Reborn with Nothing but My Farm and Vengeance in the Apocalypse novel Chapter 78

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Daughter-in-law

The next morning, Melody Summers got some sports drinks, chocolate, and self-heating rice from her storage room. She also grabbed some canned beef, canned pork belly, and canned yellow peaches, packing a large box full.

Yesterday, Austin Hale had caused a scene at her door. Officer Tate and the property security guards had arrived promptly. In the end, Austin had only harassed Melody from outside without getting in, but he still received a formal warning—the most severe penalty they could give under the circumstances.

Officer Tate and Officer Sean Pierce had likely dealt with Austin Hale so harshly because Melody’s mother, Winnie Summers, and her uncle, Colin Summers, both worked at the supply point, and Melody herself had donated a batch of special-effect medicine to the community.

Melody felt a little indebted and wanted to prepare a thank-you gift for them.

Carrying the box, Melody headed out. Along the way, she saw many Desert Vines by the roadside, crawling all the way onto the street.

She hadn’t been out much in the past few days. ’I can’t believe the Desert Vines have spread this much.’

Melody pulled a pair of rubber gloves and a fruit knife from her storage space. After putting on the gloves, she crouched down, found a thick Desert Vine, and sliced it off with the knife. She then split it down the middle and, just as she expected, saw glistening white eggs inside.

The eggs were encased in a gelatinous substance within the vine and were still squirming slightly.

In normal times, such grubs would only be disgusting, but in this age of disaster, they were a rare source of high-quality protein.

Melody put the vine down, stowed her knife and gloves, and walked toward Crystal Mart. On the way, she saw property management staff cutting the vines in the residential area.

They too were wearing thick rubber gloves, with cloth strips wrapped around any exposed skin on their legs and arms. Holding sharp knives, they cut down the vines and carefully placed them into woven sacks.

These harvested vines were to be packed in batches and sent to state-designated processing plants to be made into food.

To conserve electricity, the community’s streetlights were not turned on at night. To avoid accidental injuries from poor visibility, everyone could only handle the vines in the morning.

Melody carried the box into the emergency office next to Crystal Mart. Only Officer Tate was on duty inside.

Officer Tate greeted Melody politely. "Comrade Summers, thank you for the special-effect medicine you donated. It’s been a huge help. Every day, people cutting the vines get accidentally pricked by the Desert Vines. If it weren’t for your medicine, everyone would be lining up at the hospital."

In truth, the hospitals were also short on medicine now, even painkillers. Doctors were helpless and could only perform simple disinfection on wounds. After that, it was all up to the patient’s willpower to endure.

Melody quickly shook her head and said, "Don’t mention it, Officer Tate. I’m a member of this community, after all."

Then, Melody opened the cardboard box she had brought and said sincerely to Officer Tate, "Someone was harassing me at my home yesterday, and I’m so grateful you all arrived in time. This is a thank-you gift for the office and the property security guards."

Officer Tate glanced inside. Sports drinks and canned meat were long gone from the market; you couldn’t get them even if you had the money. He hurriedly declined, "We can’t accept this. It’s far too valuable. Protecting the public is our job. How could we take your things? Please, take it back."

Melody replied, "Then please consider it a donation to the office and the security staff. You all are on duty here every day, unable to go home. It’s really tough work. This is just a small token of my appreciation. Please help me share it with everyone."

Seeing Officer Tate was about to refuse again, Melody could only smile and say, "I carried it all the way here. Are you really going to make me carry it all the way back?"

At that, Officer Tate had no choice but to accept it. He thanked Melody, "Well then, thank you."

After dropping off the gift, Melody went next door to Crystal Mart. Only Crystal Lynch was at the checkout counter.

"Melody, what are you doing here? I haven’t seen you in days!" Crystal Lynch said happily when she saw Melody approach. "Your mom and uncle went to cut vines, and so did my dad and brother, so it’s just me in the store."

Melody saw a few people lining up at the checkout, so she went over to help Crystal.

Just as the temperature outside began to rise, Winnie Summers and Colin Summers returned. They were wearing thick plastic gloves, and their legs and arms were heavily wrapped.

"We’ve cleared the area around the supermarket, but this stuff grows so fast. We’ll have to clear it again in a few days," Winnie Summers said with a sigh.

’It’s a good thing it grows fast,’ Melody thought. ’Otherwise, it wouldn’t be enough to feed the billions of people in the world.’

Melody glanced at the shelves. Apart from some daily necessities like soap, the food section was almost completely empty.

The wide variety of snacks that used to line the shelves were all sold out, and there were no new shipments coming in.

There were still some big-brand cookies, bread, and instant noodles from warehouses with large inventories, but the prices were sky-high. A family’s weekly ration allowance might not even be enough to buy ten packs of instant noodles.

What filled most of the shelves was rice and flour.

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