HALF: Dead nor Alive

“This is nostalgic and brings back bad memories at the same time,” Archie said as he looked at the bunker that led him to the underground where the bullet train was.

“Right? I don’t even remember when the last time I went down to the underground since the Eastern Nation lost electricity,” Ruby replied as she entered the bunker with the others. “Although I miss this, it gives me a bit of anxiety,” she continued.

Eve looked at the Axis Humans that came with Faye, a total of 102 Axis Humans were going down the bunker. Their gazes were pointing at her and it really annoyed her that she started to think about killing them so they would stop staring at her.

“Alright! We are leaving in ten minutes! Check your equipment and make sure you don’t forget anything!” Faye said as she put her gun belt and vest belt on.

While everyone was busy preparing their stuff, the ground shook and they all looked at the ceiling. It was the blimp that tried to fly and it brought the secret weapon to deal with parasites like the king.

“So, that developed weapon, is it a bomb?” Ruby asked as she looked at Faye.

“Yes, it’s a bomb but it’s not like any other bombs since it doesn’t explode,” Faye answered and put her guns in the belts. “It’s pretty much harmless to the humans but it’s dangerous to parasites,” she continued as she looked at Ruby.

“But we still have a parasite inside our body, are you sure we are going to be safe near that bomb?” Vincent asked.

“They have tested it and it’s safe since we are not entirely a parasite,” Aster answered as he put on his vest.

“What does that even mean?” Nova asked as she checked the magazine.

“To put it simply, if our blood is still red and not black or any dark colors, we won’t be affected by it. The radiation is only harmful to parasites because their whole body is covered in parasites while we are not,” Faye said as she looked at them.

Archie and Eve looked at each other and they were a bit worried about that developed weapon. He would be fine as long as he could regenerate but Eve on the other hand couldn’t and it might be dangerous to her.

“Anyway, you don’t have to worry because nothing will happen to us,” Faye said as she walked past them to check on the others. Ruby and Vincent looked at Archie and Eve with worried expressions.

“Alright, it’s time!” Faye shouted and everyone immediately walked toward the elevator and went down to the station.

Everyone get on the train and they immediately went down to the south.

“Listen up! Since we will be fighting a king-type parasite who’s currently in the middle of the sea. We are going up to the Sky Station and protect the bridge with everything we got,” Faye said and stared at everyone. “The estimated time for the blimp to reach the south will be three hours after we reached our destination, so keep it in mind that we are going to be on our own for three hours!” she continued with a serious expression.

“Ma’am, we have never fought a king-type parasite, we also have no information related to the parasite that we are going to deal with. I heard these parasites have some kind of special ability and we can’t just go there and face it head on,” A soldier asked with his hand raised.

Faye nodded with understanding. “I know that you’re worried but this is the reason why they made this special force. We will be dealing with anything with zero information, your skill to adapt and survive are the best compared to the other Axis Humans. This is our first real mission, so don’t give me that look and do your best,” she explained.

Archie looked at them and every single one of them was nervous and anxious about the mission. Ruby and Vincent who had been battling a king still couldn’t keep themselves calm knowing how terrifying a king-type parasite was.

While everyone was collecting their courage, Eve was amazed by the tunnel and looked at it as if she was on a tour or vacation. Archie was more worried about Eve’s safety because he wanted to know how dangerous the bomb was.

After three hours of a dark tunnel, they finally could see the end of the station and everyone immediately stood up.

The close they were to the scene, the more stressed and anxious they were, it reminded Archie of the moment he entered FalCon-1 with Iohann and the rest of the team. The atmosphere felt the same, the expressions they made were the same, and lastly, the scenery looked the same as he went up in the elevator.

The doors were opened, and they were in the far south of the Central Nation. It was already empty because people had been evacuated since they could see the king-type parasite in the distance.

All of them were shocked at how big that parasite was and they started to believe that they would only send their lives to that parasite rather than fight it. Faye took a deep breath and exhaled deeply with her trembling breath.

No matter how prepared they were, how hard they tried to convince themselves, the moment they saw that massive parasite that walked in the sea, they lost all of them in an instant.

“Let’s move, the longer you stared at it, the less brave you will get. Trust me, everything that is going on in your head, would happen or even get far worse,” Ruby said as she grabbed Faye’s shoulder.

“If you’re afraid! Just think that your friend will hold the responsibility for your life! All of you have to look at your left and right, that’s the lives you have to protect during the mission. The less you think about yourself, the brave you will get! Trust your friends and partners because they’re the only ones you got!” Ruby said as she looked at the Axis Humans in front of her.

Ruby’s word struck everyone’s chest and it was good enough to give them courage. Faye looked at her and nodded her head to show gratitude for bringing everyone back on their feet.

“Let’s move!” Ruby shouted and everyone immediately followed her from behind.

It wasn’t about who had the higher rank, in that world, the experience was the only measurement in the military. The more experienced they were, the more respected they would be and that was a fact.

“That’s a nice speech you got there, Ruby,” Archie said as he walked next to her.

Ruby sighed and closed her eyes with a bit of smile on her face. “That’s all I can do,” she replied as she looked at Archie.

“I think that was enough, everyone needed that,” Archie said as he looked forward. “Back then, there was no such a thing as encouraging words, the last thing I heard from Iohann was if we were to fail, we have no regret. How discouraging that was for someone who had no experience in the real world,” he continued as he chuckled quietly.

“Our only hope is you and Eve, Archie, I don’t think the bomb would do anything to a king-type parasite because we have seen it ourselves that the serum didn’t even do anything to it,” Ruby said as she looked at Faye who walked in front of her.

“I’m not sure about that, Ruby, I’m worried that Eve might be in danger if she got exposed to the radiation because it sounded like a real deal to me,” Archie replied as he looked at Eve who walked next to him.

Eve turned her head and looked at them. “You’re afraid that I’m going to die? You don’t have to worry about me because I won’t die,” she said. “Even if I’m dying, I know for sure that Archie would come and save me because I believe he would do something like that,” she continued as she stared at Archie with a gentle smile on her face.

“I will but that doesn’t mean you can be careless out there because we will be in the middle of the sea. If I fell down to the sea, I won’t be able to do much to come to save you, so please be careful and stay by my side,” Archie replied with a bit of concern on his face.

“I will stay by your side and nothing can stop me from doing so. Although I said that I won’t die, that doesn’t mean I can’t,” Eve said. “If I die, it will be the end for the earth as well because that was what they told me back then,” she continued as she looked at Archie.

“So, please protect me, my Adam,” Eve whispered into Archie’s ear with a smile on her face.