I Have a Modern Weapon Gacha System in the Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter 189: A Hiccup

Something massive roared beneath the rooftop.

The sound echoed through the ruined streets of Beijing like a living earthquake.

Every infected below immediately became more aggressive afterward.

They surged through abandoned vehicles.

Crawled over collapsed debris.

Sprinted through smoke-filled streets while screaming violently toward the rooftop.

Ryan immediately backed away from the edge.

"Yeah, that thing definitely heard us."

One operator checked thermal optics quickly.

"Hunter moving northbound toward the building!"

Another voice entered comms immediately afterward.

"Multiple rooftop contacts nearby!"

Adrian turned toward the stairwell entrance.

"Move!"

The team rushed through the rooftop access door immediately before slamming it shut behind them.

CLANG.

The dark stairwell swallowed them instantly.

Emergency red lighting flickered weakly through portions of the building while dust floated heavily through the air. Parts of the concrete walls showed long cracks from the nuclear shockwaves months earlier while old blood stains covered several sections of the stairwell floors.

Ryan immediately raised his rifle toward the lower floors while another operator sealed the rooftop access with a portable locking brace.

Above them, the infected slammed against the rooftop door moments later.

BANG.

BANG.

BANG.

The impacts echoed through the stairwell violently.

"They’re climbing already!" one operator warned.

Adrian pointed downward.

"Keep moving!"

The team descended rapidly through the dark building.

Their boots slammed against concrete steps while weapon lights cut through drifting dust clouds ahead of them.

Floor eleven.

Ten.

Nine.

The radiation detector attached to Ryan’s plate carrier clicked softly while they moved deeper into the ruined structure.

Still manageable.

But increasing.

One operator quietly muttered—

"This whole damn building feels unstable."

Honestly—

It probably was.

The nuclear strikes had damaged almost every structure still standing in Beijing.

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from somewhere below.

The team froze instantly.

Everybody raised weapons.

The sound came again.

Metal tearing.

Concrete cracking.

Then screaming.

Not human.

Infected.

Ryan narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Lower floors."

Adrian nodded once.

"Careful."

The operators continued downward slower now while maintaining tight formation.

Two operators front.

Two rear security.

The rest covering angles between stairwell landings.

Floor seven.

Another scream echoed nearby.

Closer this time.

Then suddenly, one of the apartment doors near the stairwell exploded outward.

An infected lunged directly toward the team.

Its skin looked burned black from radiation exposure while fleshy growths bulged unnaturally across portions of its neck and shoulders.

BANG BANG BANG.

Three suppressed rifle shots tore through its skull instantly.

The infected collapsed hard against the stairwell wall.

But more sounds immediately followed afterward.

Growling.

Fast movement.

Ryan immediately swore.

"They’re inside the building!"

The corridor outside the stairwell suddenly filled with movement.

Infected sprinted directly toward them through the dark hallway.

Some looked half-burned.

Others had exposed bone visible through melted flesh.

A few moved unnaturally fast despite severe radiation damage across their bodies.

"CONTACT FRONT!"

Suppressed rifles erupted immediately inside the stairwell.

THUP THUP THUP THUP.

Muzzle flashes illuminated the darkness while infected bodies collapsed violently across the corridor outside.

One creature slammed directly into the stairwell entrance before an operator fired point blank into its skull.

Blood sprayed across the concrete walls.

Another infected crawled unnaturally across the ceiling toward the team.

Ryan spotted it instantly.

"TOP!"

BANG BANG.

The creature dropped hard onto the stairs with half its head missing.

The firefight intensified immediately afterward.

More infected flooded into the corridor outside from nearby rooms and collapsed apartment sectors.

The sound discipline no longer mattered now.

Too many already knew their location.

One operator stepped forward with the suppressed MK48 machine gun afterward.

"Move!"

THUPTHUPTHUPTHUPTHUP.

The machine gun tore through the corridor brutally.

Bodies exploded backward beneath 7.62 rounds while concrete walls shattered behind them from overpenetration.

