I Have a Modern Weapon Gacha System in the Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 57: Downed Base

The thing moved toward them.

It dropped low for half a second, limbs digging into the ground as if bracing. Then it exploded forward, covering ground in a straight line, faster than anything they had seen so far.

"Contact! Fast mover!" Ethan shouted.

"Pull up!" Ryan snapped.

The pilot reacted immediately, pitching the Black Hawk upward, trying to gain altitude.

It didn’t matter.

The creature adjusted mid-run, its body compressing, then launching.

It hit the air.

Not a jump like a person.

A full extension of all four limbs, driving its entire frame upward with force.

"Brace—!"

It slammed into the helicopter.

A heavy impact hit the side.

The aircraft jolted hard, the sudden weight dragging one side down.

"Left skid! Left skid!" the pilot shouted.

The creature had latched onto the landing skid, its limbs wrapped tight, claws digging into metal. Its body hung just below the frame, muscles locked as it held on despite the forward speed and rotor wash.

The helicopter tilted slightly, fighting the imbalance.

"Stabilizing!" the pilot yelled.

Inside, everyone shifted with the sudden angle.

Herrera grabbed onto the seat frame, eyes wide.

"What the hell is that thing?!"

"Engage!" Ryan barked.

The squad reacted instantly.

Ethan and Jake moved to the open side, and fired their MP5s in burst mode.

But it didn’t let go.

"Rounds are hitting!" Jake shouted. "No effect!"

The creature’s skin flexed under impact, taking the hits without losing grip. Its limbs tightened further around the skid, its body pulling closer to the aircraft as if trying to climb.

"Keep firing!" Ryan said.

More rounds went out.

Still nothing.

"Shit, it’s climbing!" Cole shouted.

The creature shifted one limb higher, pulling itself closer to the door.

Ryan turned his head.

"Door gunner!"

The crew chief was already moving.

He swung the M134 minigun toward the side, locking it into position.

"Clear!" he shouted.

Everyone pulled back slightly.

Moments later, the gun spun.

A stream of rounds tore into the creature at close range.

The creature’s body jerked under the sustained fire, its grip loosening as the force of the rounds hammered into it continuously.

It held for a second longer—

Then one limb slipped.

Then another.

And just like that, it lost its hold.

The body dropped away from the skid, falling fast, twisting once in the air before slamming into the ground below.

"Cease fire!" Ryan said.

The minigun cut off.

The helicopter steadied, the pilot correcting the tilt and leveling the aircraft.

"Aircraft stable," the pilot said, breathing controlled but tight.

Inside, no one spoke for a second.

Everyone looked down.

The creature’s body lay on the ground below and it moved again.

"It’s not dead," Ryan said. "What the fuck is that thing? First the Supreme Hunter and now this?"

"What do you mean Supreme Hunter?" Herrera asked.

"A variant of an infected, and a strong one. It’s durable and tough, like this one..."

Ryan looked down again on the Fort Magsaysay grounds and saw that there were a lot of them, like tens or hundreds of them chasing the sound of the helicopter.

"Looked like the base was overrun by these monsters," Ryan said and noticed something. "That creature who attacked us, there are a lot of them."

"Climbing," the pilot said. "Getting us out of their reach."

Ryan nodded.

"Take it higher. We’re not giving them another shot at us."

"Copy."

The Black Hawk pulled up, rotors biting harder into the air as it gained altitude. The angle widened, giving them a clearer view of the base.

"Jesus..." Cole muttered.

Herrera leaned forward despite his injury, gripping the frame as he looked down.

"This... this doesn’t make sense," he said.

Then the first one jumped.

It broke away from the pack below, sprinting across open ground before launching upward, limbs extending as it tried to close the distance.

It didn’t reach.

It fell short, dropping back to the ground hard.

Another followed.

Then another.

Three—four—five of them.

All jumping.

All missing.

"They’re trying to reach us," Ethan said.

Ryan watched them for a second.

"They won’t," he said. "Not at this altitude. Pull us out."

The pilot didn’t hesitate.

"Copy. Exiting area."

The Black Hawk banked away from the base, turning back over the tree line, increasing speed as it cleared the immediate zone.

Inside, no one spoke for a moment.

Moments later.

"Fort Magsaysay is gone," Ryan said.

Herrera shook his head immediately.

"No," he said. "No, that’s not possible."

Ryan didn’t look at him.

"You saw it."

"It was fine," Herrera said, voice tightening. "Two days ago, it was holding. We had perimeter control, coordinated units, air rotation—"

"And now you don’t," Ryan cut in.

Herrera stared at him.

"That doesn’t just collapse overnight," he said.

Ryan finally looked at him.

"You saw those things," he said. "Whatever those are, they’re not what you were fighting two days ago." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Herrera didn’t answer.

He looked back out at the fading view of the base.

"How could this be...like how, two days ago, we didn’t even detect a horde of zombies but now they are there at the base? This doesn’t make any sense. Why does it feel like the zombies are targeting the military base?"

Hearing that, Ryan’s interest piqued.

"Wait, what do you mean by that? Like the zombies are targeting the military base?"

"I don’t know...but on the first day of the apocalypse, before it was even reported that there was an outbreak in Metro Manila and other major cities in the Philippines, the zombies were already inside the military complex."

"So you are saying that these zombies strategically crippled the defense of the country? Which makes sense since there’s no way a military would fall so easily," Ryan reasoned.

"Looks like it, the Philippine Army headquarters, the Air Force, and the Navy were compromised in the early hours of the outbreak so we weren’t able to effectively respond. We also got reports that other countries suffered the same as well, their military were incapacitated by the infecteds."

"Something is wrong here, and I’m sure of it," Ryan said. "Just like our commander said, something is odd with this apocalypse."