Reborn with Nothing but My Farm and Vengeance in the Apocalypse novel Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Tornado

Today, Melody Summers harvested the first batch of vegetables from the farmland in the Arcadian Space.

The cabbages were fresh and crisp. Melody had just discovered the processing workshop’s pickling function yesterday, so she decided to experiment with the cabbage and pickle a jar of sauerkraut.

The green beans had completely covered their trellises. It took her several hours to pick them all. She planned to keep some in the warehouse for later and move the rest to the villa’s kitchen. It would be enough to feed her family of six for at least two weeks straight.

The peppers were a brilliant red. Melody planned to use some to make fresh chili sauce and dry the rest.

...

Buoyed by her successful experiment, she confidently expanded the cultivated land, sowing several more types of vegetable seeds and even planting some honeysuckle.

Melody Summers spent every day recently toiling in her vegetable patch. The tornado was just three days away, on April 1st, and the renovations and reinforcement of Crystal Mart were also nearly complete.

*

Early in the morning, Melody Summers went to Crystal Mart to inspect the reinforcement work. She was very pleased with the results. While she was there, the renovation team’s supervisor was constantly on the phone, taking one appointment after another for more renovation jobs.

"Business is booming for you guys today," Crystal Lynch teased.

The supervisor smiled and replied, "You bet. The National Weather Service issued a warning yesterday about strong winds across the country in three days. So starting today, we’ve been flooded with orders to reinforce windows in high-rises."

’Good thing we started early,’ Melody thought. ’Otherwise, we might not have even gotten a spot in their schedule.’

After seeing the renovation team off, Melody Summers called her suppliers.

She and Crystal had contacted various suppliers well in advance, ordering large quantities of food and daily necessities.

Before long, truck after truck began to arrive, lining up to deliver goods to the supermarket’s entrance.

Colin Summers and Winnie Summers helped count and organize the stock while familiarizing themselves with the supermarket’s operations. Crystal Lynch’s father, Finn Lynch, and her brother, Shawn Lynch, came to help as well.

Over the next two days, the two families installed new shelving in the supermarket and neatly arranged all the products on them.

With all the preparations complete, the day of the storm arrived.

Melody Summers had her aunt, Grace Sutton, take the day off from work and come home early. She also reminded Crystal Lynch that a severe windstorm was expected tonight, urging her and her family to be careful.

Crystal’s father had also seen the national severe wind warning. Still uneasy about how well the reinforcements on their high-rise apartment would hold up, he decided the family would sleep at the store for the night.

*

By evening, the weather had turned exceptionally grim. A single, massive black cloud blanketed the sky, looking as if it might press down from above, with faint flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder stirring within it.

That evening, a few customers came into Crystal Mart. They chatted as they stocked up on food:

"Look at the sky. It’s so dark, there’s definitely going to be a downpour today or tomorrow. I’d better stock up and hide out at home."

"I heard it’s not rain, but strong winds. Good thing I had our windows reinforced a few days ago. We live on the 25th floor, and the building always sways whenever there’s a strong wind. It’s terrifying."

"The kindergartens and elementary schools are all closed. Both my kids will be home tomorrow, and my parents are coming over to help watch them. I need to buy a lot more food to have at home."

The customers chatted as they scanned their items and paid.

Crystal Lynch was ecstatic. Business at the supermarket was finally picking up.

*

「Nightfall.」

"It’s strange. Our country is so mountainous. A tornado this large is truly rare," Miss Lowell remarked.

Tornadoes mostly occur on the Vesperian Plains, where there are no mountain ranges to block the monsoons, making it easy for thunderstorm-driven tornadoes to form. But China is mountainous, so tornadoes are uncommon.

Thinking of this, Miss Lowell sighed. "It seems the world is truly descending into chaos."

The villas and lower floors were relatively fine, but residents on the upper floors of the high-rises felt the buildings sway. Many thought it was an earthquake and rushed downstairs.

Fortunately, the building managers in each high-rise reacted quickly. Afraid that residents would run outside and be blown away, they blocked the fleeing crowds while shouting, "It’s not an earthquake! The shaking is from the wind! Everyone stay calm and don’t go outside!"

A few moments later, Melody Summers received a message in the residential complex’s group chat. It was from property management, reminding everyone that the shaking was caused by the wind. They advised residents to take shelter on lower floors or in the basement, stay away from open areas outside, and keep clear of floor-to-ceiling windows.

Some of the homeowners who had run downstairs gathered anxiously in the ground-floor lobby, staring at the scene outside.

Two hours later, the world finally fell silent.

"It’s finally over. Even an earthquake isn’t this scary. My apartment is on the 22nd floor, and the shaking was so intense I almost fell over."

"I’m on the 27th. Not only was the floor shaking, but the wind outside sounded like ghosts screaming. I was so scared I ran all the way down in one go. I don’t even know how I managed to run down 27 floors. I usually get winded after just five."

"Me too, me too! I thought it was an earthquake, so I didn’t even get dressed. I just wrapped a blanket around myself and ran."

"I was in the middle of a game when the floor started shaking and I heard this wailing sound. I thought a monster had jumped out of my computer! I was so scared I threw my mouse and just ran for it!"

"I’ve been pulling all-nighters for work all week. I thought I was hallucinating, that my great-grandma was coming to take me to the other side."

The crowd lingered in the lobby, reeling from the lingering fear. After a while, they began to disperse, talking amongst themselves as they headed back to their apartments.