Inside the Walls

Chapter 13

Sofia began skinning, gutting, and separating the meat while Haydn packaged it. They filled a bucket full of the skin and insides which was dumped by Emma. As Sofia continued, Haydn grabbed some of the insides from inside the bucket.

"It looks so gross," he said and she laughed.

"What were you expecting?" Sofia replied. He messed with it for another minute and then threw it at Sofia. It landed on her clothes and her mouth dropped. "Hey!" she shot up and grabbed some more of the insides out of the bucket. She glanced around and seen that none of the meat was near him. She threw it at him and hit him in the face. 

"Ew!!! Disgusting!" he shouted. "It landed in my mouth!" Sofia started laughing harder as he tried spitting the taste out of his mouth. He grabbed another handful and ran towards Sofia. She closed her mouth and he dumped it on her head. She looked up at him with a glare as she grabbed more and hit his clothes with it. She then ran her hand down his back with a laugh.

"What are you guys-ewww!!!" Emma shouted when she seen what they were doing. Haydn and Sofia glanced at each other and started laughing. "Look, I'll finish this up here. You two just go clean up. That's gross." 

"Sofia started it!" Haydn exclaimed and her mouth dropped.

"No, I didn't! You're the one that threw the stuff at me!" 

"You can really tell they don't mind getting dirty," Hange said from the roots.

"Oh, hey Hange," Sofia and Haydn said waving at Hange.

"You might wanna get cleaned up before Levi sees you."

"Eeek! No! I do not need another cleaning lesson from him!" Sofia exclaimed and Haydn and Emma both started laughing. Emma suddenly stopped.

"Too late," she pointed behind and Hange and sure enough, Levi was standing there.

"What the hell's going on?" He asked looking between Haydn and Sofia.

"He started it!"

"She started it!" They shouted pointing at each other. Emma laughed at their childishness. 

"Go get cleaned up," Emma said while still laughing. "I'll finish up the skinning and everything else."

"I call dibs on the shower first!" Sofia shouted as she ran past Hange, Levi, and Emma.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Haydn called after her. 

"You snooze, you lose!" She ran into the bathroom and began undressing. She threw her clothes in the basket and turned on the already warmed up water thanks to Emma. The water poured down on Sofia and she pulled her hair down. She rinsed off her ponytail holder and set it out to dry as she washed off. The blood streamed down the drain. Once she was sure she got it all off, she got out and dried off. She slipped on her uniform but without her gear. She walked out of the bathroom and moved to the side as Haydn walked in as soon as she got out.

She walked to the main room and plopped down on her pallet. Emma, Hange, and Levi joined her and she stared up at them. "Levi helped me clean up yours and Haydn's mess. I finished the packaging and I put it on the wagon. That sure is a lot of meat. I also covered it because there's no telling how the people in town would react to us having meat," Emma explained and Sofia nodded.

"I'm tired," she replied falling back. 

"Then go to sleep."

"Fine, I will."

"Then do it," they glanced at each other and started laughing.

"Emma, will you set them up pallets?"

"Mmm... Sure," Emma stood up and walked into a different room to grab covers. She laid them out and made two more pallets. "Well, we head back to the wall tomorrow when everyone wakes up." Sofia nodded and closed her eyes. She turned onto her side and then stared at the wall. She heard Haydn comeback into the room. His hair was spiked up from the water and he sighed. He found his pallet and laid down like everyone else.

Sofia slowly drifted to sleep and memories came back to her. She didn't know where the memories were from or who was in the memories. Nothing was fitting. There was the monkey Titan and then the Titan shifters. The next morning, Sofia jolted awake in a cold sweat. She began breathing hard and she stared at her hand. 

"You okay, Sofia?" Haydn asked and Sofia looked up at him for a minute before nodding.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he held his hand out to her and helped her up. Emma picked up the blankets and took them to other room as they got ready to leave. 

"It's time to head back to the walls. We already have the horses ready," Haydn informed and Sofia nodded and she walked past him and to the bathroom. She splashed water on her face and pulled a brush through her hair. She pulled it back into a ponytail and then slipped on her boots. She walked out into the main room and headed for the door. She jumped down from branch to branch until she landed on the ground next to her horse. 

"Okay, let's head back," she said and they began moving toward the walls. After a few minutes of riding, the gate came into view. Hange shot up a flare signalling for the gate to be opened. Oddly enough, there were no Titans around the gate. They neared the gate, which finished opening, and the wind drifted toward her and she could smell a Titan. She heard footsteps and could tell it was an abnormal. She whistled and Emma and Haydn's eyes snapped back to her at her orders. The whistle confused Hange and Levi. She stood up and they went to follow pursuit, but Haydn and Emma stopped them. Sofia back flipped off her horse as the sixteen meter abnormal came into view. It began running toward them, and Sofia ran to the right.

She used a tree and slid across the ground behind it. Her hooks hooked the tree and she shot herself up towards the Titan. Her hooks then hooked its upper arm and she pulled herself up. The abnormal completely ignored her and continued running toward the others and the gate. Once the gate was close enough and the group passed through, the gates began closing. Sofia hooked the side of its neck and jumped in front of it. She swung around and sliced through its nape and launched toward the gate. She hit the ground and began sliding towards the gate. She brought her head down as she barely slid past the gate.

She brought her head back up just in time to see her knock into Levi. He landed on top of her and his head hit hers. She groaned and grabbed her forehead. "Ow, that hurt," she muttered and then she looked up at Levi who started getting up. He dusted himself off and then held out his hand. She gladly accepted it and he pulled her up. 

"What kind of stupid stunt was that?" he asked. 

"I don't know. I just wanted to try it out," Sofia replied and Emma giggled.

"That's Sofia for ya," she said and whispers spread throughout the crowd.

"Isn't that how many people they left with?"

"Yeah. They didn't lose one person at all, and they pulled that wagon back full of stuff."

"I wonder what's hidden under that cloth."

"It seems that this expedition was better than all the others."

"I take it you gathered all of the supplies," Erwin said approaching them and Sofia grinned.

"Yup. It took a little longer than I thought it would," Sofia replied as she glanced over at the Scouts. 

"Then this expedition was a success."