HA\LF: Dead nor Alive

“Archie Lancaster, a brown-haired 18 years old kid from the Western Nation went to FalCon-1 for the expedition. Do you think we didn’t know? We went to the headquarters and asked about Archie Lancaster, they gave us complete information about Archie Lancaster and his face. You’re not Archie Lancaster.” Ruby tilted her head as she aimed at the back of Archie’s head.

“I will ask you, one last time, who are you?” Ruby readied to pull the trigger as she kept staring at Archie.

“Even if I tell you the truth, you won’t believe me…” Archie shook his head while he kept staring down at the counter.

“We have all night, you can start to talk or we will blow your head off.” Ruby didn’t move a muscle.

“If you want to listen, can you put your gun down first? It makes me a bit nervous…” Archie poured himself a glass of whiskey. “And don’t worry, I won’t do anything funny.” Archie drank the whole glass calmly.

“We are not bargaining here, you can start talking now.” Ruby took a deep breath and exhaled deeply.

“It happened, 6 years ago as you said even though it felt like yesterday to me…” Archie slowly turned around and looked at them. “I’m Archie Lancaster, the 18 years old kid that joined the expedition and helped the first division since I’m the only one who aced all the VST.” Archie slouched on the chair while he held the glass in his hand.

“And you want us to believe that?” Ruby squinted her eyes as she looked at Archie with suspicion.

“It’s all up to you if you want to believe my story or not, but the only proof that I have with me is this watch that belongs to Iohann and this letter that he wrote…” Archie lifted his left hand to show the watch and the letter he took from his pocket.

Ruby, Vincent, and Tommy stared at each other, and then Ruby looked at Tommy and tilted her head toward the letter in Archie’s hand. Tommy slowly walked toward Archie with the assault rifle in his hands.

“Just take it, I won’t do anything.” Archie stared at him and put the letter in between his index and middle fingers.

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Tommy reached his hand out and grabbed the letter from Archie’s hand, he immediately walked back and gave the letter to Ruby.

Ruby put down her gun and read the letter thoroughly, Archie could see her eyes moving from left to right rapidly.

“This doesn’t prove anything, there’s a chance you found this letter near the beach or shore with the watch. Archie Lancaster was mentioned in the letter and you could take his identity for this opportunity.” Ruby looked at Archie as she slowly pointed the gun at him again.

“Well then, there’s nothing else I can prove to you but my past.” Archie looked at Ruby seriously.

“Start talking…” Ruby calmly asked.

“My name is Archie Lancaster, my parents abandoned me and I was adopted by Cassius Lancaster and his wife Agnes Lancaster. I was 18 when I joined the expedition, I was examined by Professor Larse himself and he brought me to Marhsall Flavius AnGust. I was enrolled in the first division and Iohann personally asked his father to assign me to his division.” Archie kept talking as he stared at the wooden floor while he had to relive the nightmare.

Archie didn’t stop talking while the three of them stared and listened to everything Archie said. All of them imagined themselves in his shoe but they couldn’t because they weren’t there and they hadn’t experienced what Archie experienced in FalCon-1.

“I left Iohann on his own after he ordered me to, and that was when I entered hell…” Archie raised his eyebrows with a blank expression and stared at nothing.

The three of them could see the emptiness in his eyes.

“You said that none of the team came back from the expedition? Did everyone die?” Archie looked at Ruby with sadness while he rubbed his thumb on the glass.

“Nobody came back and nobody knows what happened to them.” Ruby shook her head while she put the gun down.

“I see, so I’m the only one that survived…” Archie sighed and closed his eyes.

“You said that you entered hell, what’s that supposed to mean?” Ruby kept her hands on the gun while she furrowed her forehead with curiosity.

“Before I tell you guys about it, do you believe me now that I’m Archie Lancaster?” Archie looked at them while he raised his eyebrows.

