Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 3): Salvation by Joshua Jared Scott Page B

It’s night
night for you, young man.”
    “It’s
not sleepy time yet!”
    The
pouting was on the verge of turning into full bore screaming.
    “Are you
going to behave? If not, it’s right to bed. I mean it.”
    Asher paused,
looked at Briana’s face, and finally sniffled, wiping his face with one tiny
hand. “Yes, Mommy.”
    “Then
you can play some more, but no more candy unless you eat your dinner.”
    “You’re
good with him,” observed Steph. “Ready for some more?”
    “Please,
I can barely handle the one. How do you get along with four?”
    Steph
had a quartet of children, all orphans whom she adopted, ranging between six years
old and ten.
    “I
threaten to have Lizzy babysit if they misbehave.”
    Briana
laughed. “Ooh, that’s mean.”
    “Nah, it
was Lizzy’s idea, sort of. She’s the one who made the threat in the first
place, back when she caught Johnny throwing rocks at one of the cows. I just
built on it.”
     
    *
* *
     
    “I’ll be
starting school up again after the spring planting is completed, same as last
year.”
    Briana
and Laura, the head of the valley’s school system, were walking along the
citadel’s battlements, overlooking our bustling town. There were rows and rows
of log cabins, all with a peaked roof, surrounded by a grid of roughhewn, stone
roads. Larger structures were scattered about including chicken coops, stables
for dairy cows, stables for horses, several pubs, and a single church. That was
also composed of logs but possessed two stain glass windows, both of which had
been recovered during a scavenging trip.
    “You
need anything special for the kids who just came in?”
    “Not
really. Since we have different school houses for each grade, there’s plenty of
room.”
    That had
been one of their better ideas. Not only did it save us from having to construct
another large building, always a chore, it also had the effect of lessening
distractions. And, with plenty of people possessing teaching experience or
inclined to give it a shot, staffing was not a problem.
    “We need
to increase the focus on traditional academics,” added Laura. “That means
cutting down on the practical stuff, or extending school hours.”
    “Really?
Go ahead and extend the hours. The practical classes need to stay as is, at
least for the next few years.”
    “Briana,
some of the parents are getting upset. They want their kids studying math and
spelling and history. They don’t want them spending so much time on horseback
riding, animal husbandry, shooting, and so forth. They think of those as
hobbies to do at home or something along the lines of a profession.”
    “How
many are bitching?”
    Laura
hesitated. “I don’t have a list, but there are six or seven who have met with
me or complained to the actual teachers.”
    “Less
than ten.”
    “For
everyone who says something, you know there are several more who are quietly
agreeing.”
    “Maybe,
but it’s not very many regardless. And do you know why? It’s people understanding
how essential it is to learn these skills. None of their kids are going to be
attending college, probably. Now, I’m not saying mathematics isn’t important,
but being able to survive has to come first.”
    “They
don’t like hearing that either.”
    “As if I
care.” Briana shook her head. “You wouldn’t think they’d forgotten what it’s
like outside the valley so fast. Maybe we should make them go on a looting run.
Let them do some real work for a change.”
    “I’m
going to go ahead and say that that would be a bad idea.”
    “Think
they’ll protest?”
    Laura
shook her head. “Oh, no. I think they’ll run and hide, scream, or try to claw
your eyes out.”
    “Such
babies. Oh, I know what to do.” Briana leaned in close. “I’ll have some people
go out and film the zombies up close, maybe let a few attack Lizzy so she can
whack them in the head with her tire iron, something that shows how dangerous
they are.”
    “That
might just