CHAPTER 6 ABANDONED
Paradise. The last haven of humanity, built over one hundred years ago by King Fritz. An island that contained our territory within its three concentric walls; some say built by God himself, to protect us from the titans that had over run the earth and devoured the rest of human kind.
The three walls, Maria, Rose and Sina, divided each district from the other. Wall Maria had the largest circumference, and was therefore perfect for farmland. Wall Rose, the middle district, had a more affluent population with less farmland and more trade, merchants and commerce and Wall Sina; the smallest, where the capital of Paradise was situated, was the safest place in Paradise and was therefore where the monarchy, the nobles and the wealthy lived. My home.
Each of the three walls, Maria,Rose and Sina also had four semi circular walls built onto their outer shell; along the compass points of north, south, east and west and unlike the main walls, these outposts had two gates. One gate to the world outside the walls, where the titans roamed, and the other gate directly opposite on the other side of the town that gave access to the territory inside the major wall the outpost was attached to. And in each of these semi circular outposts, entire populations, cities and villages lived.
These outposts had been built onto the walls as a fail safe; a protection in case a titan or titans ever breached the walls. And, to be frank, these outposts served as bait; a population of people that the titans would be drawn to, devour and hopefully leave the larger population inside the main walls untouched. Therefore ensuring the maximum amount of human survivors. That humanity would never again be threatened with extinction. What was that old saying? Something about, 'The needs of the many.....outweighing the needs of the few..'
Throughout the afternoon, I learned that it had been the southern most outpost on Wall Maria, the Shinganshina district, was where the mysterious titan was first seen. The head of a ginormous titan had appeared from the world outside and looked onto an unsuspecting people; hugging their children, doing their chores, squabbling with their neighbours, feeding their pets, walking, shopping, resting, playing. Living.
No titan had ever appeared that was taller than our protective walls. Our walls; fifty meters tall, thirteen meters wide and impervious to any destructive force; either man made, natural or titan. And all the titans that roamed outside the walls were only between two and fifteen meters tall, resembling humans, but having no humanity. The sheer size of the walls made them appear like mechanical dolls, mindlessly banging on the exterior of Wall Maria; the wall thick enough so that their pounding and grunts couldn't even be heard on the other side of the wall. Lulling the people of Paradise into a false sense of security. It was almost as if they were no threat at all, unless you dared to leave the safety of Paradise and its walls. And that's why we were so SURE, so complacent.
But on that Spring afternoon of cloudless blue skies and gentle breezes, the horrifying visage of an enormous titan's head appearing above the outpost wall of Wall Maria a titan that was easily sixty metres tall; looking at the population inside as though they were lobsters in a tank, ready to be chosen for the evening meal, preticipated the beginning of the Nightmare of Paradise. And the horror of it continued when, with seeming intelligence, it destroyed the gate separating the outpost from the outside world; almost as if it knew that though the walls were impenetrable, the gates were not. We've named it The Colossal Titan. And the hole that it made when it smashed the gate allowed all the swarming, smaller titans that clamoured outside the walls, just waiting to taste human flesh, their entrance into our haven.
It was as if the smaller, mindless titans had been called by The Colossal Titan, as if he were their leader; showing them the way to food. And once inside the titans destroyed all that was in their path as they hunted. As they feasted. Mindlessly searching out humans and swallowing them whole, or chewing on them slowly; deaf to their cries of pain and fear. Gorging themselves on human flesh and bone and muscle and sinew until they threw it up in mucus filled balls that were transparent enough to still see the faces and limbs of those that had been consumed. And once emptied, the titans searched for new prey to ingest. The cycle unceasing.
The evacuation process was slow, chaotic, unfair. Paradise was unprepared to evacuate an entire population; boats along the rivers that connected each wall were filled, or half filled with survivors as the panic rose and the amount of titans inside the outpost of Shinganshina increased. The Garrison valiantly and incompetently tried to herd the population either into boats or through the main gate that led into the vast territory of Wall Maria. Firing cannons that had no affect on the titans, the Garrison waited for as long as they could before closing the gate, closing hope, on all those that hadn't made it through.
Safety appeared within reach of those that hadn't fallen to the titans. Wall Maria, having the most amount of territory, seemed sure to cope with the massive influx of refugees from Shinganshina and though heartbreaking; the closing of the connecting gates by the Garrison, seemed the only course left to protect the people that had found safety.
If not for another attack.
A second unusual titan, not as tall, 'only' fifteen metres high, but excessively strong with the look of armour upon its body, The Armoured Titan we've called it, appeared. Once again, seemingly intelligent, it appeared as if from nowhere and destroyed another gate. The second gate of the outpost of Shinganshina connecting it to the vast main district of Wall Maria. Allowing the massacre of Shinganshina to penetrate and encompass all of the territory inside Wall Maria.
Overwhelmed, the Garrison did its best to evacuate the people into the territory of the next wall; Wall Rose. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for all the Wall Rose inhabitants, who did not want to be overwhelmed by refugees from the outer wall. Who did not want their way of life impeded by refugees from the outer wall. Who did not want to share their food with refugees from the outer wall.
