A/N: This story won't make sense unless you know who Historia is. If you don't, I'd recommend reading the manga before you start reading this.

"Oh God." she said. "Oh my God. Oh."

Beside her, Eren was breathing heavily, blood spattered across his face. There was wildness in his eyes that terrified her. Currently, they were all staring at the dead body on the floor, but she couldn't shake the feeling that if he looked up and caught her eye he'd lunge at her like he had at-

There was a knife in his hand, but there was more blood on his fingers than on the knife itself. There was blood matted in his hair and sweat on his face. He reached up with a shaking hand to wipe the sweat off and left bloody smears across his forehead.

She was shaking too, she noticed.

Compared to her and Eren, Mikasa was incredibly calm. While Eren was shaking and panting, Mikasa was steady, her breathing even. The only hint that something was wrong was the bloody syringe in her hand. It was a stark contrast to Eren's manic trembling.

Mikasa was the first one to fully look away from the butchered corpse on the ground.

"Krista."

She kept staring at the body of her maths teacher. Her maths teacher who had tried to strangle her minutes ago, for reasons she still didn't fully understand.

"Krista."

She could hear Mikasa, but she couldn't bring herself to acknowledge her. Acknowledging Mikasa would mean that all this was real, and that wasn't something she was ready to accept.

"Historia."

Historia's head snapped up. Mikasa was staring at her in concern. The syringe she had used to slit the dead man's throat was still dripping. Historia felt like throwing up.

"Historia, can you tell Armin that it's over? We're going to need to escape."

Escape. Why escape? Historia was still too numb to think about it, but she could follow an order. Almost two years of military school had taught her that much. She put one foot in front of the other and slowly made her way to the fire exit. Behind her, she could hear Mikasa talking softly to Eren. Historia could hear some of what she was saying, but the words meant nothing to her.

Armin was waiting outside, leaning against the wall. He straightened when Historia pushed the door open.

"Is it over?"

She nodded.

"Levi's dead." The words felt strange on her tongue, false. Eren and Mikasa were just teenagers. They shouldn't have won that fight.

Armin nodded, like he had expected that all along. He probably had, otherwise he would have brought more than just Mikasa to help. He stared at her with the same type of sympathy she'd seen in Mikasa.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." he said gently.

She could have told him that it wasn't the first time someone had been killed in front of her, because of her. But there was no point. She knew she was in shock, and Armin clearly was not. That should have worried her. His two best friends had just murdered a teacher and he wasn't even shaken.

"I'm guessing we need to leave, fast?"

She nodded. Leave. Could she leave? She'd been sent here to die, that much she understood. Her father had been kind, allowing her a noble death in the military instead of slitting her throat in an alley like he'd done to her mother. She was supposed to stay here until she graduated into the military, and then die a martyr. Running away had never been an option.

Except now it seemed like it was her only option. Run before the others realized what had happened. Run away with these three classmates who she barely knew. Run… run where?

Armin was talking again. She forced herself to listen, to understand what his words meant.

"They won't be expecting us back in the dorms for a while. Mikasa knocked the nurse unconscious though, so we best hurry. There's no point trying to hide the body, there were too many witnesses earlier. Tell them to climb out the window in Marco's room. I'll hotwire a car and meet them outside, ok Krista?"

"I… yeah. I'll tell them."

He smiled again, and there was nothing cheery about it. Gently, as if she was going to fall apart, he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"You best go now. If everything goes well I'll see you in a few minutes." He gave her a small push towards the door. "Now go. Eren's probably calmed down by now. Remember, the window in Marco's room. One of the bars is loose."

She started walking again, listening as Armin's hurried footsteps grew faint. Pushing open the door, she walked inside, and her eyes were immediately drawn to the corpse. It hadn't been a clean death at all, and blood was sprayed all over the floor and the tables, something she was sure Levi would hate.

If he was still alive.

Eren had calmed down considerably and he greeted Historia with an even voice, something that scared her even more. Only minutes ago he had been stabbing a man to death while screaming at the top of his lungs, and now he was acting as if he had done nothing but stub his toe. Mikasa was cleaning the worst of the blood off of him when Historia walked in.

"Historia, right? Or do you still want me to call you Krista?" She didn't reply. "What did Armin say?"

"He's getting a car ready." She was surprised by her own steady voice, but perhaps that was due to the shock. "He said to use Marco and Connie's window to get out. One of the bars is loose."

