“Follow me” Alex shouted. Leading Jessica again by her arm, Alex sprinted across the edge of square, Sara and Billy hard on his heels. Steeling a glance over his shoulder, Alex glimpsed a titan in amongst detachment of soldiers. Their line reeled, a squirming human form suspended at least eight metres off the ground in the meaty fist of a titan. The soldier convulsed inside the titan’s fist as the fingers of the giant crushed his torso, blood frothing from the man’s lips as his companions fired their assault rifles upwards.
Alex twisted back his head, swerving to avoid a discarded box of rotting fish. Jessica cried out as her foot struck the box, but Alex continued to pull her after him, ignoring his baby sisters whimpering.
Rather than the intersection, Alex led them to one of the plaza’s corners, where the sewage of the both Shiganshina eastern and northern drainage ditches met in a low-slung trench. Jumping into the filthy knee deep water Alex grasped hold of the thin grated wire-mesh plate that blocked the entrance to the underground pipe and pulled with all his might.
The plate groaned, one edge peeling free from the waterproof brickwork to which it was stuck. The thin wire-mesh twisted between his fingers, blood dripping from between his nails, then with one last groan the thinly stripped metal came apart, the grated plate coming out in his hands.
“It’s open” Alex said, “Come on, get in. Get in!”
Sara was the first in, dragging a now sobbing Jessica behind her as the two girls descended to their knees and disappeared into the pipe. Billy was next, Alex pushing his younger brother into the pipe with both hands before turning back to the square, the water suddenly trembling around him.
Turning back towards the plaza, Alex’s heart sunk. At least a dozen titans were now amongst the guardsmen, and almost each and every one of the giant freaks had the limbs of a screaming and struggling soldier clasped in their huge hands, obvious to the scattered gunfire tearing into their flesh as they feasted upon their screaming, still living victims.
A titan chased a fleeing soldier, the man dropping his spent carbine only to be plucked from the ground, kicking at the thick meaty fingers that had grasped hold of his leg. His screams echoed across the square as the titan clamped its huge mouth around his torso, thick arterial blood spurting upwards. A tank cannon fired, blowing the arm of another titan clean off as its crew tried to reload, then another titan was upon them, overturning the cannon and crushing one of the surviving soldiers, one of his companions hurriedly reloading his rifle as another fled.
Movement from the corner of his eyes caught Alex attention, and suddenly the young boy realized a titan was lumbering towards him, the water splashing upwards around his legs. It was a big titan, almost fifteen metres tall, and it was almost upon him.
Diving to his knees Alex scrambled into the pipeway. From the corner of his eye his glimpsed one final shot of the plaza, the human soldiers dead or dying, the crowd at the intersection all but clawing over each other as the titans converged upon them, a towering fifteen metre tall titan plucking a man from the crowd to consume. And then there was the human sergeant in the middle of plaza, his sword still brandished into the air and machinegun pistol grasped in one hand, surrounded.
The approaching titan stumbled and fell, its clumsy flailing body landing straight atop the trench. Already in the pipe, a sudden surge of water splashed over Alex, the filthy liquid getting into his eyes, ears and mouth. Still the boy continued forward, the repetitive splash splash splash up ahead telling him that his siblings were still clambering through the tunnel further up.
“Keep going” Alex screamed spitting out the fowl tasting water as he did so, “Don’t stop.”
It was many minutes later that they reached the other end of the pipe, Sara poised at the entrance waiting for Alex while Billy and Jessica sat shivering in the closest alleyway.
Human screams, alongside the sound of ripping flesh and breaking bones echoed across the rooftops, coming from where the crowd had been at the edge of the plaza.
“We’ve got to keep moving” Alex said, rousing Billy and Jessica to their feet, “Get up get up. They’ll be closing the gate soon.”
The children were now on Shiganshina District’s northern side, only a few streets to the gateway. Hand in hand Alex led them forward, the four orphans emerging from the alleyway and into a small square, the ground suddenly shaking.
