he next twenty hours passed brutally fast inside Basa Air Base.
The mont the briefing ended, the entire installation shifted into full operational tempo again.
Floodlights illuminated nearly every active sector across the base while military trucks, forklifts, fuel tankers, and ard patrol vehicles moved nonstop through the roads between hangars.
Unlike earlier defensive operations against zombie hordes, this mission felt different.
Smaller.
More precise.
And sohow far more dangerous.
Because for the first ti in months, Adrian and his n were not preparing to defend territory.
They were preparing to enter enemy territory.
A dead one.
Inside Hangar Three, the selected special operations team gathered around rows of equipnt tables while armorers distributed mission-specific gear.
Radiation-resistant combat suits.
Sealed respirator systems.
Anti-radiation dication injectors.
Night vision devices.
Thermal optics.
Portable radiation detectors.
Additional ammunition.
The amount of preparation alone already made the mission feel heavier than usual.
Ryan stood near one of the equipnt tables while checking rifles personally.
"Suppressors?"
One armorer nodded imdiately.
"Installed already."
Ryan grabbed one of the M4A1 carbines afterward before inspecting the weapon carefully beneath the hangar lights.
EOTech optic.
Infrared laser.
Suppressor mounted.
Extended magazines.
Backup iron sights.
Everything looked ready.
Nearby, another operator inspected a suppressed MK48 light machine gun while checking spare barrels and linked 7.62 ammunition belts.
Others prepared breaching charges, climbing equipnt, portable drones, and combat dical kits.
One operator quietly muttered while checking his Geiger counter.
"Never thought I’d need one of these."
Another operator beside him answered.
"Never thought I’d fight zombies either."
Honestly, nobody disagreed with that anymore.
Adrian eventually entered the hangar alongside several logistics officers carrying tablets and printed manifests.
The atmosphere imdiately straightened slightly.
"Sir."
"At ease."
Adrian walked slowly past the preparation tables while observing the team.
Every single operator already looked mission-focused.
No unnecessary talking.
No nervous joking anymore.
The reality of Beijing had already settled into everyone’s mind.
Ryan stepped beside Adrian afterward.
"The CBRN gear arrived from storage an hour ago."
Adrian nodded once.
"Radiation shielding?"
"Loaded onto the Globemaster already."
"What about decontamination stations?"
Ryan pointed toward the far side of the hangar.
"Portable units prepared. Chemical wash kits too."
Adrian looked toward the equipnt stacks afterward.
The amount of supplies being loaded for a twelve-man mission looked excessive to ordinary people.
But not for this operation.
Because once they entered Beijing, resupply would not exist.
Inside another nearby maintenance bay, chanics worked beneath the massive body of the C-17 Globemaster.
The aircraft dominated the hangar like a steel giant.
Its gray military fuselage reflected harsh floodlights while ground crews loaded pallets into the rear cargo ramp nonstop.
Ammunition crates.
Fuel drums.
dical supplies.
Portable generators.
Compact motorcycles for rapid movent through urban terrain.
Drone systems.
Even additional sealed body bags.
Just in case.
The loadmaster stood near the rear ramp while checking manifests against incoming cargo.
"Careful with those drone containers!"
Two crewn imdiately adjusted their grip while loading another crate deeper into the aircraft.
Nearby, another technician inspected one of the aircraft’s four Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines beneath maintenance lighting.
The C-17 itself had already been modified heavily over the past year.
Additional armor plating reinforced critical sections around the cockpit and lower fuselage. Infrared suppression systems had been improvised near engine exhaust areas while electronic counterasure pods were mounted beneath sections of the aircraft.
The apocalypse had transford the transport plane into sothing halfway between cargo aircraft and battlefield insertion platform.
Inside the cockpit, the pilots conducted pre-mission checks quietly.
Captain Morales sat in the left seat while reviewing flight route overlays displayed across the navigation screens.
Radiation zones.
Forr military radar sectors.
Possible ergency landing locations.
Most of them were marked red.
"Fuel calculations?"
The co-pilot answered imdiately.
"Enough for round trip assuming no holding pattern."
Morales nodded once.
"And if we need to divert?"
The co-pilot looked toward the dead regions displayed across the map.
"...Then things already went very wrong."
Back inside the operations building, Adrian entered another briefing room where intelligence officers waited beside updated satellite imagery of China.
The mont he entered, one officer imdiately spoke.
"Sir, latest drone reconnaissance from the Chinese submarine."
