Chapter 518: Hopeless Sight
Afton had just caught Anja as she'd been kicked from the roof, and they both had plummeted into the Cloud below. He'd done his best to help Anja alleviate the impact from the fall, but they both still heavily hit the ground.
Afton didn't have time to be stunned however as he could immediately feel the Cloud beginning to fuck with his Power armour, that wasn't the more dire thing, however...
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRGGGHHHHHH!!" Anja howls, her recon armour and Deathclaw leather duster only providing limited protection from the Cloud. She tears her mask from her face as her skin visibly begins to corrode and melt from her body.
Afton feels as if his heart is about to explode from his chest at the sight, his friend and companion was dying an agonizing and painful death right before his eyes, and there was almost nothing he could do about it!
Panicking, he quickly looks around for anyplace that might be free of the Cloud, but doesn't immediately spot one... Deciding that he had no other choice, he pushes material from his plant arm through the hole in his palm and quickly tries to form a protective shell around Anja... He picks her up, and in her fetal position, she's quickly covered by the wood-like substance.
*COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!* Afton splutters, beginning to feel the effects of the Cloud. "FUCK! I'm not getting infected by more fucking FOG!" he shouts, ignoring the burning in his mouth, throat, and chest.
He picks up the shell covering Anja and quickly runs down the street where the Police Station should be. Already, despite the shell having been created seconds ago, the Cloud was already corroding it, eating away at it as if it were paper to a flame.
AND! If things couldn't get worse, hundreds of Ghosts were rapidly approaching him from all directions, their stuttering and slow movements not making apparent how much shit Afton had just found himself in.
A Ghost charges him with some kind of spear, but with Afton's hands currently full with Anja he simply jumps over its attack, stamping on its face as if he were Mario against a Turtle. He kicks off and lands on another Ghost, its weapon skittering off of his armoured leg as he lands ontop of it, crushing its skull with his foot.
*Clang! Clang! Clank! Clang!*
More and more Ghosts begin speeding up as they approach, all of them making fierce yet ineffective attacks against Afton as his armour deflects all of them. He ignores them and pushes fast towards the Police Station... He could barely make out the lights through the Cloud, and after fighting off a few more Ghosts, eventually managed to reach the Station doors.
He kicks them open before slamming them shut again, dropping Anja at the side while grabbing all the nearby furniture and shoving it against the door as a makeshift barricade. The Ghosts, without a living target become slower, their attacks against the door seemingly as weak as a regular person...
They wouldn't be getting through the barricade anytime soon, and the amount of Cloud inside the building was far less than outside, meaning he and Anja were safe for the moment. Once he determines that they are safe, he tears apart the shell covering Anja so Afton could get a good look at her...
He stifles the gasp threatening to escape his mouth once he sees her... Her skin couldn't be classified as pretty even before this, her Ghoul nature making her look like a necrotising ballsack... But now? She looks as if someone had skinned a human alive, covered them in sulfuric acid, and finished them off with extensive blowtorch 'treatment'...
That wasn't the most horrific thing however... Her eyes were gone, her sockets vacant and empty, with heavy scarring. By the looks of it, any attempts at transplants would be useless, as the optical neves were too extensively damaged... Even Cybernetics might not work...
That wasn't all of the damage though, all her teeth had corroded and disappeared, her mouth and throat heavily scarred, so much that Afton was surprised she was able to breathe at all... Without waiting another moment, he applies two stimpacks to her and the effects are immediately apparent, though, somewhat disappointing.
Her skin begins healing slightly and the open wounds on her body stitch themselves closed. The damage to her eyes and throat weren't helped all that much however.
Afton looks around the room, it's a reception office of the Police Station, with cells nearby and doors leading to other rooms... He swipes an arm across the reception desk and places Anja on it, using a few stacks of paper as a makeshift pillow.
She's stable for now, but once she wakes up she'd be in terrible pain. Add her blindness and he was worried about how she'd react... To make everything a bit easy, he injects some Med X into her side, the painkiller hopefully helping her sleep better.
Once she was safe and secure, Afton releases a sigh and takes the chance to look himself over... The silver-bluish tint of his armour had seemingly rusted and begun deteriorating. He takes off his helmet and coughs into his hand, quickly realising the red he'd just spit out...
Further examination reveals that the air filtration systems of his armour had all become filled with some sort of red viscous fluid. It's like tar, but corrosive and slightly less sticky. He could still feel the faint burning in his chest, meaning that whatever damage had been done to him wasn't healing as quickly as he'd expect... His various regeneration Perks somehow unable to combat whatever the Cloud was trying to do to him.
He rubs his face and begins thinking over his various plans and contingencies when he could hear steps coming towards him from the next room... He pulls his Ultra Chainsword off of his belt and ignites it, just as a Ghost barrels through the door and thrusts a strange-looking knife at him.
