Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

It was a cloudy Wednesday when Xiaoyun stood at the graveyard located in the town center.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians were standing outside the graveyard, watching in silence as Xiaoyun and the soldiers stood inside.

As Yezi tells Xiaoyun it is time, Xiaoyun finally begins the funeral.

”Comrades, today we gather here with heavy hearts and tearful eyes to pay tribute to the brave men and women who served as soldiers.

They had sacrificed their lives for a cause greater than themselves. An existential crisis humanity had ever seen.”

Xiaoyun took a deep breath for a second as he spoke softly next.

”These soldiers were not just individuals in uniform. They were fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, friends and neighbors. And most importantly, they were the people that we could trust with our backs.

Each one of them made the ultimate sacrifice, leaving behind dreams, aspirations, and the warmth of home.

They were the embodiment of courage and commitment. In the face of adversity, they stood tall.

They chose to take a stand... They were determined to end the apocalypse by their own hand and for everyone’s future...”

As Xiaoyun began reading out the names of the fallen soldiers, hundreds of soldiers couldn’t help but have tears roll down their eyes as they thought back to the time they had trained together with them.

Outside the graveyard, several family was hit by grief as they heard their family member’s name, as well as their friend’s name.

Despite the noise, Xiaoyun didn’t ask them to stop and chose to continue.

”To the fallen soldiers, we say thank you... Thank you for your courage, your sacrifice, and your unwavering commitment to a cause greater than any one individual.

Though you are no longer with us in body, your spirit lives on in the safety we enjoy today.

May you rest in eternal peace.”

After a long moment of silence, Xiaoyun spoke up again.

”And to all the soldiers that are standing here today. Some of you might be having second thoughts about your military commitment...

The opportunity to unenlist is now available, and it will remain available until the end of next week.”

The abrupt announcement left nearly every soldier in a state of shock.

However, Yuqi and Yezi were the most taken aback, especially since Xiaoyun had kept this information entirely to himself.

As soldiers began murmuring among themselves, Xiaoyun turned around and stepped off the stage.

He stares at all the names carved onto the stone as his face suddenly shifts from almost tearing up to someone looking for revenge.

”I’ll finish it... It won’t go in vain.”

---

As the week went past, to everyone’s surprise, less than a hundred soldiers chose to quit.

When asked why, many of them replied with ’the benefit is too good to pass up.’ or ’Commander Xiaoyun cares about us.’

The goal of thirty regiments was also fulfilled as newcomers who integrated into the town flooded the sign-up place despite the possibility of death.

Still, although the thirty regiment was filled, Xiaoyun only had twenty Majors trained from Yiming before he left. So Xiaoyun couldn’t assign anyone else to lead them.

With no other options, Xiaoyun put them as a reserve force with Yezi as the defense commander to train and use them as the town’s main defense.

Soon, the day of operation was about to begin as Monday arrived closer and closer.

But before the operation could begin, there was just one more thing Xiaoyun had to face.

---

As a tired Xiaoyun got back from working in the command center making last-minute preparations before the weekend break, he put the keys to the door and turned it.

”Happy birthday!” All six of them, along with Lily and Anna, yelled out in front of Xiaoyun as he stood at the doorway.

”Hm? It’s my birthday?” Xiaoyun looked back with a confused face as if he had completely forgotten about it.

”Yes! Yours and Yueyue’s birthday is today! Look, she’s wearing a birthday hat, too.” Leyan pulled Yueyue up to show it.

”Oh, happy birthday, Yueyue.”

”Y-You too.” Yueyue nervously replied.

”How can you forget your birthday?” Wuli and Shuli both facepalmed as they closed the door.

As they all walked inside the house and towards the kitchen, Xiaoyun noticed a massive cake at the dining table.

”Let me put this on you.” Yuqi grabbed another birthday hat and put it on top of Xiaoyun before he could say anything.

”Is this a little too much?” Xiaoyun asked as they circled the two in the middle.

”No, this is your first birthday with us! It’s exactly what you deserve.” Leyan excitedly argued.

