HA\\LF: Dead nor Alive

Dan was already drunk from drinking whiskey and Frank with Tom had to deal with the nonsense that Dan said while the guy with a scar was talking with Ruby about the mission. The pub was empty, there was no one else but them, Archie couldn’t enjoy his drink because he couldn’t taste the alcohol at all.

“Wow, you really can handle your alcohol, huh?” Ruby leaned her head back to see Archie who was staring at the empty glass in his hand.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah…” Archie smiled as he looked at Ruby.

Ruby, Tom, and the guy with a scar stared at each other and didn’t say anything to each other.

“Frank, can you bring us the food already? We are starving over here.” Ruby rested her head on her hand while she tapped the counter with her other hand.

“Ah? You guys didn’t say anything about food! Hold on a moment, I will ask my wife to cook you guys something.” Frank replied as he wiped the glasses on the counter and then left to the back door.

“So, I heard you guys are planning on making a ship? Are you guys trying to go across the sea to the Northern Nation?” Archie rested his right hand on the counter while he looked at the three of them.

“Yeah, we are trying to make a more fast, sturdy, and big ship than before…” Ruby stared at nothing at the counter while she raised her eyebrows.

“They succeeded in crossing the sea?” Archie tilted his head while he kept staring at Ruby.

“It went horribly…” Ruby smiled for a second while she played with the shot glass.

“Anyway! I forgot to introduce ourselves to you yet, I mean you already know who I am, but not these two.” Ruby stood up and walked toward Dan.

“This guy over here is Daniel, he’s still a cadet in the army. He just enrolled 3 months ago and he’s in my division so he’s still new.” Ruby was patting Dan’s back while Dan stared at nothing with his eyes barely opened. “That guy over there is Vincent, his rank is captain, same as me.” Ruby leaned on the counter while she nodded up at Vincent. “Lastly, that guy next to Vincent is Tommy, he’s a lieutenant in my division as well.” Ruby pointed at Tommy with the glass in her hand.

“So, what actually happened 5 years ago?” Archie looked at Ruby while he took a deep breath.

“You know about those small islands between the Western Nation and the Northern Nation?” Ruby poured a bottle of whiskey into her glass.

“You mean the islands near the Bering Sea?” Archie furrowed his forehead while he sat straight. “Exactly…” Ruby nodded in agreement then she drank the whole glass of whiskey.

“We tried to go to the Northern Nation through those islands since it’s impossible to cross the sea without stopping…” Ruby sat down and tried to reach the ice bucket behind the counter. “On their way to those islands, not even a few miles from the shore, the ship was dragged down to the deep sea and nobody survived.” Ruby dropped 3 ice cubes into her glass and then poured another glass of whiskey. “As you know, the sea is as dangerous as the FalCon so it was impossible for anyone to cross the sea, especially with a frail ship that was made from wood.” Ruby took a shot and clenched her face.

“Even after knowing that you guys still planning on crossing the sea using a ship?” Archie furrowed his forehead with confusion.

“We have no other choice, we are slowly dying in this place because of the very limited resources we have here. Sooner or later there will be nothing left but old buildings…” Ruby looked down as she chewed the ice cubes.

“You guys should have a better plan after that incident, right?” Archie raised his eyebrows while he stared at Ruby.

“We do, we are planning on making a bigger ship then we will sail near the shore up to the north and cross the sea then dock on St. Lawrence island.” Ruby looked at Archie as she took a deep breath and nodded in agreement.

“Food is ready!” Frank came back with five plates.

He put each plate in front of everybody, Archie looked at the food and it was just mashed potato and peas on the side. Archie spooned a spoonful of the mashed potato and put it in his mouth, he chewed at it and it taste like what he imagined. As he swallowed the potatoes, he noticed that he was still hungry, he took another bite and then another until the plate was empty and nothing was left on the plate.

“You’re still hungry? Sorry, but we can’t serve more than one plate because we are trying to save up food.” Frank looked at Archie who seemed to be staring at the empty plate in front of him.

“No, I’m good, it was delicious, and thank you for the food.” Archie lifted his head and looked at Frank.

“So, we are curious about you, Archie. Where do you live all this time and how could you not know about the incident that happened 5 years ago?” Ruby looked at Archie while Vincent and Tommy took a glance at Archie who sat next to Ruby.

“I don’t remember, to be honest…” Archie shook his head as he sighed.

Ruby, Vincent, Tommy, and Frank were looking at each other silently.

“So, you said you’re from the Western Nation, right? And you said the watch belongs to your friend, do you want to tell your story to us?” As Ruby took a bite of the mashed potato.

“There’s nothing much I can tell you to be honest…” Archie slightly smirked and showed a sad expression.

“What division were you in?” Ruby seemed curious since Archie didn’t give them the answer they want.

“I was in the third division of the Western Nation.” Archie looked at Ruby over his shoulder.

The four of them were surprised when they heard that Archie used to be in the third division.

“The third division?!” Ruby’s eyes widened with disbelief.

“Yeah, I was…” Archie smiled as he remembered the day he joined Iohann’s team.

“Wait, if you’re from the third division, why are you here? The third division is elite amongst the elite of Axis Humans! Are you here on some kind of a mission? Wait, don’t tell me that you’re here to help us?!” Frank grabbed the counter while he leaned forward and looked Archie in the eye.

“No, unfortunately, I’m not here because of that since I’m the only one left from the third division…” Archie showed a sour smile while he kept his head down.

It was just silence in the room, Archie looked at Iohann’s watch and he suddenly smiled.

“If we were to fail, we have no regret. That was our slogan and we really had no regret even though in the end everyone blew themselves up after we encountered with Ex-Axis Humans during our mission” Archie rotated the glass while he slowly shook his head.

“We know that slogan since it was quite famous among Axis Humans, the one who made that slogan was Iohann AnGust. It was a shame that he was killed in action…” Vincent drank the whiskey while he looked at Archie.

“He was a great guy, he was a great leader as well…” Archie slightly smiled while he nodded in agreement.

“You knew him personally, Archie?” Ruby leaned on Vincent’s right shoulder while she looked at Archie.

“Of course, I was with him when we went to the expedition to find the Ex-Humans.” Archie nodded as he drank the whiskey.

The four of them immediately went silent, Ruby stole a glance at both Frank, Vincent, and Tommy.

“It’s your call, Bub…” Vincent whispered into Ruby’s ear.

Ruby looked at Frank and tilted her head a bit.

“I-i will check the kitchen, be right back…” Frank left hurriedly to the back room while Archie watched him leave the room.

Because of the silence in the room, Archie had been listening to the heartbeats that he could hear loud and clear from the five of them. Because he had been listening to their heartbeats, he could tell that their hearts started racing after he said that.

“I almost forgot to give you back your pistol, Ruby…” Archie slowly reached the pistol on his waist, but before he could reach the pistol, Ruby, Vincent, and Tommy jolted from their seat and pointed their guns at Archie.

“The expedition happened 6 years ago, Iohann and the whole divisions that were assigned in the expedition have been confirmed that every single one of them are killed in action. If you were a part of them, you shouldn’t be here now.” Ruby pointed her submachine gun at Archie’s head.

“Who exactly are you?” As Ruby put her index finger on the trigger.