"Alright then." Eren said, sounding as determined as he did during their close combat training. "Let's go Mikasa!"

He ran to the door, and Mikasa followed. She paused and looked back once she realized that Historia hadn't moved.

"Are you coming?"

Historia turned and followed them, trying not to think about the dead body they were leaving in the room. Someone was going to come in and find Levi's corpse, and it would probably be incredibly traumatic for them. She should have cared, but she wasn't ready to feel anything yet, let alone guilt.

The kept their heads low and their footsteps quiet as they made their way through the school halls and up to the dormitories. Eren lead them, only changing his course when Mikasa muttered an instruction at him. Historia stayed a step or two behind, still not sure why she was following them. Escape implied freedom, and Historia didn't know if she wanted that. She didn't know if she wanted anything at all. Krista wanted to help people and to serve her country, but Krista wasn't real. Was Historia a real person anymore? Had she ever been?

They made their way into the boys' dorm without seeing anyone other than Daz, who scuttled out of their way once he saw the look in Eren and Mikasa's eyes. Historia didn't know how she looked. She felt numb, so maybe her eyes reflected that. It didn't matter anyway. She was never going to see any of them again.

Eren barged into Marco's room, letting out a sigh of relief when he realized it was empty. Marco was probably down in the dining hall, and Connie was probably getting yelled at by Shadis. Both beds were neatly made, which meant that they probably wouldn't be back for a while, otherwise they wouldn't have bothered.

Mikasa walked over to the window and gave an experimental tug on all of the bars. Then she grabbed one and wrenched hard, and it came loose. It took seven blows for the lock on the window to smash, and Eren grew more and more impatient. When it finally broke he shoved past Mikasa and pushed the window open, easing himself out onto the ledge.

"Eren be careful!" He had already dropped before Mikasa was even finished.

Historia watched as Mikasa shook her head. She didn't seem too annoyed by Eren's recklessness. It was legendary amongst the cadets, even those who had never met him, so perhaps she was used to it. Historia walked over to the window and looked down. They were only on the second floor, but it still looked like a long way to fall. Mikasa gave Historia a look, scrutinizing her petite frame.

"Can you jump?" Mikasa asked.

She hesitated, before nodding. Mikasa was clearly not convinced.

"There's no point being brave. If you twist your ankle you'll slow us all down. I'll go first, so that I can catch you." She paused, giving Historia another evaluating look. Historia still didn't know what Mikasa was learning from them.

"Is there anyone that you want to say goodbye to?"

A lot of people were friendly with Krista Lenz. Historia shook her head.

Mikasa slipped out onto the ledge and dropped down with all the grace Eren had lacked. Historia climbed out and tried to ignore her shaking limbs. It wasn't like she could go back. Despite living in the same dorm, Historia barely knew Mikasa, yet she had no choice but to trust her. Her life as Krista was crumbling down around her, and these three teenagers were the only thing providing any kind of steadiness.

She pushed off, and for a second she was falling. Then she landed with a jolt in Mikasa's arms, who didn't bother putting her down before jogging after Eren.

Eren skidded to a halt at the corner of the street, swivelling his head around violently.

"Where is he?" he whispered angrily when they caught up. "He said he was getting a car, right?"

Before she could reply, they heard the roar of an engine. A white van screeched to a halt beside them, Armin at the wheel. He didn't look particularly confident behind the wheel, but he motioned for them to get in. Eren swung himself into the passenger seat, while Mikasa ran around to the back and flung open the doors, dumping Historia inside.

"Drive." she said.

The van took off; the back doors still wide open. Mikasa pulled herself inside and slammed them shut just as they turned a corner. She and Historia were both flung into the side, and they could hear Eren yelling from the front.

"Armin! Have you ever driven before?"

"My grandpa gave me lessons when I was eleven! I wasn't very good, but I still remember most of the instructions. Why, can you drive?"

Eren fell quiet, and it was Mikasa who spoke up in the end.

"Once we put some distance between us and the school, we'll take shifts driving. Eren and I have never driven before, but we'll learn."

Eren gave an angry snort. Mikasa was a notoriously quick learner, and Historia had seen them arguing about it before, on the other side of the dining hall. Eren's voice had been loud enough for most of the hall to hear the fight, but it hadn't done him any favours. He'd managed to pick up the nickname of 'jealous dick', although no one dared to call him that in front of Mikasa.

