Apocalypse Supermarket: My Four Overpowered Husbands Wontstop Hoarding

Chapter 103: Chapter 103 The Supermarket Disappearance

A crackling flash of light suddenly appeared in the middle of the abandoned street.

Dark smoke leaked through the air, twisting around the strange distortion as if the space itself was struggling to hold together. The ground trembled slightly, and then the enormous rock standing in front of them seemed to split open.

A black boot stepped through first.

Luna emerged from the opening, her expression calm as she looked around.

Rowan came right behind her, his eyes immediately scanning their surroundings.

Another figure stumbled through.

Ethan coughed violently the moment his feet touched the ground.

"Ugh..."

He covered his mouth, trying to get rid of the strange taste that had settled in his throat after travelling through Adrian’s dimension.

Kai came out next.

Unlike everyone else, he looked like he had just stepped onto a stage instead of into the middle of an abandoned city during the apocalypse.

He was chewing gum.

Of course he was.

His hands were casually tucked into his pockets as he looked around with an amused expression, completely unbothered by the strange atmosphere.

Finally, Adrian stepped through.

He was the last one because he was the one controlling the portal.

The moment both of his feet touched the ground, the dimensional opening behind them flickered.

The light became weaker.

Then weaker.

Until the entire portal crumbled into tiny particles of light that disappeared into the air.

Silence followed.

The group looked around.

"So..."

Kai slowly turned in a circle.

"Where exactly is the supermarket we’re supposed to raid? I can’t find it around here."

Nobody answered.

They were standing in what appeared to be an abandoned city.

Tall buildings surrounded them, most of them damaged. Some windows had been shattered, while others were completely covered in dirt. Several roads were blocked by abandoned vehicles.

But there was something strange about the ground.

It was wet.

Kai looked down.

His boot sank slightly into the damp surface.

"Huh?"

He nudged the ground with his foot.

"Why is the floor wet?"

Luna glanced down.

She noticed it too.

The entire street was covered in shallow puddles.

Not enough to suggest flooding.

Not enough to suggest a recent storm.

Just enough to make everything look unnaturally damp.

Across the road, dozens of abandoned cars were scattered everywhere.

Except they weren’t scattered randomly.

They seemed to have crashed into one another in almost perfect parallel lines, creating a bizarre trail stretching down the road.

It looked like something had pushed them all in the same direction.

Kai stopped chewing for a moment.

"That’s weird."

Adrian slowly looked around.

"This place feels..."

"Dead?" Ethan supplied.

"No."

Adrian frowned.

"Empty."

The distinction somehow made it worse.

There was no sound.

No birds.

No distant movement.

No wind blowing through the broken buildings.

Nothing.

Even the city itself seemed to be holding its breath.

A chilling air passed through them.

Rowan’s eyes narrowed as he studied the surroundings.

"Let’s just keep moving. Maybe we didn’t land at the exact location of the supermarket."

He said it casually, almost as if he were trying to prevent anyone from thinking Luna had brought them to the wrong place.

Luna didn’t respond.

She was already staring at the system panel floating in front of her.

Her fingers moved across it as she brought up the location data.

She scanned the area.

Then scanned it again.

Her brows slowly knitted together.

No.

This wasn’t the wrong location.

She checked the coordinates.

Correct.

She checked the distance.

Correct.

She checked the projected location of the supermarket.

Correct.

Everything was right.

And that was the problem.

Luna slowly raised her head.

The supermarket was supposed to be here.

Not somewhere nearby.

Not another street away.

Here.

Exactly here.

Her eyes moved toward the opposite end of the road.

Behind a crooked skyscraper that leaned dangerously to one side, almost as if the entire building was seconds away from collapsing, was where the supermarket was supposed to be.

Except there was nothing there.

Nothing.

Luna stared.

Her system clearly showed the location.

But her eyes showed an empty street.

"What the..."

Ethan’s voice cut through the silence.

"Shit."

Everyone looked at him.

He stared at Luna.

"Don’t tell me you don’t know where we are."

Luna’s eyes narrowed.

"Or were you wrong?"

The words were out before Ethan could stop them.

The others immediately turned toward Luna.

Every pair of eyes suddenly landed on her.

There was expectation in their expressions.

She was the one who had brought them here.

She was the one who had given Adrian the location.

She was the one whose system had provided the coordinates.

So if the supermarket wasn’t here...

What exactly had gone wrong?

Luna’s fingers moved across the panel again.

Nothing.

She checked the location once more.

Still correct.

She tried scanning the surrounding area.

Nothing.

No supermarket.

No obvious structure.

No indication that the building had been destroyed.

It was as though it had simply vanished.

"Careful with your words."

Rowan’s voice suddenly became cold.

"Don’t anger her right now because I’ll be pissed, and she’s going to be pissed too."

Ethan stared at him.

Then laughed.

"I’m not trying to undermine her authority or whatever you think is going on."

He pointed toward Luna.

"I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong because she clearly looks confused. Maybe we can help instead of standing around watching her do everything herself."

Rowan rolled his eyes.

"That’s not how your words sounded."

Ethan’s smile disappeared.

"And I know what you’re trying to say, so stop with the cheap excuses."

