As the sun began to rise the next morning, they got on their way. The town disappeared in the rearview mirror as their armored truck rumbled along the highway. Inside, Chad, Squawkers, the Major, and a group of soldiers sat clustered together like particularly misshapen anchovies.

The vehicle had been damaged in the attack, but not enough to render it inoperable. The main damage to the roof had even been inexpertly fixed, thanks to a little help from Chad. Still, the slightly misaligned wheels would need to be fixed more professionally at some point. Until then, they simply had to deal with an extra bumpy ride.

Chad hunched in his seat. The roof was barely tall enough for him, even after his "remodeling." He was sure he'd get a crick in his neck by the end of the trip.

"So…" He nearly had to shout over the sound of the engine. "What's the plan exactly?"

"We go north," the Major responded. "Reports indicate that there's a high concentration of high-leveled enemies there. It should be a good place to level you."

"Reports?" Squawkers asked. "You mentioned you had intel. From who?"

"Scouts." The man nodded to a curly-haired man. "Namely, Ford here. He's got a skill that lets him get a sense of where there's a high concentration of high levels. We're just following it."

"That could've been useful for the attack earlier…" The parrot muttered.

"It would have," the Major agreed. "Unfortunately, he didn't have it then. This'll be a good test for how well it works."

"Alright." Chad nodded. "So we go there and kill stuff till… what? Till I'm stronger?"

"Essentially, yes. We'd like to get you to level twenty as soon as possible. And then…" The man shrugged. "Well, we're not sure how strong you need to be for this. But more is always better."

That made sense. Chad had no idea what level someone had to be on to destroy a demonic alien portal, either, so it was better to be safe than sorry. Hopefully he could gather enough skill points that they weren't leaving too much to chance.

The trip wasn't nearly as long as he feared. Between a bit of idle banter with the men and some more planning with the Major and Squawkers, it flew by all too soon. They turned off the grassy highway and took a few side streets through paths lined with denser and denser oaks. Eventually, the truck turned off the road, parking near the edge of the treeline.

The Major turned toward his scout. "This about the spot?"

The curly-haired man nodded. "Yessir. Dunno if it's exactly here, but this was the kinda area we were looking for."

"Alright. Let's start looking around."

"Leave it to me!" Squawkers crowed. "That's what I'm here for!"

With a flutter of wings, the bird took to the air. He didn't even wait for a reply.

"Uh, sir?" One of the men asked.

"Yes?"

"Should we still send the drones up to take a look? I mean, we brought 'em and all..."

"Nah, he'll be fine." Chad assured them. "Let him have this. It's kinda his thing."

The Major shrugged. "We'll hold off. Let's see what we can get."

After a minute, Chad felt the now-familiar sensation of Squawkers's disembodied voice in his mind. Judging by the sudden stiffening of the others, he wasn't the only one.

"Let's see... there's a lot of trees, so it's kinda hard to see... oh! There's a bunch of interesting stuff further north. There's a few buildings that got trashed, a few busted up trees... the shoreline up there's also messed up... and I think I see some shapes moving through the leaves!"

"Shoreline?" Chad frowned. "Did he say shoreline?"

"Yes," Geoffries nodded absentmindedly. "We're pretty close to the shore of... where was it again?"

"Lake Murray," one of the men offered.

"That one."

Chad's heart dropped to his stomach. He went silent as Squawkers continued relaying his observations. A lake. Of all places, they had to go to a lake. He thought he could stay away from water in a landlocked place like this, but nope. Apparently not.

Well, on the bright side... he looked down at his wheelchair. I've got a pretty damn good excuse not to swim. Besides, we can probably stick to the shore anyway--

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"There's something in the middle of the lake, too. A level 19 if I'm seeing right."

Geoffries perked up. "Excellent. Just what we needed."

Well. So much for that.

After a short while, Squawkers fluttered back down onto his shoulder with pride. "There you have it! Am I good or what?"

"Yep." Chad scratched his chin distractedly, forcing a smile to his face. "Good job, buddy."

The bird preened under the attention.

"Alright, then. To the lake?" The Major suggested. "That thing in the middle seems like our best bet."

Please no. Chad silently hoped. If we absolutely have to, at least let me be able to throw something at it and be done.

To his surprise, it was Squawkers that shook his head. "I think we should leave that for now. If there's a level twenty threshold like there was for level ten, we might need it. Since Chad's only seventeen right now, it's better to go for other stuff to get him those last two levels."

