It was as if a bucket of cold water was doused over Isanna's body and she reverted back to the time on her first expedition, frozen on her spot at the sight of her friends being eaten.
Wall Maria had fallen.
She knew the world was cruel, cruel enough to allow those monstrosities threaten the extinction of humanity, but this? This was a whole other level of cruelty.
Too cruel to even believe.
Even though he was obviously frightened out of his wits, the Scout soldier proceeded to explain how a titan taller than the walls had sprouted seemingly out of nowehere in a heap of steam and kicked through the outer gate of Shiganshina district. Shortly after titans had began spilling through the southern district, another titan whose skin was harder than their blades had appeared and blasted through the inner gate.
In simpler terms, their situation was shit.
But Erwin was quick to spring into action.
"Mike, Hanji, Levi, gear up and meet me outside the building in five minutes," he ordered with an urgent tone as if he had been doing this for years, "Isanna, prepare my gear please."
The four whom Erwin ordered swiftly stood up and exited the room without a word, faces now empty from the playfulness that they wore just minutes ago during their usual banter and replaced with serious, solemn expressions.
Just as Isanna strode past the pale soldier, she heard Erwin order him to ride back and rally the rest of the Scouts that were stationed back at Shiganshina to prioritize and assist in civilian evacuation.
As Isanna and the rest of the three headed to the supply room, there was a thick suffocating air that enshrouded above them, with not one of them daring to break it. The very idea that the outermost wall that protected the remainder of humanity from the titans was broken down catalyzed a feeling of despair and bearishness to becloud their minds, rendering even the very same soldiers who were called as the Scouts' strongests to gulp down a heavy lump in their throat.
The fact that the Survey Corps had just returned from an expedition also didn't help their predicament; they weren't given a chance to rest and were now expected to be thrown back into the battlefield - one far worse than an expedition, because they were currently suffering from a sparse amount of soldiers.
After suiting up their gears in the supply room, the four were about to disperse to different directions when Isanna called their attention.
"The three of you are not allowed to die," she firmly ordered with a steeled look directed at them, "have I made myself clear?"
For the first time since the dreaded news reached them, Hanji grinned back at the girl. "'Course we won't! See you later, Sergeant Major."
"Tch. We don't need you to order us," Levi mumbled as he went on ahead, followed by Mike who just silently gave Isanna a smile before he turned away.
Isanna didn't waste another second and turned around her heel, briskly padding down the winding hallway and heading back to Erwin's office. Even though she was inside the building in the second floor, she could hear hollers of urgency shooting from outside and could picture the panic rushing the soldiers as they ran around to follow orders.
Upon reaching the office, the raven woman saw that Erwin had just slipped on the jacket of his uniform, her eyes glancing down at the bolo tie hanging around his neck signifying that he was now officially a Commander. It made her realize how unlucky her best friend was and how heavy it must be for his first day in duty to work on the fall of Wall Maria; the catastrophe was so unexpected, as if the heavens were bored and decided to give humanity another thing to worry about because they had nothing better to do. Pricks.
Isanna scanned Erwin's face and noted how he, despite the severity of the situation they were currently facing, still wore an iron-clad expression that was unfazed.
The look of a Commander.
"I've brought your gear," said Isanna and lifted up the equipment as she strode over towards the blond, handing it over to his grasp as he swiftly put it on him and buckled up the belts. Neither made an effort to strike up a conversation to fill the silence as Erwin readied himself, because at this point, their minds were too heavily focused on the cataclysm that was occuring at southern Wall Maria.
While they were preparing here in the western part, Isanna wondered just how many have already died. The very thought of innocent civilians being eaten by the titans was absolutely sickening; as a kid, she had never cared about humanity this much. But as a Scout, she couldn't say the same anymore, because it was her duty to protect humanity. It was the burden of carrying this Wings of Freedom behind her back.
"Let's go."
Before Isanna knew it, Erwin was ready. He briskly walked past her, ruffling her hair as he did so, as he headed to the door.
After clenching and unclenching her fists to calm her nerves, the raven turned and followed her Commander out of the office.
As the duo stepped out into the yard, they were greeted by utter frenzy and tension - mostly from the Garrison and Military Police who were running around and yelling orders at each other. The Scouts were already lined up near the gate of the military barracks, with Levi, Hanji, and Mike at the front line as they waited for their new Commander to lead them.
Erwin heaved himself up on his steed just as Isanna did the same to her mare. They were now at the very front of the small line of soldiers, since majority of their surviving soldiers (which weren't that many to begin with) were stationed back at Shiganshina.