The screen updated afterward.
Destroyed coastline footage appeared imdiately.
Entire ports remained subrged beneath wreckage and radiation contamination while burned cities stretched endlessly inland.
The footage looked horrifying.
Collapsed apartnt blocks.
Highways filled with abandoned vehicles.
Burned military convoys.
And infected movent.
Everywhere.
Huge clusters still wandered across ruined districts months after the nuclear strikes.
One intelligence officer pointed toward the footage.
"Radiation levels near central Beijing remain lethal in several sectors."
The screen shifted again toward underground thermal scans.
"But the western insertion corridor remains survivable with proper exposure managent."
Adrian studied the map silently.
Then one operator finally asked quietly.
"You really think this scientist knows sothing?"
Adrian answered honestly.
"I think she knows enough for people to risk killing her."
That alone said a lot.
The room fell silent afterward.
Because if Doctor Lin truly possessed information regarding the origin of the outbreak, then sobody else might also want that information buried permanently.
Hours continued passing quickly across Basa Air Base.
By midnight, final preparations were nearly complete.
The selected operators eventually gathered near the runway staging area beneath the cold night air.
Most wore partially equipped combat gear already while waiting beside stacked cargo pallets.
Ryan sat on one of the ammunition crates while cleaning his pistol beneath portable floodlights.
One operator nearby looked toward him.
"You nervous?"
Ryan imdiately answered.
"Absolutely."
Several operators quietly laughed.
Ryan holstered the pistol afterward.
"Anybody saying they aren’t nervous about entering a radioactive zombie capital is either lying or stupid."
Honestly. That was fair.
Another operator nearby checked his respirator mask.
"You think those evolved infected are real?"
Ryan looked toward him briefly.
"I fought Hunters when everybody thought they weren’t real too."
That shut the conversation down quickly.
Adrian eventually approached the staging area afterward carrying a sealed folder beneath one arm.
The operators imdiately stood.
Adrian looked toward the team silently for several monts.
Then finally spoke.
"Final mission briefing."
The atmosphere beca completely focused again.
Adrian continued calmly.
"Our primary objective is Doctor Lin i."
He held up the photograph briefly before lowering it again.
"Secondary objective is retrieval of any surviving research data regarding the outbreak."
Ryan folded his arms nearby while listening quietly.
Adrian continued.
"We are not entering Beijing to clear sectors or engage unnecessary threats."
He looked directly toward the operators afterward.
"We go in."
Another pause.
"We extract the target."
Another.
"And we get out."
One operator finally asked quietly.
"And if we encounter evolved infected?"
Adrian answered imdiately.
"Kill them."
No hesitation.
No dramatic speech.
Just reality.
The operators nodded silently afterward.
Because that was the only answer possible now.
Then finally, the massive C-17 Globemaster began powering up behind them.
The low whine of the engines gradually echoed louder across the runway while heat distortion shimred behind the aircraft.
Floodlights reflected across the giant transport plane while ground crews disconnected final fueling lines and maintenance cables.
Ryan slowly stood afterward while grabbing his rifle.
"Well..."
He looked toward the aircraft.
"...Guess we’re really doing this."
Adrian looked toward the dark sky above Basa Air Base.
Sowhere far beyond that horizon sat Beijing.
A dead city hiding answers beneath its ruins.
And possibly sothing much worse.
The loadmaster finally shouted from the rear cargo ramp.
"Mission team, board now!"
One by one, the operators grabbed their gear before moving toward the aircraft.
Heavy boots slamd against the tal cargo ramp while the roar of the engines grew louder around them.
Inside the cargo bay, the atmosphere felt cold and tallic beneath dim red lighting.
Equipnt straps secured cargo pallets tightly against the walls while rows of fold-down seating lined both sides of the aircraft.
Ryan sat near the center section afterward while checking his rifle one last ti.
Across from him, another operator quietly loaded fresh magazines into a plate carrier pouch.
Nobody spoke much now.
The reality of departure had finally settled completely.
Adrian eventually climbed aboard last.
The loadmaster imdiately closed the cargo ramp behind him.
CLANG.
The sound echoed heavily through the aircraft.
Then the Globemaster began taxiing.
Outside the small reinforced windows, Basa Air Base slowly moved past beneath floodlights and darkness.
The engines roared louder.
Faster.
The massive aircraft accelerated down the runway beneath the Philippine night sky.
And monts later. The C-17 lifted off the ground toward China.
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