Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Unfortunately, their voices gradually lowered, and it became difficult to hear them clearly.

She gritted her teeth and quickened her pace.

When they were only two or three meters away from them, the group of people suddenly stopped in their tracks.

Xu Xiaoyan's heart skipped a beat, and she stopped.

Seven or eight pairs of eyes turned to look at them at the same time, their eyes filled with vigilance.

The leader was a man in his thirties, with a buzz cut and a lean build, carrying a canvas bag.

He sized Xu Xiaoyan up and down, his gaze lingering on her backpack for a second, before speaking. His tone wasn't harsh, but it wasn't exactly polite either, "What brings you with us?"

Xu Xiaoyan stood there, feeling the gazes of several people around her sweep over her. She fiddled with the strap of her backpack and forced an embarrassed smile. "Um, sorry, I just overheard you guys talking about what you could buy, and I was just curious, so I came up here to hear where to buy it."

After she finished speaking, her heart was beating a little fast. She knew that it was taboo to ask about other people's connections in the apocalypse, but since these people dared to talk loudly as they walked, it probably wasn't a secret.

Sure enough, the group looked at each other and relaxed a little.

Before the man in the lead could speak, a woman in her forties next to him said, "Oh, you mean this?"

She took half a step forward, looked closely at Xu Xiaoyan's face, as if to confirm that she posed no threat, and then nodded. "We heard it from the people next door. They said that the military has opened an underground supermarket in the city center, which is very close to our community."

An underground supermarket? Xu Xiaoyan was taken aback.

"But it's too hot now, so things can't be stored for long," the woman continued. "So the military only delivers small quantities at night. If you go early, you can exchange water tickets for good stuff; if you go late, there's nothing left."

Another younger girl chimed in, "I heard that today is the first day, so there should be a lot of stuff. We thought we'd go and buy some things after we heard that."

Seeing that she was genuinely just asking for information, the leading man said, "Since you've heard it, come along." He stepped aside and gestured for her to follow. "Thanks for your help. We were originally planning to keep this news a secret, since one more person means one more competitor."

She nodded, said thank you, and then walked over to join the group of people.

The group continued walking forward.

Xu Xiaoyan walked along the side of the group, trying to make herself inconspicuous. She listened to their conversation, but they were much quieter, probably because of her presence. Occasionally, someone would mutter a few words, which were hard to hear.

After walking for about five minutes, the leading man suddenly spoke up, lowering his voice, "I heard it has everything inside, but I wonder if it has solar panels."

He paused, not finishing his sentence.

A middle-aged man who hadn't spoken until next to him chimed in, "If so, I don't know if installation is included."

Xu Xiaoyan's heart skipped a beat. She had solar panels on the roof of her car, but they were welded very firmly and she couldn't remove them. If the supermarket here had them, she didn't know how many water coupons she would need, or if she could afford them.

"Is there anything else?" the young woman asked.

"I heard they have batteries, electric fans, rice, flour, cooking oil, salt, and sugar—" the leading man said, then suddenly turned back to look at Xu Xiaoyan, before turning back again. "Anyway, we'll find out when we get there."

Xu Xiaoyan didn't say anything, but simply made her footsteps even lighter.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, several dark buildings finally appeared ahead. By the moonlight, it was clear that the one in the middle was an old-fashioned shopping mall. There were two faded pillars standing at the entrance, one of the glass doors was broken, and the other was nailed together with a wooden board.

But a small door was opened next to the wooden board, and dim light shone through the crack in the door.

A queue had already formed at the entrance.

Xu Xiaoyan counted about twenty people, men, women, young and old, standing quietly without saying a word.

At the end of the line, a small door was half-open, and occasionally someone would come out carrying something, then hurriedly leave with their head down.

"We're here," the leading man said in a low voice, then led his men to the end of the line and stood there.

Xu Xiaoyan followed and stood behind them.

People in line glanced back at her one after another, then turned back, their expressions indifferent. Queuing was a common occurrence; whether there was one more or one less person, no one cared.

Someone nearby whispered, "I heard they buy things inside. You can sell them anything you don't want."

"What are you collecting?"

"We want everything: clothes, shoes, pots and pans, anything usable. We'll give you water coupons."

"Is it more cost-effective to replace it with someone else?"

"Who knows? Let's give it a try anyway."

As Xu Xiaoyan listened, her gaze fell on the small door in front of her. The light shining through the crack in the door flickered, and someone was moving around inside.

The idea of ​​giving water tickets for accepting gifts kept running through her mind.

She had a lot of things in her storage space, but not many that she could take out. Anything too bulky wouldn't do; her backpack was only so big. If she suddenly pulled out a quilt, even a fool could see something was wrong.

It should be small, inconspicuous, and preferably something you need right now.

She thought for a long time and suddenly remembered something—menthol balm.

She had stockpiled quite a few of those things. She bought them because they were cheap, thinking that since they were so inexpensive and quite useful, it was always a good idea to buy more to have on hand. Later, she put them in her spatial storage and never thought about them again, almost forgetting about them altogether.

Xu Xiaoyan looked up and glanced at the people queuing in front of her. There was an old lady in the queue, her back hunched over, fanning herself with a palm leaf fan, the air she was blowing was hot.

A middle-aged man next to me kept wiping his sweat. After wiping, he would drape the towel around his neck, and it would be soaked again in no time.

With the weather so hot these days, heatstroke is a common occurrence, so this thing can really come in very handy!

If the prices offered by the underground shopping mall aren't high, she plans to set up a stall and sell them at a higher price. She's not sure she can't get water tickets to buy solar panels!

Xu Xiaoyan lowered her eyes, and slowly made up her mind.

The cooling oil is small, about the size of a thumb, so if you take some out of your backpack, no one will notice.

As she pondered this, she unconsciously took a step forward, accidentally bumping into the back of the young woman in front of her. She glanced back, and Xu Xiaoyan quickly forced a smile at the other woman, trying to smooth things over.

She reached into her backpack and took out a box of cooling balm, intending to test its value later.

The queue is finally almost at the end.

Xu Xiaoyan stood outside the threshold and peeked inside using the light coming through the door. Her initial expectation vanished almost instantly.

This isn't a supermarket at all; it's just two storefronts with a doorway knocked out of the wall between them, barely connecting them.

The floor is still covered in the old, dusty tiles, and some of them are cracked.

Several wires stretched overhead, suspending two incandescent light bulbs. The bulbs were low-wattage, casting a dim, yellowish light over the entire space.

If you enjoy stories about surviving the apocalypse by stockpiling supplies, please bookmark: Apocalypse Stockpiling Survival Story