Copper Creek
"Does everyone have their stuff?" Mama Williams asked her group. It had been 2 weeks since Cypher agreed to stay with them. "I think we're good Mama!" Shiny smiled. He loved going to Copper Creek. That was one of his favorite towns. It was an after fall town (a town made after the apocalypse) so it wasn't on any old maps. "You remember how to get there Mama?" X asked. "Yes X I do" she chuckled. "I only got us lost once-" she shrugged. "Hey and that once was enough" he playfully nudged her then went to grab her back pack. "Woah woah woah I carry it, you have your own" she went to grab it but he held it away from her. "I got it madam" he smiled and hung it on one of his shoulders. "Aw what a gentleman" she smiled then her face turned serious. "Give me my shit back." She demanded and he quickly gave it back. "Ok- yes ma'am-" he smiled apologetically.
Pippin and Lasso were talking and finishing packing up. "I can't believe you asked them to stay." Lasso grumbled. "What's wrong with them being here Las?" She asked. She looked at him and could clearly tell he's pretty annoyed. "Lets start with that Cypher girl shall we. Do I really need to explain why she shouldn't be around" he snapped and Pippin shrugged. "I mean I'd prefer and explanation" she stated. "God damn danger to what's left of society is what that bitch is." He told her. "Why would we keep her with us. What if she starts it up again just like her father." he added. Lasso then rambled on about plenty of other reasons why they shouldn't stay but to sum it up she was a menace to him. "Ok ok, well you don't have much of a say in this so sorry" she smiled and patted his shoulder then grabbed her backpack and her spear. "They're here to stay and so are you" she shrugged and walked to go find Mama.
"Ya know I have a sneaking suspicion that the cowboy really doesn't like me" Cypher told the twins. "Pretty sure your suspicion is correct" Jet agreed. He had heard a little bit of Lasso and Pippin's conversation. "I don't think he likes any of us or anyone in general-" Jet shrugged. They didn't have anything to pack so they just helped clean up a bit. They talked quietly amongst themselves, Cypher asking what the towns are like cause she'd never been to one. "All it is is um- like a couple hundred or thousand people grouped together in small homes and stuff, there's a little hospital, small trading spots. Stuff like that" Jet tried his best to explain. Cypher just looked at him and cluelessly nodded. "Cool- ok- sounds crowded-" she told him honestly. "Depending on the town it kind of is, but it is really cool to see how many people there are!" He smiled.
"You comin with Dal?" X asked Dallas who was lightly swaying on the log she was sitting on. She had a cigarette in her hand and Hercules was armored up again and laying by her feet. She didn't appear to be listening. "Dal!" He yelled to get her attention and she slowly turned to look at him. "Hmh?.." she tilted her head. "Are you coming with us or heading back to where you live?" He asked again. She then smiled. "I was going to go along with you all for a little while, if that's ok..." she answered him and he nodded. "Ok, if you weren't coming I was gonna walk with you back to your home, just in case you know" he shrugged. He had grown attached to Dallas and didn't want her hurt, even though she'd been thriving for years it still worries him that she can't fight. Hercules can only do so much for her.
Once the camp had been packed up they started their trek to the town, it would be a 2 days walk but they had some people with injuries to it may take longer. Bones was moving a bit better even though his hip was still hurting him a lot. He still had to where a sling due to his collar bone still healing, he'd have to keep it that way for another month and a half. He mainly stayed by Ret for most the walk so he can have support if his hip was hurting him too much to walk. Lasso would occasionally call Bones away from Ret but Bones would just return to the twins a few moments later. Mama had to tell Lasso to leave them be.
"Whatcha doin kid?-" Ret asked when Bones clung to Ret's arm at one point. "Hug" was all he said. Ret wasn't much of a hugger so he gently tries to shrug the big kid off but he held on. "Damn.." Ret mumbled and let him be. He kept walking while being hung on by this giant of a kid. They had already been walking for hours and Bones would do this periodically so Ret had gotten used to it. "I see you got a snuggle buddy" Cypher teased and he smacked the back of her head. "Oh zip it" he told her. "Ow!- that was rude-" she playfully frowned. "Behave you two" Mama warned and Cypher nodded. "Fine fine" she chuckled and poked Ret. He just let out an irritated sigh and walked a little faster with Bones. "Wait- hold on you guys have longer legs-" she tried to keep up. She gave up quickly and just stayed by Jet for the rest of the time.
On the 3rd day of walking they got to a large opening. Across a large field that was littered with the shamblers was a fenced off town. They had finally reached Copper Creek. "So who would like to be a distraction?" Mama asked and Cypher looked at her. "What do you mean?-" she asked and Mama chuckled. "Well we can't walk through them can we? So one person usually distracts the zombies while everyone else gets to the gate." She explained. Cypher then smiled. "I'll do it" she told Mama but heard Ret sigh. He didn't try to stop her but he still wasn't a fan of the idea. Cypher went to walk passed Mama and Lasso when she accidentally tripped and fell onto Lasso. He got her and glared. "Sorry-" she smiled apologetically and he put her back on her feet. "Hope you trip out there." He mumbled and felt Mama elbow him to stop. "Very encouraging thank you" she walked out into the open field.
Some zombies had turned and started shambling to their new prey the moment she stepped out. She took out two of her and started banging the blades together, making a loud clanking noise to get the others attention. Once she has the entire horde coming to her she started lightly jogging to the right, making the horde follow her away from the path that leads to the fence line.
Once the horde was far enough away the group took off running. Ret helped Bones run and each kid was assigned to stay with somebody. They ran to the fence and saw the guards open the gate. Once they were all through Mama yelled for Cypher. Cypher's jog turned into a dead sprint and she ran around the large horde. They reached for her and one actually caught her sleeve. She stumbled and quickly pulled her arm away. Lasso got excited for a moment when he saw her stumble but was quickly was disappointed when he saw her regain her balance. "I saw that Lasso" Mama mumbled to him and he shrugged. "What? One can only hope" he whispered and Mama rolled her eyes.
Once Cypher was through the gates the guards closed it. Ret caught her to stop her running and she just went limp in his arms. "I'm...tired.." she told him breathlessly. "Uh huh" he checked her arm where the zombie had grabbed her to make sure she was alright. He then put her down and noticed the guards keeping a close eyes on cypher, him, and his brother. "Got a problem?" Ret asked and the guard frowned and walked away. "I don't think we're very welcomed here-" Jet whispered to his brother and Ret nodded. "Agreed"