He deflects it with the back of his fist and plunges the blade into its stomach, twisting it and forcing it upwards, bisecting the top-half of the creature... He then cuts off its arms, legs, and head, and places them at opposite sides of the room to prevent it from regenerating.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Niggross
Niggross Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
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Chapter 519: Trust Me Not
Dean and Veronica slowly make their way across the rooftops until they finally reach the back Police Station... Both stand just outside a third story window and cautiously peek through the dusty glass to see if there are any threats inside...
"*Bzztch!* You know, I never wanted to leave you, Veronica." Elijah says through Dean's collar, causing her brows to rise almost to her hairline in consternation.
She scoffs, "That's bullshit and you know it. You left us all to die simply because things didn't go your way... Like a child throwing a tantrum!"
"I admit, I did not act as well as I should have considering the stakes of the situation... But you know what it feels like, don't you? To have everyone's hopes solely on your shoulders until they suddenly deem you the cause of all their problems... They all FORCED ME TO LEAVE!" Elijah spits.
Veronica just shakes her head, "You can try to convince me all you want, but what you've done to Christine at Big Mt is unforgivable!"
...
"You know of Big Mountain?" Elijah asks after a moment of silence, curiosity thick in his tone.
Veronica doesn't reply, feeling as if she was getting dangerously close to revealing some of Bulwark's secrets...
"Then you must know of the horrific creatures and experiments that occurred there... You must know that I didn't have a choice over what happened to Royce. She was attacking me and she got caught in my escape attempt... It makes me sick to think what those mad scientists would have done in my absence..."
Veronica scowls, "What do you want, Elijah?"
"I don't want anything... I just think that you've been told horrible lies about me... Maybe if I told you where Royce was, you'd trust me a little more?" he asks, but this only confuses Veronica further.
"Why?"
Elijah sneers behind the monitor he was talking through, at her question, he schools his features and speaks in the softest tone he can manage, "Because despite it all, I still see you as a daughter of sorts, my daughter... You believe me, don't you?" he asks.
...
Veronica looks down at the floor with her hands balled into fists, "Tell me where Christine is and I might consider it..."
"Of course, I would never willingly lie to you, Veronica... Christine is being kept in the Medical District, you will find her in a malfunctioning Auto-Doc where she's unfortunately been trapped for weeks." he explains.
Veronica frowns, "Are you telling the truth? You aren't lying to me again, are you?"
"Not at all, believe me when I say you'll find Christine there. I only hope you'll find yourself able to trust me more once my words prove true... So long for now, my Apprentice.*Bzztch!*"
Veronica releases a long sigh at this and takes a glance at Dean who quickly shakes his head. Elijah could still be listening, so it was best to show his silent refusal to believe that bastard.
Veronica herself was pretty confused about the whole interaction. She knew Elijah was probably lying to her, but there'd be no point in refusing to search the Medical District since they had already planned to... Perhaps he'd laid a trap there? Or perhaps Christine was really there, and he had another sinister plan in the works?
She shakes the thoughts from her head and breaks the lock to the Police Station third floor window and forces it upwards, allowing them inside. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any Cloud present on this floor... However, within the hallway, the duo was currently standing there were two Ghosts slowly approaching them.
Veronica takes a sideways glance at Dean who nods in response, before charging the two enemies. Her fist shotgun colliding with the gas mask of the nearest Ghost, blowing a large hole in its head and turning it to mulch. It falls to the floor and starts squirming and seizing while a new head starts to grow in its place.
Dean fires some shots at the next one but it achieves almost nothing, small holes being created in the Hazmat suits which are quickly sealed by the Cloud-like substance. It slashes at Veronica with a knife, causing sparks when it collides with her armour... In fact, the attack had even left a small scratch in the Saturenite plating, which could only mean one thing... The knife was made from Saturenite Alloy!
Veronica grabs the wrist of the Ghost when it tries for another attack, headbutting it and giving an uppercut to its stomach, blowing a hole through its spine and back. Its legs go limp due to the damage to its spine, but that didn't mean it was out for the count.
She grabs it by the neck and throws it at a nearby window, sending it flying out and plummeting to the ground from three stories up.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Dean attempts to shoot the healing Ghost but its head continues to form without obstruction, it jumps on Veronica's back once it does, but due to it dropping its weapon after losing its head, it ineffectively flails its limbs at her head, arms, chest, and back.
More annoyed than threatened, Veronica grabs this one and tosses it out the window like the last. The other one softens its landing, but both collapsed into a heap, not able to move until their injuries heal... They wouldn't be a problem for them unless the duo wanted to exit out from that way. They certainly wouldn't be able to get back into the building.
Veronica glances back at Dean with a smirk hidden by her helmet, "Thanks for all your help, you really showed them." she jokes.
Dean chuckles, "Give me some armour like yours, and I might be more useful." he says with a shrug.
Veronica laughs, and they both begin going through all the nooks and crannies of the third floor of the Police Station, looking for anything that might be useful, or any place Christine might be held. Despite Elijah's words, Veronica was wary over trusting him too much, so it'd be best to look everywhere they could in case they miss something.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross
Niggross
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know.
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Chris Lindsey
Kingsprovince
Michael Jarrett
Nazlican Erdem
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
3 Power
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