Chapter 75
"A Moment Between Fear and Hope"
With the SOS signal finally completed, everyone stood on the rooftop, their eyes fixed on the helicopter visible in the distance.
It was approaching rapidly, growing larger with every passing second.
Nobody spoke.
They simply watched, their hearts filled with a mixture of anticipation and fear.
Within moments, the helicopter reached their building. Its enormous shadow swept across the rooftop as it flew directly over their heads.
The sudden roar of its engines was deafening.
Several people instinctively squeezed their eyes shut.
Mary immediately rushed into Jackson's arms, clutching him tightly as though his embrace could protect her from whatever was about to happen. Saim wrapped his arms around Jinjin, while Ghani quickly reached for Afra's hand and held it firmly.
John, without a second thought, threw both arms around Mr. Smith.
Miss Selena, too, pulled Jack into another protective embrace.
Saad, Jacob, William, Michael, and Jason stood together, completely motionless. Their eyes remained fixed upwards, their bodies too tense to move.
Elsewhere, Lina suddenly threw her arms around Yaram.
Yaram looked down at her in surprise, momentarily caught off guard by her unexpected reaction.
And then there was Sana.
Standing at the far end of the group, she continued staring at the helicopter in terror. With every deafening beat of its engines, she instinctively stepped backwards, unable to take her eyes off the enormous aircraft.
Suddenly, her foot slipped.
Her balance gave way, and she began falling backwards.
But before she could hit the ground, a pair of strong arms caught her.
It was Hasnain.
The same arms that had saved her from falling while getting off the bus earlier.
Overwhelmed by fear, Sana immediately threw her arms around him and buried herself in his embrace.
Hasnain slowly wrapped his arms around her. One hand rested protectively against her back while the other gently settled over her hair.
He held her as though she were the most precious thing in his entire world—as though nothing mattered more to him than making sure she was safe.
And perhaps, for Hasnain, that was the truth.
In that moment, with the helicopter roaring above them and the entire world seemingly falling apart, Sana was the only thing that mattered.
Meanwhile, the helicopter that had appeared relatively small in the distance now looked enormous as it passed directly above the rooftop.
Mr. Smith continued staring upwards.
For a brief moment, it felt as though time itself had stopped.
He carefully observed the aircraft, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. Then he noticed something unusual.
Three blades were spinning rapidly around the helicopter's rotor, creating a powerful circular motion above it.
His heart began pounding violently.
The deafening sound, the enormous aircraft, and the uncertainty of what might happen next made his fear almost unbearable.
And then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the helicopter moved beyond their building and continued flying ahead.
For a few seconds, everyone remained frozen.
Nobody seemed capable of speaking.
Eventually, Mr. Smith gathered himself and looked around.
"Is everyone all right?"
However, the moment he turned, he discovered something rather embarrassing.
John was still clinging tightly to him.
In fact, Mr. Smith had been holding onto John just as tightly.
Realising what he was doing, Mr. Smith immediately pushed the boy away.
John stumbled backwards, almost losing his balance. After recovering, he straightened his clothes and looked at his teacher with an offended expression.
"Even in a situation like this, your attitude is still through the roof!"
He shook his head and walked a little farther away.
Meanwhile, Yaram was still looking at Leena, who had yet to recover completely from her unexpected embrace.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Looks like you've started enjoying being in my arms."
The moment Leena heard him, her cheeks turned bright red.
She immediately released him and stepped backwards, trying to hide her embarrassment.
Yaram watched her reaction with amusement. The sight of her blushing brought an affectionate smile to his lips, one he couldn't quite suppress.
On the other side of the rooftop, Sana was still buried against Hasnain's chest, seemingly unaware of everything happening around her.
Then a familiar voice reached her ears.
"Sana... are you all right?"
It was Hasnain.
The moment she recognised his voice, Sana suddenly realised where she was.
She immediately pulled away and stepped a little distance from him, avoiding his eyes.
Hasnain remained standing where he was.
For a moment, he simply stared at her.
He would have stopped her if he had been able to gather his thoughts, but the sudden closeness had left him completely speechless.
He could hardly believe it.
The girl who meant more to him than the entire universe had just been in his arms.
And now she was standing a few steps away from him.
Hasnain was still trying to process what had happened when Saad approached him.
"Hey, bro! What's wrong? Are you all right?"
He called out twice before finally shaking Hasnain's shoulder.
The sudden movement brought Hasnain back to reality.
"Huh? Yes..."
He answered, trying to appear perfectly normal.
But inside, his thoughts were somewhere else entirely.
When even an ordinary person can find relief in the presence of someone they love, how could I possibly remain unwell after being so close to mine?
A faint, almost uncontrollable smile appeared on his face.
Before Saad could question him further, he suddenly looked upwards.
"Hey! Look up! That helicopter is coming towards us again!"
His unexpected announcement immediately caught everyone's attention.
Every head turned towards the sky.
And there it was.
The same helicopter was approaching their building once again.
But this time, there was something else.
Another helicopter was following closely behind it.
Both aircraft were heading in their direction.
The sound of their engines gradually grew louder as they drew nearer.
The survivors stood watching, their eyes fixed on the approaching helicopters.
After everything they had endured, another unexpected moment was unfolding right before them.
Were these helicopters finally coming to rescue them?
Or was there something else waiting beyond the horizon?
Nobody knew.
And soon, they would find out.