HA\LF: Dead nor Alive

“Everything is so peaceful right now, and sometimes I feel like this peace will come to an end very soon. I couldn’t help but think like that,” Ruby said to Vincent who slept on the bed with him.

“I know what you mean, and I’m also thinking the same thing. It makes me restless and I can’t help but to make myself anxious about it,” Vincent answered as he nodded his head and stared at the ceiling. “Maybe it’s because we have been facing a lot of trouble and problem that we think a peaceful moment is nothing but an oddity,”

“Maybe you’re right, but this should be good, right? I know that we shouldn’t be so careless, but we deserve this,” Ruby asked as she stared at Vincent.

“Let’s get some sleep. This is only making us anxious, and we have a big day tomorrow as well, so we need to rest now,” Vincent said as he turned toward Ruby and stared her in the eye.

Ruby nodded, and then kissed Vincent. “Good night,” Ruby said as she turned off the lamp.

The morning came, and everyone was gathered in the city. They were ready to leave and gather more materials to rebuild the city.

“Good morning, and looks like everyone is ready to leave, but we have a bad news for you guys,” Marlon said as he looked at everyone.

Everyone looked at each other and started to murmur.

“Be quiet and let me tell you what it is first,” Marlon said as he stared at them. He then cleared his throat and put his hands at ease. “Archie and Eve spotted a few ships that were sailing toward us, and they took care of them thankfully. They both identified the ships, and they were belonged to the Northern Nation,” Marlon explained.

Everyone was shocked and worried at the same time. Ruby and Vincent looked at each other as they closed their eyes and sighed.

“That’s not the bad news, by the way,” Marlon said.

Everyone immediately went quiet and looked at Marlon with their eyebrows raised.

“The bad news is that they managed to report about what happened to their ship, and now, there will be a fleet that will come here. I’m not sure if the other nations would join in or not, but let’s think about the worst case scenario here,” Marlon said.

“We need to protect ourselves, but knowing that we don’t even have a single resource of armory, that makes us in a really bad spot. So I’m asking you, what we are going to do with them? If we want to fight, what are we going to use to fight them. If we are going to run, where are we going to run?” Marlon asked as he looked at each of them.

“I don’t think it’s necessary, Marshal,” Archie said as he walked to the front, and everyone was looking at him.

“What do you mean by that?” Marlon asked.

“Eve and I, and of course, thanks to Elena, we have lured a lot of parasites into the open sea. We also have brought a King-type parasite into the sea, and now whoever that sail on our sea, they will be welcomed by that,” Archie answered.

Everyone was shocked, and even though it was good news, they couldn’t help but get worried because there was a King-type parasite in the sea not far from where they were.

“You guys don’t have to worry, I can easily kill the King-type parasite. So if it decided to come back to the surface, I will kill it immediately,” Eve said.

It was enough to make everyone at ease after Eve told her.

Ivan was walking on the sidewalk while yawning and a cigarette in his hand, he looked at how peaceful and boring the city was. He was on his way back to his place but he heard something or someone crashing in the alleyway in front of him.

Ivan took a peek with a cigarette in his mouth and saw the big garbage bin got destroyed and someone was kicking the bin away. He furrowed his eyebrows as he puffed the smoke but then he was surprised when he saw Archie standing up with a woman in his arms.

“Archie?!” Ivan shouted with his eyes wide open.

“What are you doing over there?!” Ivan walked into the alleyway as he looked at the beautiful woman in Archie’s arms. “Who is she?”

Archie checked on Eve and she was still in deep sleep after he crushed his landing and ended up in the alleyway. He flew above the clouds to the Northern Nation, he was planning on landing on top of the building but he miscalculated and panicked that he ended up there.

“Perfect timing, Ivan,” Archie said as he walked toward him. “I need your help, can you let me stay in your place for a few days?”

“Sure, but you haven’t answered my question,” Ivan answered as he looked at Eve.

“She’s my…” Archie hesitated and didn’t know what kind of relationship he had with Eve.

Ivan sighed and shook his head. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Ivan said. “Come on,”

“Wait!” Archie said as he looked at Ivan. “Can we use the road where there are no security cameras? There’s a reason and I don’t want to be seen,”

Ivan furrowed his eyebrows and stared at Archie with curiosity. “She’s not someone important that you kidnapped, right? Because I don’t want to deal with the authority,” Ivan said as he pointed at Eve.

“No, it has nothing to do with her or authority, it’s just I don’t want to be seen, that’s all,” Archie said as he fixed his arms to make sure Eve was comfortable in his arms.

“Alright, I believe you, for now,” Ivan said. “I know a way, so just follow me,”

Archie followed Ivan and everyone was staring at Archie because Eve’s beauty that made him the center of attention. He didn’t like that but there was nothing he could do and even if he covered Eve’s face, it only made them suspicious.

“This is the back door to my place, if you’re planning on going out, use this instead of the front door,” Ivan said as he pointed at the door in front of him in the alleyway.

“Thank you, Ivan, I will pay you back later,” Archie replied as he nodded his head.

“Nah, just help me with the work tomorrow, I need someone to take care of the parasites for me,” Ivan said while he leaned on the wall and smoked his cigarette.

“Alright, I will be there,” Archie said.

“Alright then, this place is yours, I will see you later because there are things that I need to take care of first,” Ivan said as he walked toward the road while he waved his hand.

Archie and Ivan were hanging out in the room while drinking vodka after a long day of work. Archie helped Ivan deal with the parasites and got paid the same amount as last time.

Archie told Ivan about his story after he entered the Central Nation, he told Ivan that he joined the Valor special force. Ivan wasn’t surprised since he knew how strong Archie was and he would be more surprised if he didn’t pass the test.

“So, do you care on telling me what’s happening? You suddenly appeared in the alleyway and then asked my favor to hide you from the security cameras. Did you do something in the Central Nation?” Ivan asked while he drank his vodka and sat in front of Archie.

“Well, it’s because I don’t want to be bothered, that’s all,” Archie answered and then took a shot.

Ivan hummed and then he tilted his head and looked at Eve who was sleeping on the bed. “By the way, she’s really pretty, where did you find her? Is she someone you know? Or is it that she’s your girlfriend?” Ivan raised his eyebrows with a huge grin on his face.

“She’s someone that I know from a long time ago, one of my goals in life is to find her,” Archie answered and stared at Eve who was still asleep even though it had been two days since he came to the Northern Nation.

“Wow, how romantic,” Ivan said while he chuckled. “By the way, everyone heard about what happened to the Sky Station,”

“Sky Station?” Archie raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, the one on the south, about the King-type parasite,” Ivan answered and nodded his head. “We saw a photo of that creature and that’s fucking terrifying to see!”

“Oh, you guys saw it?” Archie asked and poured vodka into the glass.

“Of course, we saw it! It’s all over the news and everyone knows about it,” Ivan said as he dragged his chair and then sat next to Archie. “How the hell did you fight that thing off?! You guys are fucking crazy!”

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