The man’s face instantly changed.

He did not need to listen any further to know who it was.

The call was from his recently married wife.

Although there were no words from the other end, the sharp screeching voice matched his wife’s voice exactly.

He already knew what had happened.

His wife had gone to visit relatives in a neighboring city a few days ago and was supposed to return today.

However, starting yesterday, traffic between the two cities had been cut off.

Knowing she would not be able to come back temporarily, the man had called her last night and emphasized that she must be cautious and pay attention to changes in the traffic situation.

He told her that once the damaged roads were repaired, she must return to Ancheng immediately.

But who would have thought that last night his wife had still reassured him and told him not to worry.

She had said the two cities were so close that if Ancheng was fine, then the neighboring city must also be safe.

Moreover, the nearest zombies were still separated from them by several hundred kilometers.

And those cities had strong armed forces. It would not be easy for zombies to break through the barriers and invade the area near Ancheng.

The man recalled what his wife had said, and his eyes turned red.

His fingers holding the roujiamo trembled slightly.

Under Lin You’s surprised gaze, the man looked up and said, “The neighboring city has fallen…”

At that point, his voice choked, and he could not continue the second half of the sentence.

In the next moment, the man turned and ran off.

A sense of helplessness overwhelmed him entirely.

He was powerless. He could not leave Ancheng and could not see his wife one last time.

Even if he reached the neighboring city, he would still be separated from his wife.

She had now become a zombie. No human could approach her. Otherwise, they would be bitten by his wife, who had lost all reason, and would mutate as well.

Moreover, once his wife was discovered, she would become the first target for the armed forces to eliminate…

Thinking that in the last second of her clear mind, his wife had made the effort to call him, the man’s heart twisted in pain.

The street had never felt so long.

He stumbled forward as he ran, not knowing where he was heading. His nose was sore and tears sprang from the corners of his eyes.

Lin You looked at his departing figure and understood everything.

Withdrawing her gaze, she looked a little serious and turned to switch on the TV hanging in the store.

The news of the neighboring city falling spread quickly and had almost immediately reached Ancheng.

Lin You felt a numbness in her scalp. The sense of death drawing near grew stronger. The situation in Ancheng was not optimistic.

The host was explaining that several days ago, the armed forces in Ancheng had already been dispatched to support the surrounding provinces and cities.

But now, they were still being held back outside and had not yet returned.

This meant that for Ancheng to save itself, it could only rely on the power of its people.

Everyone would become a fighter.

In times of crisis, men would go to the frontlines, and women would provide support as the backbone.

But considering the severe shortage of vegetables, meat, daily supplies, and other materials in Ancheng, experts had no choice but to consider scenarios without backup resources.

Therefore, how to reasonably utilize existing resources had become a crucial issue.

Many experts had already begun to educate people on how to reduce daily water usage.

So that before the zombies broke through Ancheng, the residents would not die from starvation or thirst due to food shortages.

While keeping an eye on the news, another customer came to buy breakfast.

After handing him a cup of soy milk and a roujiamo, Lin You came back to her senses.

Her gaze settled on several large freezers.

She had not yet used the ingredients in them. If there were no safety issues, she could turn them into food to sell to the public.

In times of material scarcity, these were lifesaving resources.

So she made up her mind. After selling the remaining breakfast, she would quickly close the store.

She needed to find the nearest food safety testing center to confirm the safety of these ingredients.

Unfortunately, there were very few customers in the store. Even though Lin You had only made one type of staple food, it still had not sold out.

She knew clearly that it was close to eight o’clock, yet the sky remained dark. Most people were unwilling to go out.

And those who insisted on going to work were very few. Most had lost their usual motivation and chose to stay at home, hoping to spend the last days of life with their families.

Lin You waited and waited in her seat, seeing no new customers arrive. Her enthusiasm was dampened.

Seeing that the roujiamo buns were getting a little cold, and realizing she had not eaten breakfast herself, she simply cut a piece of braised meat for herself and spooned a generous amount of sauce into the bun.

