Ch 80: Opening a Survival School Before the Zombie Outbreak

Over the weekend, Grandma Zhang made a phone call to her daughter and son.

It was rare for the three of them to talk together, and this time Grandma Zhang was the one who initiated it.

The method of organizing a group video call through WeChat was something Song Rushuang had just taught her. Having learned something new, the elderly woman was delighted and immediately wanted to share it with her family.

Wearing her reading glasses, she fiddled with the phone for quite a while before finally managing to connect the call.

Her daughter Zhao Ya answered after only a few rings. On the small screen appeared the faces of her daughter and granddaughter, who seemed to be eating dinner.

Zhao Ya asked her child to greet Grandma, then walked aside with the phone. “Mom, what’s going on?”

At the same time, Zhao Liang, who lived overseas, also joined the call. “Mom? Why did you suddenly call me?”

Seeing both children present, Grandma Zhang turned slightly, revealing the items piled across her living room floor, smile lines crinkling at the corners of her eyes.

“Look what this is.”

The floor was stacked with rice, flour, cooking oil, and other staple foods, along with toilet paper, garbage bags, and various large packages of food.

Zhao Ya was startled. “Mom, why did you buy so much?”

“It wasn’t me alone. Xiao Song’s daughter came home for vacation and taught me how to order things on my phone, so I bought a bit extra,” Grandma Zhang said cheerfully. “When are you and Yaya coming over? I can share some if I can’t finish it all.”

Hearing that her mother had made such purchases on her own, Zhao Ya frowned instinctively.

“You bought too much. Food will spoil if you can’t finish it. If you want something, just call me and I’ll order a few days’ worth for you at once. Wouldn’t that be more convenient?”

Grandma Zhang explained, “The supermarket had discounts…”

She did not say that whenever she called her daughter, eight out of ten times Zhao Ya was busy working or caring for her child, and the call would end after only a few hurried sentences. How could she bear to trouble her daughter to place orders for her?

Besides, she knew younger people didn’t have the habit of stocking up. Perhaps her thinking was outdated, but she still felt more secure having extra food at home.

By then Zhao Liang had gotten a clearer look at the items and exclaimed loudly, “Is that eight-treasure porridge? Mom, why did you buy so much of that!”

In the corner sat three full boxes of the red-packaged porridge, an impressive sight.

Each box held twenty-four cans, more than seventy cans in total.

Zhao Liang found it baffling. “Why do you even like that stuff? It doesn’t taste good.”

The faintly disdainful tone dimmed Grandma Zhang’s smile, her enthusiasm fading.

Noticing her mother’s change in mood, Zhao Ya quickly retorted, “If Mom likes it, then let her eat it. Eight-treasure porridge is better than plain rice gruel, isn’t it? The last few times I called around mealtime, she was always eating either porridge or noodles.”

Thinking about it, she felt a pang of regret. Her mother had finally taken the initiative to learn online shopping. She should be encouraging her, not criticizing.

Besides, Grandma Zhang was in good health and had no issues like high blood sugar. As breakfast, the porridge was far more nutritious than plain gruel.

Only Zhao Liang continued muttering, “It’s canned food. Not healthy. Nobody eats that in Country A.”

“And who knows what that kid’s intentions are? A stranger being that nice, especially when money’s involved. You’d better keep your distance from her… Wait, Mom, you didn’t tell her your bank card password, did you?”

Zhao Ya felt her anger flare instantly.

Ever since moving abroad, her younger brother always found ways to boast about life overseas whenever they spoke, subtly belittling life back home.

Yet whenever asked to visit their mother, he immediately fell silent and found excuses to end the call.

Zhao Ya was already under heavy pressure as a single mother. She still worried about their mother and drove back from a neighboring city whenever she could, each round trip taking four or five hours.

Meanwhile Zhao Liang not only offered no help but had stopped sending support money over the past two years.

What right did he have to criticize their mother’s lifestyle?

As he continued making sarcastic remarks, Zhao Ya’s long-suppressed frustration erupted.

“If she doesn’t eat these, should she live like you and chew lettuce leaves every day?”

“And aren’t emergency food supplies exactly what foreigners love to stockpile? That whole ‘prepper’ idea came from overseas in the first place!”

“We don’t live nearby and can’t take care of Mom. Xiao Shuang is just being kind. Why are you nitpicking? She’s only eighteen, and we watched her grow up. Don’t you know what kind of person she is?”

The siblings began arguing back and forth, their voices rising.

