Ghost looked over to see Roach struggling in a close-quarters combat against one of the aliens.
The alien stood at a starking height above ten feet with a harrowing appearance, peaking towards the epitome of frightening.
Its body was twisted and covered with what appeared to be a black sludge-like substance, reeking of a foul musty odor like that of mold, under which was a brownish red carapace-shelled body.
From below the alien's skin, thick veins like roots of a tree pulsated heavily while its grisly face twisted in a full 360 degree circle, opening its starved mouth from which a brown-colored saliva dripped out.
Its hands were terrifying with three distinct and freakishly long fingers, its claws a nasty yellowish-green like that of fungus-infected nails as one of its hands tightened around Roach's head.
His struggles were ultimately futile.
Even with Roach's drug-enhanced body, his fully-powered punches couldn't make it flinch, let alone allow him to hold his ground.
The alien squeezed his skull tightly as its other claw pierced into Roach's gut, ushering a sharp cry from him as blood poured out from the wound.
BANG!
Still holding Roach by his skull, the alien promptly slammed him into the ground.
The building shook similar to that of a minor earthquake, causing many to lose their footing and plummet to the ground.
Extending his hand, Ghost caught himself, looking up only for his eyes to widen in horror and despair.
"ROACH! NO!"
"AHHH! FUCK! HELP ME!"
Repugnant ill-colored saliva spilt out of the alien's mouth and onto Roach's face and chest, a strong acidity to it which began to burn away at Roach's skin before melting apart his flesh.
The strong burning scent, that of burnt flesh, sent waves of nausea all throughout the warehouse and inducing an even greater panic as others took notice of their possible fates.
Even so, that wasn't the end of Roach's gratuitous suffering.
As more of its acidic drool emptied out onto Roach, four circular rows made up of hundreds of tiny, sharp ravenous teeth revealed themselves within its maw; with a high-pitched shrill, it bit down onto Roach's shoulder.
Cries bellowed out amidst a crunching sound, the alien tearing chunk after chunk of flesh from his body and snapping apart his shoulder bones, ripping them out from his body and gulping them down hungrily.
"Leave Roach alone! I mean it!" Ghost exclaimed in sorrow as the alien savagely mauled Roach.
Ghost's thoughts ran rampant as he began to feel a deep regret.
'If only the Seven Sleepers, donning their Power Ranger suits, were here to fight the aliens off!'
'Why did I have to break them like that?! It killed Wolverine! And now, I might even lose Roach as well! Dammit all! Why do all my mistakes lead to dastardly consequences!'
Fueled by rage, Ghost pushed himself to stand against the unsteady ground, ready and willing to face these foul demons and send them back from whence they came.
Step by step, he felt his momentum surging!
His movements that started with a struggle, as if he were moving against a current, had now transformed into that of a Left 4 Dead 2's infamous Chargers, running forward with his arm in lariat position.
"Ajh-Whua?" the alien raised its head in confusion, still enjoying a mouthful of Roach's flesh.
BOOF!
Ghost sent the alien flying across the room, collapsing onto a desk; an Xbox Code Eden console and 8k monitor were sadly lost in the process, bringing tears to everyone's eyes.
'No, I shouldn't care about such trivial matters!' Ghost shook out his muddled thoughts, refocusing on Roach.
"Roach! Are you still with me?!"
Roach coughed loudly in response, blood trickling down his lips.
"I think I'm alive... somehow...."
He sounded very unsure, but looking at his current condition, that was reasonable.
Roach had a huge hole through his gut; Ghost could even see the internal flesh and organs just barely squirming in an attempt to repair themselves.
"How bad does it look, Ghost?" he gave a bitter smile.
"It's pretty fucking bad... but there's still hope."
Roach shook his head as his body turned cold, unable to hold his eyes open any longer, "No need to give false hope... Shit happens...."
"C'mon man, it's not false hope! There's still a..." Ghost froze, grabbing Roach's shoulders and shaking them heavily, "Roach, don't do this man, there's still hope! Just open your eyes! OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES!"
Desperation hit, but Ghost realized one vital point.
Even though Roach appeared to be a lifeless corpse, his internal cells were still moving. It was just barely so, but regardless, there was a chance!
Ghost reached in his side pockets, pulling out a tiny syringe.
