The Apocalypse Took Everything, This Time I Hoard It All First
Chapter 22: The Apocalypse Arrives

Chapter 22: Chapter 22: The Apocalypse Arrives

Suddenly, a brilliant light flared across the sky!

Tens of thousands of meteors poured down like a cascading galaxy, streaking through the night at a density of over two hundred thousand per hour. Their dazzling trails of light wove into a giant net of gold and silver, instantly setting the pitch-black sky ablaze, as bright as day.

Bathed in the magnificent light, gasps and cheers erupted throughout the entire villa complex. People threw open their windows to cry out in amazement or embraced and jumped for joy, all celebrating the once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness such an exquisite spectacle.

As Luna Dawson watched the spectacular scene, however, her expression suddenly hardened. Her lips parted, and she silently formed two words: ’It’s here!’

"BOOM!"

A deafening roar, like thunder rolling across the heavens, made eardrums buzz.

A massive meteor, trailing a blazing tail, plunged downward. It exploded suddenly in mid-air, splitting into two thick tongues of fire that, wreathed in intense heat and dense smoke, smashed violently into the ground.

Immediately after, countless meteors fell like a dense rain of fire. They detonated on impact, sending out massive shockwaves that flung fragments of houses into the air.

The cheers in the villa complex instantly turned into heart-wrenching screams. The sounds of explosions, collapsing buildings, and people’s cries mingled together.

Flames shot into the sky everywhere. Scenes like this were unfolding one after another all over the world...

The beautiful spectacle was gone, replaced by the full-blown horror of the apocalypse. Panic spread like a plague, consuming every last pocket of life.

The people in the house were startled awake by the explosions, but they remembered Luna Dawson’s instructions: no matter what happened, everyone had to stay alone in their rooms until dawn.

Ignoring the wails from all around, Luna Dawson entered the villa and went back to her room to hold Hector. The terrified boy immediately threw himself into her arms the moment he saw her.

Luna Dawson gave him a sip of water and coaxed him gently, "It’s okay, Auntie’s here. Go to sleep, go to sleep."

Luna Dawson slowly began to lull Hector to sleep, a dagger in her hand, ever vigilant.

She didn’t know if Hector would be able to awaken a superpower, and leaving him with the equally unpredictable Rhonda Dawson would only be more dangerous.

Suddenly, "DING!" Her phone chimed with a notification. At 12:30 AM, the disaster management department began sending a mass text message to the entire population.

Urgent Notice [Text Message]: The meteors that fell tonight carry an unknown virus that may cause mutations in some humans. Citizens are instructed to remain at home and strictly quarantine in separate rooms. If you find friends or family have mutated into bloodthirsty, flesh-eating monsters, immediately take up arms, fight back, and destroy their brains to eliminate them!

Special Reminder: Residents with houseplants and pets must closely monitor their condition. Mutated plants and animals will become bloodthirsty and attack people. They must be dealt with immediately upon discovery.

If they exhibit non-aggressive signs of gaining sentience, this is a form of evolution. Such plants and animals do not possess savage traits or attack unconsciously, so there is no need for excessive panic.

As soon as the text message appeared, the "Our Loving Family" WeChat group exploded with activity.

Awakened by the explosions and tremors, everyone anxiously asked about each other’s situations through the screen, checking to see if anyone had mutated. Messages flooded the chat one after another.

Luna Dawson’s fingers moved quickly as she replied in the group: "Everything’s fine. Hector is already asleep."

The short message helped to slightly calm the panic in the group.

At the same time, nearly everyone opened social media. In just a few moments, the entire internet was flooded with all kinds of videos.

There were horrific scenes of family members suddenly turning into zombies and fighting their loved ones to the death. There were figures trembling in corners, desperately pleading for help to the camera. There were also clips of people having mental breakdowns, crying about the unfairness of the apocalypse. Some even recorded their entire suicides...

The full spectrum of human experience—joy and sorrow, union and separation—was laid bare for the world to see on this sleepless night.

After tucking Hector in, Luna Dawson walked slowly out of the room and gently closed the door.

She cradled Little Tiger in her arms and called for Rollo to join her as she headed to the security monitoring room.

