Because Of You

Chapter 24

It took a while for the other scouts to get back to the base, but upon their arrival, Carmen never expected to hear the first words that left their mouths.

"Wall Rose has been breached! We need to evacuate immediately!"

Quickly, Carmen raced back to her room, dodging the soldiers who were also following her instinct. When she got to her destination, she quickly went to her bedside draw, removing the books that were laid on top of all her weapons. In her drawer, she had a small pistol, and a few knives. Once she'd pocketed them, she lifted her mattress and took the remaining weapons. But other than her blades and gun, she had nothing else of importance.

When she'd packed her bag, she quickly mounted her horse and rode to Stohess. She didn't need orders, after all, no one left behind was of a higher rank and her squad leader wasn't exactly around. However she did have one duty, to protect Eren, regardless of what her letter may have said.

"Where are you going?"

"Doesn't matter." Carmen replied, suddenly riding away on Bowie to escape the panicked scouts.

In all fairness, she was taken aback too, it had taken 5 years since Shiganshina, so why were the attacks becoming more frequent? "Could their mission have been a success? Did they capture the girl?" She thought aloud, continuing to ride towards Stohess. "Maybe it's an act of retaliation, either that, or it's a coincidence."

Theories ran wild for hours before she arrived at another scouting base in Stohess, the only indication she was supposed to be there was her scouting legion jacket. Unfortunately, there was no time for her to put her uniform back on, so she wore a grey button up shirt, that went to just below her hips and was secured by her belt. Below that, she wore dark trousers.

Finally, she saw the embers of fire and the titan shifter sat next to Mikasa and Armin in a wagon. Ignoring their conversation, she interrupted them. "Where's Captain Levi?" She asked the three.

"Carmen? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be healing at the base." Eren gasped, noticing how the woman didn't seem in pain at all.

"Our base is close to wall Sina, but it's still in Wall Rose. We've had to abandon it for now, everyone else went to another base, but I decided to come here." She informed.

"Did you see the titans?" Armin wondered, neglecting the question she'd ask3d first.

"It's not the colossal if that's what you're wondering, but as far as I'm concerned, they haven't made it that far into Rose, yet." She answered him. "Now tell me where Levi is."

"He's with Section Commander Hange, they should be here soon." Mikasa replied. "Will you be joining us?"

There'd been a shift in the way Mikasa spoke to Carmen, she could sense it in her tone, her words were less harsh and spiteful. Clearly, she was thankful for Carmen's efforts when saving Eren, little did she know that it was never one of Carmen's intentions. All that clouded her mind was vengeance.

"I'll leave my horse here and get back to you on that." Carmen agreed, swiftly tying Bowie in the stables with the food and water he needed after their journey. She was just about done when she suddenly felt eyes on her. Stopping her movements, she turned to face the culprit, coming face to face with the man she'd been looking for. "Oh, it's just you." She sighed.

"The hell are you doing here? I gave you orders not to come to Stohess, there's better be a legitimate reason for this." He scolded her, not sparing her a moment to explain.

"Titans invaded, I'm here to protect Eren." She answered, slightly confused what Levi's issue was.

"You're in no condition to protect Eren."