A tiny note attached to it read: Concentrated Super Soldier Formula.
Without wasting a further moment, he plunged the syringe straight into Roach's heart, injecting all of the concentration within.
Badump. Badump. Badump.
Roach's heart was immediately jump started, its thumps beating like thunder; it was even stronger than Captain Price's Beatpad.
"It's working! He's alive! Alive!"
Ghost gripped his fists tightly, but soon his happiness turned into worry.
Roach's body rapidly healed itself, no longer having a hole in his gut, but the surface of his skin started to bubble strangely.
Little pops resounded, following which an additional layer seemed to form on the surface of his skin.
It was a hardened shell-like layer, reddish brown in color.
"It looks just like the alien's outer shell... A hardened carapace layer of sorts? Is this some sort of—"
Before Ghost could finish his sentence, two long antennae sprouted out of Roach's skull and a pair of thin wings shot out of his back.
Roach was more than that tenacious, undying spirit of a roach... he now looked like the splitting image of one.
His eyes fluttered open, startling Ghost with a pair of pitch-black eyes except for a tiny bit of white.
"Ghost? I really did survive?" he asked, attempting to stand from the ground only for his wings to start flapping.
"Wha-what is happening to me? What am I?!" he jumped into a fit of panic, seeing that some sort of mutation had occurred to his body.
"Roach! Just calm down! We have to get the fuck out of here first!"
"What am I?! WHAT THE HELL AM I?!"
As Roach yelled louder and louder, all of the aliens focused their gazes on him and Ghost, their mouths chittering together as they eerily walked towards them.
"CALM DOWN! I SAID CALM DOWN! CALM THE FUCK DOWN!"
Ghost yelled out angrily and slapped him across the face, almost twisting Roach's skull 180 degrees with the mountainous force behind that slap.
"I..."
Roach was at a loss for words, but thankfully he had recovered.
Just then, they realized the aliens were but a couple feet behind them—
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Gun shots sounded off, the Afghan soldiers saving them at the critical moment.
They were enemies, and Ghost's dear friend, Wolverine, had lost his life to them. But at this very moment, as brief as it may be, they were on the same side.
"The enemy of my enemy is my own enemy." Ghost exclaimed, or so it was something along those lines, for the weed had since tampered with his mind.
He grabbed a gun from one of the dead soldiers, his head smashed in like a pumpkin, and gave a slight bow of thanks.
And then? He just started blasting, popping off the silver bullets which tore into the aliens' bodies, leaving tiny scorching holes in them.
As trivial as the wounds may seem, the scorching feeling of the bullets left the aliens crying out in pain, but even so, Ghost knew they needed to start retreating.
"Roach, Captain Price, grab Wolverine's body! Lil Ghani', Snoop Dog, we gotta get out of here! NOW!" he declared with authority.
As much as it hurt, they had to leave the 8k monitors and Xbox Code Eden consoles behind. If it was meant to be, then perhaps they'd come across them another day.
Ghost covered them from behind, while Roach, using his newfound godlike strength, rushed ahead and broke down a wall with his bare hands!
The Afghan soldiers decided to go the other way, knowing that their truce would be over the moment the alien crisis was solved.
As for The Seven Sleepers with their Power Ranger suits, well, they were left behind.
They had not only lost against Ghost's rocket league team, they had also shamed the country of Afghanistan with their nefarious tactics which were but mere cheats.
The Ghost Squad continued rushing forward in a panic, waves upon waves of aliens flying into the warehouse and devouring any man who was left behind.
Screams echoed out, but as the distance between them and the warehouse grew, the more silent it became.
As for where they were going, they simply didn't know.
Why did they even go to this town in the first place?
Was it to find Lil' Ghani? Or was it to meet Snoop Dog?
They had no clue, but they knew for certain: it was some highly confidential reason that the government didn't want them to know!
For all they knew, it could all be a setup to kill Wolverine or to cause Roach's mutation!
What were those aliens? Where the hell did they come from?
And those silver bullets!
They could damage and prevent healing even with the Super Soldier Formula, likewise they could damage the aliens! What was the connection there?
Mandrew's thoughts ran wild as several scenarios ran through his mind, but none of that mattered at the end of the day. They had to continue moving forward, regardless of what stood in their path.