In the dead of night, Xiao Jin was awakened by a heart-wrenching cry.
"Mom—!! Wake up! Don't scare me!!"
The sound came from upstairs, sharp and desperate, especially jarring in the quiet night.
Xiao Jin sat up abruptly, her eyes cold.
It took me a while to realize that someone in the upstairs family had died.
Immediately afterwards, the entire apartment building seemed to be set ablaze, and cries and screams rose and fell—
"Honey! What's wrong?! Don't close your eyes! An ambulance! Call an ambulance!!"
"Doctor! Where's the doctor?! My daughter is dying!!"
Outside the window, the sirens of ambulances approached from afar and then receded again, wailing as they weaved through the fog-shrouded streets.
Xiao Jin sat quietly in the darkness, listening to everything with an indifferent expression.
So this is the anomaly caused by the appearance of gray fog. Without a doubt, the concentration of viruses carried by the fog outside is several times higher than that of white fog.
What happened tonight is nothing compared to what happened tomorrow. The real outbreak of the poisonous fog will begin tomorrow, and then it won't just be these people who die!
The next morning, an emergency news broadcast was made—
[Urgent Notice! The composition of the fog has changed; the gray fog is far more toxic than the white fog. All residents are urged to keep doors and windows tightly closed and not to go outside!]
Starting today, daily necessities will be distributed by the government on a per capita basis. Residents are asked to wait patiently...
Xiao Jin turned off the TV and walked to the window.
On the street, a team of fully armed soldiers were distributing supplies door-to-door. They were wearing heavy protective suits and gas masks, and their movements were swift and orderly.
The community workers and government staff who were supposed to distribute the supplies have all disappeared.
Xiao Jin dared not think whether these people were infected or were simply ordered to stay at home.
Soon, there was a knock on her door.
"Supplies delivery, please open the door and show your identification for verification." The speaker was an unfamiliar man.
Xiao Jin had already made preparations, but she still cautiously checked through the peephole before opening the door a crack and handing over her ID card.
When a soldier saw Xiao Jin's appearance, he was taken aback. Goodness, she seemed to be dressed more conservatively than him.
The other party then began to verify Xiao Jin's identity.
That's right, there's only one person in this house.
Immediately afterwards, the soldier outside handed in a bag of supplies through the gap, his voice sounding somewhat muffled through his mask: "This contains enough supplies for one person, about a week's worth."
Please use sparingly, as there won't be any left once you finish them.
Xiao Jin took the bag and nodded her thanks.
Seeing that Xiao Jin's ID card indicated she was a single woman, the soldier couldn't help but remind her, "Be careful at home. Don't open the door to anyone except those delivering supplies."
Xiao Jin glanced at him, and after a moment replied, "I know, thank you."
After closing the door, she placed all the supplies on the floor inside the glass partition, thoroughly disinfected the outer packaging, and then threw the disassembled trash into a garbage bag and tied it up.
After all this was done, Xiao Jin took the supplies out of the entryway and placed them on the kitchen counter.
Looking at this large bag of supplies, although there were quite a lot of items inside, if spread over a week, it wouldn't be much.
Five kilograms of vacuum-packed rice, a bunch of celery, a small bundle of scallions, a palm-sized head of cabbage, two cans of luncheon meat, and a five-pack of instant noodles.
The instant noodles even come in the pickled cabbage flavor.
Finally, the bag also contained three 2L bottles of mineral water and a small bottle of nasal spray. (Instructions included: to reduce the corrosive effects of toxic fumes)
Xiao Jin picked up the spray bottle and examined it carefully.
"You've developed a remedy so quickly?" She was somewhat surprised, but then shook her head: "It's unlikely to be very effective; it's probably just a temporary fix."
Moreover, as time goes by, the toxic gas in the fog outside gradually increases, and this temporary measure will eventually become ineffective.
Xiao Jin did not use it, but casually placed the spray aside.
Furthermore, the water has been tested by the government and found to be safe, so the amount of water provided is not large, but it is enough for emergency use.
Put the supplies in the space, since nowhere is the space safest.
Then Xiao Jin picked up her phone, and after just one swipe, she saw a lot of complaints on it.
[Is this enough for a week? There are three of us in my family, and they only gave us three portions. There wasn't even any oil. How are we supposed to cook?!]
My child is growing and needs to eat meat every day! The government won't provide it, can we buy it ourselves? Does anyone know of a source for this?
[Upstairs, I have a few pounds of pork ribs in my fridge. DM me, price negotiable.]
Okay, okay, you wait, I'll add you. Hey? By the way, is the meat fresh?
"Hey sis, we've been staying home for days, where am I supposed to get you fresh meat? It's frozen, take it or leave it."
[Haha, these days people actually sell their meat? Keep it to save their lives!]
You should be grateful! Our supplies haven't even arrived yet, and we only have half a pack of biscuits left! If the delivery people don't come soon, we won't have anything to eat next!
Could you please send some medicine? My wife has started coughing up blood.
These government officials who only know how to be greedy and don't know how to do anything else, while ordinary people can barely afford to eat, they can't even utter a single word.
They keep saying not to go out and not to tell anyone, but do you think I don't know I can't go out?!
Hey, alright, everyone's having a tough time these days. Those soldiers are risking infection to deliver supplies to you. You shouldn't complain, should you? They don't owe you anything.
[Exactly, the more they talk about it, the more excited they get. If they had a solution, why would they keep it to themselves?]
Xiao Jin scrolled through the screen expressionlessly, her heart completely unmoved.
In the face of the apocalypse, human nature is laid bare.
Some people are still hoping to eat meat, some have already started hoarding and speculating, while many more can only wait for death in despair.
Dissatisfaction turns into resentment, and resentment then transforms into hatred.
She turned off her phone and walked to the window.
The gray fog still shrouded the city, and fully armed soldiers moved through the fog like a group of silent ghosts.
Xiao Jin gently drew the curtains and turned to walk towards the kitchen.
When you're in a bad mood, use food to cheer yourself up. She suddenly had a craving for barbecue!
Imagine a light mist shrouding the room outside, while inside, a warm and deep, golden hue pervades the space.
In this atmosphere, the aroma of grilled meat wafts through the air, intertwining with the refreshing taste of chilled beer.
She sat on the soft carpet, eating sizzling barbecue while watching a movie on the screen.
This scene is beautiful even just to imagine!
So, Xiao Jin buried her head and began rummaging through her spatial storage. Anyway, she had plenty of supplies in her space; she could find whatever she wanted to eat.
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