Chad sprinted across the clearing, shooting furtive glances toward the Ghoultures along the way. His distraction had certainly caught their attention. As soon as the rock impacted, all of their heads instantly whipped toward the sound. They took to the skies and swept toward the impact site with alarming speed as a single sheet of inky black.

As he ran, he pulled the rifle from his back and readied it just in case. This was one enemy he didn't particularly want close enough to punch. Ahead, Squawkers flapped wildly over the short fence enclosing the hotel's parking lot.

Lucky he can fly. Chad suppressed a curse as he nearly tripped on the asphalt. The craters and debris made running a bit of a problem. He scrambled over the fence after the bird, making it over just as a grating shriek emanated from the front of the building.

Glancing over, the dark birds had formed an ominous spiraling formation around the rock where it still protruded from a nearby building. But rather than focusing on the stone, they had evidently turned their attention toward the surrounding area to search for other disturbances. More than a couple of heads had already locked onto Chad's moving form. It seemed that the distraction had run its course.

The screeches were echoed by many additional throats, turning into a ghastly cacophony as the birds banked and began heading toward Chad and Squawkers. Swearing under his breath, Chad pumped his legs harder against the uneven ground. The plain door set into the back of the hotel seemed agonizingly far away, especially as the shrieks grew louder. The flock of Ghoultures were closing the distance far more quickly than they'd hoped.

"C'mon, Chad! Hurry!"

Please be open. Please please please.

After what felt like an eternity, Chad skidded to a halt and grabbed the door handle, yanking on it desperately. It came clean off in his hand. Even worse, the door remained closed.

He saw the birds closing in from the side as Squawkers cried out in panic. "Hurry! Over here, the window!"

Without hesitation, he darted after the parrot toward the nearest window. A quick strike with the butt of his rifle caused it to shatter into glittering crystals and jagged wedges that scattered across his boots. Squawkers darted inside the opening in a blur of grey and red. Bracing himself, Chad covered his face with his arms and dove in after.

Lines of fire traced along his exposed skin as the glass shards sliced into it. He gritted his teeth against the pain as his body impacted the thinly carpeted floor, sending even more glass stabbing into him. He found himself in a rather basic hotel room. To one side, cream-colored linens way neatly across a freshly made king bed. To either side rested a pair of small black nightstands and lamps. A wooden table, dresser, and TV set occupied the other side of the small space. All in all, it was a pretty familiar layout. Chad had found himself resting his head in rooms just like this many times over the years. The place even looked ready to receive incoming guests. Aside from the freshly broken window, that is.

He rolled over atop the glass-dusted carpet and whirled, pointing his rifle back at the window. Their pursuers couldn't be far behind, and Chad wasn't going to let them catch him off-guard. As it turned out, they weren't just close – they were right on his tail.

For the first time, he got a good look at the Ghoultures. Up close their features were just as Squawkers had described. Evidently, the bird wasn't lying about his eyesight being better than a human's. In fact, the only thing he'd failed to communicate was just how horrifying their foes looked.

Thick layers of greasy black feathers overlaid their entire bodies like wet cloaks. Their raspy screeches revealed jagged rows of serrated ebony teeth extending from massive hooked beaks. Even their tongues bore deadly-looking spikes up and down their surfaces. Beady red eyes glowed with malice as talons the size of kitchen knives tore at the window frame. Worse, the things were big. As big as a full-grown pig, at least. Big enough that the angry beast currently flapping at the window had trouble squeezing itself through, just as Squawkers had hoped.

The beast let out another grating shriek as Chad pulled the trigger and filled it with lead. The sharp crack of automatic gunfire echoed through the small room as he unloaded on the thing. He couldn't even hear his own battlecry through the din. It took more bullets than expected before it fell back in a spray of purple blood.

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You have defeated a Ghoulture (Lvl 5)! +10 Exp.

However, before he could celebrate, two more heads burst through the window as more Ghoultures rushed to take the first's place. Chad scooted deeper into the room and toward the door as he continued to fire, leaving a thin trail of blood in his wake. Behind him, Squawkers screamed in panic.

