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I stood, and gripped an overhead hand hold, and looked out the side window.

A spotlight beam from the Talon illuminated the monsters below.

They were milling in a park bounded by an old subdivision, whose houses were now all rubble. I sucked in a breath. Smaller monsters were swarming around, interspersed with larger ones.

As we all strapped on our rappel cables, Jameson slid the side door open. We were assaulted by grunts, moans, and yowls coming from below.

“Jesus,” Kai muttered.

None of us had seen monsters congregate like this. Hell, I’d seen larger monsters eat smaller ones before.

Not work together like a team.

A chaotic, bloodthirsty team.

“Let’s do this,” Jameson said. “Kai, man the turret and take out what you can from the air.”

Kai nodded. “You got it, Jameson.”

“Everyone else, let’s go.”

“Hell, yeah,” Marc yelled.

Jameson turned and jumped. Zeke leaped right behind him.

I glanced out and watched them whizz down.

“After you,” Marc said.

I jumped next. The night air was cool on my face and my gloved hands gripped my carbine. My boots hit the ground, and I disconnected the line.

Instantly, a small monster leaped at me.

I got the impression of gray fur, huge eyes, and claws. Big claws.

I whipped my weapon up and fired.

A second later, North landed beside me. Then Marc.

Zeke and Jameson were back-to-back, their lasers lighting up the night. I stayed close to North and Marc, spraying the closest creatures.

“Fuck,” North muttered.

There were so many. My throat was dry.

A larger creature, about the size of a large dog, bounded at us, its jaws snapping.

We both fired on it, then Marc joined in too. The creature went down, and Marc leaped over and kept firing.

Something hit the back of my legs and I stumbled. North spun and fired.

I turned and saw one of the gray possum-like creatures. It lay twitching on the ground, black blood oozing onto the grass.

North advanced, his carbine up and his face like stone.

I moved up beside him, firing on more monsters. The creatures darted away.

There was a loud squawk. To our left, a monster darted out of the trees in the park. It ran on two long legs and had a long neck, and sharp beak. It aimed right at North.