Besides, Yannie was probably still being swarmed by the Venus flytraps right now—there was no way she had the time to help.
In any case, this bird no longer seemed capable of feeling pain. And all they wanted to know was whether removing the ticks would allow these people to recover even a fragment of their sanity, the way Yannie had.
If they could return even slightly to the range of normal human cognition, things would become much easier.
With a wet squelch, the tick's abdomen burst, viscous fluid splattering out. Hayes ignored it and continued trying to yank the parasite free.
"…Huh?"
He felt a powerful resistance at his fingertips. It was as if the vulture's skull wasn't made of flesh at all, but reinforced concrete—once the tick's mouthparts pierced in, they could never be pulled out.
Hayes steadied himself and exerted more force.
