The moment she turned off the news, Lin You’s mood suddenly became heavy.

Although she knew the frontline soldiers were fighting against these mutated creatures, she could not help but feel worried.

She sat in place for a long time before she finally collected the bowls and chopsticks.

Then she went into the kitchen, washed them clean with running water, untied her apron, and returned to the living room.

Beside the living room was a full-length mirror where she let down her hair, letting it cascade over her shoulders.

She gently ran her fingers through her hair and gathered it into a bun.

After tidying up her appearance and checking herself from left to right, Lin You grabbed her keys and left the house.

Normally, she would take a nap at noon.

But now, looking at the oppressive darkness outside, she somehow had no intention of sleeping.

The news had called for calm. After all, the zombies had not yet arrived, and the various units of Ancheng City were guarding and fighting along the outskirts, urging everyone to continue working normally and not fall into chaos.

If the economic order were to collapse, it would make it even harder for the government to organize manpower and resources to fight the zombies.

Thinking of this, Lin You decided to move her afternoon trip to the vegetable market earlier.

She would go now. The sooner, the better.

After going downstairs, a brand-new minivan was parked below.

This was a van Lin You had purchased specifically for transporting goods for the breakfast shop.

She pulled open the door, climbed inside, stepped on the gas pedal, and the van sped forward.

The vegetable wholesale market was not very close.

Because Lin You lived in a small community located in the city center, and the wholesale market was out in the suburbs.

Since her store needed to be near her residence, it had to be farther from the wholesale market.

Thus, Lin You often spent several hours in the afternoon preparing the next day’s ingredients.

Along the way, people’s expressions were somewhat grim.

Perhaps influenced by the gloomy weather, everyone’s mood seemed to have dropped to freezing point.

Lin You suddenly remembered a piece of news she once read that people living in polar night conditions for long periods were indeed prone to psychological illnesses.

The environment’s influence on people was subtle yet profound.

But she wondered when such a situation would finally get better.

Lin You frowned slightly and then smoothed her expression.

When she looked toward the traffic light in the distance and saw the green light was on, she quickly started the van and drove away.

After turning on the radio, Lin You finally understood why people’s emotions were unstable.

Because her breakfast shop had just opened, she had been too busy with various tasks in recent days and had not paid much attention to current events.

In fact, the news was now filled with frightening information.

Reports of mutated creatures were coming from all over.

In some regions, police and military forces were deployed to clear them out in an organized manner. In others, because of a shortage of professionals, even civilians were forming their own defense teams.

However, every time they repelled some, new ones would appear, and the mutated creatures seemed endless.

In just a few days, danger had spread rapidly, multiplying everywhere.

Scientists were still researching the causes of the mutations and ways to stop them.

But as of now, there had been little progress.

The most terrifying news was that aside from plants and animals, humans had also begun to mutate.

In other words, real zombies had started to appear among the human population.

Compared to normal people, zombies had greatly increased strength.

They could go without sleep or food and had endless energy.

The woman’s voice on the radio kept urging everyone to be vigilant about any unusual signs around them.

Listening to the continuous stream of news, Lin You’s fingers trembled slightly.

The apocalypse, the apocalypse really was coming…

She had just recently resigned from her job, and her little shop had only been open for a few days. Why did something like this have to happen now?

Looking at the significantly fewer vehicles on the street, Lin You felt as if she had fallen into an unreal nightmare.

.

An hour later, Lin You finally arrived at the vegetable wholesale market.

Compared to the bustling scene yesterday, today’s market was noticeably much quieter.

The reason for the quiet was not that there were fewer people coming to buy vegetables but that the farmers had far fewer goods to sell.

Originally, every stall was packed with several large trucks of vegetables.

Now, only a few farmers still had half a truck of vegetables left.

The rest had been moved into baskets, but even those were filled with vegetables that were not very fresh.

The buyers were all scrambling for the last fresh vegetables, and several stalls were crowded with people.

Of course, Lin You knew that the earlier one came to wholesale vegetables, the better.

In the morning, there were more vegetables and a greater variety.

But as the only person running her breakfast shop, Lin You already had to open very early in the morning and could not manage everything.

And she could not sacrifice her precious sleep time in the middle of the night, so she moved her vegetable shopping to the afternoons.

This wholesale market was the largest and oldest one in the eastern region with a wide variety of vegetables.

Normally, even in the afternoon, the stall owners would still have many fresh vegetables left. Compared to early morning, some vegetables would even be a little cheaper.

But after surveying the entire market, Lin You realized a cruel reality.

If she came again at this time tomorrow, there might not be any vegetables left at all.

There were no vegetables left to choose from at the scene.

Lin You picked a stall where the produce was still relatively fresh and walked over to request napa cabbage, green onions, asparagus, and other ingredients.

Since the total weight exceeded several dozen kilogram, Lin You struggled to move it.

She had no choice but to call for a worker responsible for carrying goods at the market to help load the vegetables into the van.

After paying, she went over to the meat stall and bought up all the remaining pork and beef.

If the store had a lot of customers tomorrow, this amount of meat would be far from enough, but there was no other option now.

Looking around, the meat stalls that were once filled to the brim were now completely emptied.

The last batch of meat had all been bought by her.

When Lin You paid and prepared to leave with the meat, she heard the stall owner suddenly sigh and say,

“Sigh, at this time, the meat is already all sold out…”

Lin You paused and asked, “Boss, will there still be stock tomorrow?”

The stall owner shook his head with a helpless expression and said, “I cannot say for sure when we will be able to sell again.”

Lin You frowned slightly and asked in confusion, “What happened?”

The stall owner shrugged his shoulders, wiping the countertop with a cloth while saying,

“The transportation routes that deliver food supplies to Guangcheng have all been cut off. A few days ago, some supplies could still get through, but today I heard it is completely over.”

Lin You’s heart trembled. “Is it related to the zombies?”

The boss nodded. “It has a lot to do with it. They are about to seal off the cities. Several cities near Ancheng have already completely fallen. Once a zombie gets in, there will be a second and a third. As long as a person is bitten, they cannot escape. What is more, even though these zombies have lost their consciousness, they still know to destroy transportation hubs. They block and smash the main roads where they should. Now they are almost all wrecked.”

Saying this, he sighed again and continued,

“The first city to fall, Fu City, was overwhelmed by the mutant creatures. The local special forces could not handle it. Even if more troops were transferred in, it would likely not help. The nearby cities are struggling to defend themselves, so how could they spare strength to support others? There is no way… now all the local residents have to be mobilized. Everyone must join the battle. I think it won’t be long for us either. What is the point of doing business? Pack up and prepare to wait for death.”

Hearing this description, Lin You could not help but feel a wave of despair.

But the next moment, she forced herself to stay strong and comforted him, “There might still be hope… we should not give up easily before the end.”

When she said this, Lin You herself felt uncertain.

These words were meant to comfort the stall owner and also to comfort herself.

Facing the sudden change in the situation, no one knew what lay ahead.

Lin You simply did not want to believe that all this was really happening.