Pesky Birds

The gunshot has alerted the giant birds and all of them were now hovering above the house. If that wasn't enough, all of the goblins that they have killed and the ones that have died have risen from the dead!

All of this made their situation even worse. Their exhausted minds and already sore bodies can only hold on for so long. The arrival of their rescuers is the only thing that's giving them hope and drive to survive.

"Do we even have to kill those zombies? They are just mindlessly wandering around the house. They don't pose any threats to us if we don't go outside. Plus, the birds are also waiting for us to leave the house! The moment we go outside, we will face both the zombies and the birds!"

"I agree with what Rick said. It's not in our best interest to waste our energy fighting those zombies. Nothing will change if we just leave them there"

Nathan said as he sat along with the other three. They are discussing what to do with the enemies outside. While Nathan and Rick are against it, Michael is the opposite.

"I say, we clean them up. It's not like we have to go outside, we just have to attract them here one by one. When one of them took the bait, we will close the door and deal with it"

"Are you crazy, Michael? You will even risk the people inside here?"

Rick glowered at Michael. For him, it sounded like Michael didn't care about other people's safety at all!

"Of course not! What makes you say that? I'm only saying what I think is the best for us and proposed a simple solution!"

"It will still endanger other people's lives! What if they moved in a group? Will you be able to close the door on time?"

"If that was the case then we just have to shoot them!"

"Okay, that's enough! Both of you have a point. But dealing with them right now is the right course of action. We will have to kill them anyway when the rescuers came, so we might as well do it now"

The old man voiced his opinion. Surprisingly, he favored what Michael said. And since he is their 'leader' and also the older than them, he still has the final say. Michael nodded in satisfaction when he heard what the old man said.

"Okay, we will do what Michael sai-"

The old man wasn't able to finish his sentence when a sudden clanging sound came from the roof. They all simultaneously looked up and saw what appeared to be a bird beak piercing the roof!

As the roof only consisted of a thin sheet of metal roofing, the giant bird only needed to peck the roof once! Soon, another beak pierced the roof, then another, then another...

The roof was filled with fist-sized holes now that it looked like someone fired a heavy machine gun on it. From time to time, the green eyes of the birds would peek from the holes they made as if they were checking if their prey is still there.

The old man didn't waste any more time and issued a command on his people like he was a captain of a military unit.

"Nathan, get the kid and the elderly to my room. Bring your gun with you and do your best to protect them, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Michael, Rick. You stay here with me. Ready your guns and ammo"

"Yes, sir!"

Nathan rapidly ran to get the kid and the elderly. They were actually just sitting on the dinner table that was situated near the kitchen. All this time they are just silent and didn't do anything. Nathan even felt sad for the two. The kid is too young and has already experienced such traumatic events while the elderly were already a few years away from dying and can't keep up to what's happening right now.

When Nathan reached the two, he faced the little girl and smiled like nothing serious was happening.

"Hey, Angelica. There's a monster outside, but I'm here and I will protect you. You just need to come with me. Do you want me to protect you?"

Nathan was never really good with kids. So he didn't really know what to say, but that doesn't really matter at the moment. Angelica just nodded at him, but her expressionless face didn't change at all.

"Okay. Come on, let's go! You too, lolo."

Nathan held the hands of the two with both his hands as if they were his kids. He didn't rush much because the elderly were too slow. A few seconds later, they went inside the old man's room. Nathan told Angelica to hide under the bed while the elderly laid on the bed and was covered with blankets.

Nathan didn't close the door, he instead watches from the inside what was happening in the living room. He wanted to be able to quickly step in if something went wrong.

The scraping sound made by the birds when their talons and beaks scratched or pierced the roof echoed throughout the house. By now, there are already large claw marks and numerous fist-size holes on the roof that it might give up any minute now.

Then, the scraping sounds came to an end. Only the flapping sound of the birds' huge wings can be heard. It sounded like they were going up.

"I have a bad feeling about this! Everyone, prepare for impact!"

The old man yelled as he realized what the birds are about to do while the two seemed clueless and was actually smiling! they were startled and confused when the old man shouted at them. Then, the old man's realization came true.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The birds simultaneously dived into the holes they made, instantly destroying a portion of the house's roof! Pieces of metals flung around the house, the three are able to avoid most of the debris but they still got few scratches.

"Shit! My house! I will kill you all! Ahhhh!"

The old man lashed out in anger. Although he has another house, this particular house is very important to him and had plenty of sentimental value to him. He brandished his M16A1 and sprayed bullets at the large targets that are the giant birds.

