I Have a Modern Weapon Gacha System in the Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 19: To the Room

They arrived in front of the door. Adrian was behind as he watched Ryan test the handle.

Ryan twisted the handle once.

It didn’t move.

"Locked."

Mason stepped closer and checked the hinges. It was an industrial grade lock.

"Breach it," Adrian said.

Ethan moved forward without hesitation. He unslung the Benelli M4 and chambered a round with a sharp pull of the charging handle.

The others shifted automatically.

Ryan moved to the left of the door frame, rifle angled toward the opening point. Mason mirrored right. Cole covered the open rooftop behind them. Jake and Noah adjusted to cover wider arcs in case something came up the parapet or from another access point.

Ethan stepped close to the door.

He angled the shotgun muzzle at the locking mechanism, just above the knob where the latch met the frame.

"Stand by," he said.

Adrian took half a step back.

"On you."

Ethan fired.

The shotgun blast cracked across the rooftop. The metal around the latch buckled inward. Paint flaked off in a spray.

"Again," Ryan said.

Ethan fired a second round.

This time the latch assembly shattered. The door jerked inward slightly but didn’t fully open.

Mason stepped in and drove his boot hard against the center of the door.

The frame gave a sharp metallic snap.

The door slammed inward.

"Move!"

Ryan stepped through the doorway with his rifle raised, scanning the stairwell in one smooth motion. The emergency lights along the concrete walls flickered faintly, casting dull shadows down the flights of stairs. The space was tight but clear.

"Top’s clear," he said.

Mason followed and checked upward toward the mechanical level. Cole leaned over the railing and checked the stairs leading down. No movement. No sound.

"Good," Adrian said. "We go down. Seventh floor."

They moved as a unit, boots controlled, rifles steady. The stairwell echoed softly with each step, but they kept the noise minimal. Okada had fifteen floors. They were starting from the roof.

Ryan led the descent. Mason stayed just behind him. Adrian kept center. The rest adjusted automatically, covering up and down the stairwell without being told.

They passed the fifteenth-floor landing, then the fourteenth. There was no reason for them to clear every floor since their objective was the eight floor only. And using the emergency exits stairs made it easier for them no to encounter any threats.

Then they reached the seventh-floor.

"This is it sir," Ryan said, already approaching the door.

He positioned himself beside the frame and listened for a second.

Ryan tested the handle.

It didn’t move.

"Locked."

Adrian kept his rifle angled down the stairwell while he answered. "Breach it."

Ethan stepped forward with the Benelli M4. He took position close to the lock, muzzle angled at the latch.

Ryan and Mason stacked on either side of the door. Cole turned halfway to cover the stairs above. Jake and Noah angled down the lower flight in case something pushed up.

"Ready," Ethan said.

"Do it."

The shotgun blast thundered through the concrete stairwell. The sound rolled downward like a wave.

The latch dented but held.

"Again."

Ethan fired a second round. The locking mechanism shattered and the door jerked inward.

Mason stepped in and kicked it fully open.

"Move."

Ryan entered first, rifle raised.

They spilled into the seventh-floor hallway in a tight formation.

The corridor stretched long in both directions, carpeted, walls lined with identical doors. Ceiling lights flickered unevenly.

Then they saw them.

At least a dozen infected stood scattered along the hallway. Some were near the elevator lobby. Others were slumped against walls or wandering slowly between room doors.

The shotgun blast had drawn their attention.

"Contact front!" Ryan called.

Mason fired first. Controlled bursts from his HK416 punched into the nearest infected. It dropped hard, sliding across the carpet.

Cole engaged the cluster near the elevator. Two short bursts. One fell. The other staggered before Jake finished it with a clean shot to the head.

Ethan stepped forward and fired once. The shotgun blast tore through an infected that had rushed too close.

Adrian raised the SCAR-H and squeezed the trigger. The recoil hit his shoulder solidly. The 7.62 round slammed into a charging figure and dropped it instantly.

More came from the far end of the hall.

"Hold the line," Ryan said.

Noah shifted to the left wall and fired. Mason adjusted right, keeping their angles tight.

One infected broke through the initial wave and lunged.

Ryan stepped forward and drove his boot into its chest, knocking it backward. Mason put two rounds into its skull before it hit the ground.

Within seconds, the initial group was down.

Bodies lay twisted across the corridor. Blood smeared across the carpet and walls.

Ryan advanced a few steps, rifle up.

"Push," he said.

They moved forward as a unit, stepping over fallen bodies, clearing doorways with quick glances.

At the far end, two more infected stumbled out from a side corridor.

Jake and Cole dropped them almost at the same time.

Silence returned, broken only by the faint flicker of the ceiling lights.

Ryan reached the midpoint of the hallway and paused.

"Seventh floor hallway secure," he said.

Adrian scanned left, then right.

"Room zero-seven-three-one," he said. "East side. Let’s move."

They moved down the hallway in a tight stack.

Room numbers were mounted beside each door in brass plates. 0715. 0717. 0719.

"Keep moving," Adrian said.

Ryan checked each doorway with a quick glance as they passed. Some doors were ajar. Some had scratch marks near the handles. One had dried blood smeared across the lower half.

725.

726.

Then they arrived at the front door.

"This is it sir, 0731," Ryan confirmed.

"Good, let’s knock on the door," Adrian said.

Ryan shifted to the side of the frame and rapped his knuckles twice against the wood.

No response.

He knocked again, louder this time.

A few seconds passed.

Then a voice from inside. Faint. Shaky.

"...Hello?"

Adrian stepped closer but kept his rifle angled down the hallway.

"This is Adrian. Your father, Marco, sent us," he said. "We’re here to rescue you. Please open the door."

It took a moment before they heard the sound of the lock unlatching, probably from looking through the peephole to confirm they were what they claimed to be.

And the door opened.