With a commanding bellow, Erwin ordered his soldiers to follow him as they headed out of the military barracks and rushed straight to the wall; apparently, Erwin had directed someone from the Garrison to send a message to the soldiers on the wall to prepare lifts so that they could ride on top of the walls to the southern part of Wall Maria where the breach was in order to save time.
In rushed minutes, Erwin and the small line of soldiers were already at the top of the wall, galloping straight atop the 50-meter barricade, the towns and buildings below them fading into a blur as they headed directly to the brunt of the disaster.
The sky was already melting into hues of sunset orange in the far distance, casting shadows against the looming walls and telling the soldiers that it was already nearing late afternoon.
Histeric screams from down below reached Isanna's ears and she glanced downwards to see crashed buildings, bloodied street pavements, sporadic corpses laying around - both soldier and civilian. It was chaos all around as brave soldiers guided civilians back towards ferry boats and carriages alike, rushing evacuation while the rest held off the titans.
A churning feeling sank in the pits of Isanna's stomach when her eyes landed on the huge hole unbarring the inner gate of Shiganshina, and it only worsened when she shifted her eyes at the outer wall, seeing titans crawl through it like a neverending nightmare.
She vaguely heard Erwin ordering Hanji, Levi, and Mike to take the soldiers down and assist in fending off the titans while the Garrison evacuated the civilians.
"Isanna." Erwin redirected his attention towards the said girl, who sat up attentively at his call.
"I want you to check the area of the outer gate." Isanna's brows furrowed in confusion at his unexpected order. "Report back to me immediately, and do not engage in any titan."
There were a lot of questions swirling in her mind at his sudden command. Erwin wanted her to check the gate instead of helping Levi and the others defend the civilians? She wanted to ask for what reason, but she very well knew time was not on their side.
"Yes, sir."
After hearing Erwin telling her to be careful, she kicked the sides of her mare and Isanna darted forward, following the outline of the wall and heading to the outer gate of Shiganshina district.
In a few minutes, Isanna neared the rim of the outer wall, her weary gaze fixated on the cracked hole. Their walls were made up of sturdy cement as strong as crystal, and it had been standing for over a century now. This was the first time in history that the titans have breached their most reliable protective barrier, and the girl had difficulty picturing out a titan that was taller than the walls.
Once she was just above the gaping crack, Isanna made sure the coast was clear from titans before she leaped down after hooking a line to the side of the wall to slow down her fall. With a soft thump, the soles of her boot landed on the soil, her knees bending slightly in reflex at the impact.
Squinting her eyes, Isanna crouched and studied the soil just below the small tunnel. Just what on earth was Erwin's reason for sending her -
Wait.
She leaned closer to the ground, skeptical of what she was seeing, but she knew her sharp senses weren't betraying her. Her eyes definitely were not fooling her.
Footprints.
Isanna knitted her brows together. She could identify footprints from her own colleagues since they too had passed through the tunnel along with their horses and wagons upon their return from the expedition that same day.
But these.. these were footprints belonging to a child.
Isanna followed the small line, noting how there were three pairs of foreign footprints and realized they had come from.. the other side of the wall.
Why are there children's footprints coming from the outside?
With a startle, the girl zipped through her gear line upwards and narrowly avoided a titan's grasp from behind her. That was close.
Her mind still grasping the images of information she saw, Isanna scaled up the wall and padded towards Fish, about to mount on her mare when something else caught her attention.
There were muddy footprints on top of the wall, and judging by the size, they also belonged to children. Three pairs of footprints, just like below the gate.
There were marks not only underneath the hole of the gate, but also atop the wall.
What could this all mean?
Isanna turned her body to face the horizon beyond the outer wall of Maria and felt a shudder run down her spine. Countless of titans were nearing the hole, loud footsteps echoing across the panorama of terrain in a march that signaled the greatest tragedy ever seen by mankind.
Humanity was once again faced with another scene of absolute defeat, and there was nothing they could do but scurry towards the safeguard behind their next wall, waiting for the next tragedy to fall.
"Fuck you all."
Isanna cursed in a deep frown at the number of titans that were lugging towards the hole, taking their awfully sweet time in lazy movements. Like they were mocking humanity - like they knew that regardless of whether they pick up their dilatory pace, this whole disaster was still their victory.
She balled her fists in frustration.
The girl had a sudden urge to eradicate them all.
But Erwin's order to refrain from engaging any titans rang in her mind, and Isanna told herself she needed to get back and report to her Commander before everything else.
"Let's get back to the Commander, Fish."