The A-10’s cannon roared again, tearing through the forest below.

For a brief moment, it looked like they still had control of the situation.

Then everything changed.

The forest did not answer from below this time.

It answered from above.

Marcus caught it first. It was not clear. Not obvious. Just a flicker at the edge of his vision, something cutting through the smoke left behind by the last rocket strike.

Too fast to be falling debris.

Too controlled to be random.

He did not even think about it.

He looked up.

"...Contacts high," Marcus said.

The co-pilot followed his gaze.

For a second, he said nothing.

Then his face went pale.

"...Oh, shit."

They were already there.

Dozens of them.

They were not circling like scavengers anymore. They were not gliding. Every single one of them folded its wings and dropped.

They came down all at once.

It looked like a wave.

The vultures fell through the air in tight dives, their bodies angled straight toward the Black Hawk. Their wings stayed tucked until the last second, giving them speed that was almost impossible to track.

"Break now!" Marcus shouted.

The pilot reacted instantly. The helicopter rolled hard to the left, the rotors biting into the air as the entire aircraft tilted sharply.

The first wave tore past them.

Too close.

Marcus felt the pressure shift inside the cabin as several of them passed just meters away. One of the vultures clipped the rotor wash and spun violently in the air.

For a moment, it looked like it would fall.

But it recovered.

Mid-air.

It spread its wings, stabilized itself, and turned.

Then it came back.

"They’re committing!" the co-pilot shouted.

"No kidding!" the pilot snapped.

Marcus grabbed the radio.

"Hog One, we’ve got aerial swarm, multiple diving targets!"

"Visual," the A-10 pilot replied. "They’re fast. I’ll try to thin them out."

The Warthog immediately abandoned its ground attack. It climbed, then rolled into a new angle, lining itself up for an intercept.

"Guns!"

A short burst ripped through the sky.

One of the vultures exploded mid-dive, its body torn apart before it could reach them.

But it barely made a difference.

The rest adapted instantly.

Instead of diving straight toward the helicopter, they spread out.

Some dropped low, slipping beneath the Black Hawk.

Others climbed higher, circling above.

They were not attacking blindly anymore.

They were setting up.

"...They’re bracketing us," the co-pilot said, his voice tight.

Marcus nodded.

"Yeah. They’re boxing us in."

One of the vultures came from below.

Fast.

It kept its wings folded until the last second, then snapped them open just under the helicopter. Its claws stretched upward, aiming straight for the underside.

"Underbelly!" the co-pilot shouted.

The pilot yanked the collective.

The helicopter surged upward just enough.

The claws scraped along the bottom of the fuselage with a loud metallic screech.

Marcus felt the vibration through his boots.

"Close!" the pilot shouted.

"Too close," Marcus replied.

Another one came from behind.

Straight for the tail.

"Tail! Tail!" the co-pilot yelled.

The pilot kicked the pedals hard, yawing the helicopter sideways. The tail rotor shifted position just enough for the creature to miss by inches.

Its claws snapped shut on empty air.

But it did not overshoot.

It turned mid-air.

Came back again.

"They don’t miss and move on," Marcus said.

"They adjust," the pilot replied.

Marcus keyed the radio again.

"Hog One, they’re targeting our tail rotor. We need them cleared off our six!"

"Copy. Coming around."

The A-10 banked wide, then dropped lower behind the Black Hawk.

It was risky.

Too close.

Too tight.

But the pilot committed anyway.

"Hold steady!" Hog One called out.

The Black Hawk pilot hesitated for half a second.

Then he held the line.

The helicopter stayed level.

One second.

Two.

"Guns!"

The GAU-8 roared behind them.

The rounds tore through the air dangerously close to the helicopter, but they hit their targets. Two vultures chasing the tail were shredded mid-air, their bodies breaking apart into fragments that spun away.

"Tail is clear!" Hog One said.

"Good hit," Marcus replied.

But it was far from over.

More were coming.

From above.

From below.

From every direction.

