HA\\LF: Dead nor Alive

“So this is how the best Axis Humans act?” Eve asked while she looked at one of the Axis Humans who got a panic attack that she couldn’t breathe nor move her body. “I’m not talking about her, I’m talking about all of them, they’re all screaming in fear deep down inside,” she continued as she pointed at almost everyone.

“It is what it is, what can you do? If it wasn’t because Archie and his truth, both me and Vincent will be acting the same way. Especially after knowing that we humans are not meant to fight these parasites but to become their nutrition, I don’t think anything can beat that,” Ruby answered as she cocked her pistol.

Archie sighed and looked at Faye. “Faye, you take care of these guys, I don’t think we have the time to waste by taking care of them. Let the four of us go there first and you guys can come if you want to,” he said with his arms crossed.

Faye turned around and looked at Archie and the others, they looked so calm and stared at the Axis Humans with pitiful expressions.

“You want to go there on your own?” Faye asked as she walked toward them.

“We have always been on our own, nothing new,” Archie answered with Ruby and Vincent nodding their heads in agreement. “It’s better for you to stay as well, Nova, just come to us with the rest of them,” he said to Nova who was checking on the woman.

“Yeah, I will stay here,” Nova nodded in agreement because she was also sacred and anxious.

“Please be careful, we will catch up with you guys soon enough,” Faye said with the urge to tag along but she had to take care of her own team.

“We fought and survived from the king parasites, being careful is what we always do so don’t worry and take care of your team, Faye,” Ruby replied and put her pistol on her waist. “We will be leaving now, come on, Archie,” she said and then the four of them left to the long bridge that led to the pillar.

Archie grabbed both of his swords and looked at Ruby. “You can use this one, just don’t lose it,” he said as he offered Nyx to Ruby.

“Are you sure? I can’t guarantee you that I will keep it safe though,” Ruby asked and looked at the sword in Archie’s hand.

“Just take it since Eve broke your sword,” Archie shoved the sword onto Ruby’s face. “You will need this and since I have one and Eve by my side, I don’t think I will need more than one,” he continued.

Ruby grabbed it and swung it around immediately. “So that means you’re giving this to me?” she asked with her eyebrows raised.

“Well, I’m lending it to you so I will take it back when you don’t need it anymore,” Archie answered.

“I’m fine with that,” Ruby said as she stared at the sword in awe.

Archie and the others looked at the king-type parasite from the bridge before they entered the pillar and went up to the Sky Station. The front half looked like a lizard while the back half looked like a snake, the four legs with so many tentacles on the back.

The parasite swam so slowly toward the pillar and the size wasn’t that different from the parasite that Archie fought near the island. By the look of it, it was an amphibian parasite and by the shape of its body, the parasite would be able to climb with its legs.

“So, how are we going to fight this? Any ideas?” Vincent asked Archie.

“Compared to the one that I fought near the island, I think this one wouldn’t be able to crush the pillar because this one doesn’t have a long body. I think it will take this one a while to destroy the pillar and based on the body structure, this one is meant to be able to climb like a lizard so let’s try to fight him outside the pillar,” Archie answered.

“You want us to fight on the pillar?” Ruby asked and looked at Archie with disbelief. “You know if we fall, we are going to die, right?”

“Don’t fall then,” Archie said with a smile on his face while Eve chuckled. “Come on, we have to keep moving,” he said as he walked toward the pillar.

They went to the top of the Sky Station and it looked so empty up there, Archie looked at the empty hallway that looked the same as the last time he saw it. The smell was still the same, the smell of burnt steak and clean carpet gave him a bit of comfort.

“You used to live up here, right, Archie?” Ruby asked.

“Yeah, West station room 101,442, that was my old room, and spent almost my entire life there,” Archie answered as he nodded his head. “I wonder who owns my room right now,”

While they walked in the hallway they saw the parasite was getting closer to the pillar and it started to dive into the water. The four of them hurriedly ran and went to the pillar where the parasite was going.

After an hour of running, they reached the big circle room that right above the pillar. They looked at the steel door in front of them and Archie forcefully opened it with his bare hands since it needed a security code to open. The moment the door opened, the sound of the machinery and the strong wind were enough to deafen them.

“Where’s the elevator?” Ruby asked as she looked down and saw nothing but cables all the way down to the base of the pillar.

“What elevator? We are going to climb down using that ladder because we won’t be able to call the elevator without the code,” Archie said as he pointed at the small ladder that could only feet one foot and one hand.

“Are you fucking kidding me?! It’s going to take a while!” Ruby replied as she went on her knees with her head looking down.

Eve spread her wings and jumped off of the edge and then she stopped right below them. “I will be waiting outside,” she said and then flew down.

“Alright, let’s get going,” Archie said as he jumped at the small ladder and started to climb down the ladder.

Ruby and Vincent couldn’t do anything but follow Archie’s lead and started to climb the ladder.

“This is safe, right?” Ruby asked as she looked down at Archie.

“Yes, everything inside the Sky Station is safe and strong enough for all kinds of situations. The only problem is that this pillar isn’t meant to deal with king parasite though so we need to hurry before destroying the pillar and killing us all,” Archie answered.

The three of them climbed down the stairs and they had no idea for how long they had been climbing the ladder but one thing was certain was that they could hear the sound of the ocean.

Archie looked down and saw a source of light coming from outside, he looked up to look at Ruby and Vincent. “It seems that Eve made an exit for us, it’s not that far,” he said.

“Really? That’s great because I’m starting to get hypnotized by these bars…” Ruby replied and sighed with relief.

Archie looked at the hole that Eve made, it was on the other side of the ladder which was a bit unfortunate for them because the gap was too big for Ruby and Vincent to jump across. He looked around and found a way to climb around it, Ruby and Vincent followed him from behind carefully.

“Wow, I never thought I would make it out alive,” Vincent said as he rested his hands on his knees. “I can’t stop trembling,” he continued and started to chuckle nervously since he was afraid of heights.

Eve landed out of nowhere and it startled Vincent and Ruby, she folded her wings and put it back inside her back. “Took you long enough,” she said as she approached Archie.

“Where’s the parasite? I can’t see it anywhere,” Ruby asked as she carefully walked to the edge.

“Look down,” Eve said.

Ruby looked down and saw the parasite was about to climb up the pillar. “Now that we are out here, what do you want us to do?” she asked as she looked down.

Before Archie could answer Ruby’s question, the pillar shook really hard and it almost made Ruby and Vincent fall off of the pillar. Fortunately, Archie managed to grab Vincent’s hand before he slid off of the edge while Eve grabbed Ruby’s hand.

“It’s dangerous out here, this is a bad idea,” Vincent said as he held Archie’s arm so tightly.

Archie looked at Eve and he nodded his head. “Hang on tight, we are going to jump down!”

“No, no!” Vincent said as he shook his head.