Supermarket

After rubbing the little black bear's head, Li Wei stepped back into the mist. Once his body began secreting that corrosive special mucus, no monsters attacked him again.

This confirmed his guess. As he walked, he called Anna's name.

"Who's there?"

Just as he was about to give up, a timid reply came from his right. He had not forgotten that voice. It was Anna.

Li Wei found the direction and shouted tentatively, "I brought your Little Bear!"

A delighted reply came from the white fog. "Is that you, Mr. Demon? I'm here!"

Following the little girl's voice, Li Wei quickly arrived at Anna's front door. He twisted the handle and found it locked, so he simply went in through the same window as yesterday.

When he climbed onto the windowsill, he startled Anna again as she peeked out from behind the window.

Startled, Anna quickly ran back to the window, opened it, and happily accepted the little black bear, which was nearly half her size, from Li Wei.

Li Wei first glared at the little black bear, frightening it into trembling, before handing it over to Anna.

Anna was clearly delighted. She held the obedient little black bear and rubbed it nonstop. Then she touched its fur, looked up at Li Wei in confusion, and asked, "Why is Little Bear black?"

"If a doll turns into a real bear, it's bound to change a little. That isn't important, is it?" Li Wei shrugged. Reaching into his pocket, he took out ten dollars and placed it on the small table beside him. "Here, your money."

Then he pointed at the mist outside and asked, "Do you know what that white fog is? And where's your mother?"

At the mention of her mother, Anna's happy expression immediately fell. She pointed in a direction within the room and looked at him expectantly. "My mom went to the supermarket. Mr. Demon, can you take me to find her?"

Li Wei reached out and rubbed Anna's head, agreeing to her request. He also took back half of the ten dollars from the little table.

Someone in town was bound to know what was going on with the mist. He was extremely curious about those Cthulhu-style monsters, because they involved a mysterious realm he did not yet understand.

Taking Anna's hand, Li Wei led her out of the little house.

The rolling white fog swallowed the supermarket. The people hiding inside felt the ground shake violently, and goods on the shelves and hanging lights from the ceiling came crashing down.

The panicked customers hurried to find cover, afraid something would fall on their heads and kill them.

Fortunately, the supermarket withstood the impact of the white fog and slowly stabilized.

And so, everyone was pitifully trapped in this well-stocked supermarket. There were more than forty people inside, and the supplies would only last them three months!

After the shaking stopped, everyone climbed up from the floor in lingering fear, brushing off the barely noticeable dust on their clothes.

"It must have been an earthquake."

"Damn it, one of those chemical plants must have exploded!"

"Is everyone all right? Is anyone hurt?"

After getting up, everyone looked at one another and checked on each other.

Seeing the dense white fog outside the supermarket, so thick it seemed impossible to disperse, the manager swallowed and turned to everyone. "Nobody go outside. Stay here, all right? Don't go out!"

The dense white fog outside might be some kind of poisonous chemical gas. Going out recklessly could easily cost them their lives.

Dan had just run in with his face covered in blood from his nose, hallucinating and babbling nonsense. He must have inhaled that poisonous gas!

So most people did not object to the manager's suggestion. They scratched their heads, ready to find somewhere to sit and calm their nerves.

But not everyone could stay in the supermarket and wait calmly for rescue. A woman's expression changed several times. Thinking of her child alone at home, then remembering Dan's terrified words about something in the fog, she said, nearly in tears, "I can't... I can't stay here! I-I have to go back and check on my child!"

But for the moment, no one responded to her words...

"Don't... You shouldn't go outside. Death is out there. This is the end of the world!" While everyone remained silent, the fanatic Mrs. Carmody spoke with a trembling yet firm voice.

"Stop it. Can you quit saying that?"

The supermarket's female cashier, Sally, turned around with a helpless expression and looked at the muttering Carmody.

Everyone was worried that the white fog outside might be poisonous gas, but this crazy woman was spreading fear. If she ran into some hot-tempered guy, she might get slapped across the face!

"All right, everyone, relax. Calm down!"

Brent, the Black lawyer who had been watching from the side for a while, finally spoke and urged everyone to calm down.

The supermarket manager also agreed. "He's right. We should all calm down first and carefully figure out what exactly happened!"

Everyone's eyes turned toward the supermarket manager, hoping to hear his analysis of the situation.

"I'm sorry, I... I can't just stay here. I have to go home and find my child!"

But the woman could not wait any longer. If she did not get home, something might happen to her daughter.

Dan, whose face still bore streaks of blood, shook his head and tried to persuade her. "No, ma'am, you can't just leave like this!"

His words drew agreement from some of the others.

"Right! There might be poisonous clouds outside..."

"You heard the screams from the people who went out just now."

"I agree. We'd better stay here until we figure things out!"

But the woman was not grateful for their advice. Her voice rose, and she said through tears, "Didn't you hear what I said? I can't stay here!"

"Anna is home alone. She's only six years old! Sometimes she even forgets how to use the bathroom!"

Her voice grew lower and lower. Overwhelmed with worry, she looked at the people nearby. "I told her I'd only be gone for a few minutes... She's only six!"

She was trying to get someone else to help her, to assist her in getting home and taking care of the child.

However, though the people around her were moved to pity, everyone who met her gaze looked away.

Dan, sitting on a pile of dog food, was the first to face the monsters in the mist. He had watched John Lee get dragged into the white fog with his own eyes.

Those things were not something unarmed people like them could fight, so his answer remained the same. "Don't go!"

Everyone looked at the woman, yet no one was really looking at her.

The crowd's indifference made tears shimmer continuously in the woman's eyes. Finally, she pleaded again, "Is there no one who can help a lady get home?"

There were more than thirty people in the supermarket, yet they were strangely silent. The shining goodness of humanity seen in movies was rare after all. None of them wanted to risk their lives for someone else.

Tap tap tap!

At that moment, someone knocked on the supermarket's glass doors.

Everyone snapped around, their eyes widening as they saw an Asian man in a suit, a little girl holding his hand, and... a black bear cub?

Uh...

The grief-stricken woman, who had wanted someone to help her get home, covered her mouth in shock and disbelief when she saw the little girl outside.

"Anna!"

Seeing her mother, Anna smiled as well and struggled to grab the little black bear's paw, waving it at the woman.