April 14, 2036.
The first year of the apocalypse.
Humans once struggled in yellow earth, step by step moving into steel-and-concrete cities—now they were once again fleeing from those cities in chaotic masses, returning to the yellow soil.
But fortunately—
The earth is always forgiving.
Lin Shuangshuang stood on the street, watching people rush wildly toward the suburbs, fleeing in panic with families and luggage in tow.
She felt a little dazed.
Her head hurt slightly too, as if her mind had turned into a thick, muddled paste.
She couldn’t remember what had happened before. Only fragments of disjointed memories surfaced occasionally, and she also wasn’t sure where she was supposed to go next.
But when she saw people frantically grabbing supplies on the roadside, she understood.
Right.
Collect supplies first.
Lin Shuangshuang immediately dove into a supermarket by the street.
Inside was chaos. She grabbed a shopping basket and started looting along with everyone else.
No one was fighting yet.
After all, everyone was “zero-cost shopping,” and escaping the city was a race against time.
Grab and run.
“Hurry up! Hurry! That’s enough, let’s go!!”
“Don’t push!!”
“Get lost!!”
“It’s over… everything’s over!!”
“Stop crying! Pack up and run already! Why are you still crying?!”
“Mom!! I want my mom!! Sob sob!!”
Lin Shuangshuang was slender, making it easy for her to move through the crowd. If you looked closely, you’d notice she was extremely agile—her evasion skills practically maxed out.
She saw a little girl crying loudly, her face red from tears, and paused.
Just as she was about to walk over—
The girl’s mother rushed in like a fierce tiger, scooped her up, and ran.
Lin Shuangshuang sighed in relief.
Supplies were scattered all over the floor. Everyone was grabbing frantically, many items not even looked at before being swept into carts.
Lin Shuangshuang calmly picked things up one by one.
High-sugar chocolates and energy bars like Snickers—must take. She stacked boxes into her basket.
Not that she didn’t want a shopping cart—it was just that she was a bit late, and they were all gone.
“Energy drinks—good, replenish minerals. Biscuits can be eaten directly—useful. Instant noodles can be eaten dry or soaked… but they take space, so just a little.”
She muttered as she went.
She found several packs of wild iodized salt on the floor and picked them up.
“Good stuff. Can’t live without salt.”
A few steps later, she spotted several backpacks on the ground—black, pink, and blue-green.
She stopped, crouched down, and examined them.
Finally, she chose the pink one.
Because it had the largest capacity and the most pockets.
She stuffed all her supplies inside.
Then she abandoned the basket.
She originally intended to just toss it away, but then she suddenly remembered someone once told her—half helpless, half smiling—that things should be put away properly.
So she placed the basket neatly into an empty shelf instead.
That shouldn’t count as littering, right?
She’s really smart.
Lin Shuangshuang nodded in satisfaction, then wore the pink backpack on her chest. Much more convenient now.
She continued walking through the supermarket.
Even though she seemed slower than others, her efficiency was actually higher—she picked complete sets of supplies, while others dropped half of what they grabbed.
As she walked, she blanked out again.
She stopped in place.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I doing?
The usual three questions.
But she quickly came back to herself.
Looking around, then down at her bag—
Ah. She was clearly collecting supplies.
Right.
Keep going.
So she happily continued gathering supplies.
Her memory loss didn’t stop her actions—it just reset every once in a while.
She pulled up her wrist device and checked her memo.
The last record was ten minutes ago.
That meant her memory only lasted ten minutes this time.
It was getting worse.
Earlier it was half a year… then three months… then one month… then one day…
And now—only ten minutes.
She walked while checking the screen, skillfully avoiding people without collision.
After filling the pink backpack, she was ready to leave.
At the exit, several shady men were waiting.
As order collapsed, human darkness surfaced—some people chose to prey on others.
They targeted lone individuals, especially weak-looking ones.
“Damn, boss is smart. Why bother grabbing? Just ambush them and take everything—so easy!”
“Exactly! Follow the boss and we’ll eat nine meals a day!”
A burly man in a floral shirt and slippers laughed proudly at the flattery, revealing a mouth full of yellow smoker’s teeth.
“Boss, cigarette!”
“Here, I’ll light it!”
“Once we fill this last cart, we can leave!”
One of the lackeys lighting the cigarette suddenly spotted Lin Shuangshuang.
His eyes went straight.
The flame nearly burned the boss’s beard.
The bearded man kicked him immediately. “You trying to die?!”
The lackey clutched his stomach and quickly apologized. “My bad! My bad! Boss, I was looking at prey! Look over there!”
Everyone turned their heads.
A young girl stood there with black curly hair, pretty like a doll. Her clothes were plain, but her face was stunning—soft and delicate like a peeled egg.
“Wow, that face—so smooth and tender!”
“So pretty!”
“Those eyes and nose… where did this girl come from?”
“Her parents actually let her out? Guess she’s ours now?”
They all exchanged looks and grinned lewdly.
The bearded man also looked satisfied, scanning her.
“She’s thin, but she sure collected a lot of stuff.”
“Congratulations, boss! You hit the jackpot—money and beauty!”
The man signaled them to grab her.
People around had already finished looting and were fleeing, not daring to intervene. Even those who wanted to help were pulled away by their families.
“Don’t look! There’ll be more of this in the apocalypse.”
“We can’t save everyone. Let’s go.”
People gradually left.
Lin Shuangshuang naturally noticed the group blocking the exit.
She calmly zipped up her backpack.
Put it on her back.
Then she started counting them out loud with her small voice:
“One, two, three…”
A total of nine people.
Her calm reaction gave the thugs an inexplicable sense of unease.