Because Of You

Chapter 26

Despite it being dark, everyone could see the sorrow filled faces of civilians, the orange flames illuminated their misery. So much so, that when he group were walking past them, Pastor Nick stopped in his tracks, observing the upset his secrets had caused. However, Carmen tried to pay it no mind, even if she was once one of the people who tried to uphold the 'peace' that the government spoke of. To put it simply, both Nick and Carmen were guilty, but their reasons differed significantly.

"No one said stop." Levi kicked his back. "A rolling stone gathers no moss."

"This is-" Nick muttered, trying to find the right words.

"Maybe you expected to see something quaint? This is what happens when the walls give." He stated.

Not wanting to observe the mess beside her, Carmen tried to overtake the two and catch up with the rest of the group. She didn't need to see innocent people in pain, she'd had enough of that in life, so what good would staring do? Unfortunately, Levi didn't agree with her actions.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked her, noticing her eyes were glued ahead of her, rather than to the people on her right. Then, she stopped in her tracks, turning to face him with what seemed to be a hint of sadness masked in with her stoic face.

"I can't stay here." She simply answered, telling the truth for the first time in a while.

"Fine." He replied, understanding her a little. "Come on." He shoved the man and followed the blonde towards another scouting base.

"So, seem to like it by any chance?" Hange ran towards the trio, shoring their questions with obvious venom in their tone. But Nick didn't answer, he simply avoided thier gaze. "Oh god dammit! Make up your mind! This isn't some spiritual test! Lives are on the line!" Hange ducked below him, making sure he saw them.

"Alas, I have no choice." Nick began. "Neither myself, or the others who believe are at liberty to divulge the truth."

"Fat lot of help you are! Thanks for keeping us company! It's been fun!" Hange yelled again with anger.

"I'd offer my help if I could. But a duty as great as this one is beyond me." Nick continued, despite Hange's outburst. "The order of the walls abides by the sacred will our faith commands us to."

"Who's sacred will? You mean like God or something?" Hange questioned, but this wasn't the first Carmen had heard of it, she'd once been undercover in the church, but of course, didn't know much other than their beliefs.

"I can't answer that. But, what I can do is provide you with a name. An individual the sacred will and it's divine wisdom instructed us to monitor. It's a person you know, someone who enlisted with the scout regiment as of this year." Carmen's nerves vanished when she heard the last part of his statement, she was a little nervous he'd reveal her secret. "A child by the name of Krista Lenz."

"You know who that is?" Carmen turned to Levi, who stayed by her side while Hange interrogated the others.

"Not a clue, but I'm sure they'll know." He answered her as he nudged his head towards the three younger scouts.

"You must find her with all haste, she is the key. She may know things as we understand but poorly." Nick concluded. "But I'm afraid I have some more information that may be of use to you."

"What is it?" Hange asked while the others were busy discussing Krista.

"There's a chance the scouts have been compromised."

All chatter stopped and Carmen's heart began to race, this was terrible. "What do you mean compromised? Is there a mole or something?" The section commander instantly pressed the matter, all while the captain looked out of the side of his eye to observe the change in expression of his squad member. Carmen, who'd briefly let her emotions go when seeing the refugees, had gone back to being ice. No blinking, no facial expression or giveaway at all. It was as though she was purposely doing so.

"Somewhat so, yes." Nick replied. "But, in all likelihood, they're probably dead by now. From what I understand, they insisted years ago, and no information has been passed on."

"And if we were to find them, how much of a threat would you rate them?" Levi wondered from beside the topic; Carmen.

"I assume they'd send in someone reliable, but I'm not even supposed to know this much." Nick revealed. "I acquired the information while eavesdropping, so whoever it is won't suspect me of giving you this advantage."

Carmen wished she could scoff at that, it was interesting to see some of the people around her secretly glance in her direction, wanting to see an act of retaliation or just waiting for her to bolt. But she didn't. In fact, she acted more calm than ever before, mimicking the other scouts' curiosity accordingly.

"So in other words, kill on sight?" Levi asked again, only this time, Hange lightly shook their head.

"Levi." They stopped him. "Who knows if they're even still alive? After all these years, they're bound to be gone." The section commander disagreed with him, trying to cut the tension.

"To catch a rat, you need to set a trap." Carmen suddenly spoke. "Bait them, if they take it, they're alive, if not, then I guess we'll catch them." She followed up. "Besides, I'm sure whoever it is wouldn't go down without a fight. This seems to be the cleanest way out of it." Another hidden threat, that Hange and Levi both picked up on.

"Right, I'm sure we can think of something when we've retrieved Krista and the others, they're probably on the front lines by now." Hange concluded their conversation.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Eren agreed until he swiftly collided with a brunette who seemed to be holding a scroll.

"Hey! Watch where you're going." Hange scolded him.

"Sasha?"

"Just when did you get here so suddenly?"

"Uh, I have a letter, which I was entrusted to deliver to you, section commander!" The brunette declared, holding her hands open with a rolled up letter. Hange promptly switched it for a baked potato and skimmed through it. Briefly, Hange explained their next course of action, to which Eren tried to discard and race to save his comrades anyway.

"Calm down Eren, I need you all to listen. We're going our separate ways, that's how it has to be. Erwin had his reasons for throwing this ragtag squad together, but right now this is all riding on you. Armin, you and Hange are the brain trust, use your combined knowledge to cook up some kind of solution. Mikasa, I don't think I'll ever understand why your so attached to the guy, but put your skills to good use, protect Eren at all costs." Levi commanded. "Check your emotions Eren, learn the meaning of the word restraint. If you let yourself succumb to blind rage, all hope is lost. We can't afford another mistake." The captain scolded.

"Sir." Was all Eren said before the scouts began to make their way towards Utgard castle.

Leaving both Carmen and Levi alone.

"I suppose, we ought to talk." Carmen decided.