Be sure to check out part one of Return of the Zombie Apocalypse.
Yesterday I began telling you how my students responded to the Zombie Apocalypse assignment. Apparently there will be no shortage of supermodels in the post-apocalyptic world, and the male pop singers will also be well represented. The surest way of surviving the zombie attack, however, is to be the mom of the kid building the zombie-proof shelter. These kids really like their moms.
The shelters themselves were quite varied. M.R. says that her shelter is pretty big: It has an exercise room, (we have to be fit if
we are going to try and rebuild civilization) a spa, and a lounge with books,
games, and electronics. S.P. has built a "deluxe" bunker: I put a lot of time and money into my
bunker; it is full of food and water (the necessities). It contains
a lavish movie theater for those nights I can’t sleep
and a pool to stay in shape for swim season. According to C.H., her bunker is huge: A
good amount of entertainment is stocked up. For example, I have a few guitars,
a Rubic's cube, a hacky sack, video games, and Netflix.
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| Sure to keep you occupied during those zombie-filled weeks and months. |
Not all of the bunkers were stocked quite so benignly. R.Y. said that his bunker had, "an armory with all the weapons and explosives that a man could desire." It seems many of the boys weren't content to wait until the zombies starved. Several of them wanted to take the nuclear physicist into their shelter believing that he could "totally NUKE the zombies." B.D. seemed very excited about the prospect of zombie decapitation...I'm sorry that was "zombie DECAPITATION!!!" And don't worry about how these inexperienced young boys were going to be able to stand against the zombies. I.T. points out, "I have been training on video games for a long time so I
know what to do in this situation"
I don't know about you, but that certainly makes me feel better.
There were several surprises for me when the kids reported whom they would take with them into their shelters.
First there was the young pregnant woman with a small child. Some of the kids would take her for purely emotional reasons. A.M. points out, "The next person, or people I should say, would
be the pregnant lady. C’mon you can’t leave a baby with a whole bunch of
zombies., well you can but that would be just messed up." And M.B. says, "I would choose to let the pregnant lady in,
because, well duh, you can’t let a pregnant lady get eaten. It’s just not
right."
A lot of the other kids had a very practical reason for keeping her, a reason that hadn't occurred to me: The second person i would take would be a
pregnant woman because she is young and has a small child and an unborn one.
Three people in one deal and they would be great for the new civilization
which needs more people.
Several kids decided that the elderly woman who had once been a chef would be an asset because, "Although we would have the food in our shelter
with us, we would need to know how to prepare it, especially once we
are free to roam the planet again. How do we do that? Well we bring the elderly
chef of course! She would be the one to teach us how to cook foods and bring
certain foods to an edible state." Or as C.E. points out, "everyone knows
that elderly women make the best food." Personally, I hope the zombies don't agree!
Probably the biggest surprise was the kid who said he'd take the highway worker who holds the stop sign. I had kind of thrown him in for fun thinking he'd be left behind for sure. However, D.K. made a very astute observation. "Because in movies, most of the time, the guy
that seems the most useless develops into a very significant and powerful
character in the movie." He then goes on to cite examples such as Neville in the Harry Potter series and Samwise Gamgee in the Trilogy of the Rings.
Of course not everyone who said they'd bring the highway worker had such literary backing. A.A. would bring him because, "he never bothered anybody before the apocalypse,
and he seems like a pretty helpful guy since he had the conscious to hold the
stop sign when he didn’t need to. He’s also pretty strong since he carried a
stop sign all morning long." So there you go.
These little essays were written in the form of blog posts over at kidblog.org. My students have been posting weekly and commenting on each others posts for some time. I'd like to close by sharing one final post with you. This one, written by M.B., has a little bit of everything and quite a few chuckles. To give you bits and pieces would be a disservice. So here it is:
In this very interesting blog, our city has been
taken over by flesh eating zombies. Fun! Now apparently, I have created a
fortress able to keep the zombies away from my precious little brain, while
everyone else is turned into human happy meals. I have enough food to last for
six people for a while. I am allowed to let six people into my fortress of
protection, and once the zombies run out of human munchies, their stomachs will
implode and we will be safe again. First, I would choose to let the pregnant
lady in, because, well duh, you can’t let a pregnant lady get eaten. It’s just
not right. Next I’d take my mom. No explanation needed. I’d also take a doctor,
because if anyone comes in hurt, the doctor can treat them. A soldier would
also be very useful, just in case any zombies penetrate my impenetrable
fortress of impenetrability. They shouldn’t though, especially since I put up a
sign saying “No zombies allowed”. Next I would let in an elderly chef lady, so
we can eat really good food. The zombies don’t get any. The last person I will
allow into my fortress would be a nuclear physicist. He could figure out how
the virus was spread, and maybe even find a cure. Once the zombies are gone, we
will have to re-colonize, which will take time. Who knows, the virus could be a
result of a meteor crash, or an experiment gone wrong. All questions could be
answered in the City of the Dead… but not in this blog.
