was confident he could adapt as long as he wasn’t attacked by any Titans.
“Wait a second!” Somehow Cardina had gone from running next to Kuklo to falling ten meters behind. He seemed to lack endurance and was heaving.
“You’re slow.”
“You’re just abnormally fast,” Cardina complained, but Kuklo did not feel the same way. He’d simply been moving forward at his own pace. Having had few opportunities to compare his physical abilities to anyone else’s, he honestly had no idea how they rated. He now knew he had more stamina than Cardina, at least. Kuklo was in fact constantly conserving some of his strength because he lost control of his body when he pushed it as hard as he could.
It was about five hundred meters to Shiganshina District’s main gate. While their ultimate goal was to the north, at the moment they had to choose between east and west.
“Now, do we take the eastern or western route?”
“I don’t care which,” Kuklo said. The choice wouldn’t affect their fate. Still, he balked at the idea of picking at random, so he studied both routes. All he could make out were watch fires placed at regular intervals on the wall, nothing that helped decide one way or the other.
East…or west? He trained his eye to the east but only saw a vast darkness. For the most part, the west route offered more of the same. A weak source of light somewhat away from Shiganshina District caught his eye─it looked like a torch─but that was all.
Why there? As he focused on the irregular, unnatural illumination, Kuklo’s hearing seized on a faint sound. He stopped, turned around, and sought it out, his hands to his ears.
This… The south wind was blowing, and it bore the sound of those footsteps on the ground.
Not one. Two, three, four─he could distinguish differing scales.
“Titans…” Kuklo gulped. Nothing else made footsteps outside the walls.
“I don’t hear anything, but could it mean the sentence was executed with due haste?”
“I suppose so.”
The footsteps could be explained by a Titan attacking the prisoners’ wagons. What worried Kuklo was that he could hear other steps, too. Something seemed to have roused and attracted wandering Titans, whether it was the sound or the smell of the prisoners’ blood being spilled. It was only a matter of time before they noticed Kuklo and Cardina. In fact, some of the footsteps were already heading their way.
Cardina began to run off to the northeast, apparently hearing the Titans’ footsteps now. “Let’s go!”
“This way!” Kuklo called to him, taking off toward the northwest.
“Is there a reason for this?”
“I see a light.”
He was referring to the torchlight that he’d made out earlier and that still glowed like a will o’ the wisp atop Wall Maria. Floating at a spot a few kilometers from Shiganshina District, the faint illumination looked awfully out of place.
“Does this have something to do with that thing?” Cardina said, pointing to the knife.
Kuklo only replied, “Maybe.” But in his heart, he headed to the west with similar hopes. They were better than nothing at all.
Nearing dawn, the sky began to brighten. The sun would soon appear out of the horizon, its rays assisting their progress but also increasing their likelihood of being discovered by the Titans. If the creatures acted based on their vision, of course.
Kuklo turned back to look, but it was still too dark to see around him. He couldn’t make out so much as a Titan’s shadow. While he didn’t know exactly how far from them the Titans were, considering their ability to run at a horse’s pace, he knew the situation was dire. It was about two kilometers to their destination, but even a full dash meant several minutes on human feet. There was a very real danger of a Titan catching up to them.
Kuklo and Cardina ran across the wasteland with all their strength, but their athletic abilities were no match for the Titans. The footsteps that had been distant just moments ago were now keenly audible.
“Hurry!”
There was no longer any doubt that Kuklo and Cardina were being chased by a Titan. If they wanted to stay alive, they had to tear through the wasteland like madmen and somehow work their way back in.
But how?! It would be another story if the wall contained hidden passages, but overcoming its fifty-meter height was impossible without help. What if there’s nothing there?
Kuklo had a bad feeling, but he put aside idle thoughts and rushed ahead.
The sun appeared from across the plain when only five hundred meters remained to the spot on Wall Maria. In an instant, the darkness was wiped out and the world rapidly regained its hues. The sky was a beautiful, cloudless blue, and it would have been a refreshing new day had they not been outside the walls.
Kuklo set his sights on the area above the wall and rushed toward it at full speed.
That’s… Up on Wall Maria, he saw a familiar soldier waiting for him. It was the same aging man who had given him the knife. He seemed to have noticed Kuklo and was eagerly beckoning him on.
About a hundred meters to the soldier. While their likelihood of survival had increased, the footfalls of the Titan, advancing with the wind on its back, swooped closer. Kuklo didn’t have the time to turn back and see how close, nor did he have the courage. Whether he lived or died still seemed like a coin flip.
“Make haste! Titan approaching!!” the soldier on the wall yelled out as Kuklo came within fifty meters. The rescue method was a simple one. One look at the rope dangling down from the top indicated what he had to do. Additional fugitives seemed not to have been expected, as only one length of rope offered itself.
Can it support us?! They didn’t have the luxury of climbing up one at a time. Both of them would have to use the rope at once.
The problem was the order: Kuklo first, or Cardina first?
Kuklo tried to catch Cardina’s eyes, unaware that his partner had lagged behind. Clicking his tongue, he looked back to find Cardina about fifty meters away, still running but out of breath. Right behind him was a giant male figure roaring forward with the sun on its back.