I was most of a city block away from the nine remaining bar patrons when the two additional raptor-like pigeons leaped down to join the fight. The group had been passing through a handful of abandoned cars when the first pigeon monster attacked. As it hopped backward and out of range of most of their strikes, it left the group surrounded by cars or monsters in every direction.

One of their number, Jamie, was already down, and two others were dragging her body to the center of their group—though I doubted she'd survived the brutal first attack. That pigeon had gone for the throat.

Taking care of her was a very socially responsible act, especially if they weren't sure she was dead. Still, it came at the cost of reducing their number of defenders and adding an obstacle they could easily stumble over. I wasn't sure I'd have done any different, but I also wasn't sure it was the right call. It was too late for Jamie, and she'd be back next loop. Survival and escape from Forest Lake might require a more heartless response to death. Of course, if it was that easy, I wouldn't be running as fast as I could to join the fray.

With Alejandra and Trevor out of line, the pigeons came at the group from three sides. Cars flanked the party on either side, and two giant birds stalked toward the group from both ahead and behind. The third featherless pigeon hopped on top of one of the cars and drew everyone's attention while the pigeons before and behind darted in.

Dalia had a dozen knives tucked into her belt. They weren't steak knives, and they weren't uniform in size, but she also didn't seem to have much trouble throwing them and embedding the blade in practice. Of course, she'd only done that on drywall and dart boards. With three swift, practiced motions, she pulled some of her heavier knives and flung them the half-dozen feet at the neck of the pigeon on the car. The blades struck point first and even managed to penetrate an inch or two. With some luck or improved aim, she might even be able to hit an artery. Unfortunately, her attack didn't hit anything vital on her target. It did, however, distract it, causing it to reel back.

"Satoshi, Trevor, keep them back!" I heard Luke roar as he launched himself toward the nearest monster, his bat pulled back for a powerful swing aimed at its toothed beak.

Satoshi and Trevor each carried shafts of wood, one from a broom, the other from a mop, and both had been broken at an angle to give them a sharp point.

To their credit, neither one hesitated to step forward and jab out at their attackers. Unfortunately, the pigeons were quick, and their heads dodged backward out of the way.

Luke had more success, targeting the monster that he and Franklin had already struck. The creature dodged his first swing, but Luke let the bat's momentum carry it back around to catch the monster on the underside of its beak, knocking the creature's head up and at an angle.

Franklin had dropped his rope and rock-flail and picked up the icebreaker that Jamie had been carrying. He stabbed it out at Luke's target in a swing that brought the flat blade across the creature's exposed throat. Arterial spray erupted from the wound, and the already staggering bird stumbled backward several steps before collapsing.

A wolfish smile spread across my face at the victory. I was mere steps away from one of the other birds, and they were successfully holding off the third.

I was still mentally congratulating my group of misfits on their victory when gunfire rang out and sent ice coursing through my veins. If there were more monsters around, and I had no reason to think there weren't, they'd be coming this way.

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One shot was quickly followed by another, and the blacktop a few paces ahead of me burst where a bullet struck. I didn't know who was shooting or what they were aiming at, but I'd done this enough times to know I was likely considered a target.

Shots rang out faster and faster until they came out at automatic speeds. I dove to the left behind a parked car and hoped I'd broken the line of sight. The sound of gunfire distracted the monsters, and they started to pull back from the bar patrons until bullets tore through them.

Infuriatingly—and utterly predictably—the gunfire wasn't discerning, and my chosen team had to dive for cover as well. They didn't all move fast enough, and I saw Stan, Franklin, and Cynthia collapse where they stood.

"Clear!" a voice shouted as the gunfire came to an end.

"Negative," Another voice called. "There's a bogey behind that car."

"Hold your fire!" Luke called. "That one's a friendly!"

"Confirm?" a baffled-sounding voice returned.

"Please don't shoot me," I said, raising my arms up from behind the car. Hopefully, the sound of a child's voice coming from my mouth would muddy the waters enough that they'd give me the benefit of the doubt. My heart beat against my chest from exertion, fear, and, most of all, rage.

We'd had it. They'd given no consideration to the people they were firing at.

A group of a half-dozen men came out from the alley on either side of the guns drawn and pointed at our huddled group.

"Mother fuckers," I heard Luke swear quietly before raising his voice. "We've got people down. We're coming out to check on them."

"Fine, just don't do anything stupid."

"You're the ones who were fucking stupid!" Alejandra yelled. "Jesus, you killed them."

She was right. I couldn't see the human bodies, but judging by the gaping hole in the pigeon monster I could see, it was doubtful a person would be able to survive anything more than a graze, and even that would do significant damage.

"There's a curfew. You should be sheltering until things can be gotten under control."

"Bullshit. Bullshit!" Alejandra spat her own anger getting the best of her.

"Alejandra, not now." Luke ordered before raising his voice to call back to the shooters. "Alright, we're coming out. Don't shoot. The blue wolfman is a friendly."

"The monster stays put, no warnings," a voice called back.

"Fine. Oberon, hang out there for a minute." Luke said, bear crawling from his hiding spot behind a car to check on our downed people. "Shit." He spat as he checked on each one. "Dead. They're all dead. God damn it."

"You mother fuckers killed our people. You fucking killed them. Who the hell do you think you are? Fuck!" Alejandra said again, her voice quavering with emotion.

"Everybody just stay put. We've been deputized to sweep this area of monsters and-"

"Okay, Sorry to interrupt," I said, the patience thin in my voice. "But, those shots won't stay ignored. There are almost certainly more monsters coming this way."

"We're more than well-armed enough to handle a few more monsters."

"Oh shit, Trevor said, his voice empty of emotion. "That's more than a few."

I peered around the car that most of the group was huddled behind to see what Trevor was talking about. I wouldn't call it a horde, but there were easily a dozen monstrous creatures rushing out way. They ranged in size from raccoon to pony and resembled a variety of creatures from owls to rodents to snakes and insects, each of them a white-green in color with splotches of black. They hopped, slithered, flapped, crawled, and climbed toward us as one swiftly moving group, utterly unconcerned about one another.

"Holy shit. Fall back!" I heard a voice call.

"Suppressing fire!" another said before the assault rifle began another round of automatic fire.

The shots zipped down the street, hitting a monster here and there but almost making it impossible for me and my group to come out from behind cover. It was also a losing idea since the sound was likely to draw in more monsters to replace the ones they killed. I had to wonder how much ammo they had.

"Come on!" I shouted when the shooter paused, presumably to reload. "To the Alley!"

The supposedly deputized group hadn't retreated back to the alleys when the monsters appeared, instead retreating back up the street from the direction our group had come, so hopefully, we could leave their suicidal and indiscriminate attack.