HA\LF: Dead nor Alive

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Ruby asked as she hugged the wall and saw half of Archie’s face change its shape. “It looks like your face is melting,” she continued and gulped nervously.

“I’m fine,” Archie answered and his voice was a bit heavier and lower than usual. “I might need to rest for a little bit more,” Archie sat down and leaned his back on the wall as he looked at his left arm which turned into a fleshless giant arm.

“Can you tell us what’s actually happening right now? He’s not the same Archie that we know. His face is a bit different,” Vincent asked and looked at Eve who seemed to be fascinated by the fact Archie had evolved into something terrifying.

“Archie has evolved, and now he has become someone new with an ability that is similar to mine,” Eve answered and walked towards Archie.

“You’re indeed interesting, Archie,” Eve said and gently touched his face. “Now you’re formless and can change your body and cells as you wish,”

“I can’t control my body, I’m going to pass out again,” Archie said as he shook his body but he couldn’t move his limbs not even his neck.

“Just go to sleep, I will be by your side when you wake up,” Eve gently and slowly pulled Archie’s head onto her lap and stroked his hair slowly.

“What do you mean he evolved? I don’t understand,” Ruby asked and put the rabbits on the ground while Vincent was busy making fire.

“The bomb that they used, became a nutrition for the parasite,” Eve answered.

Both Ruby and Vincent stopped moving and looked at Eve with shocked expressions.

“Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean?” Ruby asked in a whispered voice. “You’re saying that the bomb made Archie and that King-type parasite stronger?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what happened. So, if that parasite comes back, there’s nothing that you can do to stop it,” Eve answered and nodded her head.

“Isn’t that exactly what happened to you, Bub? After you were exposed to the serum, you became a lot stronger than before,” Vincent said and looked at Ruby with curiosity. “We should hurry and go back, we have to tell them about this and about the bomb was just an extra nutrition for the parasite,”

“No, that’s not entirely right because I haven’t finished my sentences,” Eve looked at both of them. “I said it will become nutrition to those parasites who survive the explorer and radiation. It would kill any parasite in an instant if they don’t have the regeneration ability,”

Archie was right about it and he knew exactly what would happen to Eve if he didn’t protect her.

“So they used the wrong method to deal with this parasite and now that parasite is undergoing some kind of evolution like Archie,” Ruby tried to process everything as she rubbed her face with frustration.

“Great, now everything just become harder,” Vincent said and then he blew the ember on dried leaves.

“How long do you think it would take before that parasite is fully evolved?” Ruby asked as she skinned the rabbit.

“The bigger the size the longer it takes, and if Archie needed half a day, that parasite would need a week or two,” Eve answered.

“We have much time and opportunity to kill that parasite, we have to hunt it down before it fully evolved into a nightmare,” Ruby stared blankly at the fire.

“If you want to hunt that parasite, it’s already too late because it already left the island and gone to the bigger island. You have to go to one of the big islands in Indonesia to find it which is going to be hard,” Eve replied and looked at Ruby. “Even if you want to kill it, how are you going to do it?”

“This,” Ruby answered as she showed the bullet with the serum smeared on it. “This is different serum than what they’re using. It’s proven that it’s more deadly because of the parasite that we fought back in the Eastern Nation and including you,” she said and pointed at Eve.

Vincent looked at Ruby and shook his head. “We can’t use that serum anymore because they forbid anyone from making it. Even if we want to make the serum, we can’t get our hands on those ingredients,”

“It’s already too late to use that serum now because the parasite is going to be immune after it got exposed to the radiation,” Eve replied. “Let them think of a way to deal with the parasite, you humans really love to play with fire without even knowing the consequences,”

Ruby sighed and leaned on the wall while she stared at the rabbits being cooked. “There’s nothing we can do then, let’s talk about this with Faye tomorrow since she should know what to do,” she said and crossed her arms.

The morning came and everyone was woken up by the cold of the wind and by the warmth of the sun. Ruby looked at Eve and she didn’t see Archie on her lap anymore, she then stood up and went outside.

“Archie?” Ruby quietly called his name.

Archie turned around and Ruby was a bit surprised that he looked different but the same at the same time.

“Yes? What’s wrong?” Archie asked and raised his eyebrows.

“You look different… wait, your hair is black now,” Ruby answered and pointed her finger at Archie’s hair. “Your eye colors are also different,” she continued.

Archie nodded with a smile on his face. “This is how I should look like, or at least that I remember because it’s been a while,”

“So this is the face that you have before you became a parasite? It’s… wow…” Ruby replied and she didn’t know what to say about Archie’s new appearance.

“As I said, this is what I remember but I’m not sure,” Archie said and walked toward Ruby. “I heard that you guys were talking last night, care to share it with me?” he asked.

Eve and Vincent came out from the hole and they were a bit surprised by Archie’s new appearance as well. Eve was so shocked that she had to get closer to him and touched his face to feel the changes in his face.

“So, what were you guys talking about last night?” Archie asked with Eve who was still busy rubbing his face.

Ruby explained everything to Archie about the bomb and the radiation that was dangerous for parasites but at the same time, it was nutrition for them as well if they were strong enough. Archie looked at his hands and understood the situation and why he evolved based on Eve’s words.

“So now we are going to wait for Faye and the others to come back and pick us up?” Archie asked and slowly transformed himself into his previous appearance. Vincent and Ruby were shocked when they saw it up close because it looked so fascinating and terrifying at the same time.

“Yes, we should go back to where we fought the parasite. I believe they’re going to take more samples from the parasite’s dead skin and we should wait for them there,” Ruby answered and nodded her head in agreement.

“I see, let’s go then,” Archie said and looked at them.

The four of them went back to the center of the island and saw the dead skin of the parasite. They saw a few tools and equipment that were left behind, and it indicated they would be coming back again.

The sun rose and they heard the sound of choppers in the distance, they all looked up and Ruby used the flare to tell them their location.

“Where were you yesterday?! We were looking for you everywhere but we couldn’t find you guys!” Faye asked as she jumped off of the chopper.

“We were hiding because Archie and Eve were badly injured because of the explosion. We dug a hole deep enough that we didn’t hear anything to protect ourselves from the parasite,” Ruby answered without hesitation.

“Thank goodness that all of you seem fine, but you said that Archie and Eve were heavily injured, but I don’t see any injuries on them,” Faye replied and looked at Eve who wore Archie’s uniform while Archie was wearing his old coat and jeans from his backpack.

“We have a unique ability that can heal ourselves fast enough but it consumed our stamina and energy, so we are starving right now,” Archie explained to Faye and she believed it immediately.

“I see, that’s good to hear then,” Faye nodded her head with understanding.

“Faye, we have a bigger problem to handle right now,” Ruby said.

“I know, we didn’t kill the parasite but at least we stopped it from destroying the Sky Station,” Faye replied.

“No, it’s far worse than that, we just make a huge mistake by dropping that bomb on that parasite because right now it’s evolving because of the radiation,” Ruby said with a serious expression.