Luna Dawson hadn’t even made it down the stairs when the WeChat voice call alert began to ring urgently from her pocket.

She pulled out her phone and saw the caller was Kevin Keane. ’He’s probably afraid that I, his boss, have died and turned into a zombie,’ she mused, ’and that all the supplies they got before will have gone to waste.’

She tapped her finger to answer. As her eyes swept over the security monitors showing the views inside and outside the house, she spoke nonchalantly, her tone tinged with a casual tease, "What’s wrong? I’m not dead yet."

"How are you?"

They both spoke at the same time.

On the other end of the line, Kevin Keane’s voice was filled with unconcealed anxiety. His normally magnetic voice was strained and tinged with a hoarse tension from his panic.

Luna Dawson paused, a flash of surprise in her eyes. Then, a faint smile touched her lips as she continued, "Relax, I’m not going to die. Your supplies are still safe and sound."

"That’s not... okay... As long as you’re all right." Kevin Keane was left speechless. The urgency in his voice subsided slightly, replaced by a sense of relief.

"I’m hanging up if there’s nothing else." Luna Dawson paused, but couldn’t help adding a warning, "You guys should quarantine properly too. Lock your doors and windows. If the four of you turn into zombies, we’ve only got Evan Olson over here. He wouldn’t be able to hold you off."

Hearing this, Kevin Keane couldn’t help but chuckle. "Alright. Don’t worry, boss."

After hanging up, Luna Dawson sat on the sofa against the wall in the monitoring room. She patted the cushion, gesturing for Rollo. The little guy jumped up and lay down beside her, and Little Tiger immediately snuggled up on Rollo’s belly.

Listening to the rising and falling snores, big and small, Luna Dawson felt an inexplicable sense of peace. ’This time,’ she thought, ’things should turn out for the better, right?’

She closed her eyes and sank her consciousness into her space, while simultaneously extending her spiritual power to keep watch over the inside of the villa.

She could now feel that the people in several rooms had fallen asleep, their breathing even.

The people in two other rooms were still awake, their Spirits even... somewhat feverish...

’What a pair of warmongers.’

As it was, she could just barely cover the entire villa with her spiritual power.

Every night before sleeping, she would repeatedly stretch the threads of her spiritual power to their absolute limit, only stopping when her brain began to ache dully.

She sank her consciousness into her space. She hadn’t had time to organize the supplies she’d "liberated," so she decided to take a look now that she had a moment.

She had hastily stored the contents of two thousand shipping containers at the edge of the dense fog. Now, seeing the sight before her clearly, Luna Dawson’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.

As a top global shipping hub, the supplies from Lockport, though stored in a hurry, were still clearly sorted by section and piled up like mountains, a testament to Meridia’s deep technological and resource reserves.

The rich scent of refined and crude oil, mixed with the faint coolness of natural gas, washed over her. Tons of coal were piled up like black mountain ranges.

There were over a hundred off-road pickup trucks and new-energy electric vehicles from various brands. Charging stations and spare battery packs were stacked into a small hill. Dozens of Class A and Class C RVs stood fully equipped, with their matching generators placed right beside them.

In a corner, there were a dozen or so sports cars. Luna Dawson glanced at them once before looking away, her eyes filled with disdain.

’Completely useless in the apocalypse. Just a waste of space.’

In addition, there were dozens of tightly sealed crates of precious metals, the markings on them obscure and difficult to decipher.

Luna Dawson pursed her lips. She could only identify the neatly stacked piles of gold, whose dazzling gleam made her dizzy.

Medical and civilian supplies took up nearly half the volume. Crates of medicine were also stacked tightly together.

The screens of high-end medical equipment still glowed faintly, not yet powered down. There were dozens of advanced machines like CT scanners and ultrasound devices, their accessories clearly sorted and neatly stacked in special foam boxes.

Rice, flour, soybeans, and corn were piled into small mountains. There were also large quantities of dehydrated vegetables, purification equipment, and seeds—enough to support over ten thousand people for a long time.

Walking a full circle around the piles of supplies, Luna Dawson finally, truly grasped the sheer volume of two thousand shipping containers.