"Hum—hum—!"
The gunfire was crisp and pleasing to the ear.
The roof hatches of every SUV were opened, and Hank and the Alphas were operating the mounted rotary machine guns, unleashing a frantic output of firepower.
"Swish—swish—!"
The ammunition belts were configured with one tracer round for every five cartridges, creating excellent ballistic guidance in the dead of night.
Most importantly.
With these ten pleasing-to-the-eye, green-glowing 'bullet lines,' combined with the Alphas firing precise shots with their rifles, the area in front of the convoy became an absolute vacuum zone.
"Splat—!"
The infected gathered outside the parking lot's wire fence were instantly swept into two pieces.
Even those struggling to stand were precision-headshot, subsequently becoming just another member of the corpse pile.
This state lasted for over five minutes.
"Boom—boom—"
Until the roar of helicopter engines arrived.
In the southeastern sky, helicopters of various models were rapidly approaching their location.
Among them, five OH-6A Little Bird helicopters, relying on their compact and agile performance advantages, broke away from the helicopter formation ahead of time.
The landing requirements for the Little Birds were not demanding, so they arrived above the parking lot first, dispersed, and landed on both sides of the convoy.
"Alphas!"
Hank, operating the machine gun in the middle vehicle, turned his head and shouted to the Alphas outside: "Board! We are preparing to evacuate!"
"Yes, Lieutenant!"
Following Hank's order, the twenty Alphas split into five teams of four, retreating while providing covering fire.
They arrived at the sides of the Little Birds, and with just a tiptoe and a lift of their hips, they sat on the personnel planks extending from the sides of the Little Birds.
They buckled their safety straps, slapped the fuselage hard, and gave the pilot an 'OK' hand signal.
"Whoosh—whoosh—!"
The pilots immediately had the five Little Birds kick up dust beneath them and rapidly ascend, hovering at an altitude of twenty meters to allow the Alphas on the sides to continue firing.
Meanwhile.
The Alphas operating the machine guns and Hank all pulled the machine guns back into the vehicles and closed the roof hatches tight.
Entering the vehicle, Hank opened the center console's touchscreen, selected the self-destruct option, and reminded:
"Boss, Dr., we are about to evacuate."
"Good."
William opened his side of the car door, took Halsey's hand, and quickly walked out of the vehicle, running toward the location where the remaining Alphas were gathered.
Soon.
Two more UH-60 Black Hawk transport helicopters and four AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters equipped with ground-attack weapons arrived.
However, the color scheme of the Little Birds and Black Hawks in the helicopter formation was black, with the red-and-white Umbrella logo, indicating they were the property of Umbrella.
But those four AH-1 Cobras were primarily gray, with the word 'Marines' printed on the tail of the fuselage, indicating they belonged to the United States Marine Corps.
It seems...
Does the United States still prefer to use force as a solution when dealing with such irreversible infection events?
Of course, Umbrella cannot possess armed aircraft in the United States, so it certainly needs the Marine Corps' escort.
"Da da!"
"Boom!"
The four Cobras perfectly took over the firepower output of the ten rotary machine guns, perhaps even exceeding it.
At the street entrance to the parking lot, the sparks of ricocheting autocannon rounds flashed, and vehicles parked along the street were also ignited and exploded as a result.
Adding a bit more 'color' to this blood-red sky.
Halsey was still the same...
William was always worried she wouldn't be able to run fast enough, so he easily picked her up and quickly evacuated with Hank and the remaining Alphas.
As soon as the Black Hawk landed and came to a stop, the crew immediately pulled open the sliding doors on both sides of the cabin, allowing everyone to enter smoothly.
Looking down from the sky.
After all personnel had boarded, the two Black Hawks rose slowly and steadily until they reached the predetermined altitude.
Hovering, they turned, and rapidly returned toward Long Island in the southeast, with the five Little Birds carrying twenty Alphas following closely behind.
As for the four Cobras, having confirmed the goal of the escort mission was achieved, they did not linger, similarly turning and leaving this city filled with the stench of blood.
Not long after the helicopter formation withdrew.
With no obstacles left, the infected flooded the parking lot.
They either checked inside the vehicles for any remaining humans or poured through the opened cinema back door, hunting the audience hiding inside.
Although these infected moved or walked similarly to zombies, they possessed their own clear purpose.
Spread.
It was as if some invisible network and terminal were controlling their behavior.
"Beep—beep beep!"
Just at this moment, the ten SUVs emitted rapid beeping sounds, eventually flashing with a dazzling white light.
"Boom—!"
The violent explosion took out the nearby infected and also destroyed the Umbrella technology built into the SUVs.
———————
...
Inside the cabin of the UH-60 Black Hawk;
William, Halsey, Hank, and the others all put on noise-canceling headsets, allowing them to communicate clearly without being affected by the engine noise.
Looking through the porthole on the sliding door at the gradually receding Manhattan, Halsey couldn't help but shake her head and sigh:
"Boss, if Patient Zero is really as you described, Manhattan is beyond saving."
In fact, while still on the ground, she had already obtained all the information regarding Elizabeth Green from William.
Although she didn't understand how William knew everything, as an employee and lover, she wouldn't ask too many questions; she just had to trust him.
After all, William already had enough secrets, and she couldn't dig them all up...
Hearing this.
William, sitting opposite Halsey, asked: "So, have you figured out how to contain her?"
"You really think I'm omnipotent..."
Halsey glanced resentfully at William and said: "It's only been ten-something minutes since the virus broke out; how could I possibly come up with a plan so quickly?"
"Fair point."
William also realized he was a bit impatient, shrugged, reached out to knead Halsey's thigh, and smiled:
"Then hurry up, please, Catherine."
Halsey pouted at William and continued to observe the blood mist over Central Park, saying: "I know."
Subsequently, William put away his smile and used the onboard communication system to contact Troy's Command Center:
"This is Olympus Director William Russell. To deal with the Manhattan incident, Umbrella has been authorized to implement the twenty-fifth clause of the athabasca agreement.
First, assemble troops to head to Long Island, New York, and stand by.
Then, contact the United States Military to completely lock down Manhattan."
"Troy received. Colonel Andre has already led all the Base's troops to head to New York.
Currently contacting the U.S. Mili...
(The Communications Officer paused, their tone filled with confusion)
United States Marine Corps Lieutenant General Mike ODonahue has proactively contacted us and has already implemented the total lockdown procedure for Manhattan Island."
?
Not just the Communications Officer.
William also didn't understand what was going on with that Lieutenant General.
-------------------------------
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