A titan emerged from atop the overhanging roofs, its towering form at least ten metres high. Its wide mouthed grinning visage regarded the young orphans with hunger, and suddenly one gangly arm was reaching down towards them.
“Run!” Alex shouted, pushing his siblings to one side. Together they dived under an overhanging archway, the titan half destroying the front of a shop was its attempt to grasp at them went wide.
Twisting on his heel Alex shoved Jessica and Billy forward, Sara running behind him and together the siblings sprinted beneath the titan’s legs, the massive creature twisting it body to fast as it stumbled and fell.
The ground shook with the giant’s collapse. Billy cried out as he stumbled forward, but Alex was behind him, pushing his younger brother to his feet.
They emerged from the alleyway into the main thoroughfare, two mid-sized titans turning to meet them.
“Back” Alex shouted, the titan’s arms coming up as they stumbled forwards, preparing to grasp at the human children, “Get back!”
Cannon fire ripped across the thoroughfare, smashing straight into the two titans. One of the titans took a cannon ball straight to the shoulder, the blast ripping apart half its torso whilst the second took a blow to its legs, the shot ripping them both clean off as thick arterial human like blood splashed across the walls and street.
Glancing the way the shots had come, Alex could see the inner gate. Six cannons and a gaggle of guardsman were gathered around the gate’s entrance, waving the children forwards.
“It’s still open” Alex said, pulling Jessica and Billy into the street, “Come on. Run!”
They entered the thoroughfare, Alex and Sara each dragging one of their younger siblings after them. From the closest alleyways and streets other humans emerged, and soon they were part of small crowd filtering up the gate. The familiar sound of crumbling bricks and mortar echoed down the road.
Glancing over his shoulder as he ran, Alex saw a titan emerge from the thoroughfare’s winding edge, at least two more behind it.
“Get down” a soldier screamed, Alex and Sara throwing their younger siblings to the ground as the cannons fired. The Oncoming titan was cut down as were two of the beast’s companions. Alex twisted onto his back as the gigantic humanoids stumbled forwards and fell, limbs and heads ripped clean off, but already he could see movement behind them.
“Get up, get up!” he said, rousing Jessica to her feet. The girl continued to sob as they pushed forward, Sara and Billy behind them, and then they were at the gate. A blond haired officer shoved them through the gigantic archway beneath the interior of wall Maria, and then suddenly for the first time in their lives Alex, Sara, Billy and Jessica were outside of Shiganshina district, and inside the interior of Wall Maria.
A vast expanse of open green fields and rolling hills stretched out as far as any of them could see, whilst a paved highway and elevated maglev track ran from the gateway ran all the way to the horizon. Somewhere far in the distance Alex knew Wall Rose stood, and beyond that Wall Sheena, and then the royal capital and the lavish Palace of the King.
Another crowd greeted them, even larger than the one they had encountered in the plaza. The mass of huddled refugees from Shiganshina District was nestled between the small trading port that adjoined Wall Maria’s Inner Gate, and a train station where a maglev bullet train was docked. A thin line of guardsman was gathered before the train, selecting people to take on and turning others away, their assault rifles pointed towards the crowd as a warning.
“There” Alex said, “Come on. We have to get on that last ship.”
A sharp crack of tank fire echoed from inside the gate as they approached the port, the crowd and soldiers tensing, yet no one tried to rush the trains. Alex and his siblings made their way through the press of the crowd, Alex maintaining a firm grip on Jessica’s hand, who in turn had her hand gripped to Jesscia’s, who in turn was leading Billy at their rear.
Behind them another volley of tank shells and automatic gunfire fire boomed, people glancing nervously back the way they had come.
“Come on!” someone shouted up ahead, “Let us on!”
“Women and children only at this time Sir” a reply came, “More trains will be here soon for the rest of you.”
They reached the front of the crowd just as another volley of gunfire went off, the thin line of soldiers stretched out before the docked ships eying each other nervously as the crowd edged closer, then a man attempted to rush the nearest gangplank.
“Stop him!” an officer shouted.
Two soldiers leapt forward to restrain the man, their compatriots raising their assault rifles to the crowd in warning.
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