It felt as though a hundred─even a thousand─Titans had entered Quinta, but the actual total was less than thirty.
The Garrison troops kept up their fight.
As the battle raged, the vast majority of Quinta’s civilians made it through the gate. Those who insisted on staying were left alone.
Come sunset, the whole district was bathed in an eerie quiet.
Many of the soldiers died, but civilian casualties had been kept to a minimum. Most of them escaped Quinta on foot, walking in caravan with the others.
After seeing the last man through, the soldiers closed the gate to imprison the Titans they hadn’t been able to take down. They then used their Vertical Maneuvering Equipment to clear the wall and to join the civilians on their desperate flight.
Mathias was bringing up the rear. So were Derek and Jodi. They had─along with a large proportion of the resistance─stayed within the wall until the last possible moment to guide the evacuation. Not even out of a spirit of self-sacrifice, but rather a kind of stubbornness.
Klaus and Nikki were different. When they last spoke with Mathias, the pair were ensconced in the middle of the procession. No doubt they had calculated that leaving too early would put them in danger of being snapped up by Titans in the exterior, while leaving too late would leave them exposed to the Titans already inside the town.
The two outlaws were selfish and rational to the end.
Mathias had told them of Jarratt’s predicament, and of Bernhardt’s fate. Klaus had merely muttered a cold acknowledgment, as was his wont. Nikki had declared it a shame in her usual carefree manner but had avoided eye contact, gazing into the distance the whole time.
Doris was at the front of the group, it appeared. Mathias heard that she was managing to walk by herself, with only the occasional bit of assistance from the young and fit.
They walked until it was almost dawn, finally ending their march when they were deep within a forest.
The soldiers who had left Quinta first began using their Vertical Maneuvering Equipment to haul the horses and supplies, together with the people themselves, up to the great branches of the tall trees. The plan was to wait off the ground until nightfall, then to move again. Should an aberrant Titan capable of scaling trees or a Colossus taller than the canopy appear, the soldiers would no doubt put their lives on the line.
Mathias squinted into the half-dark, craning to look up once again. Dozens of wires were being wound slowly upwards from spots some tens of meters aboveground. Horses were bound in tight layers of rope. The whole scene looked like some kind of construction site. Scared by the height, some of the children let out muffled cries.
“You need to get us up there!”
“It’ll be dawn if you don’t get a move on.”
Civilians from the tail end of the procession were muttering and complaining all around Mathias, but no one was attempting to cut in. They knew from experience that Rita, or one of the soldiers, would ruthlessly put them to the sword if they did.
Acting spontaneously, they started to sit themselves down.
Mathias was exhausted, but he made a survey of their surroundings anyway. They’d been lucky─no one had sustained severe injuries. Food and water was being passed around. He couldn’t see Rita, but he was sure she was there somewhere leading the others in their efforts to lift the civilians and supplies.
He sighed, then found a place apart from the crowd to put his feet up. He was happy to be the last man aloft.
He leaned against a tree, hugged his knees to his chest, and stuck his head between them.
His thoughts kept returning to Rita.
What she was planning to do, if they did make it to Fuerth…
He’d only meant to rest, but fell asleep.
He woke to someone shaking him by the shoulder. The fallen leaves were now stained by the pale light of dawn. A pair of feet crunched the leaves.
A Titan could show up at any moment.
He felt calm, though.
When he looked up and saw who was standing there, he did feel a little taken aback.
“Rita…”
“Come with me. We’ve got to get you up there.”
At first he couldn’t move.
Rita tipped her head to one side. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. It’s just that…” Mathias pressed his hands into the tree behind him, using the support to get to his feet. His joints were stiff and aching slightly. “I guess I’m surprised.”
“At what?”
“Your coming in person.”
“Why?”
The exhaustion was clear on her features. There was sorrow there too.
Mathias thought for a moment before he answered, “You were going to execute me.”
“That was─necessary, at the time. To maintain order. But the town’s gone now.”
“You don’t hold it against me?” He’d killed one of her soldiers. It was only natural if she did.
She responded with a question. “That was an accident, no?”
“It was.”
“There’s a part of me that can’t forgive you for it. But you’re helping with the evacuation.”
Does she mean she’ll treat me as a regular civilian as long as I’m useful and not mete out private justice at this stage?
“That way. It’s safer if we’re all close together.”
Mathias followed her lead. “What do you plan to do after this?” he lobbed the question at her back without even thinking.
She answered still facing forwards. “I’ll accept the judgment of the royal government.”
“Right, me too.”
Mathias had joined forces with criminals in his escape from Fuerth, and people had lost their lives in the process. He would accept whatever punishment he had coming.
“But after that. If…”
“If it isn’t the death penalty?” the words flowed easily from Rita’s mouth where they had stalled for Mathias.
“Right.”
“I’m with the Garrison Regiment. I’ll protect the people as long as I’m allowed to.”
Her determination always amazed him. Her eyes were already set on the future.
How do I compare to that?
Mathias searched for something he thought he could do, however small, to make himself of use to others.
“I…I think I’d like to represent the refugees. If possible, I’d like to negotiate our position. Communicate our circumstances, our needs, to the central authorities.”
Rita said nothing.
Around them, the lifting process was entering its last stages. Mathias could count on his fingers the number of civilians still in view.
Rita came to a stop and looked up. She narrowed her eyes. She set the angle of the firing mechanism and released the anchors of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. The sound of metal biting into wood followed. She looked around and extended a hand towards Mathias.
“Take hold, we’ll go straight up.”
“Okay.”
He felt suddenly uneasy.
Was this their last conversation? Was she carrying him to safety now, only to have another soldier bring him down at night?
If they were lucky enough to reach Fuerth, and after accepting their sentences and paying for their crimes, were they going to be strangers for the rest of their lives?
The thought was unbearable.
It didn’t matter if it was just once every few days, even once every few weeks, and even if they never laughed together again─he still wanted to see her, to be able to talk to her.
He had no right to wish for such a thing.
He realized that.
And yet, he couldn’t stop himself from asking.
“Rita…”
“Hm?”
“Once all this is settled, I want to see you again.”
She looked troubled.
Mathias went on. “I’m an idiot, a fool. And I know what I’m about to say is just an excuse. But I think I can do better…if you’re around. I can put myself to work for others.”
“Why?” Now Rita looked baffled. She also looked as though she might cry. “…When all I’ve done is mess up?”
“I’ll stop you next time,” Mathias said. “I swear. I’ll be the one to stop you. In return, when I’m about to mess up─”
“Okay.”
Rita leaned in a bit and held her arm out further. She hesitated, but finally took hold of his hand.
“I’ll stop you, Mathias.”
He nodded without saying anything, squeezing her hand in return.
Here are two losers, the thought came to Mathias. Huddling close, licking each other’s wounds. Setting out on their journeys of atonement.
THE END