She liked the rich aroma of the sauce soaking into the bun.

Since the end of the world was coming, she might as well eat and drink well in the final moments.

She held the roujiamo in her hands. The warmth gradually spread to her body.

Taking a bite, she felt completely at ease.

The street was very quiet. About ten minutes would pass before a single pedestrian would walk by, hunched against the cold.

The light from the streetlamps cast their lonely shadows. Every person walking on the road looked extremely desolate.

Nine o’clock had passed, and the sky still showed no trace of brightness.

The cause of the global weather disaster, aside from human destructive activities, was also the changes in cosmic storms.

That was something everyone avoided mentioning, and it was even more terrifying.

Forces outside the Earth were much harder to change through human efforts.

It was like a planet on the verge of colliding with Earth and causing human extinction, bringing a profound sense of helplessness.

As for explanations of the cosmic storms, there was very little coverage in the news.

This was probably to reduce the public’s sense of helplessness and panic.

As a result, more reports focused on the heroic stories of people fighting mutated creatures to the end.

While waiting for customers, Lin You was already taking samples of the ingredients in the store.

She selected complete samples of different ingredients, placed them into bags, and packed them all together.

During this time, a few more customers arrived.

They bought the last few roujiamo and took them to go.

It was around 11 o’clock in the morning. Across the street, a convenience store finally opened.

But the owner looked worried as he lifted the rolling shutter. The store inside was almost empty.

This was the result of yesterday’s looting.

Only a few less useful items, such as stationery and tape measures, remained on the shelves.

But these things were clearly of no use now.

So it was obvious that even if the store opened, very few people would come to buy.

But the owner still came to the store.

It had been open for eighteen years. No matter the weather, it had never stopped operating.

He did not want to break that habit, even in the final days of his life.

Lin You looked through the window and saw the slightly chubby shop owner carrying a small stool to sit at the entrance, as if waiting for something.

She felt a surge of complicated emotions in her heart.

After thinking for a moment, she placed the bag containing vegetable and meat samples into the van and then headed straight to the chubby shop owner’s convenience store.

This convenience store, named “Old Place”, had a very simple decor and still retained the style from more than ten years ago.

But looking at the fully stocked shelves, one could tell that although the place was small, it had everything one might need.

When passing by the shop owner, Lin You paused in her steps, looked at him and said, “I came to buy a few things. I’m worried that if the power goes out, electronic devices will be unusable. I can only use some notebooks for bookkeeping.”

The shop owner’s eyes lit up and he quickly stood up from the small stool, led Lin You into the store and introduced,

“There are only a few notebooks left. If you want them, take them all together. I’ll give you a discount.”

Lin You nodded, “Sure, I need them.”

As soon as the words fell, both fell into silence.

In fact, they both knew there was not much time left. Lin You could not possibly finish using so many notebooks.

But this kind lie was buried in their hearts. Neither wanted to speak it out.

Lin You decisively took all the notebooks from the shelves and readily paid the full price.

The shop owner was overwhelmed with surprise and hurriedly tried to refuse, “Let me give you your money back. In times like this, how can I…”

Lin You did not say much and only responded with a smile, then walked out of the store.

She did not buy the rest of the items in the store.

Those were the shop owner’s only remaining goods. He had to wait for others to come and buy them in order to get through the next few days.

After that, she got in the car, turned on the navigation and drove straight toward the nearest food testing center with the food ingredients.

On the way, Lin You was filled with anxiety.

She was not only worried that these suddenly appeared food ingredients might carry certain hidden dangers but also thought of a worse possibility—

Could these fruits and vegetables be some newly formed mutated creatures capable of moving on their own?

If that were true, then they would be just like the mutated animals and humans reported in the news, possessing certain attack attributes.

Only the offensive properties of plants would be more concealed. For instance, was there a possibility that they might release toxic gas?