30 minutes later, Adrian was in the helipad. He looked up to the sky and saw the silhouettes of the Chinook and the Apache.
The powerful downwash caused by the rotors made him squint from the dust
30 minutes later, Adrian was in the helipad. He looked up to the sky and saw the silhouettes of the Chinook and the Apache.
The powerful downwash from the rotors kicked dust and loose debris across the concrete, forcing him to narrow his eyes as the aircraft descended.
As the Chinook ca lower, the damage beca clear.
The rear section was scorched.
One of the engine housings was blackened, with smoke still trailing out in thin, uneven streams. Parts of the outer paneling looked warped, and a section near the exhaust was visibly dented, like sothing had struck it mid-air.
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
"...They barely made it."
The Apache hovered slightly higher, holding position as it scanned the periter, its nose-mounted sensor moving in short, controlled sweeps across the surrounding area.
The Chinook struggled on final approach.
It wobbled slightly as the pilot fought to keep it stable.
"Easy... easy..." one of the ground crew muttered under his breath.
The landing gear touched down hard.
The entire airfra shook as the weight settled onto the helipad.
For a second, it looked like the aircraft might tip—
But the pilot corrected it.
The rotors kept spinning.
Smoke continued to rise from the damaged engine.
"Chocks! Fire team, move!" one of the ground supervisors shouted.
Crew rushed forward imdiately.
Two n carried extinguishers while another team moved toward the rear section.
Adrian stepped closer, shielding his face slightly from the rotor wash.
The rear ramp began to lower.
Inside, he could already see movent.
Ryan stood near the opening, one hand gripping the overhead rail, steadying himself as the ramp dropped.
The mont it touched the ground—
"Move! Move!" Ryan shouted.
Jake was the first to start guiding civilians out, helping one of them down the ramp while Noah followed, assisting another who nearly stumbled from the landing.
"Watch your step!" Noah said, grabbing a man by the arm and pulling him clear.
One by one, the survivors began stepping onto the helipad, disoriented but moving.
dics rushed forward.
"Over here! Keep them coming!" one of them called.
Chandrika ca down next with her parents, Liza who is carrying a baby and holding Chandrika’s little sister, and then Marco who was scanning the place with his eyes.
"Adrian?" Marco said in a tone of realization.
"Good to see you again," Adrian said with a smile. "You guys are now safe here in this base."
Marco approached him along with his family. Liza had this grateful look in her eyes, expressing her gratitude silently, while Chandrika grew curious towards him.
"Is this a military base of the Philippine Army?"
"I’m afraid not," Adrian said. "This is my base actually. I know the truth is fragnted but you can believe that I technically own this place."
He had been aning to find a way to make it sense to the survivors about the nature of his summoned troops and military hardware. Of course telling them that he has powers would make him sound insane and crazy. Fortunately, there is a way where he could avoid that.
"We are private military contractors," Adrian finally revealed to them, although it is a lie.
Marco’s eyes widened in shock. "Really? You are so young and..."
"It doesn’t matter, what matters is that you are now secured here. Now, there is a living quarters just constructed for survivors," Adrian said as he pointed at the direction of a newly built section along the inner periter.
Temporary structures.
Rows of modular units lined up beside each other, still clean, still unused. Floodlights had already been set up around the area, and a small team was guiding earlier arrivals toward registration tables.
"You’ll be processed there," Adrian continued. "Food, water, dical check. You’ll be assigned a unit after."
Liza nodded imdiately, tightening her hold on the baby. "Thank you... really."
Marco still looked around, taking everything in—the ard personnel, the aircraft, the organized movent of people.
A dic stepped in. "Sir, we’ll take them from here."
Adrian gave a short nod.
Marco hesitated for a second, then extended his hand.
"Thank you... for bringing us out of there."
Adrian shook it once.
"Get your family settled first."
Marco nodded and stepped back, guiding Liza and the others toward the dical team.
Chandrika glanced back once before following.
Adrian watched them go for a second, then turned his attention back to the Chinook.
The fire team was still working on the rear engine, foam coating the damaged housing while one of the chanics climbed onto a maintenance ladder to inspect the extent of the impact.
"Engine two took a direct hit," one of them said. "Housing’s compromised. We’re lucky it didn’t blow mid-air."
Ryan stepped up beside Adrian, wiping sweat and dust from his face.
"It almost did," he said. "We lost control for a few seconds back there."
Jake and Noah approached from behind, both still carrying their gear.
Jake glanced at the damaged engine and let out a low whistle. "That thing really tried to bring us down."
Noah shook his head. "That wasn’t random debris."
Adrian nodded once.
"No. It wasn’t."
Ryan looked at him. "You saw it?"
"Clear visual," Adrian said. "Large variant. High mobility. Threw that chunk straight at you."
Jake frowned. "So it can target aircraft now?"
"Looks like it," Adrian replied.
There was a brief pause.
The Apache finally began descending, landing a short distance away. Its rotors still spun as the crew maintained alert posture, scanning even while on the ground.
Ryan crossed his arms slightly.
"That changes things."
"It does," Adrian said and continued. "Which is why we need to debrief, find out everything about zombies and their variants. The more we know about our enemies, the higher our chance of survival."
"That’s true," Ryan concurred.
"Get yourself so brief rest then report to the command center at six o’clock in the evening, or in military format, it’s 1800 hours."
"Yes sir!"
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