The three of them looked at each other. “We will believe your story, for now…” Ruby looked at Archie while she removes his hands from the gun. “So, tell us what happened to you and why your appearance is so different from the data we have about you?” Ruby sat down at the table with Tommy and Vincent next to her.

“Have you seen an Ex-Human before, Ruby?” Archie leaned forward as he rested his elbows on his thighs.

“No, we have not…” Ruby paused before she finished her sentence. “Nobody is brave enough to go beyond the wall at the moment, especially knowing that the biggest expedition was a total failure.” Ruby crossed her arms and clenched her fists so tightly.

“Well, you’re looking at one right now.” Archie stared at Ruby with a blank expression.

The three of them stared at Archie with disbelief and then slowly put their hands on their guns.

“As I said, I’m not going to hurt anyone because I’m not someone or something that you think I am.” Archie said calmly as he kept staring at them.

“You have become an Ex-Human? How is that possible?” Tommy looked at Archie with curiosity.

“I’m not sure if you want to hear it since it was torture and nothing else.” Archie took a deep breath as he looked at Tommy.

“Tell us, what makes you different from us, Axis Humans. We are curious because we have no information about them.” Ruby immediately replied.

Archie looked at them and then stood up, he approached them because he wanted to show them what made him different from humans. The three of them grabbed their guns and readied to shoot him if Archie tried to harm them but Archie immediately raised his hands to show them that he was harmless.

“Can I borrow your knife?” Archie asked Vincent who was glaring at him.

Vincent looked at Ruby and Ruby just nodded, he then pulled his knife on his waist and gave it to Archie.

Archie immediately slammed his left arm on the table and cut it open with the knife. He put the knife down and lifted his hand as the black gooey blood ran down to his elbow.

“This is the difference between me and you. I’m no longer a human…” Archie clenched his left fist with the black blood kept running down to his elbow.

The three of them glared at the wound that slowly healed on its own, they couldn’t believe how fast the wound healed.

“You can heal your wounds?! How far it can heal your wound?” Ruby looked up as she glared at Archie with curiosity.

“After experiencing it myself, I can regrow a missing limb in a single night.” Archie wiped the blood on his arms with a cloth that used to be his shirt.

“How is that even possible?” Vincent who always kept his cool finally snapped and was curious about Archie’s power.

“This power isn’t as beautiful as you see. Behind this power, I have sacrificed my humanity, I have to eat other parasites so I can heal myself.” Archie sat down on the chair in front of him and sat together with them.

“You ate parasites? What does it taste like?” Ruby stared at Archie uncomfortably.

“It tastes like rotten food but raw…” Archie squinted his eyes as he said that.

“Captain Ruby!” A guy slammed the door open while he breathe heavily.

“What is it this time? I told you that I’m taking a night off for today.” Ruby looked at the guy over her shoulder.

“The watchers saw a lot of movement near the wall. There’s a possibility that an ExTP-3 type is guiding them here.” The guy kept standing in front of the door while he tried to catch his breath.

Ruby and Vincent looked at each other and they both nodded at the same time.

“Tom, wake Dan up, we are going to hunt!” Ruby stood up while she pointed at Dan who was still sleeping on the counter.

“Dan! Wake up! We have an emergency!” Tom shook Dan’s shoulder.

“Huh? Okay… give me 5 minutes…” Daniel mumbled as he wiped his mouth.

Ruby stared at him and grabbed the ice bucket behind the counter and poured them on Daniel’s head. “Wake up, Soldier!”

Daniel’s eyes widely opened and jolted from his seat, he looked around so confused and Tommy explained to him the situation.

Ruby asked the guy about the current situation while she put on her jacket.

“You forget your pistol, Ruby.” Archie reached out his hand with the pistol in his hand.

“What are you talking about? You’re going to need that because you’re coming with us since we might need your help.” Ruby put on her vest while she checked every gun she had.

“Are you ready?” Ruby nodded up at Archie.

“Yeah, just lead the way.” Archie nodded as he cocked the pistol.