Samuel and the group hold their breath due to the terrifying screech above, "Elijah, how good is that creature's hearing?" Samuel asked in a low voice not alert the creature.
"I have no clue because these things usually are only out at night," Elijah murmured, "But it shouldn't hear us from the roof all the way down here as long as we don't shout."
"Hold on, I know an area where we can hide for now," Samuel led them towards the hidden door he had come from.
"Erina and the baby can hide here for now so that, in case the baby cries, the bird won't hear him," Samuel suggested.
"We've been here before, but creatures at night tend to roam around the ground floor." Elijah shook his head, "But for now it'll do."
"Alright, Erina, hide here for a bit while Samuel and I figure out how to kill that bird," Elijah ordered.
"Stay safe, the two of you…" Erina sighed.
Samuel closed the hidden door, and they returned to the lobby.
"So, first things first, what do you know about that bird?" Samuel inquired.
Elijah responded, "Well, first, it shouldn't even be awake during the day; it hunts at night because it is fairly weak among the mutants."
"The biggest problem we have with it is its claws. It has a paralytic toxin that can easily paralyze us," Elijah continued, but was interrupted by Samuel.
"Huh? Earlier, I got grazed by it, but it's only slightly numb?" Samuel frowned and showed his shallow wound to Elijah.
"That's weird, it should've paralyzed your entire body." Elijah was confused, but he continued, "Maybe that bird has a problem with its talons?"
"Hmm, maybe, well, let's just avoid getting hit by it altogether," Samuel suggested.
"I agree," Elijah nodded and continued explaining, "Now its third and final ability is its ability to mimic humans it kills, it uses it to lure prey at night, and combined with its talons, it can swoop in and paralyze its prey."
"But as long as we stick together, we should be fine." Elijah continued, "The bird isn't that intelligent, but it is very hard to kill because of its ability to fly."
"So we just have to avoid its talons and keep it grounded?" Samuel asked.
"Not only that, but we have to kill it before sundown. If we don't kill it, then the sounds can attract even more Night Stalkers, and we would have an even bigger problem." Elijah looked dejected.
"Alright then, what are we waiting for? Let's go scavenge for stuff in this hospital to kill that bird," Samuel suggested with conviction.
"Mhm, let's go," Elijah nodded, and they started looking around the lobby and the nearby patient wards.
A few hours later, the two returned to the lobby with their haul, nothing essential, nothing anyone in a panic would grab, but to Elijah, it was a goldmine.
Samuel tossed down the IV poles with a grunt, followed by a mess of coiled tubing, gloves, and curtain fabric. "All this junk, and not even a single syringe left behind. You think any of this is actually gonna help?"
Elijah didn't answer right away. He was staring at the pile like it was a puzzle, pieces falling into place. Then his eyes lit up. "Actually... yeah. It will."
Samuel raised an eyebrow. "You've got that look again."
Elijah crouched, already pulling parts together. "Okay. We've got hollow IV poles, right? That means we've got a tube. We use it as the base of a spear, metallic, long, and conductive. But here's the kicker: we can wire one of the portable defib units directly into it." He grabbed the high-voltage wires, still coiled. "We connect the wiring inside the pole, and once the charge is triggered, it'll electrocute anything the spear hits."
"Hold on, electrified spear? That's your plan?" Samuel asked, half impressed, half terrified.
"Not just that," Elijah continued, already digging through the pile for the small surgical scalpel Samuel had found earlier. "You found this earlier, right?"
"Yeah. Sharp, thin. Didn't think it was worth much."
"It's perfect," Elijah said, fastening it to the tip of the IV pole with clamps and layers of epoxy. "It'll punch through skin and muscle. But the real trick-" he lifted the fire extinguisher, "-is this."
He connected the tubing from the regulator to the nozzle of the extinguisher, then fed the other end into the hollow pole just behind the scalpel tip. "The pole's hollow. If we seal it right and rig this regulator to your backpack, you can inject compressed gas right into the wound."
Samuel blinked. "You're saying I stab the bird, fry it, and gas it at the same time?"
"Exactly," Elijah said, grinning. "High voltage, puncture damage, and a burst of CO₂ directly into its body. Even if it doesn't die, it'll be too stunned to fight back."
He pointed at the defib. "You'll need to activate the charge before you strike—hit the button as you're closing in. It takes five seconds to cycle, so you'll have to time it perfectly or you'll just poke it with a stick."
Samuel whistled low. "That's… disturbingly smart."
"For the backpack," Elijah went on, grabbing pieces of the privacy curtain and starting to knot them, "we can use the curtain fabric to sling both the extinguisher and the defib unit to your back. It'll be strong enough to hold the weight and flexible enough, so it doesn't snap when you move."
"And this?" Samuel picked up more curtain fabric.
"Rope," Elijah said, twisting it and tying lengths of it together. "We tie three or four of the IV pole wheels together with a curtain fabric. Throw them like a bola, if we're lucky, the weight and spin will tangle the bird's wings or legs."
"And the gloves?" Samuel asked, holding up the thick bundle of rubber gloves they'd taken from the supply closets.
"Insulation," Elijah said simply. "Layer them. Three, maybe four thick. You're going to be holding a spear that carries a defibrillator-level charge. One slip, and you're the fried bird."
Elijah paused, then added, "Once you stab it and the charge hits, you'll have to ditch the pack fast to trigger the extinguisher manually. There's no way we can rig both to go off at the same time safely. You land the hit, drop the bag, hit the release, and back off."
Samuel slowly nodded, then looked down at the spear, now halfway constructed with clamps, surgical tape, the scalpel tip, and coiled wires ready for connection. "You really think this'll work?"
Elijah glanced up at the ceiling, his expression sharpening. "It has to. Just remember—this thing's one-time use. The wiring and pressure seals won't hold for more than one hit. If the pressure builds too high or the charge arcs wrong, it might explode in your hands."
Samuel grinned, lifting the half-built weapon. "Great. One shot could blow up in my hands, and I've gotta time it to not die. Let's finish it before the sun goes down."
Elijah just shook his head and let out a dry laugh. "You're either the dumbest guy I've ever met, or the bravest."
Samuel winked. "Let's hope I'm just lucky."