"Excuses?"

"Yes."

Rowan stepped forward.

"You could’ve simply asked what happened instead of implying she doesn’t know where she’s going."

Ethan stared at him for a moment.

Then glanced at Kai.

Kai was watching the exchange with an expression that said he was enjoying the drama far too much.

What the hell had happened to Rowan?

Kai couldn’t understand it.

Just how had Luna bought this man’s loyalty?

Because this didn’t feel natural.

Wasn’t Rowan the one who had been reluctant to follow them before?

Wasn’t he the one who had questioned Luna’s decisions and argued against some of her plans?

Yet now he was practically ready to bite someone’s head off for looking at her the wrong way.

That was strange.

Very strange.

Kai scratched his chin.

Maybe Rowan had simply become attached.

Still...

This was a little too much.

But whatever.

Kai had more important things to worry about.

Like figuring out why the hell the supermarket had disappeared.

Because there was one thing he was certain about.

Luna couldn’t have gotten the location wrong.

Not with her system.

Something else was happening.

Something was hiding the supermarket.

Or worse...

Something had happened to it.

"Guys."

Adrian’s voice broke through the tension.

"We shouldn’t fight."

He raised both hands.

"It’s not going to help."

He looked between Rowan and Ethan.

"Let’s come together and help Luna find the supermarket instead of arguing like market women. Is that at least a good idea?"

The tension between them dissolved slightly.

Ethan snorted.

"Market women?"

Adrian shrugged.

"You know what I mean."

Rowan still looked annoyed.

He pointed at Ethan.

"Mind yourself, man. Team or not, I won’t hesitate to blow your goddamn brains off if you keep saying things like that without thinking."

Ethan’s mouth dropped open.

"Are you serious?"

Rowan ignored him and walked toward Luna.

He stopped beside her.

"What does the system say?"

Luna didn’t look at him.

"That we’re standing exactly where we’re supposed to be."

Rowan’s eyes narrowed.

"And the supermarket?"

"Should be there."

She pointed toward the crooked skyscraper.

"Behind that building."

Everyone looked.

There was nothing.

Kai stopped chewing.

"Okay."

He looked around.

"This is getting creepy."

Ethan threw his hands into the air.

"Oh, that motherfucker!"

He pointed at Rowan.

"He is so rude! Who the hell does he think he is?"

Kai glanced at him.

"Well, look at the bright side."

Ethan looked at him.

"You two are somewhat the same kind of rude assholes."

Kai shrugged.

"So it’s like birds of a feather flocking together."

Ethan stared.

"You know what?"

He nodded.

"That’s actually true."

Kai smiled.

"See? I’m helpful."

"You’re annoying."

"Same thing."

Before Ethan could respond, Kai suddenly stopped.

His eyes shifted toward the ground.

His expression changed.

"What the fuck?"

The others immediately turned.

Kai crouched.

Ethan and Adrian hurried toward him.

Rowan also glanced over.

"What did you find?"

Kai didn’t answer.

He simply pointed at the ground.

There were footprints.

Huge footprints.

The shape was almost similar to a human foot, but that was where the similarities ended.

The toes were wrong.

Far too long.

Far too sharp.

And there were too many strange impressions around the edges.

The footprints stretched across the wet ground.

One.

Two.

Three.

Then more.

A lot more.

The puddles surrounding them made the tracks even clearer.

It looked as though something enormous had walked through the area recently.

Ethan’s expression changed.

"Jesus Christ."

He crouched beside Kai.

"What made those?"

Kai studied the prints carefully.

Adrian’s eyes widened.

"Those aren’t human."

"No shit," Ethan muttered.

Kai reached out but stopped before touching the print.

The ground around it was still wet.

Very wet.

Almost as if whatever had made the footprints had passed through there not long ago.

Ethan looked around.

"But where did all this water come from?"

Nobody answered.

There hadn’t been rain.

At least, not according to what they knew.

The last major rainfall had already stopped.

There shouldn’t have been enough water here to leave puddles across the entire street.

Yet there it was.

Everywhere.

Kai slowly stood.

Everyone’s attention immediately shifted toward him.

For some reason, whenever something strange happened involving monsters, they looked at Kai.

Maybe because despite all the madness around them, he always seemed to have some ridiculous explanation.

It had become almost expected.

Kai noticed their stares.

"Why are you all looking at me?"

Ethan pointed at the footprint.

"Tell us what made it."

Kai blinked.

"What?"

"You study monsters."

"I do not study monsters!"

"You know more about them than us."

"That’s because I pay attention!"

"So?"

Kai stared at him.

"How am I supposed to know what made this?"

He pointed toward the massive footprint.

"Do I look like someone who studies every monster that appears during the apocalypse?"

Ethan went silent.

Kai crossed his arms.

"Do you think I have a fucking encyclopedia of monsters in my head?"

Adrian’s eyes widened.

"So..."

He looked at the footprint again.

"You think this footprint belongs to a monster?"

Kai slowly turned toward him.

His face was completely blank.

"If it isn’t a monster, what else do you think made this footprint?"

He gestured dramatically toward the enormous tracks.

"A unicorn?"