Apocalypse Supermarket: My Four Overpowered Husbands Wontstop Hoarding

Chapter 62: Chapter 62 The broadcast

The sitting room fell into complete stillness.

Kai’s hand, still holding the other remote, hovered in the air. His fingers had gone numb, frozen mid-motion as the voice from the television cut through the silence like a blade. Adrian’s body had gone rigid on the couch, his back straightening so abruptly that the old leather creaked beneath him. Even Miles, who had been about to leave the room entirely, stopped in his tracks. He turned fully around, his eyes fixed on the screen with an intensity that bordered on disbelief.

The news anchor’s face appeared—a woman with tired eyes and strained expression lines etched deep into her skin. She looked like she hadn’t slept in weeks. Behind her, a digital rendering of Earth rotated slowly, its familiar blue and green patterns marred by patches of brown and grey. The planet looked sick. Dying.

"We are receiving confirmed reports from multiple international space agencies," the anchor continued, her voice steady but carrying an unmistakable tremor that betrayed her professional composure. "Satellites have detected a planetary body approximately the size of Earth entering our solar system. It is on a trajectory that will bring it within habitable range within the next seventy-two hours."

Kai’s breath caught in his throat.

Seventy-two hours.

Three days.

That was all the time they had.

Adrian was the first to break the silence. "Seventy-two hours?" he repeated, his voice hollow and distant, as though he was speaking from somewhere far away. "That’s... that’s nothing. That’s barely enough time to—"

He stopped himself.

There was no point finishing the sentence.

The anchor pressed on, her words falling like hammer blows against the stunned silence of the room. "Preliminary scans indicate that the planet’s atmosphere is compatible with human life. The surface temperature, gravity, and atmospheric composition are within survivable parameters. Scientists are calling it an unprecedented discovery—a second Earth."

The screen shifted, displaying images captured by deep-space telescopes. A blue-green sphere appeared, swirling with white clouds and patches of landmass that looked hauntingly familiar. Oceans. Continents. Forests. It was Earth’s mirror image, a twin born from the darkness of space.

Miles moved closer to the screen, his jaw tight, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. His eyes remained locked on the image, searching for something—a flaw, a sign that this was all some elaborate hoax. But there was nothing. Just a perfect world, waiting.

"This planet has been designated as ’New Haven’ by the International Space Council," the anchor said. "A joint effort involving the remaining governments of the world has led to an agreement. For the first time since the collapse, nations have set aside their differences. There is no longer room for conflict. There is only survival."

She paused.

The room held its breath.

"Mass evacuation will begin immediately. All surviving populations are to assemble at designated extraction points within the next forty-eight hours. Transport vessels will be deployed to relocate humanity to New Haven. This is our only chance. This is humanity’s only chance."

The warning symbol reappeared on the screen—a red triangle with an exclamation mark at its center. "This is not a drill. This is not a test. The current state of Earth is unsustainable. Famine, disease, and violence have decimated our population. New Haven represents our only hope for the continuation of the human race."

Kai felt his hands begin to shake.

He thought of the collapsed cities he had passed through. The empty streets littered with debris and bones. The cannibals who had turned on their own kind. The desperation that had consumed the world and twisted it into something unrecognizable. He thought of the people he had lost. The people he had failed to save.

And now this.

A new planet.

A fresh start.

A second chance.

But something about it felt wrong. The timing. The suddenness. The way everything had aligned so perfectly.

Adrian broke the silence first, his voice rising with a mixture of hope and desperation. "Wait," he said, standing abruptly. His eyes were wide, his hands trembling. "If they have the technology to move everyone to another planet, then why didn’t they do that before? Why did they let everything fall apart? Why did they let people die?"

The questions tumbled out of him in a rush, each one more frantic than the last.

Kai didn’t have an answer.

Neither did anyone else.

The anchor seemed to anticipate such doubts. Her expression shifted, becoming almost pleading. "We understand that many of you will have doubts. We understand that trust has been shattered by the events of the past months. But we ask you to put aside your fears and come to the extraction points. Supplies will be provided. Medical care will be available. Food, water, shelter—everything you need to survive. Your survival depends on it. Humanity’s survival depends on it."

Miles finally spoke, his voice low and measured. "Extraction points," he repeated slowly, as though tasting the words for the first time. "They’re going to gather everyone in one place. All the survivors. Everyone who’s still alive."

Kai turned to look at him. "That’s what they said."

Miles’ expression darkened, shadows pooling beneath his eyes. "And then what? Once everyone is gathered? Once all the survivors are in one place, what happens next?"

The question hung in the air, unanswered and heavy.

Suddenly, footsteps echoed from the hallway behind them. The sound was sharp and deliberate, cutting through the silence like a knife through cloth. Everyone turned.

Luna appeared at the entrance of the sitting room.

Her face was pale. Her eyes were fixed on the television screen, which still flickered with emergency warnings and coordinates. She had clearly heard everything—the announcement, the evacuation order, the promise of a new world. Her expression was unreadable, but there was something in her eyes that made Kai’s skin prickle.

