Read Trying to Survive (Part 2) for Free Online Page B

“Yeah, you’re right… Sorry everyone – I’m just a little tense.”
       “Oh? I wasn’t aware there was a point in your existence when you weren’t tense. Are you talking about before I met you or something?” Jenny remarked with sharp sarcasm.
       Brian smirked as he tried to hold back his laughter. Jessie pressed his lips together, folded his arms across his chest and jokingly glared at Jenny with a curled lip.
       Melanie said “So, the house is clear, right?”
       Jessie replied “Yep, checked every room and closet.”
       “Well, since I have the kids – we get the biggest room.” Melanie said as she smiled and led Anthony and Clara away.
       Anthony looked up at Melanie and gently pulled at her arm. “Can we stay upstairs?”
       “It’ll keep us further away from those things.” Clara said in her usual delicate and apathetic tone of voice.
       “Of course we can. We’ll go upstairs and you two can pick the room. Sound good?”
       The inside of the house felt like a sauna. It was so hot that the slight breeze coming through the broken window felt like it had been treated with Freon. I wanted nothing more than to start opening up all them, but we just couldn’t take the risk. If anything, we had to block off the broken one.
       Brian peeled his shirt away from his chest and collapsed into the plush, maroon leather chair across from Jessie. “Wow, so this is what a millionaire’s chair feels like, huh?”
       Walt walked over and sat on the other side of the couch. “So, military scientists who work with NASA aren’t rich?”
       Jessie started to laugh and barely got out “What are you kidding me? If you wanna get rich working for our government, you have to get into politics and start scammin.”
       Brian said “Shit, I’d wanna be in congress. They don’t do anything except… suck at their jobs and go on vacation over two hundred days out of the damn year.”
       After we all had a good laugh, Walt reached over and started feeling around the side of the couch. After a few seconds, he groaned out “Ah, here we go” and the seat reclined and lifted up his feet.
       “Oh, hell yeah!” Jessie said as he reached over and did the same. Brian started checking the sides of his chair, but when he couldn’t find a way to make it recline, he muttered “Mother…fucker.”
       Jessie recognized his frustration, pointed at him and started to laugh again. Brain slowly raised his hand and extended his middle finger. “Eat a dick.”
       “Fry it up – it’s all good. I got my couch, baby… Just make sure to put some ketchup on it or something.” Jessie was amused with his comment and began laughing harder than ever before. Walt and I couldn’t help but chuckle as well. They reminded me of the way we were before all this started.
       Brian’s face suddenly turned serious and he said “You… are retarded.”
       “A retard with the greatest God damn reclining couch ever made!”
       Jenny turned away from the window and said “They do this all the time. Just get used to it.”
       “I don’t mind.”
       “You will after about a week.”
       I smiled and Jenny went back to studying our surroundings.
       Jessie and Brian continued to bicker and make fun of each other while Walt sat there and took it in as entertainment. I hated to break up their fun, but there was something I needed to discuss with Jessie. I was finding their need to check D.C. bothersome. I felt we already knew what it would be like, and that going so far up north was totally unnecessary.
       I like what Jenny said about looking for more survivors and creating our own safe zone… But we’ve yet to see any evidence that suggests D.C. could possibly be any different than it is here…
       “So, Jessie.” I said at a somewhat elevated level so I could break into their “conversation”.
       He stopped talking and turned to me. I said “Why exactly are we