I finally got to see my precious daughter five hours before the zombie outbreak.

It had been three years since I last saw her. The moment my gaze fell on Joyce, I couldn't stop my tears from streaming down my cheeks. At the same time, I felt as though I could still hear Joyce's wails coming from the security footage when she was being assaulted by the zombies.

"Mommy, why did you come over to pick me up this early?" Joyce dashed toward me the moment she saw me.

"Well, I missed my precious baby." I hugged Joyce immediately, letting my tears stream down my cheeks silently.

"Mrs. Fairfield, are you alright?" Anna asked worriedly.

I picked Joyce up. "I'm fine. Thank you, Ms. Preston. We're leaving now. You and the others should take care of yourselves."

Even though I knew that the zombie outbreak was imminent, I couldn't divulge the mystical information of my rebirth to anyone else. All I could do was tell Anna to be more careful.

After returning to the car, I drove in Walmart's direction immediately, knowing that I couldn't afford to waste a minute more.

Thanks to my experience that I had accumulated from my previous life, I decided to abandon the fruits and vegetables, which were prone to spoiling very quickly.

After the zombie outbreak, the power and water supplies would be cut off one after another. We couldn't store many types of food without refrigerators. Only food sealed in vacuum packages, like ham and potatoes, could be stored for a very long time.

Soon, I had the Walmart employees move crates of canned food into the car.

I maxed out my firearm quota by buying as many guns as my quota could afford. This included pistols, rifles, shotguns, and ammo, as well as other important combat equipment and supplies.

I found myself gazing at the weapon lineup that was displayed in the cabinets. These weapons would definitely save countless lives after the zombie outbreak. It was a shame that I could only give up on them for now. Hopefully, Emmett would be able to bring back more weapons.

"Mommy, I want to eat this!" Joyce pointed at a pack of string cheese.

"Alright. I'll buy a lot of string cheese for you this time."

In a way, Joyce's request reminded me that we'd be stuck in our villa during the apocalypse. We wouldn't be able to leave the house, much less engage in any other leisure activities. Food might be our only source of happiness.

I used ten minutes to fill my shopping cart with my family's favorite snacks. After that, I led Joyce back to our car.

After the shopping spree, I chose not to let Walmart deliver the goods to my doorstep. Instead, I had the employees fill the car up with the food that I bought. After all, the neighbors would definitely suspect that something was going on if they were to notice the haul that I brought home.

After the zombie outbreak, the most terrifying thing in the world wasn't the virus itself, but rather the dark side of humanity. Many survivors died in the hands of their allies during the early stage of the outbreak.

I needed to be very careful in order not to paint a target on my family's backs.

After offloading the food and weapons at home, I left the villa with Joyce once again. I had already lost her for three years—there was no way I'd let her stray away from me this time.

I drove to a nearby supermarket, where I began buying gallons of drinking water.

Those who lived in cities were bound to go through both the power and water outages. Although we lived in a villa that was located in the remote suburbs, we weren't exempted from the outages.

Many survivors died of starvation and thirst despite not being infected by the zombie virus. In my previous life, I had seen far too many people who died from zombie attacks just because they needed to venture out in search of water. That was why I needed to ensure that I had stocked up enough water.

Soon, my car was filled with more than a dozen water cooler bottles and boxes of mineral water. Packs of toilet rolls were stuffed in the cracks as well. It didn't take long for me to drive home with my latest haul.

My mom reached home four hours before the zombie outbreak.

"Oh, my goodness! Sweetheart, this is just one party, right? Why did you buy so much food?" Mom asked in a shocked tone as she stared at the food and water that had already taken over the living room.

I hadn't seen my mother for three long years. In my previous life, I had traversed through half the city just to reach her home, only to see a puddle of blood marring her floors. It was only natural for me to rush over and pull her into a tight hug before planting kisses all over her cheeks.

"Mom, I'll explain everything to you once I come home later, okay? Please take care of Joyce for now. I need to go out again."

Our lives were at stake. I didn't have time to explain to Mom what was going on. These supplies were barely enough to support us.

I could still remember the agony of having to drink water just to curb my hunger for days after my supplies got stolen in my previous life. This time, I needed to make sure that I could stock up on enough supplies for my family's survival.

After entrusting Joyce to Mom, I drove away from home once again. This time, I drove to another supermarket to avoid rousing suspicion from the employees of the previous supermarket.

I kept loading my shopping cart with general supplies like toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, and facial cleansers. Hygiene was equally important in the apocalypse. If we were to fall sick, we wouldn't be able to seek out a doctor at all.

After filling my cart with the basic necessities, I rushed over to the apparel section. Cold-protection supplies like down jackets, blankets, and sleeping bags were on my priority list as well.

In my previous life, it began raining heavily in the second month after the zombie outbreak. In the third month, the temperature had dropped rapidly, paving the way to a three-month blizzard that terrorized the world.

