After a full round of shopping, her back was drenched in sweat. She hurried to the bathroom for a shower.
Once she finished, her whole body relaxed. Lying on the bed, she let out a sigh.
She turned over—and soon fell asleep.
Inevitably, Su Ruanruan dreamed of the moment before her death in her previous life.
Her best friend, Zhang Lingling, had also been an ordinary person.
The two met in the apocalypse, relying on each other to survive.
Yet in the end, for her own escape, Zhang Lingling pushed her into a group of mutated monkeys.
More than a dozen monkeys surrounded her, their bloody mouths wide open, long claws caked with dirt.
They tore her apart piece by piece, devouring her flesh.
She would never forget that look in Zhang Lingling’s eyes—
panic… mixed with a hint of relief, as if she had finally gotten rid of a burden.
“Ha…” Su Ruanruan woke with a start, wiping sweat from her forehead.
She looked at the still-unmodified floor-to-ceiling window.
The curtains weren’t fully drawn—outside, countless lights glittered across the city, prosperous and lively.
Not hating her? Impossible.
She wished she could turn into one of those monkeys—
and tear Zhang Lingling apart, making her suffer slowly!
But what was the use of hatred?
In this life, she would have no supernatural abilities.
Her only reliance was her space—and the supplies filling it.
Thinking this, she fell asleep again.
At 5 AM, she woke up on time, brushed her teeth, and washed up.
She cherished this peaceful life.
In the apocalypse, even washing your face was a luxury—let alone brushing your teeth.
Danger lurked everywhere, with mutated plants and animals attacking at any moment.
Today, she planned to buy a car.
Fortunately, she had gotten her driver’s license right after coming of age.
Though in the apocalypse, it was practically useless.
She wanted to buy a luxury RV and modify it as much as possible in the coming days.
So she went to a dealership and explained her requirements:
Spacious interior, high chassis, durable exterior…
All reasonable demands—she didn’t want to wander homeless.
The salesperson smiled and led her to a vehicle.
It was a large black RV, sleek and sturdy.
There was even a ladder on the side leading to the roof, which had low railings around it.
The chassis was high—the wheels alone reached her thighs, with four in the front and four in the back.
Inside, the interior looked premium.
There were three beds, enough for five people.
It also had a bathroom and a kitchen—small but fully equipped.
She was very satisfied.
Just… too fragile.
It still needed reinforcement.
In the apocalypse, even a random mutated creature could be larger than this vehicle.
She paid without hesitation and had the dealership staff follow her home.
The salesperson felt like they had met a god of wealth, happily throwing in a bunch of extras.
Back in her apartment’s parking garage, she parked in a blind spot of the cameras—
and stored the RV into her space.
At that moment, the renovation workers arrived.
Without much small talk, she headed out again to continue stockpiling.
Only after buying the car did she realize—she also needed gasoline, kerosene, and charcoal.
She would definitely need to drive in the future.
Fuel would become one of the most fiercely contested resources.
Not just that—she also needed many gas cylinders filled with fuel.
Over the next few days, she continued her routine, filling in any missing supplies.
Food alone took up one-third of the space.
The rest was filled with daily necessities, tools, and fuel.
Everything packed the space to the brim.
Meanwhile, the renovation team worked diligently, transforming her apartment.
Though confused, they didn’t question much—as long as they were paid well.
Soon, the date arrived:
October 20, 2020—the day before the disaster.
Su Ruanruan checked everything one last time.
Her home.
Her fully stocked space.
She had bought almost everything she could think of.
At minimum, she had 500 of each item.
For many things, quantities were measured in tons.
Her four-bedroom apartment had been completely transformed into a lightless fortress.
All windows were sealed, leaving only a few small square openings.
The main door had been reinforced into three layers:
a security door, an iron door, and an electric barrier.
She lived on the top floor—the only unit on that level.
The thing she needed to guard against… was other people.
At 11:30 PM, she closed her eyes and went to sleep.
Outside temperature: 40°C.
Inside her bedroom, the air conditioner was set to 16°C.
She lay on a cooling mat, covered with a thin blanket.
That night, for once, she slept peacefully—without dreams.
Near dawn, she felt unbearably hot.
So hot that even breathing felt like inhaling fire.
She woke up immediately.
The air conditioner had shut off due to a power outage.
Just like in her previous life—electricity was gone.
She went to the bathroom and turned on the faucet.
No surprise—the water was also cut off.
She walked to the control switch near the entrance.
It controlled the generator and water tanks.
She flipped it on—
Zzzzt—electricity surged back.
She turned on the standing air conditioner in the living room and grabbed the remote to start the wall unit as well.
Over the past few days, besides stockpiling, she had been making ice using ice machines.
She had also bought hundreds of large white containers specifically for storing ice.
As soon as the ice was made, she stored it in her space.
So far, she had filled about 100 containers.
Now, she turned off all unnecessary appliances to reduce the load on the generator.
Although the power was out, signal stations still had backup power.
She opened Weibo.
The trending topics were all about extreme heat and power outages.
People were complaining endlessly—about the heat, about when electricity would return.
Across both north and south, temperatures hovered around 42°C.
Su Ruanruan forced a stiff smile.
It’s not coming back.
She walked to one of the small window openings.
Through it, she could see—
the blazing sun mercilessly scorching the earth.
The entire world shimmered under the heat, making it hard to even open one’s eyes.
The sun hung high in the sky, radiating its full intensity.
The garden below, usually filled with elderly people and children—
was now completely empty.
Everyone had retreated indoors.
But without power or water, indoors was no different from outside.
She shut the window opening.
Inside, the air was cool and refreshing.
Wearing light clothes, barefoot on the floor, she felt comfortable.
She took out a chilled watermelon from her space.
Cold mist still clung to its surface.
Holding it in her arms, she went to the kitchen and split it in half.
She grabbed a long-handled spoon, covered the other half with plastic wrap, and stored it back.
Then she sat cross-legged between the sofa and the coffee table, holding her half.
She opened a drawer under the table—
inside were dozens of tablets and hundreds of power banks.
All fully charged.
Each tablet was loaded with movies and novels.
She randomly picked a movie.
A disaster film: The Day After Tomorrow.
Eating chilled watermelon, enjoying the air conditioning, watching a disaster movie—
the contrast couldn’t have been sharper.