She had been standing there the entire time. Listening. Watching.

The broadcast continued in the background, a steady stream of coordinates and instructions, but Luna wasn’t listening anymore. She stared at the screen with an intensity that made the air around her feel heavy.

"You saw it too," Adrian said, stating the obvious. His voice was uncertain, almost hesitant.

Luna didn’t respond immediately. She walked slowly toward the television, her movements measured and deliberate, each step echoing in the silent room. When she finally stopped, she was standing directly in front of it. The light from the screen cast shadows across her face, illuminating the sharp lines of her jaw and the hollows beneath her eyes.

"A new planet," she murmured.

Her voice was flat. Devoid of emotion. It was the voice of someone who had seen too much and expected the worst.

Kai exchanged a glance with Adrian. Neither of them knew what to say. Neither of them had ever seen Luna like this before.

Luna turned to face them. "Turn it off."

Kai hesitated. "But—"

"I said turn it off."

Her voice cut through the room like a blade, sharp and unforgiving. There was no room for argument. No room for negotiation.

Kai reached for the remote and pressed the power button. The screen went black, plunging the room into silence once more. The only sound was the soft hum of the house’s hidden power source.

Luna stood there for a long moment, her back to them. Her shoulders were tense, her hands clenched at her sides. When she finally spoke again, her voice was quieter, but no less determined. "Rowan."

Everyone looked around. Rowan appeared in the doorway, his expression guarded and cautious. He had clearly heard everything too. His eyes met Luna’s, and something passed between them—an understanding that no one else in the room shared.

"Luna," Rowan said carefully, stepping into the room. "What is this?"

She turned to face him fully. "Seventy-two hours," she repeated, her voice flat. "That’s what they said."

Rowan nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. "Yes."

"They want everyone to gather at extraction points."

"Yes."

Luna’s eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint flickering in their depths. "And what happens when all the survivors are in one place?"

The question sent a chill down Kai’s spine. He felt his stomach tighten, his heart pound against his ribs. He had been thinking the same thing, but hearing Luna say it out loud made it real.

Rowan didn’t answer immediately. He simply stared at her, his jaw working as he processed her words. Then he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. "What are you suggesting?"

Luna moved away from the television, her footsteps echoing in the silent room. She walked toward the window at the far end of the room, her reflection appearing in the dark glass. The world outside was pitch black. No lights. No movement. Just endless, empty streets stretching into nothingness.

"I’m not suggesting anything," she said quietly, her voice carrying across the room. "I’m stating a fact."

She turned back to face them, her expression hard and unyielding. "Humanity has been surviving for months. Scattered. Broken. But alive. People have found ways to live, to fight, to endure. We’ve adapted to this nightmare."

Her voice hardened, becoming colder with each word. "The moment we all gather in one place, we become a target. We become vulnerable. We become easy."

Adrian stood abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor. "A target for what?" His voice was sharp, edged with frustration. "The planet is dying. This is our only chance. You heard what she said—New Haven is our only hope. We can’t just—"

Luna’s gaze locked onto him, cutting him off mid-sentence. "Is it?"

The question made him pause. His mouth opened, then closed. He had no answer.

"What do you mean?" he finally asked, his voice softer now, uncertain.

Luna walked back toward the center of the room, her movements slow and deliberate. She stopped directly in front of them, her eyes sweeping across each face.

"Think about it," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "The collapse happened so fast. Too fast. It wasn’t natural."

Kai felt his blood run cold. His heart stuttered in his chest.

Adrian’s face went pale, the color draining from his cheeks. Miles stood frozen, his expression unreadable.

Luna continued, her voice steady and cold. "The disasters. The chaos. The breakdown of society. It all happened within weeks. Months at most. Everything fell apart so quickly that no one had time to prepare. No one had time to understand what was happening."

She looked at each of them, her eyes boring into theirs. "And now, just when humanity is at its weakest, a new planet appears. A perfect new home. A second Earth, waiting for us with open arms."

Her voice dropped even lower, barely above a murmur. "Convenient, isn’t it?"

The room fell into stunned silence. No one moved. No one breathed.

Rowan was the first to recover. His voice was measured, controlled. "You’re saying this was planned? You’re saying someone orchestrated all of this?"

Luna shook her head slowly, but there was no certainty in the gesture. "I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m just... seeing the pattern. Seeing the connections. There are too many coincidences for this to be random."

She walked past them, heading toward the doorway.

"What do we do?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He looked at Luna, searching her face for answers.

Luna stopped at the doorway, her back to them. She was silent for a long moment, her shoulders tense. Then she turned her head slightly, just enough to look back at them.

"We wait."

Kai frowned. "For what?"

Luna’s expression was grim, her eyes shadowed and distant. "For them to make the first move. If this is a trap, they’ll reveal themselves soon enough. Whoever they are—whatever they want—they won’t be able to hide forever."

She paused, her jaw tightening. "And when they do..."

Her eyes hardened, sharpening into something dangerous. Something cold. "New Haven or not, I’m not letting anyone take me to an unknown place. I didn’t survive this long just to walk into a slaughter."