Second Chances Read Online Free Page A

The teens bucked his authority, and that passed on to others. He eventually threw his hands up in disgust. When things started not getting done, Trisha and Carlene stepped up. That got Eric out of his funk to do stuff too.
    “Made a friend, eh?” Eric said, nodding to his brunette wife as she came over with another woman in tow. “Who's this?” he asked, kissing his wife.
    “John, Eric, this is Trisha. Trish, this is John and Eric. The blond here is taken,” she said kissing her hubby again and then ruffling his hair.
    “I can see that,” Trisha snorted. She looked over to John. He shrugged and looked away, embarrassed by her brown eyes. “Adam's mine, wherever he got off to,” she said, looking about then shrugging.
    “So, out of your funk?” Carlene asked, running a hand through her hubby's hair. “Got it out of your system?”
    “I think you had a hand in doing that,” Eric admitted. “As usual,” he said as she smirked slightly.
    “The problem is, either they want to go off on their own and set up their own camps and cabins, or they just blow off the idea of doing anything except partying or praying,” Eric said in disgust. He waved a hand to the teens fooling around. Theft was rife in the camp; fortunately, the teens were only after liquor and other things at the moment. They were still living it up.
    ~~~~~~(@)~~~~~~
     
    Guy Roberts had helped a bit with the perimeter, but once they had a primitive wall up, he'd gone off to set up a corral for his daughter’s horses and then pretty much ignored the bigger picture as he worked on his own stead.
    The wall looked like something out of an apocalyptic movie, maybe the Walking Dead or the Road Warrior series. Some sections weren't all that tall, but there was a limit on what they could use for wall material.
    “But someone's got to watch the perimeter. We're going to need water and materials soon. And yeah, someone has to be in charge,” John said.
    “Right,” Eric said, ashamed that his wife had stepped up. She tended to do that, step in with a task he knew she couldn't handle to get him off his ass to do it. He knew it was a mental game, but he couldn't help but respond to it. At least here she'd played it right. He couldn't just shut down when things didn't work out as planned.
    “Rules. That's what they are happy about, no rules,” Carlene said, wrinkling her nose in disgust in the direction of Kevin, the lead anarchist of the group.
    “I can see it in a way, I mean, no taxes...” Trisha waved a hand.
    “Yeah, but we've got to have some rules,” Eric said. “You know, the basics? Murder, rape, theft?”
    “Some,” Trisha echoed grudgingly with a nod. She still sounded unsure though.
    “Grasshopper,” John said suddenly. The others looked at him in confusion. “Sorry, an old tale. A fable I think. I remember the old toon when I was a kid. Real old. It was about a grasshopper who played his fiddle all day and lived it up.”
    “Okay...” Trisha drawled.
    John frowned thoughtfully. “There was a song, 'The World Owes Me a Livin,' I think or something like that.” He shook his head.
    “Aesop's Fables,” Carlene murmured. The others looked at her. “I know what he's talking about now; I remember it from college. Go on,” she said, nodding to John in encouragement.
    He nodded back. “Right then. Ants lived nearby; they busted their buts farming and gathering through the year. The queen berated the grasshopper for his hippy lifestyle. He was always after the workers to stop and enjoy. She warned him of winter.”
    “Winter,” Trisha said, suddenly thoughtful. She looked around them.
    Eric nodded. “Yeah, not what I'm happy about facing anytime soon,” he said.
    “If we're lucky it's spring or late winter,” Carlene said. “Not that we can argue with Mother Nature,” she said. The others nodded.
    “Anyway,” John said. She smiled to him. “Yeah, as I was saying, when winter fell the grasshopper was left out in the cold,