Grandma Zhang felt a headache coming on just listening.

She interrupted them, ended the call first, and sat quietly on the sofa for a while.

She had worked hard her entire life to raise her children, yet in her old age, not one of them was by her side.

In her loneliness, her gaze drifted toward the pile of supplies in the corner.

Gradually, her mood lifted a little.

At least there was Xiao Shuang, willing to sit with her for an entire afternoon, teaching her how to order things on her phone and how to make video calls to her family.

Though not related by blood, the girl was more patient than family.

That very morning they had just held a learning session on how to use smartphones for online shopping. Next would come a safety lecture, followed by a community initiative encouraging residents to replace their doors with security doors and install window grilles.

Song Rushuang had said many things. Grandma Zhang did not fully understand them, only that all these community activities could later be written into the girl’s résumé to help her find a job in the future.

The better the events were organized, the more impressive the résumé would look.

Thinking of this, Grandma Zhang finally cheered up.

She had lived in this neighborhood for decades and knew nearly every household. When the time came, she would make sure to bring plenty of people to support Xiao Shuang’s “work,” striving to promote security doors and window grilles throughout the entire community and turn it into a grand renovation effort.

*

Before the holiday, Fu Qing had announced that the campus reconstruction would officially be completed on August 1st, when the final shelter slots would be released for students to exchange using points.

Everyone awaited August 1st with anticipation no less intense than waiting for college entrance exam results the previous year.

Of course, the number of slots was limited. Some students on the forum had estimated Fangzhou’s current building capacity. Translated on Hololo novels. Aside from each student’s guaranteed personal slot, most people would probably only be able to exchange two or three additional places.

The exact number would still depend on individual results.

If a family was even slightly large, it might be impossible to bring everyone in.

Parents alone, plus both sets of grandparents, already made six people. Add siblings, and the number grew even larger.

Some students were not especially close to their families but had childhood friends they could not abandon. They would have to choose among them.

In recent days, nearly every discussion on the forum revolved around shelter slots, and the atmosphere had grown heavy.

For the first time in their lives, the students faced a cruel dilemma. The lives of those closest to them rested in their hands. Choosing to give someone a slot was equivalent to granting them a chance to live; refusing someone felt like sentencing them to death.

If those left behind later died in the apocalypse, the students would inevitably feel that their own decision had caused it. Even if they tried their best not to feel guilty, such thoughts would be impossible to avoid.

Some people might enjoy wielding such power over life and death, but for the students, it felt unbearably awful.

They would rather hand the decision to someone else and hide behind them, spared from the weight of responsibility.

Yet that thought was almost immediately dismissed.

Some burdens had to be carried personally.

Fortunately, many classmates were struggling with the same problem, and they could at least discuss it together.

Main thread:
[Sincere question: My grades aren’t great. Besides the one fixed slot the principal said everyone can exchange, I’ll probably only be able to get one extra slot. Including myself, that makes three total.

My dad passed away early, and my mom works constantly. I was basically raised by my older sister. She got married two years ago and has an adorable daughter who’s just over one year old. Putting my brother-in-law aside (sorry, brother-in-law), just my mom and sister already take up my two available slots, but I really can’t abandon my little niece.

I’m home for vacation these days, and my sister’s family came to visit. Watching my niece smile and holding her soft little hand honestly makes me want to cry.

If I don’t bring her, my sister definitely won’t leave with me either. I don’t want to lose my niece, but I also don’t want to lose my sister.

So I want to ask: is it possible to give my own slot to a family member? Has anyone asked the principal about this? With my own abilities, I could probably survive in a tent in West Mountain, but if I give up my niece, my sister and brother-in-law probably wouldn’t survive even a week with her.]

The poster’s question was heartfelt, and readers could not help worrying along with them.

1L:
[Sigh… kids that young really have extremely low survival rates in an apocalypse. They can’t control crying, and a one-year-old doesn’t understand anything yet. A shelter really is the best option.]

3L:
[This might sound harsh, but whatever you decide, don’t tell your mom that extra slots aren’t fixed. Otherwise she might give up her own slot for your sister and niece.]

4L (Original Poster) replying to 3L:
[Thanks for the reminder! I’ll come up with an excuse. I honestly think my mom would do exactly that…]

7L:
[I have the same problem. If possible, I’d give up my own slot too. I can’t imagine any of my family or friends surviving alone in the apocalypse. Lately I cry whenever I think about who to save and who to abandon. I’d rather wander the apocalypse myself.]

