[centre][h2][color=7ea7d8]Lauren Jones - Wall Maria: Shiganshina District[/color][/h2][/centre]

[color=7ea7d8]"Cain!"[/color] Lauren couldn't move, frozen by terror while bearing the weight of her father alone as Mora rushed toward her brother, already caught in a Titan's grip.  They had already seen enough to know that there was no coming back from that, Cain was already dead; and they all knew it.  The little boy he had rescued, his legacy, clawed at Mora's legs and brought her back to reality, returning her to Lauren and her father and forcing them onwards towards the boats and leaving the Titan to its feast.

Before long the thuds sounded again, the Titan on the move.  It wasn't heading directly towards them but it was definitely getting closer, either searching for them or just attracted by the mass of people fighting to get on the waiting boats.  The ragged group emerged out of an alleyway onto the wharf where a crush of people were pushing ever forwards to the last boat.  Soldiers were pushing back, telling people to wait and call forward children and their mothers.

[color=7ea7d8]"Wait here, I think I can do something."[/color] Lauren whispered, feeling too drained to even fake any confidence or energy.  She dimly knew that it had barely been any time at all since the Titan's broke into Shiganshina but it had felt like a lifetime and she felt aged from her experience, deep emotional wounds barely suppressed until she could deal with them safely.  With a force of will she let Mora take her father's wait and slipped into the crowd, her slight height and slim frame allowing her to weave through without too much trouble although she got elbowed several times and nearly fell.  Someone tried to claw at her when they noticed her getting ahead of them, leaving long marks on her arm but she wriggled free and pushed onwards.

Finally she was at the front and fell out of the press in front of a Garrison soldier who looked down, seeing her youth and bent down as if to pick her up and guide her onto the boat which she could now see was rammed full, so crammed that it looked ready to sink just through the sheer weight of its passenger load.

[color=7ea7d8]"Wait, my Pa!"[/color] She breathed, pointing back beyond the crowd.  [color=7ea7d8]"I'm Lauren Jones, my Ma was in the Garrison.  She said-"[/color]  The soldier said nothing as he picked her up, easily tucking the small girl under his arm and using his ODM to shoot over the crowd and let himself be directed by Lauren to where her father was.  He took the large man's weight and disappeared, using his gear to go around the crowd and onto the boat before returning for the two girls and their young charge.

Immediately after regrouping, Lauren noticed her father's pale skin become clammy and he looked weaker than she had ever seen him, now that they had made it to safety; however dubious it was.  His eyes were still clear though, and they sought her out and weighed her up, as if were making decision.

"Law, do you remember how to bind a wound?" He asked, his gaze steady as he stared into her eyes.  Hesitating for a moment, she looked around them, but eventually nodded.  She was trying not to look at the bloody bandages around the stump where his arm now ended, dreading what he was going to ask her to do.  "Good.  Then go and help these people.  Some of them will be hurt."  She looked up in surprise and he smiled, patting his shoulder gently.

"I bound it myself, girl.  Don't go dismissing your Pa just yet.  I've just lost a lot of blood, it'll take me a lot of rest to get back up to speed.  I'll look after the boy and your friend, go do what you can in my stead."

Looking over at Mora, Lauren could see the horror she was sure was reflected on her own face.  But at least she had her Pa still here, wounded but at least he was alive.  Her Ma was out there, still fighting or dead, but she hadn't had to witness the cruel fate that would end her life; Ra had seen everything firsthand and she had no idea where her parents were, if they were still alive.  All she had to show of her family was the young boy still clinging to her leg, a lasting memento from her brother.

[color=7ea7d8]"Ra, I'm going to go and see what I can do to help people.  Can you stay here with my Pa?"[/color]  She could still hear Cain's screams in her eyes, still so vivid, and as she spoke to Mora she couldn't hold down that particular wound anymore, the tears flooding down her face.  She drew her friend into a tight embrace, only able to wonder at the pain she must have been feeling. [color=7ea7d8]"I'm sorry, Ra. I'm so sorry."[/color]  She drew back after a time, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.  [color=7ea7d8]"I need to be doing something.  Anything.  I'll be back soon.  Just... rest."[/color]

She hurried away, lest her grief get the better of her again, and soon found the injured still awaiting treatment.  No one was even attempting to help them, their eyes fixated on the destruction of their home, hoping against hope that their family and friends would suddenly appear and climb onto the boat to join them in safety.  In reality, most had seen those people die; it just hadn't sunk in yet.  Ignoring those people, Lauren hurried up to someone who had a relatively minor injury; some of those awaiting treatment were beyond her ability and she was sure one or two had already died from their wounds, or had given up living.

[color=7ea7d8]"Hi, my name's Lauren.  My Pa's a medic, I'll help you best I can..."[/color] The boy wasn't much older than herself, perhaps a year, and was clutching a baby boy who he bore some resemblance to close to his chest, she trailed off as she recognised him from the picnic moments before the attack; the last few events ageing him considerably, she thought she probably looked the same.  [color=7ea7d8]"Gabriel!  Oh, I'm glad some of us made it."[/color]  He had the same haunted look Mora bore, one of grief still fresh in their mind and Lauren forced herself to look away, lest her mind make the inevitable connection to Cain in that Titan's grip...

She focused on the task in front of her instead, feeling gently around the wooden spike piercing the boy's leg and further down to where his ankle looked set at the wrong angle.  Frowning at the injury she glanced at the boy's face again, wondering how on earth he had managed to make it to the boat in his condition.  After searching around the area she found some bandages and a small bottle of water she 'borrow' from an unresponsive woman who had simply continued to stare at the wooden deck between her feet as Lauren spoke to her.

[color=7ea7d8]"I'm going to leave your ankle for now, they can fix that when we get to safety.  I'm going to take this wood out or you'll get an infection, it's going to hurt but I'll need to wash the wound and then put pressure on it.  If you pass out that's fine, okay?  I'll stay here."[/color]  She didn't wait for an answer, a trick her Pa had taught her, and simply pulled the splinter out in one firm movement.

She quickly poured water over the wound and wiped it away with a small piece of bandage before throwing the sullied dressing over the edge of the boat and then tightly wrapped more bandages around the boy's leg, firmly and ignoring the involuntary spasms of his leg.  Finally she tied the bandage off and then pressed her hands down onto the wound, applying additional pressure, resolving to stay there until at least the bleeding had stopped.

[color=7ea7d8]"Oh Gabriel, how did this happen?"[/color]  She asked rhetorically, not looking up from what she was doing to even see if he was conscious, or able to answer.  She was just making conversation, like her Pa had taught her.  Ma would probably think it was a sign of weakness and would tell the boy to endure the pain in silence but Ma was tough, tougher than anyone else.  Or at least, she had been.