Melody Summers was lost in thought as she carried a crate of fruits and vegetables through the door.

The gate to the villa marked a distinct boundary in temperature. The moment she stepped into the courtyard, a refreshing, cool breeze washed over her. The chilled air enveloped Melody, soothing away the sweltering heat of the day.

In the living room, her grandma and Miss Lowell were watching TV and chatting. Albus, the white cat, was nestled in Grandma’s arms, meowing softly.

Melody had told her family she’d found Albus as a little stray, and they had all happily accepted the new "meow-mber" of the family.

Sometimes, Grandma would even go out of her way to scoop up wriggling little shrimp from the yard for Albus to eat. Although Albus didn’t need to eat, he would always humor her by eating whatever she caught. In time, he even came to appreciate the simple pleasure of a meal.

"Melody, where did you get these fruits and vegetables?" Grandma asked, a little surprised to see the crate in Melody’s arms. "Produce is so expensive out there right now. If you want something, we have it in our own yard. You shouldn’t be wasting money."

Melody smiled and replied, "Our new neighbor gave them to us. She just moved in. She’s an old classmate of mine."

’How ironic,’ Melody suddenly thought. ’In my past life, I struggled through the apocalypse, dreaming of food like this that I could never have. Now, in this life, I don’t lack for it, and yet people keep giving it to me.’

Hearing this, Grandma grew a bit uneasy. "That’s too much! This whole crate must have cost a fortune. Shouldn’t we give her something in return?"

’Sophie Thorne probably isn’t lacking for food or clothes right now,’ Melody thought, then replied, "No need, Grandma. If she needs our help with something in the future, we can help her then. It’s the same thing."

Melody carried the produce into the kitchen, then scooped up Albus and returned to her room.

Once back in her room, Melody briefly explained to Albus about companies like the Rhodes Family’s, which specialized in indoor agriculture.

"How do you think we could sell the fruits and vegetables from the space, like one of those indoor agriculture companies?"

Melody wanted to trail behind a major corporation like Rhodes and make a little money. ’They can have the meat; I’d be happy with a bowl of soup,’ she thought. She wasn’t greedy—a hundred million would be enough.

Albus didn’t know either. The girl and the cat racked their brains, but couldn’t come up with a plan.

Melody was vexed. ’Why is it so hard for an ordinary person to make a hundred million?’

*

As May began, the temperature continued to climb relentlessly. News reports were filled with stories about the drought; streams in many areas had run dry, and large swaths of vegetation had died off.

Melody had spent all of yesterday harvesting in her fields. Her watermelons were beginning to form, currently about the size of a fist, and some of the trees in her forest were also starting to bear fruit.

After tending to her fields, Melody had spent the rest of the evening processing animal feed. The number of animals on her farm was growing, and they required a huge amount of feed. She was busy until the middle of the night before she finally went to sleep.

Early this morning, she was jolted awake by a call from Winnie Summers.

Melody groggily picked up her phone. Seeing it was Winnie calling, she answered, "Mom, what’s wrong?"

"Melody, a neighbor’s child has heatstroke, and it’s serious," Winnie said, her voice urgent. "The hospital doesn’t have any available ambulances. Drive over to the supermarket; we need to get the child to the hospital."

The words sent a jolt through Melody, and she immediately jumped up to get dressed.

The number of heatstroke cases had been rising recently, and hospitals were overflowing. The news reported daily statistics on heatstroke victims and ran public service announcements on various emergency treatments.

As soon as she was dressed, Melody quickly drove to Crystal Mart.

She entered the supermarket to find a crowd gathered by the checkout counter, including several residents and staff from the community’s property management office.

In the center of the crowd sat a young woman, her face a mess of tears and snot. She was cradling a little boy of about six or seven, whose face was flushed bright red as he lay unconscious in her arms.

When Winnie Summers saw Melody arrive, she said urgently, "We tried cooling him down by wiping his body with ice water, but it’s not working. His temperature won’t drop. He was convulsing just a moment ago. He needs to get to the hospital right away."

"Get in the car, quick. We’re going to the hospital now," Melody said to the mother and son.

The property management staff quickly helped carry the boy to the car and settled the mother and son in the back seat. Melody then drove them out of the residential complex. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

On the way, Melody learned from the young woman’s sobbing words that she and her son were the residents of 6-2702. She was Holly, the woman from the group chat.

Holly had been living alone with her son, Buddy, for some time. Her husband was in the city overseeing repairs at a residential complex damaged by a previous tornado and had been too busy to come home for the past few days.

Holly and her son lived on the 27th floor, where the temperatures were even higher. Ever since the rolling blackouts started, the boy had been complaining of feeling unwell, and last night he had developed a low-grade fever.

Holly hadn’t dared to sleep all night as she cared for him. She continuously wiped his body with alcohol and water to cool him down. She managed to bring his temperature down in the first half of the night, only for him to develop a high fever again in the early morning hours.

"Thank you, really, thank you. I don’t know what I would’ve done otherwise," Holly sobbed gratefully. "My phone is dead. I couldn’t even call his father."

She didn’t know how to drive, and with the current energy rationing, gasoline and diesel prices had skyrocketed. There were hardly any taxis on the road, and the few that remained charged exorbitant prices—demanding thousands for a trip of just a few kilometers.

Holly was a homemaker who lived off the monthly allowance her husband gave her. With the recent inflation, she had very little money left, and her husband hadn’t sent this month’s allowance yet.

In her panic, she had carried her son to the property management office, hoping they could help take him to the hospital, only to find that all their vehicles were electric.

In this extreme heat, the "Battery Temperature Too High" warning light was constantly on in the electric cars, and no one dared to risk driving them.

The property management staff had also tried asking other residents for help, inquiring if anyone had a gasoline-powered car, but the owners either couldn’t afford gas or were unwilling to lend their vehicles. No one spoke up.

Gas was too expensive now; they needed it for their own families. It was only human nature to be unwilling to help a complete stranger.

Left with no other choice, the property management staff could only help Holly carry her son to Crystal Mart, where there was at least air conditioning and cold drinks.

At Crystal Mart, the group of them had scrambled to cool the boy down, but nothing worked. His temperature wouldn’t drop, and he remained unconscious.

Winnie Summers couldn’t bear to stand by and do nothing, so she had quickly called Melody.

Melody gently comforted Holly while turning the car’s air conditioning to its lowest setting, driving at the speed limit all the way to the nearest hospital.

*

The moment she entered the hospital, Melody saw that it was packed with people. Even the emergency room was overflowing.

To cope with the mass heatstroke incidents, the hospital had set up a dedicated "Heatstroke Zone."

The hospital was short-staffed. Each department had left only one or two doctors on duty while all the others, even doctors from the radiology department, had been called to the Heatstroke Zone to treat patients.

Melody helped Holly and her son through the check-in process in the Heatstroke Zone—swiping their card, registering, and paying the fees. After a short wait, a doctor approached them.

The doctor glanced at Buddy’s condition and expertly ordered, "This one also needs a peritoneal lavage with sterile saline."

Then the doctor turned to Melody and Holly. "There are too many people in the treatment area. No visitors are allowed right now. Family members, please wait outside."

Holly couldn’t stop crying. The family waiting area was full, so Melody helped her find a shady corner to sit down.

Seeing Holly’s pale face, Melody worried she might have low blood sugar. ’She’s been up all night taking care of her son and probably hasn’t eaten anything,’ Melody thought. She decided to find a secluded spot to get some bread for her from the space.

But just as she rounded a corner and took out a piece of bread and a small cucumber, Melody saw a few people she definitely didn’t want to see.

It was her adoptive father, Adam Lawson, and his family of six.