Chapter 76
"Ten Minutes Between Life and Death"
The two helicopters continued advancing towards the school, their powerful engines roaring across the evening sky.
The survivors stood on the rooftop, watching them approach with anxious anticipation. The sound grew louder with every passing second, until both aircraft finally reached the school building.
Instead of flying away, the helicopters began circling above the rooftop.
Their powerful rotors stirred the surrounding air, sending dust and loose pieces of debris swirling across the rooftop. The deafening noise made it difficult for anyone to hear another person's voice.
Everyone instinctively looked upwards.
One of the helicopters gradually moved ahead of the other before positioning itself directly above the rooftop. Its blades continued spinning rapidly, keeping the aircraft suspended in midair.
For a moment, the survivors simply stared.
Then they noticed something inside.
There were four people aboard the helicopter.
Two of them were operating the aircraft, while the other two were army officers seated near the open doorway. Both officers were holding rifles and carefully observing the rooftop below.
The sight of the military personnel immediately brought smiles to the survivors' exhausted faces.
"They're soldiers!" someone exclaimed.
Hope, which had nearly disappeared from their hearts, suddenly began to return.
After everything they had endured—the terrifying outbreak, the loss of their companions, the countless hours of uncertainty and the desperate struggle to stay alive—they were finally looking at the people they had been waiting for.
The army had arrived.
At least, that was what they wanted to believe.
A moment later, they noticed the second helicopter moving into position behind the first one.
It, too, remained suspended in the air above the rooftop.
Just like the first aircraft, it carried military personnel who were observing the survivors below.
The sight of two helicopters filled everyone with renewed excitement.
Some students exchanged hopeful glances, while others struggled to contain their happiness.
But their excitement did not last long.
Suddenly, several red laser dots appeared on the bodies of the people standing on the rooftop.
One after another, the tiny red lights moved across their clothing and settled on different parts of their bodies.
Their smiles disappeared almost instantly.
The cheerful expressions on their faces turned into confusion and fear.
Nobody understood what was happening.
Why were the soldiers pointing their weapons at them?
Had they mistaken them for zombies?
Before anyone could react, Hasnain immediately rushed forward and positioned himself in front of Sana.
He spread his arms slightly, placing himself between her and the soldiers as though his own body could shield her from any possible danger.
Sana looked at him in surprise.
For a brief moment, she was too startled to express even her usual displeasure towards him.
Hasnain, however, remained focused on the helicopters.
His expression hardened as he observed the red lights moving across the rooftop.
"Don't be afraid," he said firmly. "They're only checking whether we're zombies or not."
His words brought a little relief to those standing nearby.
And he was right.
The military officers aboard the helicopters were examining the people on the rooftop to determine whether they were infected.
They weren't taking any chances.
After all, in a world where the line between human beings and zombies had become dangerously thin, identifying survivors was no longer as simple as looking at someone from a distance.
One of the officers aboard the first helicopter reached for his walkie-talkie.
Holding it near his mouth, he began communicating with the command centre.
"We've located some survivors here. Over."
His voice was partially drowned out by the continuous roar of the helicopter's engines.
A few seconds passed.
When no immediate response came, the officer raised the walkie-talkie again.
"We've located survivors! Requesting instructions. Over."
A faint crackling sound came from the device before another voice finally responded.
"How many survivors? Over."
The officer immediately looked down towards the rooftop.
There were people standing together in different groups, all watching the helicopters anxiously.
He counted them once more before replying.
"Nineteen survivors in total. We've examined them, and none appear to be zombie victims. Over."
For a brief moment, there was silence.
Then the response arrived.
"Maintain caution. Wait for ten minutes and continue monitoring their condition. If they remain stable, report back to us. Over."
The officer listened carefully.
It was an order from the Army Chief himself.
And this time, the instruction had been communicated directly by the highest-ranking military authority overseeing the operation.
The officer immediately acknowledged the command.
"Understood. We will follow your instructions. Over."
He then contacted the personnel aboard the second helicopter and informed them of the Army Chief's decision.
