HA\LF: Dead nor Alive

“What are these strange, symmetrical symbols?” Faye asked as she stared down at the circle in the middle of the forest with symbols carved on the cliff walls around it. “This isn’t human-made, right?” Faye continued as she looked around the forest, bewildered by the strangeness of the place.

Did you see this when you were here, Archie? Aster asked with a look of curiosity on his face. He was looking at Archie from over his shoulder.

“Not that I can remember,” Archie answered honestly because the place he met Throne wasn’t like this before. The symbols looked new to him and the place wasn’t below the ground like this as well. Although it was a place that he had only ever visited once before, it felt different and strange.

Archie looked over at Eve who stood behind him. She stared at the strange, intricate symbols without blinking, displaying a stony demeanor even after seeing them for the first time. She then looked back at him with her eyebrows raised and a small smile on her face, telling him that she knew something about them.

“Why don’t we go and check it out while we are here? It’s a new discovery that might be useful for us,” Faye said as she looked down, searching for a path for her to climb down the cliff.

“I’m not going down there. I don’t want to get involved in whatever you find down there,” Archie said so casually.

Faye stared at Archie for quite a while and then nodded her head with understanding. “Alright, you can stay here and keep an eye on the surroundings. Tell us if you see anything suspicious,” Faye said.

“I’m not going as well,” Ruby said as she looked at Archie. “I’m going to go check the parameter,”

Vincent, Daniel, and Tommy decided to stay as well because Ruby and Archie were staying.

“Everyone, let’s go,” Faye said as she started climbing down the cliff.

Aster nodded and the others followed her from behind while Archie and Eve stayed on top of the cliff. They both watched them carefully climb down the cliff, but then suddenly the trees around them started moving in a suspicious way. The grass started to sway and the leaves on the trees began to tremble, and then suddenly the ground beneath them started to shake gently.

“We are going to check the area,” Ruby said to Archie.

“If you stumble on the witch, just say that you’re a friend of mine. She should understand and won’t harm you,” Archie said.

Ruby nodded with understanding, and then they left to gather information about FalCon-1.

“Are you sure you’re not going to warn them?” Eve asked as she stared at Faye and the others climbing down the cliff.

“Well, if she decides to make a move, then that means she’s just doing her job,” Archie answered as he looked at the roots that started moving around their feet.

The roots were slowly but surely following Faye and the others down stealthily. They didn’t even realize it because they were so amazed and mesmerized by the symbols.

Faye and the others took photos of the symbols and checked the results. One of them noticed that something was odd about the photos he took. He checked the photos and noticed there were roots that were blocking the symbols when in the previous photo the roots were still above the symbols.

“Lieutenant Colonel! Something isn’t right with this pla-” Before the guy could finish his sentence, a root grabbed his leg and slammed his body onto the wall, sending him flying and splattering his inside on the cliff.

Everyone who saw it immediately grabbed their weapons and looked around their feet to make sure there weren’t any roots below them. One thing they didn’t realize was that the roots didn’t need to slither on the grass, they could simply appear from under the ground.

One by one they were grabbed by the roots from underneath. “Run! Get the fuck out of here!” Faye screamed as she ran toward the cliff below Archie and Eve.

They all ran as they looked down and back, but that didn’t make any difference because they didn’t know when the roots were going to grab their legs and pull them down to the ground. Archie and Eve threw ropes down to the cliff so they could easily climb up the cliff.

Since there were only two ropes, they were waiting their turn to use them. Those who were climbing the rope, took care of the roots around them but they just made a huge mistake by cutting the roots because it made the roots able to grab them.

People were crushed and slammed onto the cliff as if their lives had no value to the earth witch. Faye and Aster stared at them and could do nothing but watch her team got slaughtered by the roots.

Archie and Eve pulled the rope and lifted everyone who was hanging on the rope up to the cliff. They then threw the ropes again because if it kept going on like this, they all would be killed and he didn’t want that.

After Archie and Eve managed to bring everyone up to the cliff, the roots disappeared.

“What have I done,” Faye said as she stared at the bodies of her team laying on the ground with missing body parts.

“You should have stayed here, but your curiosity killed them all,” Eve said it so lightly. “But, thankfully, you got what you wanted, right? Photos of symbols that might be useless since you won’t understand what it means. I hope it’s worth it,” Eve smiled as she stared at Faye.

“That’s enough! Eve!” Aster raised his voice as he glared at Eve.

Eve’s eyebrows shot up and stared at Aster with a penetrating gaze. She grabbed Aster by the neck and then slammed him to the ground, hard.

“Raise your voice once more and I will snap your neck,” Eve said with a smile on her face.

“Eve! Please! Stop it!” Faye said with a frustrated look.

Eve kept staring down at Aster and then decided to remove her hand from him.

Ruby and the others ran back after they heard the sound of gunshots and screams. They looked at how pale their faces were, and how scared and stressed out Faye’s expression was. Ruby then approached her and saw the dead bodies down below, she only sighed as she closed her eyes. Faye was visibly shaken by the sight and by the thought of what she had done. She felt a wave of guilt wash over her, and she didn’t know how to make it better.

Ruby didn’t say a single word and just sat there next to Faye, rubbing her back to comfort her. She knew exactly how it felt to have lost so many people under her leadership, and she was only trying to be there for Faye and understand her pain.

“There’s no reason for us to be here anymore,” Ruby said as she looked at Archie. “Seeing how bad her condition is, I don’t think she can lead us anymore. At least not at this moment,” She continued as she kept rubbing Faye’s back.

“Let’s just go back, we are wasting our time here. At least they got something in return,” Eve said with her arms crossed.

“That’s our only option, but there’s a big problem awaiting us back there. I’m not sure if we are going to make it out alive after listening to that loud roar from behind the wall,” Ruby replied. “We are stuck here,” Ruby sighed.

“Not really,” Eve replied. “You know that the King-type parasite is here for something. Something that threatens its territory,” Eve stared at Ruby.

Ruby furrowed her eyebrows and was confused for a second, but then she knew what Eve was talking about. She looked at Archie and then looked at the rest of them who were trembling in fear and wishing to leave the forest as soon as possible

“Alright, let’s move,” Ruby said as she helped Faye stand up. “You take care of your wife. I will lead the team,” Ruby said as she grabbed the sword from her back.

“If you want to live, follow me! If you’re left behind, I hope you’re ready to kill yourself,” Ruby said as she walked past them. “Get yourself together because nobody is going to help you if the witch decided to hunt you all down again,”

It took them only four hours to reached at the front of the lift. They all stared at the wall as they waited until the lift opened the doors.

“I think this is where we are going part away,” Archie said as he looked at Faye.

Faye turned around and looked at Archie with a puzzled look. “Where are you going?” She asked with a worried expression.

“We both are going to distract the King-type parasite away from the station so you guys can go back safely,” Archie answered. “Don’t waste your time worrying about me. You’re going to need all the energy you have to think about your own safety,”

“Let’s go!” Ruby said as she walked into the lift.

Everyone entered the lift and stared at Archie and Eve who stayed behind.

“Be safe, and we will come back to pick you up,” Faye said with fear still in her eyes.

“We will be waiting,” Archie replied with a smile.