FOUR HOURS, SEVENTEEN MINUTES AND THREE SECONDS EARLIER
{deditionem - (verb) stop to an enemy or opponent and submit to their authority.}
y/n's pov:
Initially, I kicked myself for not reaching this conclusion sooner.
How had I not seen this before? All the signs were there.
I didn't know him, nethertheless trust him. I expressed that openly with Newt months ago, but he brushed me off.
"You just need to warm up to him." He said.
But I never did, and now, here we are.
The door handle turned and a sliver of light was let into the room. It illuminated the area enough for him to see me, and hesitate.
"Come in and shut the door."
He notices the gun drawn at him, so he does as told, and closes the door behind him. I turn the lamp on beside me, gesturing to him to sit down on the chair opposite.
He sits down, sighing.
I maintain my composure. "Remove your weapons. Slide them this way."
He clearly didn't want to, but did so at my request. He passes over his two pistols and the dagger he had in his belt, and slumps back in his seat.
"How much do you know?"
"You don't get to ask questions right now, Rainer."
He was watching my movements so intently it was almost suffocating.
I take in a breath, meeting his eyes now. "People are coming, aren't they?"
Rainer nods his head gently.
"How many?" I ask.
I knew it would be more than our own numbers; we have less than one hundred soldiers to fight for camp, and it's clear that won't be enough.
"Four hundred."
We're all going to die.
"When?"
Rainer readjusts himself carefully. "They'll be here tonight."
He knows that killing him changes nothing. Wicked will still get through the gates, and they will still take the camp as their own.
"Tell me everything. From the day the city fell, to now."
This confused him. "You think that will change anything?"
"No, but I have nothing else to lose. So, from the beginning."
–
"You're telling me that was all coincidental? Bullshit."
Rainer glares. "I'm not lying to you, y/n. The city fell, and I had two choices: your people execute me on sight, or I hide myself in a rebel group. Their leader hadn't made it, and it was almost divine intervention that they put me in charge in his place."
I lean forward, intrigued. "And you had no connection to Wicked at that time?"
He shakes his head. "Not initially. I was only interested in growing and improving our camp at this stage because as far as I was concerned, everyone I worked with was dead."
Rainer's frown turns upward slightly. "That was, until, the blonde boy we had rescued from the city woke up, and started talking about you."
I felt like I knew where this was going.
