[b][center]---CYPHER---[/b][/center]
[b]"Hey... hey"[/b] Cypher called to the woman, snapping his fingers in front of her sweating face to get her attention. He was in the tent now, sitting directly across from the woman in his own chair. She'd been tied down to hers preventing her escape and so as to keep others in the tent safe. For the time being it was only the Doc and himself. Doc's hands were pressed against the middle of her back between her shoulder blades where he focused his "energy". Slowly, very slowly, the cuts and bruises around her face began to close and heal. The broken rib she had suffered began to mend itself back into place. Her lungs opened up and she found her breath. [b]"You're fine."[/b] He continued. [b]"Look at me."[/b]

The woman picked her chin up and looked at Cypher with pleading eyes. Sure she was fine now, nearly full strength even but the pain she'd been exposed to was forever burned into her memories. She didn't want to go through their cycle of torture again. "Please..." She began but Cypher held his hand up to stop her.

[b]"You know what it is I want to know. You tell me and depending on whether or not I like what I hear will determine where we go afterwards."[/b]

That was as good an escape as any. She knew she wouldn't get the same offer twice let alone a better option and so nodded her head and began to collect her thoughts.

"Paradise. The Land of Milk and Honey as you call it. It's actually not that far from here. We wer- I'm surprised you haven't already found it." She looked from Cypher to Doc and then back to Cypher again. "Maybe a little less than twenty miles from here... East. During the day it's fairly easy to spot. There's this light that flickers on and off above the city. Not sure what it is. I've never gotten close enough to get a good look but I've seen the place from afar. I assure you its Paradise. People are always coming and going from there."

[b]"And why haven't you entered the city?"[/b]

The woman shook her head at the question, her solemn face only becoming more sullen. "It's not a place for people like me... for people like you. They won't take us in. They can't cause we won't let them. Cause we're beyond saving. We kill to survive and you know exactly what I mean by that. We don't just kill the dead, we kill each other just to prolong our shitty lives." She paused when she felt pressure against her back. She was forgetting where she was and needed to come back down to Earth before they brought her back themselves. "Look, I'm sorry for killing her... I'm sorry for taking from you but you know what it's like... what you need to do to survive. But... It's already over for me. Just please... end this."

Cypher paused in thought, pressing his hand to his chin in an odd habit he'd picked up from a long time ago. He was contemplating what the woman had said and weighing against... well everything. Was she still a threat? How would his people feel about letting her go free? How would they feel if he killed her? How would he feel?

[b][center]...Good...[/b][/center]
He answered his own question as he pulled out a pistol and checked to make sure it was loaded. It had belonged to Crystal, the victim of the woman in front of him. Her eyes remained unchanging having already accepted her fate and realizing that nothing could change it. She watched as Cypher got to his feet, and pointed the barrel at her forehead.

"Wait!.... wait." She yelled out suddenly, not for mercy but because she'd remembered something else. Cypher waited, holding the gun where it was. "One more thing you might want to know. Just before your men attacked us, we ran into another group, rather small. Three men if I remember correctly. We traded with them, traded most of the things we stole from you actually." She paused for a moment, looking for some reaction from Cypher. She didn't get any. "They needed food and medicine, looked like they were in a fight or something. Their knuckles were bloody and bruised and one of them had a black eye. Still cute despite..." She was starting to smile but then caught herself. "Anyways as they were leaving I overheard them talking about some guy they'd left behind to die. Didn't hear everything they said but it sounded like it had something to do with the City you're looking for. Like because he was out of the picture they were safe? I'm not entirely sure..."

Cypher pressed the cold metal of the barrel against her skin.

"Alright! alright... I'm telling you this because I know what it is you want! Thought maybe if you found them you could use the extra help... Not that you need help..." She tried to correct herself but the pressure against her forehead told her she was too late. [i]...Fuck my stupid mouth...[/i]

[b]"You're right.. I don't need help."[/b]

Cypher pulled the trigger.