"Do birds normally gather like that?"
Rowan gestured overhead to where an increasing number of birds were continuing to swarm overhead.
"They do normally form flocks, but this many of them, following us... We should probably find some cover."
Rowan didn't question the advice, as he was feeling much the same way, apprehension filling his gut. The birds were seeming increasingly abnormal, as more flew in from every direction, appearing from over hills as they all started to swarm above them.
The group began to jog along the road, and Rowan could have sworn the birds picked up speed overhead. Not just in the speed at which they followed, but their circling pattern seemed to grow faster as more and more joined in.
As the number of birds in the sky climbed far too high for Rowan to even attempt counting them all, a set of buildings appeared not too far off from the road. The group turned, slowly veering off the road as they headed to the first shelter they saw.
Yet as they did so, a cacophonous onslaught of shrieks pierced through the sky, coming from the cloud of birds above them. Adrenaline surged through each of the group as they pushed harder, not daring to look up at whatever the birds may have been doing.
Feet pounding over the open field, they neared the buildings, still running as hard as they could. Some of the structures seemed to be in disarray, with broken windows and missing doors, yet they managed to find one that seemed mostly intact, on the side nearest the road.
Not having the luxury of choice, the trio slammed into the room, pulling the door closed and barricading it with a nearby filing cabinet. Breathing heavy, they watched the door warily, waiting for something to happen. But the birds continued to caw above, undoubtedly still circling creepily.
As Rowan began to doubt whether it had been the right decision to run, the sounds began to get louder as the birds descended, coming to land all around the building they found themselves trapped in.
Now that their prey had nowhere to run, the birds had become silent, waiting for the group to come outside.
"Those definitely aren't normal birds. No way."
Aoife and Nadia nodded, Nadia panting for breath while Aoife surveyed the new room they had found themselves in. It appeared like the office spaces Rowan had seen in the bureau, three weeks ago for his test.
A few desks were spread throughout the room, with small piles of paperwork on each one. Casting a cautious glance at the door, Rowan began to go through the paperwork, wondering what the purpose of this cluster of buildings had been pre-Fall.
On top of the desk closest to him was a binder, filled with pages upon pages of repeated reports on something, each one marked with a letter. It didn't take much more flipping through various reports for Rowan to understand that they were actually assignments.
"So it was a school. Looks like we're stuck in the admin building."
Aoife seemed to have reached the same conclusion as Rowan, going through the stacks of paper on the desk closest to her. Nadia was sitting in the corner opposite the door, still breathing heavily from their brief chase.
"We have enough fruit to last us, what, a week? Do you think the birds will wait around that long?"
Rowan was almost certain they would. There was no chance that they were normal animals, not after the way they had swarmed and attacked. They also had no way of knowing, as by choosing one of the building with no broken windows, they had ended up with no windows at all, leaving no way for them to see the outside.
In the end, no one answered Nadia's question, as they each already knew the likely outcome. Rowan sat down in the office chair and began to spin absentmindedly, mind in a haze, as he half-heartedly tried to brainstorm ways to escape.
With the sheer number of birds outside, he couldn't imagine how they could ever escape. At least, he couldn't imagine how they could all escape. Though he forced it from his mind, it kept coming back after he initially thought of it. If someone ran in a direction away from the office, the birds would likely follow them, assuming they weren't too intelligent.
Then, the others would be able to slip away without the birds noticing that they had even done so. It was a foolish plan, and one that might not even work, but it was the only plan that came to Rowan's mind as he lazily spun in place.
Eventually however, he got tired of the repetitive thinking, and got up to practice swinging his sword. Repeating the motions, he slowly adjusted to the vastly different weight of Ben's sword, and became more and more accustomed to wielding it. It was a longsword, and thus was meant to be used with two hands, and so he held it outstretched in front of him at a 45-degree angle.
He felt the faint onset of muscle burn set in, but it was quickly remedied by the regeneration of his ability, allowing him to hold the sword until his stamina wore thin. He had held the position for maybe fifteen minutes, and doing so had exhausted all of his stamina and nearly all of his essence.
Feeling weak, he sat down against the wall, ignoring the office chairs. He wanted to check if his mastery of his regeneration had increased, but as he focused on it, he could only sigh.
The same as it had been when he had finished training in the night shift, it was 52%. For some reason, the mastery had come to a complete standstill after he had reached that number, and he was clueless as to why.
Even Aoife and Nadia couldn't help him, as they were at 20% and 5% respectively. Aoife was surprised at how quick his mastery seemed to have grown, as compared to hers and Nadia. Rowan just blamed it on his ability being easier to activate, which was the likely cause anyway.
Finally, the sun started to set, and Rowan, Nadia, and Aoife each took their respective corners as they tried to ignore the horde outside.