The abnormal weather ended up killing a ton of survivors. If we were to polish off our food supplies during the harsh winter, we'd still have to venture out to look for supplies.

Now that I was done buying the cold-protection supplies, the next thing on my checklist was fuel. Fuel was essential for survival during the harsh winter, seeing as the power supply was already cut off by then.

When I was making my way to the cashier counter to pay for the fuel, I happened to spot the aisle selling portable chargers. Of course, I had to raid the aisle right away. Once the power got cut off, the portable chargers' power could last us for a pretty long time.

After that, I made sure to load the cart with survival essentials like candles, flashlights, and blackout curtains.

Upon reaching home, Mom happened to be arranging the food supplies. When she saw me bringing back more supplies, she grew mad at me.

"Sweetheart, you need to tell me what's going on!"

"Mom, please! We don't have much time left! I'll explain everything to you once Emmett comes back, okay?"

I ran out of the villa once again, my mother's confused questions ringing out in the background. After all, I still had something vital that I had yet to buy, which was medicine.

I bought a ton of medicine, including flu and cold medicine, anti-inflammation medicine, painkillers, digestive medicine, and alcohol wipes. I even included vitamins and a variety of supplements in my shopping cart.

Since there was a medication quota per pharmacy, I had to visit a few more pharmacies in order to check everything off my shopping list.

"That would be 3,000 dollars. Thank you for shopping at our pharmacy!" When the employee saw the amount of medication I just bought, she couldn't help but smile brightly at me.

The sight of her smile made me want to drop a piece of advice to her. "Take care of yourself. You should go home early today."

Under the employee's puzzled gaze, I loaded the medicine into my car and drove to another destination.

I had decided that the anti-intrusion spikes would form the first defensive barrier that would protect my home. I'd be purchasing security cameras, wire mesh, and other defensive equipment.

My villa was located far away from the city, and the number of zombies roaming in the remote suburbs would be a lot less than the ones gathering in the urban zones.

Still, if someone were to bust down my courtyard's walls, that'd mean my family and I had to face the zombies head-on. The glass used on the windows of my villa was extremely fragile before those monsters.

I saw Emmett rushing home three hours before the zombie outbreak. He brought many weapons and equipment with him, which soon cluttered the living room's floors. The ample ammunition and weapons made me relax ever so slightly.

"Honey, now can you please explain why we have to buy this many supplies?" Both Emmett and Mom sat on the couch while waiting for my explanation.

"I know what I'm about to say will sound unbelievable, but I hope that you can listen to me patiently till the end."

I sat across from them before spilling the beans about my rebirth in a few broad strokes.

"In three hours, the zombie outbreak will begin. I hope that we can survive the apocalypse this time as a family."

My voice gradually became choked up. When I remembered the three solitary years I had spent in my previous life, all I could feel was pain and loneliness overwhelming me.

The experience of being bitten to death in my previous life still haunted me. The pain of losing my family almost broke me down during the start of the apocalypse. This time, I would not let them leave me no matter what.

Emmett held me in his arms, making sure to plant a gentle kiss on my forehead. "Honey, I'm so sorry that you suffered a lot. Are we reinforcing the courtyard soon? I'll do it with you."

Meanwhile, my mom wanted to say something, but she didn't stop us from doing what we needed to do. I knew Emmett and Mom doubted my rebirth story, but they chose to fortify our home out of love for me.

Soon, Mom replaced the curtains with the blackout curtains so that no one could peek into the windows of the villa. At the same time, Emmett and I worked together to install the anti-intrusion spikes. This way, we could prevent survivors from infiltrating our courtyard during the zombie outbreak.

"Why are you two fortifying your courtyard all of a sudden?" the young woman from next door asked me at that moment.

She might be smiling at the moment, but I could easily envision her twisted visage when she had pushed me out of the car in my previous life.

I did my best to suppress my rage as I replied, "We're taking Joyce on an overseas vacation soon. Since there will be no one at home, we need to fortify our courtyard."

A few neighbors living in the villa across from us noticed our antics as well. They walked away shortly after hearing my explanation.

Emmett and I picked up the pace afterward. The fact that we were noticed by others put us in a dangerous spot. After all, humans were the real threat in a zombie outbreak.

In this life, I planned on shedding my kindness so that my family and I could survive in the apocalyptic era.

After the security cameras were fully charged, they could function for at least a month. Thanks to the portable chargers, we didn't have to worry about supplying the cameras with extra power for the next year or so.

I installed the security cameras in every corner of the courtyard as well as the spots near the gate and the front door. If anyone were to successfully breach the anti-intrusion spikes, we'd have to be prepared for combat at any time.

The wire mesh was installed in front of the windows of the villa, shaping a secondary defense mechanism for the villa.

I walked to a window and gazed out. If I had more time, I'd be able to fortify the courtyard even more and make it safer for us.

Unfortunately, there was only an hour left.