HA\\LF: Dead nor Alive

“You made it,” Ruby said quietly and awkwardly as she stared at Archie. Vincent and the others were looking at each other with confusion.

“Yes, I made it but that’s not something that you shoulder be thinking about right now,” Archie said. “I need to speak with Fanheim,” he continued as he looked at Vincent.

“Colonel is up ahead with Marlon, come,” Vincent said and they both walked past Ruby.

“Colonel,” Vincent called Fanheim as he walked right behind him.

Fanheim turned around and saw Archie, he looked so surprised but relieved at the same time. “What is it, Vincent?” He asked as he moved to the side so he won’t block the way for other people.

Archie looked at his surroundings and made sure nobody was listening to them. “There’s a slight problem here on the island,” he said quietly.

“A problem? Is this about parasites or something else?” Fanheim asked.

“It’s about parasites, but you don’t have to worry about the surface of the island since I have dealt with them already,” Archie answered. “It’s something more troublesome,” he continued as he looked at Fanheim.

“Another king?” Fanheim asked.

“No, but there could be one underneath us,” Archie replied. “I will show it to you once we found a place to stay since you guys seem exhausted from the journey,” he said.

Fanheim nodded with understanding and then the three of them walked back to the group and find a place to stay on the island.

After walking for almost half a day, they finally found a vast open field with cliffs surrounding the field. Marlon decided to use that place to stay while he ordered some of the Axis Humans to patrol on top of the cliff and observe the island from above.

The nighttime came, and as they agreed, they met up outside the campsite. Of course, Ruby, Tommy, and Daniel came with Vincent since he told them about it.

Archie led the way as Fanheim and the others followed him from behind. They went through the forest and ended up on the edge of the island after an hour of walking.

“Come, follow me,” Archie said as he carefully walked down the rocky hill with the sea right next to him.

They followed Archie and reached the shore of the island, and they saw a giant cave on the cliff that didn’t look natural. Archie led them to the mouth of the cave while they were lighting the mouth with a flashlight.

“This is the problem that I meant earlier,” Archie said. “This hole is the same hole that you guys saw at the Landing Site. It leads to the inside of the earth where the same parasite that you saw in the north of the Eastern Nation.” He explained as he walked into the cave.

“This leads to the center of the earth?” Vincent asked as he looked at the ceiling of the cave.

“Yes, I have checked and there were at least hundreds of them inside,” Archie answered. “I don’t want to notify those parasites, but knowing there are a lot of people on the island, there’s a chance they will come out and hunt them,” he continued.

“Then this island isn’t safe, or even worse than when we live in the city,” Fanheim said as he looked at how big the mouth was.

“I suggest that we should stay on the opposite side of the island for your safety just in case those parasites decided to come out and hunt for food,” Archie said as he nodded in agreement.

“But there’s no king inside this hole, right?” Tommy asked as he looked at Archie.

“So far, I haven’t sensed a king’s presence so I don’t think there’s one in there,” Archie answered as he looked at the dried skin and saliva on the walls of the cave.

“But that doesn’t guarantee that there’s no king inside the cave, right?” Tommy asked as he backed away from the cave and looked at his surroundings.

“Yes, there’s a high chance that a king is indeed alive inside this cave,” Archie answered as he stared at Tommy.

“Should we close it? You should be able to bury this hole, right, Archie?” Daniel said.

“I can, but it’s too risky since they might hear it,” Archie said as he touched the tissue of a parasite that was left behind.

Fanheim turned around and looked at them. “It’s better to leave for now and tell Marlon about what we just discovered. We should be fine to rest for the night there and we can decide what are we going to do with this,”

All of them nodded in agreement and left the shore then went back to the campsite.

The morning came and Fanheim told about what they discovered last night, he went and checked it with Prince and Resse. They looked at the cave and could tell the danger that lay behind the dark and giant hole.

“We don’t have time to deal with this, so it’s better we stay away from this hole,” Marlon said. “Let’s tell the others and start moving while we still have time,” he continued and looked at Fanheim.

“Yes, I believe that’s the best option we have right now,” Fanheim replied and nodded in agreement.

All of them went back to the campsite and Marlon ordered everyone to leave and start to find another place to stay. He wanted to stay on the opposite side of the island which would take them at least a whole day but since there were ordinary humans with them, it would take them at least three days.

While they were in the middle of the island, Archie turned around and looked at the distance which made Vincent and the others felt anxious. “What is it, Archie?” Vincent asked as looked in the direction where Archie was staring at.

“I feel like something has been following us ever since we left the cave but I don’t know what it is since I faintly sense its presence,” Archie answered as he looked around behind him.

Not long after Archie said that the scout team came back hurriedly, they looked at them and ran toward Marlon. Vincent knew what was going to happen and he didn’t like it at all as he watched the scout team report something to Marlon. Prince and Resse walked into the forest with the scout team so the people won’t panic.

Fanheim walked toward Archie and the others, he looked anxious and they were ready to hear the bad news. “It seems that you already know the gist of what’s going on,” he said. “The scout team saw a group of parasites has been following us ever since we left the campsite and those parasites didn’t try to hunt for us, it’s more like they’re scouting our movement,” he explained.

“So what are we going to do now? Hunt them?” Ruby asked.

Fanheim nodded in agreement. “Yes, Marlon has ordered Prince and Resse to take care of it but I don’t think those two can handle it on their own,” he answered. “I want you guys to go and help them because if those parasites keep following us, we might not know what will be coming toward us later,” he continued as he rested his hands on his waist.

Ruby nodded with understanding. “Alright we got it, we will follow them,”

Fanheim nodded then he went back to the front while Archie and the others went to where Prince and Resse went.

Ruby and the others met up with Prince and Resse, Ruby told them that they came to help them. The scout team informed them that the group of parasites was seen only a few hundred meters away from them. Those parasites didn’t look like any parasites they saw in the Eastern Nation, they looked like a lizard that moved really fast and silently.

As they walked further away from the group, they finally saw it with their own two eyes. They did look like a lizard but it has six feet and a pair of arms, they could climb and run swiftly without making any sound. Ruby who had an opportunity to kill one of them decided to jump down from the tree and decapitated one of them.

The other parasites were surprised with Ruby’s sudden appearance and they immediately ran away and dug a hole that unbelievably fast. The rest of them tried to catch one of them but it was already too late because those parasites had run away.

Not long after that, the birds started to fly away, and Archie immediately sensed hundreds of parasites not far from them. “Those parasites weren’t the only ones that follow us. There are many more and now they’re coming toward us,” Archie said.

Ruby sighed as she wiped the blood on the blade. “There’s no more place on earth for humankind,” she said as she held the sword with both hands.