He let out a silent breath of relief. Thank you, Squawk. You really are the best.

It meant they'd still need to take the thing out, unfortunately. But it was a bit of a reprieve.

Geoffries gave a nod of solemn agreement. "Good point. Best to head north, then. I'd like to check out those buildings as well. Let's keep moving."

A short drive later, they rolled up to the site in question. The crystalline blue of the lake spread out before them, its surface sparkling in the light. Along its edge appeared to be a dock of sorts, with piers and boats lining it. Only, the piers had been mostly smashed to bits while she ships were either missing or poking up from the water at odd angles. Even the buildings further inland had crumbled under some sort of heavy impact.

Major Geoffries frowned as he surveyed the scene. "Well that's ominous."

"Right?" Squawkers cawed. "And a mystery. Who did this? And why?"

"That's what I'd like to know..." Geoffries turned back to his men. "Let's sweep the area. Don't get too close to the water, though. I don't trust it."

The soldiers scattered to check over the surroundings. Chad headed off himself to do the same, but was stopped.

"You should stay here." Geoffries said simply. "We're here to get you levels, but we've gotta be careful about how we do it. Besides,I dunno how you're gonna move through all this rubble."

Chad looked down. The man had a point. The usually roads and paths around this area had been scattered with rocks, splintered wood, and other debris. Not to mention the general unevenness of them all. Still, he didn't have any desire to sit still.

The Major seemed to sense his impatience and shook his head. "We'll investigate and see where to go next. Just give us a few. Your friend can keep watch in the meantime."

Squawkers gave a mock salute. With that, Chad and Squawkers were left more or less alone to wait.

"...Well." Chad eventually admitted. "Now what?"

"What else? We wait." Squawkers rolled his eyes. "You get one moment of rest and you're already itching to do something else."

"That's not true!" Chad protested.

"Uh-huh." The parrot nudged him. "By the way... are you ok?"

"Huh?" Chad blinked. "Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

"That's what I'm wondering." Squawkers hummed. "You've seemed kinda stressed since we got here."

Chad hesitated. His fear of water wasn't exactly something he was eager to share with people. It was embarrassing, for one, not to mention totally fixable. He just hadn't had the time to really face it. Or the desire.

"It's nothing." He dismissed the concern, trying to think of a way to evade the question. "Just... I kinda thought I'd be able to do more. The idea of just getting sitting around is... weird. Especially after so much has happened."

"Well, don't worry. There's still plenty of time for everything to go wrong." The parrot chuckled.

He's got a point there. Chad grinned. Not that I want things to go wrong, but still. I should relax a bit while I can.

Not that he could relax while vulnerable and exposed like this. Even if he trusted Squawkers's senses and his skills to protect him. But it was better than being in an active life-or-death situation.

"While we'ere here, mind watching my back for a minute?" Chad nodded toward the treeline. "I gotta piss."

"Isn't there a toilet around-- oh." Squawkers fell silent. Chad followed his gaze to a half-crushed port-a-potty nearby. "Yeah, no problem. I got you."

"Thanks."

He wheeled a little way into the treeline. Unfortunately, Chad found that his wheels weren't really meant for offroading. They thudded and thumped over tree roots and fallen leaves noisily, to the point he was certain that any threats that were around would certainly hear him.

"Don't worry about it," the bird reassured him. "There's nothing even arou--"

He stopped talking suddenly, his eyes going narrow. Chad looked over his shoulder, trying to see whatever his friend did.

"What's up, Squawk?"

"Hmm?" He blinked. "Nothing. I just thought I saw... Something. It might've been nothing."

Despite his words, Squawkers kept staring intently at the same spot. Eventually, he perked up. "There is something there! I knew it!"

"What is it?"

"I... I dunno." He shrugged. "It's a little deeper in. It looks like... flowers?"

Chad glanced back at the group of soldiers searching the docks. "Should we tell 'em?"

"Probably? But..." The bird thought for a moment, then shrugged. "We won't be gone long. Just a quick peek."

Chad grinned. "Yeah. Just a quick one. We wouldn't want to bother them or anything."

"Yeah! And we can handle ourselves. It'll be fine."

"Exactly. If it's a monster or something, we'll come right back."

"Right on back, no problem." Squawkers agreed. "Heck, I can even scout ahead for you!"

"Thanks, Squawk!" Chad looked down. "Er... you might have to. I'm kinda loud."

"Leave it to me."