Another fell back just as the rifle clicked empty. Chad dug in his pocket for another magazine to reload. Unfortunately, the birds had other ideas. One of the smaller birds – this one only the size of a labrador – took advantage of the opportunity to squeeze past its companions and through the opening. It screeched toward his face with talons extended.

Reflex kicked in as Chad turned the rifle in his hands, swinging it like a bat at the incoming threat. It whooshed through the air before impacting with a loud crack. The bird's screech of triumph turned to a strangled squawk as it hurtled against the wall in a puff of dark feathers. The crumpled corpse stayed suspended there for a brief moment before sliding down the wall in a purplish-black mess.

You have defeated a Ghoulture (Lvl 3)! +3 Exp.

You have reached Level 5!

Rewards:

+3 Stat points

+1 Proficiency Upgrade

Chad finished reloading as more enemies continued to struggle at the window. Deep gouges adorned the bottom and sides of the frame, where scrabbling talons and thrashing beaks tore at it and enlarged the opening bit by bit.

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway. A moment later, Chad heard a creak from behind as the door to the room opened.

"Shit, they're inside!"

"Friendly! We're friendly!" Squawkers called from above.

Chad couldn't spare the time to look back as yet another Ghoulture threatened to break through. The rifle fired once more into the mass of feathers and beaks, drowning out further conversation. It screeched in pain and anger as it forced its way forward in defiance of the bullets. Soon though, it too fell back in a spray of black and purple. Cracks began to spread dangerously through the wall around the window as the remaining mass of feathered figures pressed against it.

Another round of reloading and retreating brought Chad closer to the doorway, his ears ringing. More shots rang out from behind as someone else fired at the rabid birds. He heard a muffled and faraway voice call once more from the door.

"This way, friend! Fall back!"

Chad didn't have to be told twice. Scrambling to his feet, he darted toward the hotel hallway in a crouching run as more gunshots covered his retreat. He rushed through and pulled it closed just as the far wall crumbled.

He burst into a yellow hallway lined with patterned brown and blue carpeting. Doors identical to the one he'd just emerged from lined the entire corridor at regular intervals on either side. A group of four people stood in an arc around the one he'd come in through – two men and a woman. A dark-skinned man trained a hunting rifle on the doorway. The other pair – a lanky ginger-haired teen and a professional-looking woman – stood back and to the side.

Before he could take in more about the scene though, Chad whirled back toward the door and pointed his own firearm toward it. Razorlike talons and serrated beaks stabbed through the thin wood of the door in a desperate attempt to reach their prey. Angry shrieks sounded from the other side as the doorknob jiggled dangerously.

"Shit – Johnny!"

"Uh! O-on it!"

The lanky teen grimaced and tentatively stepped toward the door. He winced as another beak punched through, standing back as he drew a hammer from his toolbelt. Then, he began swinging wildly at the wood.

For a moment, Chad's eyebrows climbed. Evidently, these people weren't satisfied with the rate at which that door wad getting destroyed. No, they wanted even more holes in the flimsy barrier between them and certain death. But rather than add to the growing collection of damage, the aimless swings seemed to magically repair the door. Even better, as the teen's swings continued, the beaks and talons seemed to dig just a little less deeply into the thin wood with each strike. After a few minutes, they stopped breaking through altogether.

Johnny's swings began to slow, his breathing ragged. "I think… I think I'm out."

The rifle-wielding man nodded tensely. "Good work. Donna?"

"I'm going. Don't order me around, Rick." The businesslike woman stepped resolutely forward and put her hand to the door. It glowed for a brief moment as the doorknob stopped jiggling.

The group stood there for a few tense minutes as the screeches and scratches continued. The Ghoultures battered futilely against the door for a while longer with ever-increasing frustration. But eventually, the noise began to subside and the sound of rustling feathers receded. After another minute, the group breathed a sigh of relief. Their rifle muzzles drooped toward the floor as the immediate danger passed.

Squawkers fluttered down to land on Chad's shoulder. His own plumage stood up in every direction like the hair of a freaked-out cat. "We… we made it."

"We did."

"I thought I was gonna die in there."

Chad stroked the parrot comfortingly. With the silence broken, the groups finally took a moment to evaluate each other. Before anyone else could speak though, the well-dressed woman stepped forward. "Well, that's taken care of. Now who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my hotel?"