HA\LF: Dead nor Alive

“Tommy, Daniel, what are you guys doing here?” Vincent said as he hugged both of them because it had been a while and seeing them there was enough to give him a bit of relief. On the other hand, Tommy, and Daniel were staring at Eve with fear written all over their faces.

Fanheim couldn’t let his gazes away from Eve as he walked toward Ruby.

“Can you explain to me what’s going on here? Isn’t she-” before Fanheim could finish his sentence, Faye and Aster approached him.

“Colonel Fanheim, thank you for saving us,” Faye said as she looked at Fanheim and Ruby who were making serious expressions. “Anyway, who told you about this operation, I thought that this operation is classified,”

“We heard from Marshal Gard that you guys are going to bring one up. So, I brought these guys with me and since I knew what we are dealing with, he ordered me to go down here and give you a hand,” Fanheim answered as he kept staring at Eve.

Faye noticed that Fanheim felt a bit uneasy with Eve’s presence, and she knew the reason why.

“I heard about what happened back then where Eve killed your men, and Ruby was also making the same expression back then,” Faye said and looked at Eve.

Eve gently smiled at Faye and then walked away to stay by Archie’s side._.

“You know about what happened? Then you know that she-” before Fanheim could finish his sentence again, Ruby cleared her throat and signaled Fanheim to stop talking. “I’m sorry, Lieutenant Faye, I have to speak privately with Major Ruby for a moment,”

Faye nodded with understanding and then she and Aster left them both alone.

“So, what’s this, Bub? Why is she with us? Not to mention she’s so close with Archie. Does that mean she’s settling down or something like that?” Fanheim asked as he looked at Archie and Eve talking with Faye and Aster so casually which was unbelievable to watch for him.

“It’s a long story but for now, all I can is that Eve is here for Archie and for him alone. She’s not here for anything else and as long as we are not being hostile to her, she won’t do any harm to anyone,” Ruby said and looked at Eve who kept stealing glances at Archie.

Fanheim hummed with understanding. “If you say so, then I believe you,” he replied and nodded his head.

Fanheim brought a support team with him and they were bringing ammo supplies for the Valor special force. Faye and the others immediately surrounded the crate and helped themselves while Archie and Eve only took a handful of bullets for their magnum.

The night time came and Faye decided to rest for the night there since it was safer compared to the others because the holes weren’t that many. Since Vincent was missing Tommy and Daniel, the three of them were staying up for the night and patrolled the cave until the morning together.

The sun wasn’t even up but everyone was ready to leave to go deeper into the cave. Faye and the others were at the front while Archie and Eve were at the back to protect the supply team.

“I thought they were going to approach you, Archie,” Eve said as she walked next to Archie and put her hands on her back.

“Who?” Archie looked at Eve.

“Those two,” Eve pointed her finger at Tommy and Daniel.

“Well, after what you did back then, I don’t think anyone would have the right mind to stay close to you. After seeing you stay close to me, I don’t think they’re brave enough to talk to me or even to approach me,” Archie said and started to chuckle quietly.

“Anyway, is there anything that you want to tell me before we go into the cave? There must be something that we need to avoid, right? Because the last time I went down, I wasn’t really welcomed by them and chopped my arm off,” Archie said as he remembered when he fell down to the cave.

“This one is far worse than the one back there, I think the chance for them to survive is almost zero. But that doesn’t mean they will die as long as they’re being careful and don’t attract the parasites’ attention,” Eve answered as she looked at the hole on the wall where a parasite was hiding and slowly backing away because of Eve’s oozing aura.

After an hour of walking, they finally reached the end of the cave and it wasn’t really the end. There was a massive hole that could fit the King-type parasite that Archie and Eve fought back then.

Everyone was standing in front of the hole and the chill wind was enough to make them hesitate to enter. Faye felt the same feeling that she felt when she discovered the hole, she could help but do nothing and gather her courage.

“This is the hole? What an eerie atmosphere that this hole produced,” Ruby stared into the darkness that she couldn’t see the end of it, only the steps that led down to the deep. “Should we think of a plan first?” she asked because even she didn’t want to go down there.

“Are you really going to waste time by thinking of a plan when you don’t even know what’s down there?” Eve asked as she walked to the front with Archie while the others were making paths for them to walk through. “Anyone should go down there and check,”

Faye looked at Aster but he only raised his eyebrows then she looked at Ruby and Vincent who were looking at each other and hesitated. Eve sighed and then grabbed Nova’s arm so suddenly that Nova almost let out a scream.

“You’re coming with us, you’re the only one who has been so quiet lately,” Eve said and looked at Nova who was panicking and didn’t know what to say because she didn’t want to be called a coward. “Don’t worry, we can just run away if we encounter a king-type parasite. Maybe,” Eve chuckled mischievously and made Nova frightened.

Fanheim stared at Eve and he was a bit surprised that she was like an ordinary human, but he couldn’t erase the fact that she was the most dangerous threat to humankind.

Archie, Eve, and Nova went into the hole while the others looked at them with worried expressions. Nova got chilled down her spine the moment the cold breeze hit her face and nape while Eve kept holding her arm so she wouldn’t run away.

Archie used the flashlight and pointed it at the ground so they wouldn’t slip and ended up like him back then. The steps were stooped and they had to carefully walked down the hole as they started to be surrounded by darkness.

“So, uhh…” Nova’s voice was trembling and she sounded so scared. “Are you guys not scared?” she asked as she gulped and looked at both of them who walked in front of her.

“Scared? Of what? Parasites? Darkness?” Eve replied as she kept holding Nova’s arm.

“Uhh, no, I’m talking about the unknown. Are you guys not afraid of being in a place that you don’t know? Especially a place where humans are not welcomed,” Nova answered as she looked down the steps.

[0)ᴠʟ “Everything is the unknown outside the city, Nova. Even if you have visited some places, when you come back there again, you wouldn’t know anything but danger. Once you think there’s no safe place outside, you will start to think nothing is scarier than that and you will end up overcoming that fear,” Archie answered and pointed the flashlight at the walls and ceiling to check if there were holes on the walls.

“That information isn’t going to help me at all right now, Archie,” Nova replied as she slowly stood closer to Eve. “I hate this, I really hate this,”

The three of them had been walking down the dark hole for half an hour and they started to hear faint growls and screeches from in front of them. Nova didn’t even say a single word ever since because she was overwhelmed by the fear.

Archie looked in the distance and squinted his eyes, he saw a light brighten the path and hurriedly walked down the hole to check it out.

The moment the three of them reached the end of the hole, they were welcomed by thick cold mist. The three of them couldn’t see anything as they walked so slowly and carefully because Eve told them so until they saw the terrain of the world underneath the earth.

“Wow, is this real?” Nova asked and her fear slowly lifted from her shoulder as she walked to the front to look at the terrain.

Archie and Eve looked around and they sensed hundreds of parasites underneath them and he immediately grabbed Nova’s hand and pulled her back so slowly.

“Be careful, behind this beauty, there’s a terror waiting for us,” Archie said and glanced at Eve.