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“I can handle these overgrown chickens.”

Before they had time to argue, the birds charged. Georgia dodged to the right, and one bird diverted toward her.

Ash darted to the left, taking the attention of the other two birds with him. He fired at one, taking it down, but the other was too close to shoot, and its wicked sharp horns were aimed at his chest.

He grabbed the horns and propelled himself over the bird’s head, holding on tight as he tried to flip the creature, but it was too damn heavy. He dropped his hold, landed on his feet, and pivoted to face the bird.

It was shaking its head, seeming confused that it had lost its prey.

“Hey! You missed.”

The bird squawked, turned, and charged him again.

Ash fired, and it went down before it could reach him.

A yell from Georgia had him turning, and then he was running toward her. Her weapon was on the ground, and she was cursing as she faced off with the final bird.

Ash growled. There was no chance to get a clear shot because the giant bird was so close, snapping its evil beak inches from her face.

Instead of firing, he jumped on the bird’s back and grabbed its long, scaled neck. It reared up, trying to throw him off, but he clung on tight.

“Run!” he yelled.

A shimmer of anger crossed Georgia’s face before she pushed away from the tree she’d been pinned against.

Ash made short work of dispatching the bird with a knife. He took no pleasure in killing these animals, but it was either that or Georgia.

“Ash!”

He raced in the direction of Georgia’s voice, plunged through some bushes, and stopped. There were six more giant birds fanned out in a line in front of him.

Georgia looked up at him, and he saw a rare flare of fear in her eyes. “I screwed up. I dropped my gun. I... I never do that.”

“You do when you’re sick. Which you are.” Her skin looked pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes.

“Maybe I don’t feel so good,” she said.

“Hang tight. We’ve got this.” Ash studied the formation of the birds. He could take a few out but wouldn’t get them all before they reached them.

“We should climb into the trees,” he said. “We can wait these things out. Eden and Blaze are on their way. We won’t have to wait long for backup.”

The birds gave an ear-splitting shriek and ran at them.

Ash fired, taking two out, but he wasn’t fast enough.

A blur of movement from overhead caught his eye. The banty was flying through the air, his fur puffed out. And he wasn’t alone. Five more banty descended from the trees and attacked the birds.

Ash backed away, making sure to keep Georgia behind him, not believing what he saw as six small brown bundles took on these giant birds. And they were freaking winning.

And so they should. They were spitting what must be poison from the birds’ panicked reactions, and they’d all revealed large fangs.

“Wow! I had no idea he could do that,” Georgia said.

“Your banty is awesome.” Ash kept his weapon trained on the birds, but the banty were doing his job for him. They were spitting, howling, and slashing at these birds.

The birds were disoriented and ran in circles as they tried to escape the fangs and poison. After a few more seconds of fighting, one of the birds turned tail and ran. Those still standing swiftly followed.

Ash huffed out a laugh of surprise. “We should train these guys to join us on the Apocalypse. They’re worthy partners.”