Then without warning, just as quickly as they had appeared, the two 'abnormal' titans; the ones that destroyed, but did not eat humanity, The Colossal Titan and The Armoured Titan, disappeared. Leaving Paradise shattered. Whispers said that around twenty percent of the population had been lost; leaving Wall Rose to absorb an increase of almost double their own population, in an area that had limited room and farmland. The Spring harvests from Wall Maria's rich farmland, that would have fed most of Paradise, were left abandoned; trampled beneath the feet of the mindless titans, as they searched for their human victims. The territory that was Wall Maria had now become no man's land. The screams of those still left inside Wall Maria could be heard by the Garrison and the Survey Corp who manned the battlements along the top of Wall Rose, as the titans from the world outside kept invading; first the outpost of Shinganshina and then making their way into the territory of Wall Maria as they hunted for humans to feast on. And humanity had retreated, like rats in a cage; scurrying to its furthest end, away from its handler. So the population now scurried from the outposts and Wall Maria to the confines of Wall Rose trying to find a corner to rest, a crust to eat; trying valiantly to adjust to this new normal.
No one in Mitras made any announcement regarding the Queen. As far as I could tell it was only The Council and a select few, such as Kenny and myself, that knew that the Royal family was no more. Or that, in addition to the two attacking titans ( The Colossal and The Armoured) there was also a third; the bespectacled man who had invaded the Church and obliterated all the Reiss's. No one mentioned that we now had no monarch to serve. And although some of my friends in the Military Police were sent to help enforce order with in Wall Rose, I was expected to keep performing my usual duties. The excuse being that the Queen was in ill , but that Her Majesty's horses may be needed at any time for use in protecting the nobles nearest the gates that connected Wall Sina to Wall Rose's territory, as much of the Garrison had been recalled by Pyxis, leaving the nobles feeling vulnerable. Remnants of the snatches of conversations from the previous day echoed in my mind, "It's just a story made up by the Marians to get closer to the capital...." , "Wouldn't put it past them!...", "At least we'll safe here..." , " Unless they open the gates to Wall Sina...." and indignation rose inside me as I received my orders. My tight smile of affirmation holding back the vile torrent of abuse I wanted so desperately to unleash against this self serving, short sightedness of utter selfishness.
Could they not even imagine what it must have been like to lose your family, your home, your security, your very life?!
And here THEY were, tucked away in the security of the inner sanctum and THEY were worried?!
But I smiled and I nodded and went to the stables to carry out my duties. I needed to be alone. I needed to think. Somewhere where it was safe. Somewhere where there were only good memories and comfort. And though it were really the job of my staff, I dismissed them so that I could be alone and carry out the mundane tasks of attending to the horses myself. They understood, without words, and busied themselves elsewhere.The familiar, comforting scent of the stable, the sweet innocence of the horses, neighing as I walked in, nuzzling into me as I patted them; as though they could sense my distress and wished to comfort me.
As I brushed the horses, mucked out the stables, replenished the feed and set myself down on the hay bales to polish the tac, I let my mind wander. Through the magnificent arched wooden doorway that framed the stable entrance, I could see the same cloudless, blue sky and mid afternoon sun shining today, just as it had yesterday. The quiet isolation of the stables, away from the nervous energy and barely concealed fear of the inhabitants of Mitras belied that today as with yesterday, before the attack, all was ordered, almost peaceful. So quiet was it, that it was almost as if I had dreamt it all, were it not for the threatening tears and rising panic that kept threatening to overcome me and the occasional interruption of my colleagues keeping me abreast of the new snippets of information that came their way. Some had family in Wall Rose, others knew officers in the Military Police or Garrison that had either been allowed to visit their own families in Wall Rose or had been sent to keep order. And through the sharing of stories, we managed to piece together what had happened to our island home. What was still happening. Again, there had been no detailed announcement of what had happened. Just that Wall Maria had been breached, but all was safe inside Wall Sina, the Queen would speak to us when she was feeling better.
Bureaucracy! The lies continued.
It was just after sunset when I had completed every chore I could think of. The tac hung shining, the polished saddles gleamed in the candlelight as I lit the lanterns and rechecked the feed and water troughs.
'Just like the night we were married', I thought, glancing around me at the soft amber glow reflecting off the stable walls.
' Maybe it will be like that again. I'll go to Ginger and he'll walk in. And.. And .. This will have all been a dream', I part wished, part prayed.
And as a child does when it wants so much for magic to happen, I recreated the scene of the night Kenny proposed. I went to Ginger; petting and confiding in her. Just like before.
So sure that if I did my part; he would do his.
And walk through that archway; tall, lean, his black coat draped carelessly over his shoulders, his white shirt revealing just enough of his muscular, tanned chest to entice me to unbutton it further. And he'd have that look upon his face, the ironic grin, his eyes penetrating; as if he could see exactly what I was thinking, exactly what I wanted him to do. Then he'd tilt back that black cowboy hat of his, give me a leisurely wink and I'd be his.
And it would be okay.
I would know where he was.