Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

"All I know is I'm going to rest for the entire day tomorrow," Wuli replied as she rested her arms on Shuli's back.

"Same.. It's been so tiring trying to get everything done before the break." Shuli added as she pushed Wuli's arm away.

"Well, then we are all resting until the day after, I guess."

As the four began walking back home, Wuli suddenly remembered something.

"Xiaoyun, where did Tianci and Kate go the past few days?"

"Yueyue requested they return to the intelligence headquarters... Now that I think about it, I haven't seen the two for the past two days."

"They didn't even return home either." Yuqi pointed out.

The four fell into silence, as none of them had any idea what was happening to the two until Shuli spoke up.

"Come on, Yueyue and Tianci are both... sisters. It's not like she will do something to get her hurt."

The three instantly understood Shuli's point as their worries for the two disappeared.

"You're right. We're all sisters now... To this dummy." Wuli laughed as she grabbed both Yuqi's and Shuli's hands together.

"Hey, be careful!" Xiaoyun yelled, quickly running behind the three as they began running themselves.

---

When the four finally arrived home, Lily was the only one home, sitting in front of the TV.

"Welcome back!" Lily excitedly waved as the four walked inside.

"Where is everyone?" Xiaoyun curiously asked as the four sat down on the sofa.

"They went to buy food for the next three days and the celebration for tonight!"

Lily's eyes quickly began to lose focus, as if she were imagining all the food she was going to eat that night.

"I see... Lily, you got a whole week off, right?"

Xiaoyun gently patted Yongyi as the three babies were still playing some sort of game together.

"Yeah, but we got a ton of homework. I don't even understand why we need to learn physics and chemistry. I hate it so much——"

"Hey, it's good for you. Do you want to grow up like an idiot?" Shuli flicked Lily's forehead as she carried her to the sofa.

"I know, I know, but I can't find a use for that when we're in an apocalypse. Wouldn't it be more useful to learn like combat or manufacturing?"

All three froze for a second as they didn't know how to respond to Lily's question until Xiaoyun answered.

"We have enough people in those jobs. We need scientists to develop better technology to help us fight zombies, okay?"

"Yeah, the army and factory are already full. Imagine if they were fully automated with modern technology." Yuqi quickly added.

"Fine... Whatever, I'm going back to do homework."

As Lily headed back to her room, an idea blossomed the more Xiaoyun thought of what Lily had said earlier.

"Do you guys think we should reform the education system?" Xiaoyun suddenly asked.

"Xiaoyun, you can't be seriously thinking about that. Kids are our futures, and they need to be educated if we want to survive as a species."

Shuli instantly rejected Xiaoyun's idea as her teacher background made her adamant on her stance.

"Yeah, it's just a bunch of kids talk. Who hasn't gone through all 12th grades nowadays? Lily is just complaining because she is lazy." Wuli added.

The two quickly turned over to Yuqi, who sat in silence as if she was seriously considering Lily's complaint as well.

"Yuqi, come on. You are rational. There is no way you are thinking the same idea as Xiaoyun. Why would we cut back on education?"

"Shuli, I understand you are a teacher. But we are still in the apocalypse. We don't really need to have kids go through 1st grade all the way to college.

You have to see it from a resource angle. You know how short of resources we constantly are. We have to keep taking care of the elderly and young for moral and ethical reasons.

Obviously, we can't give any of them up. But let me ask you a question: Do you think everyone is a scientist material?"

The two looked at each other for a second and shook their head as Yuqi prepared her next sentence.

"So why don't we just cut it a little bit shorter? Instead of having kids go through six years of elementary, we just have four years of elementary.

Then, we continue with three years of middle school and three years of high school like usual, for a total of ten grades."

"Then they would be out of high school by fourteen. That's way too early for them to develop useful skills, not to mention their body and brain still haven't fully matured."

Hearing Shuli's answer, Yuqi nodded in agreement as she didn't really consider the kid's age.

Unable to agree on something, the three all turned to Xiaoyun, who had started the conversation despite staying silent the whole time.

"I wasn't planning to reform elementary or any of that at all. I was just thinking about those grades, specifically after high school. Since there is no college, they are simply left to their device.

So I was thinking of a mandatory two-year college where students are tested to determine whether they should continue with higher education, offer more STEM advanced classes, or learn technical skills in different jobs.

"Like a vocational school?" Shuli quickly pointed out.

"Yeah, similar to that. They can still read and write from basic education, and their technical skills help them get a job right away. The smarter people will continue for another two years, for a total of four years."

"But isn't that just adding more things to education? We're still in an apocalypse, Xiaoyun. We have to provide for them for two years extra." Yuqi argued.

"You're right. How about this: vocational school is part of high school. The first three years give students a chance to either continue with a higher degree or graduate with their technical skill."

"Isn't that just normal college with adding like an academy pathway in high school?"

The three turned towards Shuli, who finally created a clear path for them.

"You're right. It's just an extra pathway or class for them... Why didn't I think of that."

Xiaoyun facepalmed himself as he realized he was digging himself into a pit.

"But isn't that too many classes for the students? Especially when they are in high school." Wuli raises her concern.

"Hm... Wuli, what do you think?"

"I mean... Yeah, I would say the last time I checked, there were already a lot of classes for the students. Math, Literature, Chemistry, Geography, Chemistry, Physics——"

"Okay, okay. That's enough." Yuqi quickly interrupted Shuli as her head began to hurt, thinking of her past classes.

"How about keeping Math and Literature mandatory classes? Then, several vocational classes will be added, allowing students to choose which one they want. Students who know they can't make it can choose the vocational classes.

Then, depending on the classes they pick, we can develop a system of tests to determine whether they are given the choice to go to college or graduate."

This time, the three finally nodded in agreement as it took in the best of both worlds.

"How are you going to develop that system?" Yuqi curiously asked.

"I got no clue. I'm not an educational expert... But we do have someone who is."

The three instantly turned towards Shuli, who looked back with a slightly scared face.

"I-I can't do it. I'm just a teacher. I'm definitely not qualified for this big of——"

"Come on, Shuli, you were even the head of education and the principal at one point. I'm sure you can handle it."

Xiaoyun gently patted Shuli's shoulder as she shyly looked down towards the ground.

"Yeah, Shuli. I can take your job from here," Wuli added, patting Shuli's shoulder as well.

Seeing the pressure building up, Shuli accepted the demand in the end.

"Fine, fine. But after I give birth first... I don't want to see a bunch of students and staff while I'm pregnant."

"No problem. We're not in a rush or anything. You have all the time to develop this, right Xiaoyun?" Yuqi asked as she turned over to Xiaoyun.

"Yeah. We still have to consider vocational skills and everything, and the teachers for higher education as well. You have plenty of time to work it out with Qiqi to solve this."

Hearing the two's answer, Shuli finally looked much less nervous as she instantly got up from the sofa.

"Thanks. Then I'll start brainstorming a draft right——"

Just as Shuli was about to leave the living room, the front door suddenly opened. Along with it was Yueyue's voice.

"We're back!"

Leyan, Yueyue, Nami, Tianci, Kate, and Anna all walked into the living room, each holding a heavy bag contain groceries.