Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again. - Chapter 337

Chapter 337: Kid squad.
Hades raised an eyebrow, half amused. “A squad of children?” He had never heard anything so absurd in his life.

He tried to imagine kids fighting the crocodylus and shuddered. They would not be warriors; they would be dinner!

Ariel pressed on. “I know that voice dad but hear me out. The world has already fallen apart. Children, adults, we all have the responsibility to protect the base. We have children with superpowers. We also have baby rabbits with feet the size of my head, insects with fire butts, caterpillars that glow, Mrs. Tuchi’s pet frog has gills now. And an octopus tried to steal my stars.”

Sunshine blinked. “That was your brother Castiel in an octopus outfit.”

“Still. The point stands.” Ariel insisted.

“Absolutely not.” Hades told him.

Across the table, Earl and Castiel were engaged in a game of fork fighting where they treated their forks like swords. Rori was trying to get them to stop.

Meanwhile, White was pawing at Sunshine’s chest, grunting softly. His milk bottle sat empty on the table, and he wanted it filled again.

Sunshine got a bottle from the space and gave it to the bear. The pawing did not stop. She fed it some fish by hand and then it settled down. “Hades, honey, absolutely no is such a big letdown. We should hear Ariel out.”

“He’s a child.” Hades groaned. “I know he does some things wonderfully but at the end of the day, he is a child.”

“Exactly.” Ariel said. “I am a child; my brain is agile. All the things’ adults have already settled for, I question. Mutated beasts expect adults to fight back but not children so that makes us unpredictable.”

Hades groaned again.

“What if all the adult squads are busy fighting outside and something attacks the base from the inside?” Ariel asked. “A kid squad could protect the youngest ones and defend the base until everyone comes back. We will train and everything! The parents may object at first but with time they will adjust just like with the shooting guns decision.

Nobody has said anything about it again since then. In fact, parents are now training their children enthusiastically. After the rat attack, some have doubled that training time.”

“Ariel many mutated beasts are your size.” Hades pointed out. “They can send you to death with one slap.”

“Which is why we will go through training.” Ariel said again. “We may be small in size, but we can be spicy.”

Sunshine choked back a laugh.

Hades put down his fork and rubbed his temples.

Rori could not hold back, she laughed loudly and openly.

“Can I make things explode on the team?” Earl asked. “Uncle Warren can lend me some of his grenades.”

Hades looked like he was ready to combust. “See what you have done Ariel? This is what happens when you try to form a child militia. We are not putting grenades in the hands of children.”

“It is not a militia,” Ariel corrected, “It is SWAT but with snacks.”

Sunshine hid her face in White’s fur, bursting into laughter that out competed Rori’s.

Hades pointed a fork at Ariel. “Stop the absurdity kid. Children should be doing homework and learning survival tactics, not hunting baby rabbits and frogs with gills.”

“Homework won’t save us when the baby rabbits are hungry and decided that we taste better than cabbage leaves.” Ariel argued. “I heard rats ate all of Jon Kingsley’s hair.”

“I don’t want rats to eat my hair.” Castiel cried out, covering his head with two small hands. “Mommy…..” he cried out to Sunshine in a soft whiny voice.

Before she could comfort him, White covered his head and whined even louder, begging for her attention.

Sunshine sighed. “Nobody’s hair or fur is going to be eaten by a rat.”

“And no child is going to battle.” Hades added.

White burped.

“Or bear.” Hades included in case White was feeling left out.

“Out of curiosity, what kind of training are you talking about?” Sunshine asked Ariel.

He lifted his chin, glad to be asked. “We already have shooting; we can add explosive glitter deployment. Parkour….”

“Parkour!!” Hades exploded. “Do you know how dangerous that is?”

The room went quiet for a heartbeat, Hades gave Sunshine a questioning look, expecting her to shut it down but Sunshine only smiled softly and placed her hand on his arm.

“What would your squad do beside protecting the base?” She asked Ariel.

He twisted his lips for a moment. “We can map mutant nests, rescue stolen children like Leo, provide back-up when adults are overwhelmed, spy and infiltrate enemy bases.”

“And medical rescue on the field.” Earl chimed in. “It never hurts to have a doctor around, no matter how old.”

For once, Ariel did not remind Earl that he was not a professional doctor. He nodded along, encouraging his younger brother to claim the profession.

“And we will have our own gear and walkies-talkies.” Earl added.

Sunshine nodded. “You know what?” She said, resting her chin on her hand. “That is not a bad idea at all.” Thinking back on the past, kids like Aliana Steward had been enrolled into combat training by the time they were teenagers they were great mutated beast hunters.

Just because the apocalypse had ended did not mean they died out. On the contrary, their population had multiplied because they reproduced. If reality was considered from current times, even after the apocalypse ended, it would take a while for earth’s resources to recover.

Humans and mutated beasts would continue to compete for the little that was available.

“What if you get hurt really badly during a hunt?” Hades asked Ariel.

Earl raised his hand. “Medic dad, I am a medic.”

Ariel said, “We can have some adults on each kid’s squad. People from different professions, that will work with us in different ways.

I know that you want to protect us dad, but the apocalypse is unpredictable. Mom says it all the time. What if the walls crumble someday and we have to run through the forest for our lives?

With no walls, we must live out in the open. Consider the rat attack. We were hiding in the house while the adults fought. But rats are small, even children can fight them. We are already training to defend ourselves from mutated beasts.

Why not form squads and make it more official?”

“You are really making decent arguments.” Sunshine said in wonder.

Hades looked at her like she was betraying him. “You’re encouraging this.”

“I am considering the pros, not just the cons.” She said. “Obviously, Ariel has put a lot of thought into this. Should he pursue it, he will have to see it through from beginning to end. All we have to do is monitor the progress and provided support. The apocalypse is about survival. If it will add to their chances of survival I am all for it.”

Ariel’s eyes widened. “I knew you would see the bigger picture mom.”

Hades groaned.

Sunshine squeezed his arm.

“Fine.” He growled out. “I will allow training and squad formation. But no actual hunting beyond the walls.”

Ariel grinned. It was a start.

Rori shook her head. She could see why the children were always team Sunshine. She was the brains of the family.

White burped loudly and everyone turned their eyes to him. And Hades whispered to Sunshine, “This is not over.”