Chapter 512 - Foggy Premonitions

Once Afton, Veronica, and Anja were all suited up they left for the Sierra Madre. It'd take a couple hours of straight flying but that wasn't really a problem. Afton and Veronica were both suited up in Power armour while Anja was wearing her usual recon armour + Deathclaw leather duster and hood.

The flight itself wasn't all that difficult... Afton was in the pilot's seat flying in a straight line after all, so unless a secret Enclave or Brotherhood base wanted to shoot them down, it'd be smooth sailing from here.​​

They'd left fairly early in the morning, meaning that when they started to approach the Sierra Madre Mountain range it was already the afternoon. Fortunately, there were already signs that their target was close.

"Afton, what's that?" Veronica asks from beside him, pointing down at a sloped in mountain passage. It was your typical wasteland desert environment, with dead, mutated, or barely surviving plantlife decorating it... Though, unlike most places, there appeared to be a heavy thin red fog lingering near the ground.. No, scratch that, it seemed to be spreading at an incredibly slow rate.

Afton halts their flight and has the Vertibird float over the cloud to get a good look, all of them grimacing at what happens when the fog touches the wasteland plant life... As soon as the red fog flows over it, smoke starts being emitted from the organic matter as it rapidly decomposes, quickly turning into mulch before disappearing...

"What... Was... THAT!" Veronica exclaims, horrified at whatever the fuck the red fog was. Afton was asking similar questions, it wasn't its corrosive properties that worried him, but the sheer amount of it that seemed to be ever-increasing... That's not even mentioning the big likelihood that wind and weather could start moving the fog around at random.

"No idea, but I'm not getting caught in it, that's for sure." he states, knowing he'd probably end up like those plants, regardless of his healing factor. It would essentially be like falling into a vat of powerful acid, there wouldn't be anything left to heal!

"Let's keep moving... We should get to the Sierra Madre before the wind picks up, sir." Anja adds, all of them worried that the fog would be able to corrode the Vertibirds machinery should it make contact with it.

Afton lifts the Vertibird higher as they continue flying, the group noticing far more of the fog the further into the mountain range they get... In fact, after a while even the sun starts becoming difficult to see due to the cloud of fog hovering over the entire area...

The group were close to shitting themselves at the fact that any moment a 'cloud break' could occur and annihilate them all from existence via an agonizing and torturous death. The entire mountain range was covered in the fog, and was honestly beginning to get difficult to avoid all of the floating pockets of it in the air.

Fortunately, Afton finally spots their destination... Or at least, what should be their destination. Over at the top of a mountain sat a towering building that was completely covered in the red fog... There weren't any lights visibly coming from it however, instead, the only sign of lights or some sort of civilisation existing at all was from the village below the mountain where the building sat.

The town was strange, to say the least, Spanish-looking buildings with small pockets of fog scattered here and there. It seemed as if the fog was actively avoiding it, as the area around the town was completely untraversable.

Veronica points down at some sort of town square with a dilapidated and empty water fountain. "I think we can land there, it looks clear of fog." she states.

Afton nods in agreement and slowly lowers the Vertibird there, careful to make sure they're easily able to retreat and fly away should shit really hit the fan... The group steps out of the Vertibird once they touch down, each of them cautiously looking around the eerily silent area.

"Fuck, this looks like the start of a horror movie." Afton mutters, already wielding his Anti-material Rifle in preparations for any aggression. From his shoulder, a small but powerful light appears and begins illuminating their surroundings... It isn't completely dark, but the cloud lingering overhead stopped most sunlight from reaching the ground, allowing a few alleyways and corners to potentially hide enemies.

Veronica and Anja had their weapons out as well, Gauss Rifle and SMG respectively. "So... Any ideas where Christine could be? It might take days searching this entire place, maybe weeks if we include the big ass building on the mountain." Veronica gestures with a nod at the towering shadow in the distance.

Afton shrugs, his armour releasing a metallic clank as he does so, "Er... Maybe if we ask some of the locals?"

She scoffs, "You think people would actually live in this place?"

He shakes his head, "Not willingly... But when has Elijah ever been so merciful." he states.

...

The group walk over to the fountain and Afton picks up a strange coin from it, someone previously having tossed it in to make or wish or something. "Coin, or Casino chip?" he mutters to himself, not sure due to how expensive it looked...

*Bzztch!*

Above the fountain a hologram of Elder Elijah appears, shocking the group momentarily as it begins to speak, "A chip, to answer your question... Now that I've alleviated your curiosity, wouldn't it be polite for you to reciprocate?... What are my former colleagues doing here? The Brotherhood shouldn't know of this place." the man asks, his voice echoing in the familiar raspy, almost manic tone.

Afton scowls and taps his chest where the Bulwark insignia sits, "Have you become blind, old man. We don't belong to the Brotherhood." he states.

The hologram flickers, "Ah, a fledgling group that's completely out of their depths... I'll give you this one opportunity to leave as an older, wiser person. If you ignore my warning then, I apologise for the fate that awaits you." he says solemnly.