Nation of the Wealthy

Chapter 2

I said goodbye to my friends once we reached the living division, the part of the city where everyone in the city lived. It took another half an hour to get home. The rest of the area was used for factories and breeding centers for animals. The three of us lived in the same building, my family and I up on the third floor and Scarlet and Mark on the second. I entered the small little apartment I had and was greeted with my 10 year old brothers rushing at me.

"Carla!!!" They exclaimed as they knocked me down.

I laughed, "Hey you two, how's mom and dad, did you take of them while I was gone?" They both nodded and I ruffled their brown, bushy hair, "You two are so good."Their brown eyes looked up at me with admiration.

The younger twin, Jack, tugged on the sleeve of the jacket tied around my waist, "Did you get any rations?"

The older one, Harold, nodded, "Yeah, did you?"

I brought out a paper bag, "Of course I did. It's bread and cheese, but this time we got some meat."

They cheered and quickly headed inside to tell our parents the treasure we had just received. I could hear them in the living room/bedroom, the largest room in the apartment, as I walked down the hall to the kitchen. I placed the bag in the fridge and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

Throughout my shower, I could hear my brothers running after each other through the three rooms we have other than the bathroom, the living room, the kitchen, and the backroom where my parents work, making clothes, a job for the wounded and elderly.

I stepped out of the bathroom feeling clean and went to the living room. My mom and dad both sat on the couch. Their wheelchairs were folded up to the side. They smiled at me as I approached. Mother took my hands as I sat on the floor, "How was work dear?"

"It was more suffocating than usual." I sighed, "The bots in the motorcycle division totally shut down and they were behind. We were able to help them though, Scarlet and I."

Father shook his head, "Blast those managers, they expect too much."

I smiled at him, "I fully agree, anyway, what about you guys?"

He sighed, "We received double the orders today. We could barely make the last of them before they were shipped off."

Jack poked his head in, "We had to help, I poked myself at least six times." He held up his hands to show bandages covering his fingers. Harold pounced on him and they ran off once again and I smiled.

"You must me tired," mother said as she pat my hand, "go and sleep. I'll take care of dinner tonight." I felt relief as I nodded. I went to a mattress against the wall, underneath a window, and laid down, instantly falling asleep from exhaustion.

My sleep was interrupted about two hours later by Harold, landing on top of me. I yelped in surprise and glared at him with a smile, "What's the big deal? I don't have to tickle you do I?" I poked his stomach and the little guy laughed and scrambled off me.

"Sorry! The good thing is that dinner's almost ready anyway." He said.

Father wheeled in and chuckled, "Alright you two, quite your running and go get into your pjs." Jack and Harold both headed to the bathroom obediently. He looked at me and sighed, "Those two are going to run off a cliff someday."

I laughed, "They're smart enough not to do that." I stood and stretched my stiff limbs, "I hope they are."

Father laughed gently and wheeled off. I followed him into the kitchen. Mother flipped the sandwiches on the stove top and smiled at me, "It's a shame they didn't give us any vegetables today."