…

22L:
[I asked the principal about this before vacation. She said an announcement would explain everything when the slot exchange officially opens, but she didn’t tell me to keep it secret, so I’ll share it here.

First, unfortunately, the principal clearly stated that students cannot give up their own slots.

Everyone needs to understand that each person occupying a slot consumes food and water resources in the shelter. Adults can contribute labor, but infants can do nothing except eat, drink, and require care. They also consume labor indirectly, since someone must watch them day and night. In effect, that means losing two workers inside the shelter.

Yes, we’ve stockpiled supplies, but thinking those alone can sustain us for years is unrealistic. Crops and livestock on campus will require constant care. We aren’t entering the shelter to lie around comfortably. Don’t forget that.

The principal didn’t give us these slots for free. After a year of training, we are more capable than ordinary people, which means we carry greater responsibility. Agriculture students must lead farming and animal husbandry. Infrastructure students must build traps and repair walls. Others must protect everyone’s safety. When a zombie horde comes, we are the ones who must stand at the very front.

If you leave, what happens to the responsibilities that belong to you?

The school needs young and able people, and the ordinary civilians in the shelter need us too. The principal released the shelter slots without strict restrictions, and I think it’s because she understands that everyone has family and friends who are elderly, weak, or unable to fight. Forcing us to abandon them would be too cruel.

So she set only one rule: students are not allowed to give up their own slots. At the very least, this guarantees that more than two thousand young adults capable of fighting will remain inside the shelter.

But there are things she didn’t say outright that we need to understand ourselves.

Maybe this sounds harsh, even like empty words spoken from a comfortable position. From a personal standpoint, I truly understand how the original poster feels. Still, I hope the OP and everyone facing the same dilemma will think carefully before making a decision.]

The words in post 22 left the thread silent for quite a while before replies slowly began appearing again.

25L replying to 22L:
[That really woke me up. From the moment we entered Fangzhou, many of our decisions stopped being just about ourselves. Since we chose to stay, we must have already accepted that responsibility.]

26L:
[The OP is just overwhelmed because they care too much… honestly, it’s understandable… sigh…]

After some time, the original poster finally returned.

33L (OP) replying to 22L:
[Thank you for the reply. You’re right, I didn’t think things through enough. How long the shelter can last actually determines all of our fates, not just mine alone.

I’ve thought it over again. I’ve decided to spend this time stocking more supplies and self-defense tools for my family, and also reinforce the doors and windows at home. After the apocalypse begins, I’ll give my remaining slot to my sister.

If she decides to come with me, I can teach her and my brother-in-law how to fight zombies. We’ll go check on them regularly and scavenge supplies together. If she ultimately chooses not to come, I’ll still visit them from time to time.

Of course, the best outcome would be if my grades are just high enough to exchange for two extra slots. Then my brother-in-law wouldn’t have to stay outside alone with the baby, and his chances of survival would be better.]

Someone else might have chosen to avoid their responsibility, hiding behind the thousands already inside the shelter, thinking, “There are more than two thousand classmates and their families providing labor anyway. What difference does one less person make?”

But after a year of living, training, and struggling together, the people of Fangzhou had already become inseparable.

Only when everyone carried part of the burden could Fangzhou move forward.

After the OP made their decision, user 22 appeared again. This time they did not write a long explanation, only a sincere reply:

[Good luck.]

The thread did not end there. With the appearance of another reply, discussion became lively again.

36L:
[Not getting into the shelter doesn’t mean death! Don’t forget what Teacher Bai said. Many people in the past actually died while searching for supplies. Because they ran out of food, they were forced to leave safe homes and encountered wandering zombies outside.

So as long as we reinforce doors and windows and stock enough supplies, the family and friends who stay behind can survive for a long time too, just like Teacher Bai did. Even mid-level zombies have difficulty breaking through steel security grilles.

Everyone, don’t be so pessimistic!]

Post 36 was an anonymous reply from Su Huaijin.

In her view, Fangzhou’s students were placing too much pressure on themselves precisely because they were too kind.

In reality, things were often not as hopeless as they imagined.

If failing to enter the shelter truly meant certain death, then how had the principal and Teacher Hao survived for so long before?

Some people, anxious about the approaching apocalypse, sought comfort on the forum. Others stepped forward to encourage and reassure everyone.

Fangzhou was like a small boat. Some rowed, some patched leaks, some adjusted the sails.

Only by working together could they keep it moving forward, swaying yet steady against the waves.

₊˚.🎧📓✩