HA\LF: Dead nor Alive

Archie was chilling on the porch with Fanheim since they didn’t want to bother Elena. They talked until the sun rose, and they didn’t realize the time until the sun was hitting their faces. They were talking about Elena, and Fanheim wanted to know what Archie’s plan about her.

Archie thought to himself about it, and after knowing both Eve and him wanted the same thing and felt the same thing toward Elena. He had no doubt that he wanted to take care of her for as long as Elena wanted to stay with them.

“You should know that taking care of a child like her won’t be easy. It’s not just about making sure she’s safe and live happy life, but you have to teach her and make sure she doesn’t become something that we both don’t want,” Fanheim said as he stared at the blue sky. “You know what I’m talking about, we both have no idea what she’s capable of,” Fanheim continued as he stared at Archie.

“Yeah, I’m aware of that. I will try to find out more about her and the parasite that lives inside her,” Archie replied as he nodded his head.

“I know that it’s nothing for you, but for us, normal human beings, she’s enough to threaten us,” Fanheim said with a serious expression.

“I know, I will try my best,” Archie replied.

“Alright, I guess it’s time for me to get a short nap,” Fanheim said as he stood up and stretched his arms and back. “I wonder if Ruby and the others have arrived at the secret base. I can’t help but get anxious when thinking about them doing mission,” Fanheim continued as he walked away.

Archie smiled, and then walked inside the house.

“Good morning,” Eve said as she poured herself a glass of water.

“Oh, you’re awake? What about Elena?” Archie asked as he tilted his head to look at the bedroom.

“She’s still asleep, and yeah, I have been awake since dawn and I have been listening to your conversation with Fanheim,” Eve answered. “Do you want to do it?” Eve asked as she looked at Archie.

“Do what?” Archie asked back with his eyebrows raised.

“Check Elena’s ability. I think I can try and pull out what’s living inside her,” Eve answered and drank the water.

“How are you going to do that? Will it be painful?” Archie asked.

“Who knows,” Eve answered as she sat down at the table and stared at the bedroom. “One thing that I notice is that she actually can change herself into a parasite, but she doesn’t want to do it,” Eve explained.

Archie was surprised, and then sat right in front of Eve.

“What do you mean she can change herself into a parasite? You mean transforming herself into parasite? Just like us?” Archie asked quietly.

“Yes, that’s exactly as you said. I’m also curious how can a small child who invested by parasites a few months ago could become like that. I think the answer is the parasite itself, so we will find the truth if we see what kind of parasite that live inside her by luring it out and show itself to us,” Eve answered.

“Let’s not force her to do that, I don’t want her to think that we are just like them, who only cared about the parasite,” Archie said as he looked at Eve with a serious expression.

“Of course! I’m not going to force her. We can wait for as long as we want because it’s not that really important. I’m just curious, that’s all,” Eve replied as she nodded her head with understanding.

They both talked about other things as they waited for Elena to wake up. It took longer than they thought because Elena woke up at noon, and she looked so refreshed. Her eyes were red-rimmed because of the crying last night, and Eve immediately picked her up and gave her a bowl of oatmeal to eat at the dining table.

The two of them were listening intently to Elena’s account of her nightmare, and the fact that she had suffered through it during her time at the secret base. Although it was a nightmare, she wasn’t bothered by it because she had gotten used to it, and the nightmare wasn’t as bad as she had feared it would be.

Elena was eating her oatmeal when it suddenly became quiet. She looked at Eve and Archie, who were sitting right in front of her, and found them staring at her. She stared back at them, as if she was reading their minds, and made Eve and Archie wonder what she was thinking.

“What’s wrong, Elena?” Eve asked.

“I haven’t asked this, but are you both not a human? Are you a parasite?” Elena asked back.

“We are not a human nor a parasite. We are something in between,” Eve answered with a smile. “We have the power of a parasite, but we still have consciousness like a human,” Eve explained.

“Is that why you have been living for hundreds of years? You can’t die?” Elena asked.

“How do you know that? I think I haven’t told you anything about me,” Eve asked with a curious look on her face.

“I don’t know, it’s just came to my mind that you have been living for hundreds of years. Maybe it’s because of the parasites inside you and how scared the parasite inside my body is when being close to you. He never been that scared before even though I have been living inside that place for months,” Elena answered.

“Well, I hope that doesn’t bother you if I’m two hundreds years old,” Eve said as she stroked Elena’s hair and smiled at her.

Elena shook her head as she kept eating her oatmeal, not complaining about the subpar food or her forced confinement. She looked happy enough to be there with Archie and Eve, and she hoped that she could stay like this forever.

“Are we going to stay here from now on?” Elena asked.

“No, we will be moving to the other side of the world,” Archie answered.

“Other side of the world? Like where?” Elena asked curiously.

“The Eastern Nation, we will be using ship to leave. We will be leaving as soon as we are done here, so I think it’s the right time to ask you if you’re okay with that. We aren’t going to force you come with us, and since we promise you that we will be by your side, we will stay if you don’t want to go,” Archie said as he looked at Eve.

“No, I want to go. I want to see the world, and I haven’t on a ship before so I’m excited about it!” Elena answered in excitement.

Both Eve and Archie smiled at Elena because of how happy she was.

Two days had passed, and the three of them were exploring the forest as if they were on a trip. Archie and Eve brought her to her village a day ago, and they saw the whole village was guarded by Axis Humans. It appeared that those people realized that Elena couldn’t be found anywhere and decided to check the village.

The worst part about their trip was that there were no graves or anything. Elena wanted to visit her family’s grave and all her friends, but there was nothing like that near the village. Although she was sad about it, she didn’t cry at that time because she didn’t want to dwell on it and wanted to become strong like Archie and Eve.

Archie and Eve still had no idea about what kind of parasite that lived inside Elena. They didn’t want to bring it up, or at least not at that moment, because they felt like it would make her anxious. They would wait until Elena decided to talk about it herself.

“They should be back by now, right?” Archie asked.

“It depends. The base might be bigger than the one we destroyed. It could take them another day or even more. I think you should go out there and help them maybe?” Eve replied as she was hugging Elena on her lap.

“I will go and ask Fanheim about it,” Archie said as he stood up and walked down the porch.

Before Archie could even step forward, he heard the sound of car engines speeding towards the town in the distance. Everyone heard that, and they all immediately walked out of their houses to see if those engines belonged to Ruby’s car and the others.

“It’s them! They all back!” The guy who kept an eye on the forest said.

Marlon and Fanheim approached Archie, and the three of them waited at the front.

Cars appeared and drove toward them. They all stopped right in front of Archie, and then Ruby came out of the car covered in dried blood and bandages all over her arms and legs.

“We completed the mission,” Ruby said with a bit of a smile on her face.