As they both set out to look for work, they decided to split up and search for every possible job. At this point, they didn't care what the job was—they would accept anything.
Tom knew from the start that he wanted an intellectual job, something that required brains rather than physical strength. He had always been brains over brawn.
Conrad, on the other hand, was actually both.
But after everything that had happened, his mind wasn't in the right place.
So he decided to look for jobs that relied more on physical strength than thinking.
Tom wandered around the city, going from restaurant to restaurant, applying for cashier jobs. Eventually, he managed to get an offer.
The only problem...
It was at a brothel.
Now, it wasn't exactly against his values...
(Actually, it wasn't.)
But Tom knew that if he worked there, his mind would be somewhere else instead of on the job.
So he rejected the offer and continued wandering from one place to another.
Still...
Nothing.
Meanwhile, Conrad walked into a gym, thinking he could work as a trainer and help people get their gains.
As he looked around, he noticed one guy completely ego lifting.
The man had three plates on each side of the bar.
Conrad glanced at it and assumed it was 45 pounds, not kilograms.
He walked over and said,
"That's not how you lift."
The other guys in the gym looked at him and laughed.
One of them said,
"If you can even move it, I'll give you a hundred bucks."
For the first time since the massacre...
Conrad smiled from the inside.
A hundred bucks.
That would solve his and Tom's problems for at least a few days.
He walked confidently towards the bar, placed his hands around it, tightened his grip...
...and immediately realized something was wrong.
"Why isn't this moving?"
He looked closer.
45 kg.
Not pounds.
Conrad immediately let go of the bar.
"...My bad."
He apologized and quietly walked out of the gym.
His dignity stayed behind.
After that, Conrad found some farm work.
He confidently told the workers that he was stronger than all of them and could lift the heavy machinery with ease.
(This guy had absolutely zero self-respect. He got humbled in the gym and still walked into a farm with his shoulders held high.)
But the moment he actually started helping...
He learned the difference between gym strength and farm strength.
Within minutes, he gave up and left.
By evening, both Conrad and Tom met back at the same place where they had spent the previous night.
It had started drizzling again.
They looked at each other.
Another night like yesterday wasn't an option.
After thinking for a while, they came up with another brilliant...
...or incredibly stupid...
...idea.
They decided to find a rope and a large piece of cloth so they could tie it between two supports and make a hammock.
One person would sleep in the hammock.
The other would sleep underneath.
Finding the rope wasn't that difficult.
Tom bought it from a nearby shop using the money he had received at the brothel.
Apparently, one of the women had mistaken him for a customer and offered him money to spend the night with her.
Tom took the money.
Rejected the offer.
And bought a rope instead.
The cloth, however...
Was a problem.
The remaining money had already been spent on two shawarmas.
So now...
Only one option remained.
Their shirts.
They took them off, tied them together with the rope, and somehow managed to make a hammock.
Against all odds...
It actually worked.
This time Tom slept above, since he had bought the rope.
Conrad slept underneath.
Everything seemed perfect.
Until morning.
When they woke up...
Conrad was unconscious.
Tom was peacefully sleeping on top of him.
During the night, the cheap rope had snapped, and Tom had fallen face-first onto Conrad.
His butt had landed directly on Conrad's face.
Conrad had suffered both physical damage...
And emotional damage.
Meanwhile, Tom was sleeping like a baby.
When Conrad finally woke up, he looked at Tom and burst out laughing.
"Dude..."
"Your ass stinks."
Tom looked at him without a hint of embarrassment.
"Everyone stinks from that place."
For a few seconds...
Silence.
Then both of them burst into laughter.