As everyone began singing Happy Birthday, Yuqi put two candles on both sides of the cake and lit it up.

”Come on, make a wish.” Leyan pushed the two closer to the cake.

Seeing Yueyue close her eyes with her hands together, Xiaoyun does the same.

After making a wish, both of them opened their eyes.

The two looked at each other for a second. Then, each blew the candle on their side.

”Finally, we can eat the cake!” Nami looked excited.

”You want to cut it?” Xiaoyun asked.

”No, you can cut it,” Yueyue replied.

”Both of you cut it. Come on, just put your hands together.”

Leyan grabbed their hands and put them right onto the knife handle.

With no other option, the two follow through with it and cut the cake together.

Ten minutes later...

”Hm! The cake is so good!” Kate commented as she took a big bite of the cake on her plate.

”Of course, it’s good. Mom and I prepared it for almost a week.” Nami replied.

”What do you think, honey?” Leyan asked Xiaoyun.

”It’s very tasty. I’m going to get another piece.”

As Xiaoyun went to get another piece of cake, Nami turned on the TV and her computer. By the time Xiaoyun came back with the cake, she had already finished selecting.

”What are we watching today?” Xiaoyun asked curiously as he sat back down.

”A recording,” Nami explained.

”What recording?” Xiaoyun asked again as he still didn’t understand.

”A record when we were young. Mom said you brought the camera.” Nami replied.

”Really?” Xiaoyun could vaguely remember doing something similar, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

”Yes, honey, don’t you remember when you bought a camera at a mall? And how did you quit after like a week and just give it to me?” Leyan explained.

”Oh, right... Yeah, I think I remember now.”

As the video appeared on the TV, it showed Leyan sitting on the sofa.

”Hey honey, what’s that?” The Leyan in the video asked.

”A camera.” A voice similar to Xiaoyun’s replied.

”What are you buying a camera for?”

”To record our time together in our future honeymoon!”

”But I told you we aren’t going on a honeymoon... I still have work.” Leyan looked a little annoyed.

”Yeah, yeah. But we can still go on a honeymoon after your work.”

”That’s not called honeymoon anymore, you silly.”

The camera suddenly shows Xiaoyun as he looks shocked.

”How did you get the camera out of my hand?” An almost replica of Xiaoyun asked as he appeared in the video.

”You got distracted staring at my boobs. I could tell you know.”

”Was it that obvious?” Xiaoyun looked down in defeat.

”Yeah, your eyes didn’t even look me in the face... As a punishment, you are going to need to record everything we do from now on.”

”What! That’s too much work... Wait, you mean everything?” Xiaoyun smirked.

”N-Not everything, you dirty pig.”

The camera switches back to facing Leyan as Xiaoyun seems to have it back.

”Fine, I won’t do that... But why not record it?” Xiaoyun asked curiously.

”What if our kid one day finds it? I’m not risking having them see us doing in a video.” Leyan argued back as her face blushed.

”Okay, okay, I won’t do that... Oh, snap, I need to charge the camera battery.”

The footage ended as it turned black.

”Ms.Leyan, that’s you?” Kate asked curiously as she couldn’t believe how Leyan looked almost just as young as in the video.

”Yeah. Who else can it be?”

”You just look so young in the video, and you still look just like you haven’t aged at all...”

Leyan didn’t say anything back except smile at Kate.

”Okay, next footage,” Nami clicked.

Right from the start, it was Leyan sitting on the sofa again, but this time, Leyan was only a blouse and shorts.

”You using that camera again?” Leyan asked in an irritated voice.

”Yeah. I think I’m getting better at it.”

As Xiaoyun replied, the footage zoomed in right into Leyan’s legs.

”Hey, did you just zoom in on my leg!” Leyan asked as she curled her leg up.

”What! No, I would never do that——ouch! I’m sorry for zooming in on your beautiful——Okay, okay, please stop! I promise I’ll never do it again.”

As Xiaoyun apologized, the camera was constantly moved up and down in his hand.