Both helicopters maintained their positions.
The soldiers continued observing the rooftop while the nineteen survivors waited below.
Ten minutes.
They had been waiting for rescue for so long, yet now they were being asked to wait another ten minutes.
For the survivors, it seemed like a small request.
But none of them knew what those ten minutes would bring.
---
Inside the School — The Awakening
Meanwhile, the school building, which had remained relatively quiet moments earlier, was beginning to stir.
The approaching helicopters had disturbed the silence that had settled over the devastated building.
Their powerful engines echoed through the corridors, classrooms and stairwells.
And the zombies heard them.
One by one, the creatures scattered throughout the school began turning towards the source of the unfamiliar noise.
Their attention shifted towards the rooftop.
The same sound that had awakened hope in the hearts of nineteen survivors was now awakening something far more dangerous inside the building.
Outside the school, the zombies wandering through the surrounding area also began reacting to the noise.
Some stopped in the middle of their movements.
Others turned their heads towards the school.
Then, as though drawn by an invisible force, they began moving towards the building.
The approaching crowd gradually grew larger.
The school, which had already become a place of destruction and despair, was about to face another wave of danger.
Inside the corridors, zombies began emerging from classrooms and other rooms where they had previously been wandering aimlessly.
Their movements became increasingly restless.
The noise of the helicopters seemed to have awakened their instincts, drawing their attention towards the rooftop.
They began moving through the corridors, their footsteps and growls echoing against the walls.
But the most dangerous development was taking place on the second floor.
Earlier, Mr. Smith and the others had managed to lock several zombies inside the classrooms.
At the time, those rooms had provided a temporary solution to their immediate problem.
The survivors had believed that keeping the zombies behind locked doors would give them enough time to prepare for rescue.
But now, the situation was changing.
The sound of the helicopters had reached those classrooms as well.
One by one, the previously confined zombies began stirring.
Their attention turned towards the large glass windows.
They started striking against the glass, attempting to break through the barriers separating them from the outside.
At first, the windows remained intact.
But the repeated impacts gradually began weakening them.
Small cracks appeared across the glass.
Then more cracks spread in different directions, creating an increasingly fragile pattern across the windows.
The sound of breaking glass soon echoed through the second-floor corridors.
CRASH!
One of the windows finally shattered.
The broken pieces scattered across the floor as the zombies forced their way out.
The others soon followed.
One after another, the windows gave way, releasing the creatures that had been trapped inside.
The corridors quickly filled with movement and noise.
The zombies began pushing against one another as they rushed towards the stairways.
Some stumbled over the broken glass, while others stepped across the scattered debris without slowing down.
Their only apparent destination was the rooftop.
The place where nineteen survivors were still waiting.
The place where two helicopters were hovering.
The place where hope had finally begun to return.
And now, without anyone on the rooftop knowing what was happening beneath their feet, an enormous danger was steadily approaching them.
---
The Countdown Begins
Above the school, the two helicopters remained suspended in the evening sky.
The military officers continued observing the survivors, waiting for the required ten minutes to pass.
Below them, the nineteen people stood together, unaware of the growing chaos inside the building.
Some looked towards the soldiers.
Others glanced at one another, silently wondering whether they would finally be taken away from this nightmare.
Hasnain was still standing close to Sana.
Mr. Smith continued watching the helicopters, while Miss Selena remained attentive to the students around her.
The SOS signal lay spread across the rooftop, clearly visible from above.
It was their desperate message to the outside world.
A message that said they were still alive.
A message that said they needed help.
And now, someone had finally heard it.
But there was something the survivors didn't know.
The helicopters' arrival had also attracted the attention of every zombie inside and outside the school.
The corridors were no longer quiet.
The second-floor classrooms were no longer secure.
And the stairways were gradually becoming occupied by the approaching creatures.
The nineteen survivors were standing just a few floors above a growing disaster.
They had waited for rescue.
They had fought to stay alive.
They had refused to surrender.
But now, their survival depended on what would happen during the next ten minutes.
Ten minutes between life and death.
And the countdown had already begun.