Trying to Survive (Part 2) Read Online Free PDF

this heat… remember guys – no more air conditioning.”
       Jenny briefly laughed. “Jessie said the exact same thing right before we found you.”
       “He’s a smart man.”
       Walt said “I second that. I’d rather deal with snow for a few months than sit in my own sweat and stink for eight months out of the year… My, uh… goodies… they’re suffering big time.”
       I groaned out “Tell me about it.” Then turned to Jenny and said “I’m in – but D.C. gets pretty cold. Let’s think about a state more like North Carolina. It seems like the ideal climate for us… and growing food if it comes down to that.”
       Jenny put her hands up and nervously smiled. “Well, we don’t have any set plans yet – just ideas. But D.C. is our main priority at the moment.”
       “I understand… All we can do is keep going and see what happens.”
       Walt said “Other survivors should be at the top of the list. If we ever wanna do something like clean up a town and turn it into a safe environment again, we’ll need a lot of people to help us… Like Jenny said – we need to build an army.”
       When Jessie began to slow down, Brian reached through the window and pointed to his right. “What about that one over there? I don’t see any broken windows, and the front door is closed.”
       I turned away from the conversation so I could see where we were. From what I could make out, it looked like one of the many high-priced, gated communities where Walt and I used to spend most of our time working.
       Aside from the signs of our current situation, all the lawns were perfect, there were very few cars in the road or signs of massacres, and almost every home looked like it would cost close to a million dollars… Why not?
       It was an excellent play to stay for security reasons alone. The only entrance was the gate, and the entire community was surrounded by a decorative concrete wall reaching far above our heads. I was having a hard time believing it, but I hadn’t seen a single shredder since Jessie turned off the main road.
       Walt must have taken a few moments to look around as well. I could hear the faintest amount of excitement in his voice as he said “Nice neighborhood… I always wondered what it would be like to live in one of these homes.”
       Jenny checked her rifle and put the strap around her arm, then inched toward the edge of the seat in preparation to climb out. “We’ve been coming to these kinds of neighborhoods because wealthy people always have plenty of food… generally have guns too. Though I have to say – this is a few steps above what we usually find.”
       Melanie moaned out “I’ll be so happy to sleep in a bed.”
       Jenny smiled and replied “That’s another upside – really good mattresses.”
       Jessie must have overheard us. He turned back and added “And liquor cabinets.”
       After a few moments of laughter, Jessie slowed down again and pulled into the large, circular driveway of a two story home. I could see the decorative columns coming from the marble front steps and disappearing into a lavishly designed overhang.
       The massive, double front door was rounded at the top, made of solid wood and even had large brass rings meant for knocking. When mixed with the faux-gray brick covering the outside walls of the first floor, it gave the appearance of a small castle.
       Melanie gently nudged Anthony and Clara awake as the rest of us made our way out of the van. Walt and I were the only ones who weren’t in awe of the house and the beautiful neighborhood... We’d been in hundreds homes just like it.
       When Anthony stepped out of the van and finished rubbing his eyes, his jaw dropped and he yelled out “Is this a castle!?”
       Melanie quickly covered his mouth and the rest of us tensed up, raised our rifles and started scanning the area for any movement. When we realized we the only living things in sight,