From Marley, with Love.

Chapter 81: The last halt

Rosanna sat on a large rock, overlooking the city of Shinganshina. She had stalled out all of her equipment and potions on her coat that she had spread out over a flat piece of rock that belonged to a large sandstone boulder that had collapsed next to the smaller rock. She took out one of the syringes from the bag, running iodine over the needle and across her arm where she would inject it. She took up the bottle of antibiotics and tipped it upside down, she pushed on the plunger to let out air bubbles. She then took a deep breath, carefully pushing the needle into her vein. She winced when the needle broke skin, but slowly pressed on the plunger to administer the shot.

She breathed out deeply when she pulled the needle from her skin and pressed it onto the rock to break the tip and make it blunt. She then tossed away the used needle. With a cotton pad she soaked up the little droplet of blood on her arm that had escaped from her veins. And with a band aid she closed the wound.

Now at least her wounds could heal without an infection.

She looked at the bottle. The text on it, the liquid sloshing inside.

"This is probably the last type of antibiotic left in the world..." she whispered to herself.

She shook her head and started packing.

With her bag worn across her body, she descended from the rock like a mountain goat. Using her toes to feel out good grips on the rock.

She stopped when she got the road overlooking the one coming from Shinganshina. Hanji had dropped her off here on the outskirts of paradise, near the harbour and told Rosanna to stay put.

Rosanna had set up a small camp, eaten some bread and dried ham while investigating the nearby fields. The harbour was swarmed with Yeagerists, heavily armed and on guard. She had almost been caught when she was passing to closely by the harbour's outer perimeter where mostly coal was kept.

Rosanna's head shot up when she heard the familiar sound of the wheels of two carts pulling across a sandy road. She rushed down the hill, almost slipping on a rock before she landed on both her feet at the side of the road. Hanji turned to look at her.

"You stayed put... good..." they said.

"As requested, commander."

"Did you get a scope of the area?" Hanji asked while they climbed down from the wagon.

"The whole place is packed with yeagerists. Armed and ready to defend the harbour."

Hanji frowned.

"Well that is a pickle..." they said, putting their arm through Rosanna's hooked arm and walked with her friend for a short distance.

"We'll have to distract them somehow..." Hanji turned around again to face Armin and Jean who had gotten off of the wagon. Jean's hand was completely open at the knuckles, as if he had hammered away at something or someone.

"You need some iodine?" Rosanna asked, pointing at his sore head.

He hesitated, not particularly trusting the woman who had almost busted out his teeth with her elbow when he tried to get her up the airship. Then he saw the genuine concern on the woman's face and he obliged with a curt nod.

Rosanna sat beside Jean with the iodine and cotton rounds, gently soaking the rounds of cotton and placing them onto Jean's trembling hands. The stinging made him hiss.

"Almost done..." Rosanna said, removing the pads and taking out a clean bandage.

Jean looked at her as she carefully wrapped up his palm.