Chapter 687 - Alien Invasion Tomato Monster Mexican Armada Brothers...

Afton continues making his way towards Jacbostown, actually having to cut through The Divide in order to get there quicker. Soon enough, it only takes around an hour and a half to enter the mountain range which held Jacobstown.

Jacobstown itself was probably a crater by now, the orbital bombardment making sure that the infection couldn't escape the sight... But hopefully Rose was able to get out somehow... Unless...

He bites his tongue with a growl, quickly shaking his head at the thought, "No, she has to be safe. She had to." he determines, finally stepping onto the abandoned road that leads to Jacobstown.

Afton stops however, as he spots something strange stumbling down the road... It was large, over 6ft, but had cracked and burned-looking armour covering it... As for what the armour was? It seemed to be composed of some sort of organic material... Roots?

His eyes widen, "Rose!?" he shouts, running towards the figure as it finally stumbles to the ground, resting on its knee.

The root armour covering its face peels away, revealing the green yet pale face of Marcus.

"A-Afton... W-what happened...?" the supermutant weakly rasps out.

Afton squints at the Supermutant, confused and wondering what was happening to him... Could the virus be affecting Supermutants differently?

He focuses on Marcus with [Living Anatomy] and easily finds the cause.

Ailments :

[??? Virus] : Artificially developed virus designed to attack the Homosapien's brainstem.

...

So that's what it does... But why was it reacting so weirdly to Marcus?... Maybe the FEV virus grants some degree of resistance against it?... But Marcus' health continues to drop, meaning he'd succumb to it eventually.

"Aliens. Aliens launched at virus at every human settlement on earth... I had to exterminate every infected lifeform to prevent everything from becoming contaminated..." he admits, not wishing to lie to Marcus about how he'd murdered his brethren.

Marcus just solemnly nods, "I... I suppose that's fine then... You did what you had to do. It's not like we would've survived whatever this virus is anyway. Look at me, I can feel myself dying as we speak."

...

"Where is Rose, Marcus. That armour your wearing could only have come from me or Rose." Afton questions.

Marcus lets out a shuddering breath and begins pulling at the scorched root armour covering his upper body.

Afton almost feels himself collapse in relief as he spots a sleeping Rose curled up in a ball against Marcus' chest... Her face was dirty, and her previously cute clothes had small burn marks and tears in them, but he was happy to see that she wasn't injured...

"Your wife, she didn't make it... I saw the bombardment happening to other parts of the Mojave, and knew I had to get your kid to safety..." the Supermutant says, struggling to hand Rose to Afton as his body slowly begins giving out.

Afton hugs his daughter tightly, frowning slightly at the mention of Josie... "Thank you Marcus, I don't know how I can repay you for this... I don't think I can do anything to help you either." he sadly admits, troubled at his inability to save his daughter's saviour.

Marcus just chuckles at his worry, "Ah, I knew my time was going to come eventually... I've lived a full life Afton. I'd have liked to see my people finally be accepted by society, but, I guess that issue doesn't seem as dire as it did before now..."

Afton was about to retort and tell Marcus that he'd honour his wish for Supermutant equality, but is interrupted by a loud thrumming echoing in the air... The duo looks up and spot some sort of ripple in the sky... The cloud part as some sort of large invsible shape pushes through them.

Soon enough, the rippling intensifies, the air splitting and finally revealing what was hidden... Both Afton and Marcus gape at the humongous spaceship that was now floating over the Mojave. It must've been bigger than the entirety of New Vegas combined.

It was made from shiny white metal, with many flashing turquoise coloured lights flashing along its exterior. A stray bird flies towards it, but smashes into some sort of forcefield and getting vaporized by it, the defence appearing for only a second as it blocks the bird and disappears again.

Afton thought it looked considerably like the depictions of Alien spaceships that his previous world had thought up.

The duo continued staring at the flying saucer as a small compartment in its side opens up and allows many aircraft to stream out of it... They numbered around a hundred and were shaped similarly to the ship they'd come from, though, the top of the ships seemed to be large glass domes that allowed the pilots to see all around them.

Marcus gives a wrenching chuckle as he observes everything, finally dropping onto his back and staring straight up at the sky, "Aliens, huh?... I trust you'll sort them out, Afton... Get a punch in for me, would you?" he asks as his breathing slows, eventually coming to a complete stop.

Afton closes Marcus' eyes and nods, "I'll do more than punch these bastards. I'll tear out their fucking spines and choke their friends with it!" he growls, only managing to stop himself from going on a rampage due to Rose's presence in his arms.

He needed to get her to safety before he moved, yet, the safest place nearby was the New Vegas bunker where most of the city folk should still be hiding.

He nods to himself, beginning to run towards New Vegas so he could fight those damn aliens without having to worry for his daughter.