I Have a Modern Weapon Gacha System in the Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 21: Towards the Rooftop

Adrian quickly approached Ryan and then whispered.

"How many people can a Black Hawk carry?"

Ryan kept his rifle trained down the hallway as another door creaked open in the distance.

"For civilians?" he asked quietly.

"Of course civilians."

Ryan calculated fast. "Standard troop load is eleven with full kit. Strip the seats, pack them tight, no gear... we can push fifteen, maybe sixteen if they sit on the floor and we don’t care about comfort."

Adrian glanced at the growing crowd of hotel guests.

"And that’s per bird?" he asked.

"Per bird," Ryan confirmed. "But that’s max. Over that, we’re stressing weight and balance. Especially with kids moving around."

They had two helicopters.

Adrian counted again.

Chandrika and her three friends. That was four.

The hotel guests behind them—around twenty-five. Mixed adults and children.

Almost thirty in total.

Too many.

Not counting the crews of the two Black Hawk helicopters, it’s just pushing it. But, those pleading eyes, they were begging to be rescued.

"Well, let’s get to the roof first," Adrian said quietly.

Ryan gave a short nod. "We move now or we get boxed in."

From deeper down the hallway, more infected began to appear. At least five visible, pushing past each other, drawn by the noise and the crowd.

"Front contact building," Mason warned.

Adrian turned to the survivors.

"Everyone listen," he said. "We are going to the rooftop. Stay behind my men. No screaming. No running ahead. If you fall, someone next to you pulls you up. Understood?"

There were nods. Some too fast. Some hesitant.

A man in his forties stepped forward. "Please, just don’t leave the children."

"We’re not leaving anyone who keeps moving," Adrian replied.

That was the only promise he could give.

"Ryan, Mason, take point. Jake, Noah, rear. Cole float left. Ethan center with the civilians," Adrian ordered.

They shifted instantly.

"Move!" Ryan barked.

The line of survivors started forward. The corridor felt narrower now with that many bodies moving at once. Expensive shoes slipped on blood-stained carpet. A woman nearly fell, but the man beside her caught her arm.

An infected rushed from a side doorway near the middle of the column.

Cole fired once. The infected dropped hard against the wall.

"Keep moving!" Ethan said.

They reached the stairwell door.

Ryan yanked it open and scanned down.

"Clear for now. Up!"

The first group of civilians began climbing. A father carried his daughter in his arms. An older man leaned heavily on his son’s shoulder. Chandrika stayed close to her friends, glancing back once at Adrian before turning forward again.

Behind them, the infected spilled fully into the hallway.

Jake fired controlled bursts to slow them.

"Up! Up!" Mason shouted.

The stairwell echoed with footsteps and sharp breaths. The concrete walls amplified every sound.

Halfway up the flight, an infected pushed through the doorway below.

Ryan turned and fired downward between the railings. The infected fell backward, knocking two others off balance.

"Don’t stop!" Adrian shouted to the civilians.

They climbed harder now.

At the landing, another door above them rattled.

"Top side movement," Noah warned.

Mason pushed ahead and reached the next level first. He shoved the door open.

An infected lunged out immediately.

Mason shot it point-blank. The body slammed back into the stairwell.

"Clear!" he said.

"Go!" Ryan ordered.

The civilians poured past the body and up the final flight.

And they reached it. On the rooftop, the two Black Hawk helicopter rotors are now spinning to prepare for departure.

"Shit..." Ryan muttered as he stepped onto the rooftop and took in the scene.

"Move them!" Adrian shouted over the noise.

The civilians poured out of the stairwell door onto the concrete, some shielding their faces from the rotor wash. Children cried. Adults shouted over each other.

"Line up! Line up here!" Mason barked, pointing toward the first helicopter.

Adrian grabbed the arm of the man in the dress shirt. "How many kids?"

"Five," the man yelled back.

"Kids and one parent each to the first bird! The rest to the second!"

The order spread unevenly, but people started separating. Mothers grabbed their children. Fathers pushed them forward.

Chandrika and her three friends stood close together, unsure where to go.

"You four, first helicopter," Adrian told them. "Move!"

They ran low toward the nearest Black Hawk.

Behind them, the stairwell door burst open. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Three infected spilled out first, followed by more pressing behind them.

"Contact rear!" Noah shouted.

Jake and Cole turned and opened fire, controlled bursts pushing the first wave back. The infected stumbled but kept coming.

Then the door was fully forced open.

At least a dozen flooded onto the rooftop.

One of the Black Hawk gunners reacted immediately.

The M134 spun up with a rising mechanical whine.

"Clear the line of fire!" the gunner shouted.

Ryan dragged two civilians sideways as the minigun roared to life.

The stream of rounds tore across the rooftop toward the stairwell entrance. Concrete chipped. The infected at the front were shredded instantly, bodies thrown backward into those behind them.

The noise was overwhelming.

The stairwell doorway became a choke point filled with collapsing bodies.

"Load them! Load them!" Mason yelled.

Civilians were being pulled into the first helicopter. The crew inside grabbed arms and vests, hauling people in and pushing them down to sit tight along the floor.

"How many?" Adrian shouted at the crew chief.

"Fourteen!" the crew chief yelled back. "That’s it for this one!"

"Lift when ready!" Adrian ordered.

He turned toward the second helicopter.

"Second bird, take the rest! Move!"

More infected tried to push through the pile at the stairwell entrance.

The minigun kept firing in short controlled bursts, suppressing the doorway and chewing up anything that tried to emerge.

Ryan fired single shots at stragglers that broke left of the gunner’s line.

Chandrika was inside the first helicopter now, pressed between her friends and a woman holding a child. Her glasses were crooked, her breathing fast.

The first Black Hawk began to rise slowly.

"Second bird, count!" Adrian shouted.

"Thirteen onboard!" came the reply.

"Anyone left?" Ryan yelled.

Adrian scanned quickly.

Two elderly guests still stood near the edge, frozen.

"Move!" he shouted, grabbing one and pushing him toward the second helicopter.

The gunner kept the M134 trained on the stairwell as more infected tried to force their way out.

Concrete dust and blood mixed in the air.

"Last two loading!" the crew chief yelled.

The second Black Hawk’s engines roared louder.

"Fall back!" Ryan shouted to the team.

Mason and Jake disengaged first, moving backward toward the helicopter while still firing.

Noah covered them.

Adrian stepped back last, firing two final shots into the doorway to keep distance.

The second helicopter lifted just as a fresh wave of infected burst fully onto the rooftop.

The minigun raked the area once more as the aircraft climbed.

Below them, the rooftop filled with movement.

Inside the cabin, civilians were packed shoulder to shoulder.

Adrian looked out the open door at the shrinking rooftop and exhaled once.

They had pushed both birds to the limit, but it was operating well.