The sky was no longer open.

It was crowded.

Marcus scanned the area, tracking movement as fast as he could.

"...Count?" he asked.

"Fifteen... maybe more," the co-pilot said.

Marcus exhaled slowly.

"They’re multiplying."

The next impact came without warning.

A heavy thud slammed into the side of the helicopter.

"Contact right!" the gunner shouted.

One of the vultures had hit the side near the open door. This time, it did not bounce off.

It held on.

Its claws dug into the metal frame, locking in place as its wings beat once to stabilize itself. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Marcus saw it clearly.

Up close.

Its skin stretched thin over bone. Its eyes gave off a faint glow. Its beak opened wide, revealing something sharp and wrong.

"Get it off!" Marcus shouted.

The gunner drew his pistol and fired point blank.

One shot.

Two.

Three.

The rounds hit its chest, but it did not let go.

It lunged forward.

The beak snapped toward the inside of the cabin.

Marcus stepped in and raised his rifle.

He fired.

The rounds hit its head.

One of its eyes burst.

The creature jerked violently.

But it still held on.

"Drop!" Marcus shouted.

The gunner kicked forward, his boot slamming into the creature’s chest. At the same time, Marcus fired again.

The final shot punched through its skull.

The body went limp.

Its claws loosened.

Then it fell.

"Right side clear!" the gunner shouted.

Marcus did not relax.

"Keep watching!"

The helicopter shook again as the pilot forced another hard turn.

"I can’t keep this up forever!" the pilot said.

"You don’t have to," Marcus replied. "Just keep us alive a little longer."

"For what?" the co-pilot asked.

Marcus did not answer immediately.

He looked at the sky.

At the A-10.

At the forest below.

Then forward.

"...For a gap."

Marcus grabbed the radio again.

"Hog One, status?"

There was a pause.

Then the answer came.

"Low on gun ammo. Rockets are gone. I’ve got one more pass before I have to leave."

Marcus clenched his jaw.

"That’s not enough."

"I know," Hog One replied.

Below them, the forest shifted again.

But this time, it was different.

The tree monsters were not rising.

They were spreading.

Their branches stretched outward instead of upward, pushing aside parts of the canopy.

Creating space.

Creating openings.

"...They’re opening paths," the co-pilot said.

Marcus’s eyes sharpened.

"Not for us."

"For the flyers," the pilot finished.

Marcus nodded.

"They’re working together now."

The radio crackled again.

"Hog One, final run."

The A-10 climbed one last time, then rolled into position.

This time, it did not aim at the ground.

It aimed at the sky.

"Guns!"

The cannon roared again.

The burst tore through a cluster of vultures mid-air. Several of them were ripped apart instantly, their bodies breaking into pieces that scattered across the airspace.

For a brief moment, the swarm broke.

A gap opened.

"Marcus!" the pilot shouted.

"I see it!"

Marcus leaned forward, eyes locked on the opening.

"That’s our lane! Go!"

The Black Hawk surged forward at full power.

The pilot pushed the engines harder, choosing speed over maneuvering. The helicopter drove straight toward the opening, rotors cutting through the air as they forced their way through.

The vultures reacted instantly.

They turned.

They dived.

They chased.

But the gap gave them space.

Just enough.

"Keep going!" Marcus shouted.

"I am!" the pilot replied.

Behind them, the A-10 pulled up.

Its job was done.

"Hog One exiting area. You’re on your own now."

Marcus keyed the radio.

"Copy. Thanks for the assist."

"No problem," Hog One said. "Try not to die."

The A-10 climbed higher and disappeared into the sky.

Gone.

Now it was just them.

The Black Hawk.

The swarm behind them.

And the forest below.

Marcus looked back.

The vultures were still coming.

Still chasing.

Still closing.

And below, the trees were still moving.

"Marcus..." the co-pilot said quietly.

"Yeah."

"...This isn’t stopping."

Marcus looked forward.

Then he gave the only answer that mattered.

"Then we don’t stop either."