𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 | 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐢

𝐈. 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐡

The boisterous laughter died down amidst the group of teens as the tired feeling from satisfied stomachs began to settle. Matt released as soft sigh as he lifted a hand to call over their waiter; however, as the cafe was severely understaffed, it was Nora herself who approached. A warm smile graced her face as she stopped beside the table, asking without words how she might be of service.

"Could we get the checks?" Matt requested, subtly wrapping an arm around Bethany as he leaned back in his chair.

Nora gave a quick nod and walked back to the register before returning just as quickly with six checks in hand. Even though the boys had offered to pay, the girls wouldn't hear of it. Roni was particularly offended at the thought that she couldn't take care of herself, even though any other day she wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of someone offering her money. However, the conflict didn't last long and the excitement picked up again.

The volume of the laugher and chatter from the group continued to increase as they exited the restaurant. The overhead bell chimed as they left the building; however, something sounded off as they were each reminded of the game that they had narrowly escaped less than twenty-four hours ago. That wasn't the oddest thing to occur though. The sound of the bell was immediately drowned out as a pack of wild ostriches stampeded down the street. Bethany froze and Matt quickly pulled her back to avoid getting trampled.

"What the hell?" Fridge asked in shock, pulling the group back inside as the anchor.

"Somebody tell me I'm still dreaming," Matt muttered under his breath as the pace of his heartbeat quickened. The birds continued to flock past in clusters and Matt repeated himself under his breath as he started to hyperventilate, "This has to be a dream... or a nightmare."

"I thought we already determined that six people can't have the same nightmare?" Roni retorted with a rhetorical question.

"I'm pretty sure they can if they like lived through it," Bethany protested, pulling her arms around herself.

"This doesn't make any sense," Martha muttered as her eyes remained trained on the window. "This can't be happening right?"

"It shouldn't be happening," Spencer confirmed, moving closer to Martha. "We beat the game."

As if it sense the tension of the group and the presence of the other customers within the restaurant, one of the ostriches stopped in its tracks. Its head slowly turned in the direction of the cafe as if taunting the victims it terrorized. Creeping closer while tiltling its head, Matt swore its eyes narrowed menacingly.

"Maybe it can't see us," Fridge whispered.

"It's glass," Roni retorted through gritted teeth, "of course it can see us."

The bird tilted its head further, as if its neck might snap, before straightening and releasing an ear-shattering screech. Every pair of hands within the restaurant shot up into the air to cover their ears and protect what was left of their eardrums.

Roni released a pained shout, "It's like nails on a chalkboard!"

As the group reamined focused on protecting their ability to hear, they failed to see that the bird had taken a few steps back. A second of stillness passed before the bird charged toward the window and effortlessly smashed through the glass. It stumbled, slightly dazed as it hadn't seen the glass, but it did succeed in drawing the attention of the other ostriches within the pack.

Bethany's eyes widened as she looked up from the ground to see the swarm of birds prepared to pounce on them. She shook Matt by the arm. "Guys... what do we do?"

"Run."

They all knew it was a terrible suggestion from Spencer, but without any better ideas, none of them protested. It looked as if the rest of the building had the same idea as chaos ensued while everyone shuffled about in panic.

With the quick darts of movement flashing before their eyes, the birds attacked. Screams became the prevalent noise as the ostriches' violent actions stirred up both fear and pain. The group of teens stumbled, but did their best to remain together as they tried to find another exit aside from the front door.

Matt was certain that he'd almost lost more than one of his fingers, not to mention an eye or two, as the birds snapped in every direction.

Roni was the first to trip, catching her legs on a fallen chair. The others followed after her and landed in a pile that only made easy-pickings for the birds. However, just as it seemed like they had met their end. The birds lifted their heads into the air and sprinted away to join the rest of their flock. The teens slowly stood and dusted themselves off in confusion, trying to figure out what exactly had spooked the birds.

"I don't know about you guys," Matt broke the lingering silence, "but I don't think those birds suddenly grew a conscience."

Matt's assumption was rewarded with a low growl that turned into a deafening roar. His blood ran cold as the maned creature stepped into the light and bared its teeth at them.

"How did this suddenly get so much worse!" Fridge complained and threw his arms up into the air.

The lion seemed to take his action as a threat and growled again. If possible, Matt swore the cat licked its lips before lowering to its haunches, prepared to pounce when given the chance.

However, the cat suddenly collapsed and revealed a small dart sticking to its hide. A soft snore was emitted as the cat exhaled revealing that it was caught in a deep slumber rather than death.

The group looked at each other in confusion before cautiously stepping over the shattered glass to see what or who had knocked out the king of the jungle.

Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped at what they saw.

The woman blew away the smoke from her small handgun and returned the weapon to its holster as if the action was effortless. She brushed back the dark stray hairs that had fallen out of her messy ponytail and straightened out her leather jacket, an action that Roni performed at the same moment subconsciously. The woman's green eyes glittered with a spark of mischief as she ushered the group closer.

"Well, don't just stand there with your jaws flapping open." The woman placed her hands onto her hips. "There's plenty more where that came from."

The group didn't provide a verbal response. Instead, their eyes drifted to the end of the line, settling on Roni, then back to where the woman was beginning to lose patience.

"Let's just get this out of the way. I'm Dakota Dalton," she introduced herself and motioned for the teens to follow her down the street. However, she glanced over her shoulder at the last second with that same glint of mischief. "But you can call me Rogue."