Supermarket

Rubbing the little black bear's head, Li Wei walked back into the mist. Ever since his body began secreting that special, corrosive mucus, no monsters had dared to attack him.

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

"Who is it?"

Just as he was about to give up, a timid response came from his right. He hadn't forgotten that voice; it was Anna.

Li Wei oriented himself and shouted tentatively, "I've brought your Little Bear back to you!"

A surprised response came from the white fog, "Is that Mr. Devil? I'm over here!"

Guided by the little girl's voice, Li Wei soon arrived in front of Anna's house. He twisted the doorknob, found it locked, and decided to just go in through the same window as yesterday.

When he hopped onto the windowsill, he startled Anna again, who had been peering out from behind the window.

The frightened Anna quickly ran back to the window, opened it, and happily took the little black bear, which was half her size, from Li Wei's hands.

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

Anna was clearly overjoyed, hugging the well-behaved little black bear and rubbing it incessantly. Only then did she stroke the bear's fur, look up at Li Wei with a puzzled expression, and ask, "Why is the bear black?"

"Things always change a bit when a doll turns into a real bear, but that's not important, is it!" Li Wei shrugged, reached into his pocket, pulled out ten dollars, and placed it on the small table nearby. "Here, paying you back."

He then pointed to the mist outside and asked, "Do you know what the white fog outside is? And where is your mother?"

At the mention of her mother, Anna's happy expression immediately collapsed. She pointed in a certain direction in the room and looked at him with expectant eyes, saying, "My mommy went to the supermarket. Mr. Devil, can you take me to find my mommy?"

Hearing this, Li Wei reached out to ruffle Anna's hair, agreed, and took back half of the ten dollars from the small table.

Someone in town would surely know what was going on with the mist. He was extremely curious about those Cthulhu-style monsters, as this touched upon a mysterious realm he had yet to understand.

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

The rolling white fog swallowed the supermarket. Those hiding inside felt the ground shake violently, causing merchandise on the shelves and the chandeliers on the ceiling to come crashing down.

Panicked customers scrambled to find cover, terrified that something might fall and crush them to death.

Fortunately, the supermarket withstood the impact of the mist and eventually stabilized.

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

After the tremors ceased, everyone stood up from the floor, still shaken, brushing the faint dust off their clothes.

"It must have been an earthquake."

"Damn it, it must be those chemical plants exploding!"

"Is everyone okay? Is anyone hurt?"

After standing up, they looked at each other, expressing their concern.

The supermarket manager saw the thick, impenetrable white fog outside, swallowed hard, and turned to address everyone, "Nobody go outside, stay here, okay? Do not go out!"

The thick white fog outside might be some kind of chemical poison gas; rushing out would likely mean certain death.

Dan, who had just run in with a bloody nose and was hallucinating and babbling nonsense, must have inhaled that poison gas!

Most people didn't object to the manager's suggestion, scratching their heads as they looked for a place to sit and calm their frayed nerves.

But not everyone could stay in the supermarket and wait for rescue with peace of mind. A woman's expression shifted repeatedly as she thought of her child home alone, and then of the terror Dan had described about things being in the fog. Nearly crying, she said, "I can't... I can't stay here! I, I have to go back and check on my child!"

But her words were met with silence...

"Don't... you shouldn't go out. Death is out there; this is the end of the world!" While everyone was silent, it was the religious fanatic Mrs. Carmody who spoke these words with a trembling yet firm tone.

"Stop it, will you?"

Sally, the supermarket cashier, turned around with a look of frustration and glared at the rambling Mrs. Carmody.

Everyone was worried about whether the fog outside was poison gas, but this madwoman was busy spreading fear. If she ran into someone with a shorter temper, she might just get slapped!

"Alright, everyone, relax, let's all calm down!"

Brent, the black lawyer who had been observing for a while, spoke up, urging everyone to settle down.

The supermarket manager chimed in, "He's right. We should all calm down first and carefully analyze what exactly is happening!"

All eyes turned to the 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 couldn't wait any longer. If she didn't return home, something might happen to her daughter.

Dan, still with blood on his face, shook his head to dissuade her, "No, ma'am, you can't just leave!"

This drew agreement from others.

"That's right! There might be toxic clouds outside..."

"You heard the screams of the people who went out earlier."

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

But the crowd's advice didn't sway the woman. Her voice rose, and with a tearful tone, she said, "Didn't you hear what I said? I can't stay here!"

"Anna is home all by herself, she's only six years old! Sometimes she even forgets how to use the bathroom!"

The woman's voice grew lower and lower, and filled with immense worry, she cast her gaze toward the people nearby, "I told her I was only coming out for a few minutes... she's only six years old!"

She did this in hopes that others would help her, assist her in returning, and look after the child.

However, although the people around her felt a stir of compassion, everyone who met the woman's gaze turned their faces away.

Dan, who was sitting on a pile of dog food, was the first person to face the monsters in the mist, and he had seen with his own eyes John Lee being dragged into the white fog.

Those things were not something a group of unarmed people like them could contend with, so his answer remained: "Don't go!"

Everyone looked at the woman, yet they weren't truly looking at her at all.

The indifference of the crowd made the tears in the woman's eyes shimmer incessantly, and she pleaded one last time, "Can no one help a lady get home?"

The thirty-plus people in the supermarket were strangely silent at this moment; the shining humanity seen in movies was, after all, a rarity, and not one of them was willing to risk their lives for someone else.

Tap, tap, tap!

Just then, the glass door of the supermarket was knocked upon.

Everyone whipped their heads around, eyes widening in an instant as they saw an Asian man in a suit, the little girl being led by him, and... a black bear cub?

What on earth...

The heartbroken woman, who had been begging others to help her get home, covered her mouth in shock upon seeing the little girl outside, her face filled with astonishment and disbelief.

"Anna!"

Seeing her mother, Anna also broke into a smile, struggling to grab the little black bear's paw and waving it toward the woman.