Several infected collapsed simultaneously in piles of twitching flesh.

Ryan immediately grabbed another operator afterward.

"Keep descending!"

The team resumed moving downward while still firing intermittently behind them.

Floor six.

Five.

Another crash echoed somewhere deeper below.

Then, the entire stairwell shook violently.

Dust exploded from the ceiling.

Everyone froze instantly.

"What the hell was that?" one operator shouted.

Then the roar came again.

Much louder now.

Closer.

The Hunter.

Ryan slowly looked downward through the stairwell center shaft.

And immediately saw movement several floors below.

Something huge climbing upward unnaturally fast.

"Oh shit."

The Hunter slammed directly through part of the stairwell wall beneath them.

Concrete exploded outward violently.

The creature looked even worse than the Hunters back in the Philippines.

Larger.

More muscular.

Parts of its flesh looked burned and mutated from radiation exposure while massive tumor-like growths bulged across portions of its spine and shoulders.

One arm appeared grotesquely enlarged compared to the other.

And its eyes, completely black.

The creature roared directly toward the team before climbing upward across the stairwell walls like an animal.

"FALL BACK!"

The operators opened fire instantly.

Suppressed rifles cracked nonstop while rounds slammed into the Hunter’s torso and head repeatedly.

But the creature kept climbing.

Fast.

Way too fast.

One operator launched a fragmentation grenade downward.

"GRENADE!"

BOOM.

The explosion ripped through the stairwell violently.

Concrete fragments sprayed everywhere while smoke filled the enclosed space instantly.

The Hunter disappeared briefly behind the blast cloud.

Then suddenly—

It burst through the smoke anyway.

Still alive.

Still climbing.

Ryan immediately fired an entire magazine into its face while backing downward.

"WHY DO THESE THINGS NEVER DIE?!"

The Hunter lunged upward suddenly.

One operator barely avoided getting grabbed before the creature smashed its enlarged arm directly into the stairwell wall hard enough to crack reinforced concrete.

"MOVE MOVE MOVE!"

The team descended rapidly again while continuing suppressive fire upward.

The stairwell echoed with gunfire.

Roars.

Explosions.

And infected screams from the upper floors.

The entire building now sounded alive around them.

Then suddenly—

One operator reached the fourth floor landing.

"Exit access!"

Adrian immediately pointed toward the corridor.

"Go!"

The team burst through the stairwell door into another ruined office floor filled with overturned desks, shattered windows, and collapsed ceiling sections.

Moonlight filtered faintly through the ruined structure while dust and ash drifted heavily through the air.

Ryan looked behind them briefly.

The Hunter smashed through the stairwell entrance moments later.

The creature roared violently while charging directly toward the team across the office floor.

"CONTACT!"

The operators unleashed concentrated fire immediately.

THUPTHUPTHUPTHUP.

Multiple rifles and machine guns hammered the creature nonstop while sparks and blood exploded across its mutated body.

The Hunter kept coming anyway.

Then Adrian stepped forward.

His rifle lowered slightly.

And for half a second, the others already knew what he was about to do.

"Get down."

Ryan immediately grabbed the nearest operator.

"DOWN!"

Everyone dropped behind overturned office furniture moments before Adrian activated the weapon.

The AT4 launcher fired with a deafening roar inside the ruined office floor.

WHOOSH.

The rocket slammed directly into the charging Hunter.

BOOM.

The explosion obliterated half the room instantly.

Fire erupted violently through the office while the blast wave shattered remaining windows outward into the streets below.

The Hunter disappeared entirely behind flames and collapsing debris.

Smoke flooded the office floor immediately afterward.

Concrete chunks rained across the room.

Ryan slowly lifted his head afterward while coughing slightly.

"...Okay."

He looked toward Adrian.

"...That works too."

Then suddenly, movement appeared again inside the smoke.

The Hunter stumbled forward from the flames.

Burning.

Mutilated.

Half its torso shredded open.

But still alive.

And roaring even louder than before.

"Let’s fucking end this and go to our objectives," Adrian said.