Like Father Like Daughter
Weeks had passed and Cypher had began getting Dead End back together. She had found more of her old group and they were helping her too. Cypher didn't want to just use zombies anymore. She wanted to do things a bit crazier. Her and Charlie would find mountain lions, packs of wild dogs, boars, whatever animals that they could find to use for fights. They got very good at luring them back to Dead End and caging them for fights that would later on happen. Charlie never questioned a thing. He just did what he was told and stayed by Cypher side.
One day Cypher and Charlie had been tracking down a mountain lion. They followed it back to it's den and heard screechy mewing from inside. Cypher and Charlie were hidden in a tree at the moment. "It's a mama...good to know.." Cypher mumbled to herself. "Are we taking the cubs too?" Charlie whispered and saw her nod. "I'll lure big mama out while you snatch the cubs, sounds like there's only one" she explained quietly and he nodded. Cypher had a dead rabbit in her hand and she crept out of the bush. She approached the entrance of the den and the lion caught sight of her and got up once again. Cypher held out the rabbit to her as the lion approached. It stalked towards her with hungry eyes. It let out a low growl and followed Cypher out of her den. Once Cypher and the lion were out and a little ways away Charlie snuck into the den and saw two cubs. He wore thick leather gloves and got down on his knees and crawled to them. They watched him while backing into a wall and he pulled a few dead mice out of a small satchel he wore. The cubs carefully approached the boy.
When they got close he fed them the mice and began to pet them while they ate. He then grabbed the by their scruffs. He slowly got up while holding them and quickly went out to go find Cypher. As he approached Dead End he heard men yelling and loud roaring. He rushed to the gate and saw the lion swipe at a man with rope, nearly catching him with her claws. The gates were closed and Charlie was locked out for now. Once the mother heard her cubs yowling and turned and rushed to the gate. "Charlie move!!" He heard Cypher scream and he saw the 550 lbs animal rush at him, claws out. He stumbled back and fell right when the Lion reached through the gate trying to claw at him to get her cubs.
Suddenly the beast roared in pain and turned and lunged at someone. Charlie couldn't see who she lunged at but he heard a cry of pain that could only be Cypher's. He held the cubs in his arms and got up. All he could see was Cypher get thrown back and blood spray in the air. "Boss!!" Another man yelled while running to her. Two other men finally looped a rope around the beast's neck and drag her to a cage. The first man kneeled beside Cypher and felt her pulse. She was alive but knocked out. There was a jagged cut across her right eye that started from her right eyebrow and went all the way down to her chin. He ripped the sleeve of his shirt and propped her up with his arm. He used the part of his sleeve he ripped of to press again the cut to stop the bleeding. When Charlie was let in he quickly gave the cubs to another guy then ran to Cypher. "Cy! Cy!" He yelled and fell to his knees next to her.
"Relax she'll be fine kid, gonna have to stitch that cut though." The man told her and picked her up. He was a big man with short ginger hair with a long ginger beard. The way he dressed reminded Charlie as a lumberjack. "That's a lot of blood." Charlie stammered and followed the big man inside. "I know she'll be ok though relax." He told the kid and laid her down on one of the tables. "Charlie hold the cloth to her eye." He instructed and Charlie did so. He walked away and came back with thread, a needle, and a pack of matches. He also had a roll of gauze and he set them on the table next to her. The man went and grabbed water and a cloth too and quickly came back. "Axel what are the matches for?-" Charlie stuttered and look at him. "Well we need something to somewhat sterilize the needle don't we" he said while lighting a match and holding the needle to the flame.
Cypher woke up the moment the needle touched her skin but the man now known as Axel reassured her he was just doing stitches. Charlie had to step outside cause he couldn't stand to see it. It pained him to think how it feels with nothing to numb the area that was being stitched. Eventually he was called back into the main room of the hotel and Cypher had a bandage where the cut was initially. She was sitting crisscross on the table drinking out of what used to be Jet's flask. He was at first hesitant to approach because she looked irritated but eventually he made his way over to her. "Are you ok?" He gently hugged her arm. "Just tired kid." Was all she said.