CRACKsss! CRACKsss!

He was able to hit one of the birds on its left-wing, but it was still able to fly! Meanwhile, the other birds are still pecking and scratching at the intact part of the roof. It is as if they are making more room for them to fit into! These birds are smart!

Every time the three of them fired at the birds on the roof, the birds would just fly away to evade the bullets. The birds are fast and great at maneuvering in the air too. Their bullets are wasted every time they fired their guns!

Another dive destroyed another portion of the roof, but this time it was directly above their heads!

"Shit!"

"Argh!"

Rick wasn't able to move in time and was injured on his right leg. Fortunately for Rick, the wound was shallow. He immediately got up and ran towards the dinner table to take cover.

A significant amount of the roof was destroyed from the constant attacks of the giant birds. This made it easier for the birds to dive directly at the old man's team.

Still, they have the advantages of guns. The only thing that they have to take account of was their bullets. Right now, they still have plenty of bullets. But if the birds keep attacking them, they won't have a choice but to waste their bullets on the pesky birds to deter them.

At this point, their battle will become a battle of attrition. Will they run out of bullets first before they can even kill all the birds? Questions like this flitted in the minds of the old man's group.

The birds were so fast that they can't even land a clean hit! Furthermore, the birds attacks in unison, each of them have different targets. They didn't focus on a single prey they instead took advantage of their superior numbers.

"Don't fire your guns too much! Only take a shot if you are sure you have a clean hit or just to deter the birds. We only have so many bullets!"

"Sir, should we just hide? These birds won't stop attacking us! If we can hide from their sights maybe...maybe they would stop then"

"No, Rick. I don't think they would stop now. These pesky birds are too smart for them to think that we're gone!"

The old man yelled as he fired his M16A1 at the bird that dived above his head. He almost got caught by the bird's giant talons, luckily he still has the strength to roll over and he actually landed a clean hit on the bird's chest!

CAW! CAW!

The pesky bird cried in pain as it flew in the air again. The old man gritted his teeth when he saw the bird were still able to fly.

"Damn these birds are pretty resilient!"

The old man looked around his trashed house. He saw Rick hiding below the dinner table while Michael was in a corner of the house.

Michael pushed the couch to the corner of the house and hid behind it as his cover. The only downside was that he didn't have much space to move around. He just pointed his gun in the air and waited for the birds to dive onto him.

Then, another round of dive attacks started. Each of them faced their own enemy bird leaving them no time to help each other! One bird dived directly at Michael. Fortunately, the couch was able to endure the talons of the bird if only for a bit. The bird tried its best to peck at Michael who was almost laying on the floor, but the beak was only long enough to reach him by an inch!

Michael raised his gun and fired in point-blank range. The bird's beak was instantly shattered and its head is blown! It finally stopped moving and became limp. It rolled from the top of the couch to the floor.

THUMP THUMP THUMP

Michael's heart beat faster as he realized that he had just killed the giant bird! He emerged from behind the couch and stared at the bird's dead body.

Rick and the old man saw what happened which gave them a bit of hope. They held their guns on them firmer.

Meanwhile, Nathan heard the birds peck at the roof above the room. A few seconds later, the birds had already made three fist-size holes! Nathan didn't wait for them to dive onto him. He pointed his Glock 17 on the roof and started firing.

BANG BANG BANG

"Nope. I won't let you!"

Although Nathan has never even held a gun, he still fired his gun knowing that most of it will miss. Luckily, the bird stopped and didn't dive on him.

"Sir! I think we should stay closer together! these birds' tactics seemed to keep us occupied to defend for ourselves so we won't be able to help each other"

"I agree with Rick, sir!"

Michael voiced his opinion as he fended off another bird that replaced the dead bird. This time the birds are more cautious. The bird moved frequently while they are on the ground making it hard for him to get a clean shot

"Okay! Run towards me the moment they fly again! I'll cover you"

The birds flew again after a couple of minutes of harassing them. Michael and Rick ran towards the room who was occupied by John earlier. Once they reached each other, they leaned on each other's backs leaving them no blind spots.

"How many bullets do you have left? I still have a dozen bullets left on my M16!"

"I only have 5 more shots on my shotgun!"

"I still have 10 on me!"

Meanwhile, Nathan was still fending off the occasional bird attacks above his head. There are already lots of holes on the roof that a single dive attack will definitely destroy the roof!