The next hour was spent in tense silence. The only sounds were the hum of the engine and Eren's loud breathing. Mikasa sat completely still and Historia copied her, not willing to get on the bad side of people who were so calm about murder.

Eventually, her thoughts started becoming more coherent, and one pressing question refused to leave her head.

"Where are we going?" she asked at last.

"South." Armin replied.

She would have asked for a location that was more specific, but she had a feeling that none of them really had an answer.

Another hour passed in silence. Historia looked to her side and realised that Mikasa had fallen asleep. She suddenly became aware of her own fatigue, now that her adrenaline rush had subsided. Her eyes began to droop, and she slouched down against the side of the van.

Just as she was about to drop off, she heard Eren's voice.

"Armin, pull over and let Mikasa drive. You look like you're going to pass out."

Armin murmured something in reply and she heard them shuffling around. The van swerved slightly and the engine cut out. Beside her, Mikasa stood up, almost making Historia jump. She could have sworn Mikasa had been asleep a second ago.

"We need to change our licence plate." Armin said. "Otherwise it'll be easy for them to find us. Also, we're all too young to be driving, so have to avoid being pulled over at all costs."

"Leave the licence plate to me." Eren said, and Historia thought she caught a flash of his knife, but a second later it was gone. He opened the door and slipped out, slamming it behind him. Armin rolled his eyes, while Mikasa muttered something that sounded like "So dramatic."

Armin climbed out of his seat and made his way to the back of the van. He slid down opposite Historia, a friendly smile on his face. Historia didn't buy it for a second. These three were dangerous.

"Hi." he said. "I know this must all be hard to process, but I promise that you're safe with us."

She stared at him and said nothing, letting the silence grow awkward.

"I know Eren can be scary when he gets like that." Armin said at last. "But-"

"'Gets like that.'" she says flatly. "You mean he's killed people before?"

Mikasa was the one who answered her.

"He killed two kidnappers when he was nine. They murdered my parents and were planning on selling me to some paedophile. " She spoke like she was reciting a list of facts. "I killed the third one myself."

Once again, Historia had the strange feeling that she should be concerned by this. All she felt was sleepy.

The silence grew again, and she could practically see the gears turning in Armin's head as he tried to find a topic that could put her at ease.

"You were on the swim team with me, right?"

She nodded.

"What other sport did you do?"

"Horse-riding."

"Oh? You like horses?"

She shrugged. Krista had loved horses, but horses reminded Historia of her childhood. She wasn't sure how she felt about them. Armin was looking at her hopefully, and she struggled to find a way to explain to him that the girl who he'd known for the past year and a half had been nothing more than an act. Krista was a jumble of personality traits designed to make her lovable, someone who would be remembered fondly. Historia was more of a real person than Krista, and Historia was made up of nothing but emptiness and apathy.

"What was your other sport?" she said, hoping he wouldn't notice her lack of an answer. Judging from the look on his face, he had. Armin was incredibly smart; everyone at the school had known it.

"We decided to do karate together." Historia didn't even bother asking who 'we' was. Clearly, the bond between these three ran deep. "While I picked swimming, Mikasa did judo and Eren did rowing."

"Rowing."

"Yep. Apparently he found it soothing."

She didn't bother replying to that, knowing that neither of them would appreciate any less than flattering remark she made about Eren.

The passenger door swung open and Eren clambered in, filling the silence in the car with his loudness.

"New licence plates, front and back." He was grinning, which Historia found disturbing. Historia found nearly everything about Eren disturbing, from the way he killed people to the way he talked. He was just too intense. It was unsettling.

"I'll drive." Mikasa said immediately. "Armin, you can show me the basics, right?"

He nodded and the two of them moved to the front. Historia realized that she had no idea where they were.

"Where are we?" she asked Armin.

"A small village, about an hour south from the town Eren and I were born in."

"So we're not stopping at Shiganshina." Eren said.

"It's not like there's anything left there for us." Mikasa said, and Historia thought she detected some actual emotion in her voice.

The trio exchanged looks that were heavy with significance. Historia didn't understand any of it, but she didn't bother asking. It looked like she would be staying with them for now. Their history was bound to be revealed sooner or later.

One thing was clear. Even if you ignored murdering a teacher, everyone in this van had demons.

She just hoped she could get through this without confronting hers.