We Are All Killers [Snk ~ Reiner x Bertolt]

Chapter 22: The Truth Dies With You

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Reiner's POV

I remembered waking up to a dark room. I couldn't feel my arms or legs, but I knew they were still tied. I was laying on the cold ground. As I looked around me, everything was blurry. My vision began to adjust.

Then I saw Bertolt. He was by my side, tied up and laying on the ground as well.

"Bertolt!" I called out.

He stirred slightly at the sound of his name. I decided to try again. This time, he slowly rose from his deep slumber. He looked around him at his environment, dazed and confused.

"Reiner, where is this?"

I looked around me and above me. There was no indication of where we might have been. All we knew was that we were in a dark, dome-shaped room. The floors were made of dark granite. It shimmered slightly under the dim light.

"Looks like it is finally time for our talk," a voice boomed.

We both looked at the source.

Governor Zackley walked out from the shadows, hands tucked behind his back. "I waited until now, so you'll, of course ,die with the knowledge. It's always more entertaining this way for me. Watching the secrets diminish with people's lives."

He circled around us as we kneeled in the center. We were vulnerable to his words and anything he decides to do.

"Where shall I start?" Zackley asked himself. "I know. So Bertolt was a curious child indeed. He liked to question things. And when he grew up, he knew that the system was morally wrong. He knew that he wasn't able to kill anyone, so he silently accepted death. A depressing story.

And you, Reiner. A young boy who had a supportive older brother. Of course your brother was unfortunately weak, therefore being killed by his Equivalent. You then swore revenge on the system and joined The Next Generation, an adorable little rebellious group.

You two met each other, fell for one another, and one thing led to the next, now you're both going to die. I believe I summed up your lives pretty well, don't you think? A shame it sounds rather bland, but believe me, it is definitely more interesting than others. Now I happen to know that you have questions that you are dying to ask me. Now go on, ask."

Silence.

"Oh?" Zackley sighed. "Bertolt, I know you probably have quite a few of those."

"I have one," I sneered. "Why do you have the audacity to let the people here kill each other while you sit high above them?"

"Good question, Braun," Zackley responded. "You see, it's quite easy if you throw away all your mortality. It takes years and years of practice, but you get used to it. If you are born in a wretched world, you have to live with it. You two have sneaked outside before haven't you? Let's go over some history, shall we?

By the year 2050, the fossil fuel supply ran out. The wild bee populations died. The green grass plains were now dead without the bees to pollinate them. Then the animals died, cows, pigs, you name it. We killed our world. Humanity was starving. There was no such thing as leisure time anymore. People stopped getting an education because they needed to survive.

There was only one way to survive and that was to decrease the earth's population. Once the populations was down, we built walls. These walls. They were meant for a temporary protection from the storm outside that may rage on for a billion years. We have no way to communicate for other. For all we know, we could be the last group of humans alive. We built these walls on a fake promise that we will go out there once again when everything is better. But it will never get better.