Boston accents are hard. Sorry the chapters keep glitch it out.
After telling his ma which direction he decided to travel for the next day or so, Billy runs off. He crosses the land much quicker than the average time of other people. He arrives at the forested area the bar buddies had been discussing in half the time they claimed it would normally take. Billy slows down as he enters the forest, he slows down, not wanting to run face first into a deadly robot. He scouts out the area, eventually coming across a yellow sign nailed to a tree.
Using his limited reading ability he had gained through pouring over comic books, the runner is able to figure out that it says, "Warning" in it large black lettering. The figure of a sentry bot is painted underneath. Opting to not cross beyond the the sign, Billy moves on. Jogging parallel to it he stumbles across another sign with a similar message. Traveling through the woods, the teen figures that the signs form a perimeter around a rectangle of land that took him a large part of the rest of the day to travel around. As he does this, he notes that there are no groups of raiders or any large animals or evidence of either, even though the forest offered some great set up locations. A few times he spots robots rolling through the trees, but, while hiding from them, he observed that they never went beyond the border that seemed to be made by the signs. Knowing that there is no chance of him returning to town before nightfall, the teen climbs a sturdy tree, getting up to the highest point where the limbs could still support his weight. He then settles for the night, figuring it is as safe a place as anywhere to sleep.
Wind blasts against his face as he sprints to the old warehouse. He needs to reach it before the rest of his brothers, not wanting to get the worst of the scavenged material, like normal. Billy has been working on his speed for weeks, wanting to get to locations before the rest of his siblings. But it seems today just is not the day for it. The third eldest of their scruffy crew, David, looks at him with a hint of pity in his eyes. Well, Billy did not want his pity, he wanted to beat them to the scrap.
"Ya know, I could help ya get quicker if ya like."
The words come from David, a bit of a whisper. The older brother never sought to embarrass Billy, unlike most of the rest. The offer was genuine, and Billy accepted it.
David smiles at his acceptance, promising him his cap if Billy was able to beat him in a fair race to the scrap.
"I'm going to beat ya, right into da dirt!"
"Dats da spirit! Don't ya give up little bruddah. Life is tough, ya just gotta be tougher."
Billy wakes with a gasp, a tear sliding down his face from the vivid dream memory of his brother. His nerves were shot and he is having trouble focusing on where he is. Almost falling off the branch did not help matters. After stabilising himself on the branch, Billy takes all the despair from losing his brothers that is bubbling up and pushes it down like he normally does. Crying over dead people does not help in keeping you from joining them. At least that's the motto he had resided in so as to excuse himself from the heartbreak. He gently touches the brown cap he had won, assuring himself it is still there. It is, just as it had been since he won teen pulls out a small box of prewar Dandy Boy Apples to consume for breakfast. Stomach full and feelings tucked away, he shoves the trash into his duffle bag. He climbs down the tree. Choosing to see how far out from "Old Dell's" place he could get without running across signs of hostiles, Billy begins to move around the area.
After a few hours of looking the area over, he found the perfect sweet spot; close enough to not have enemies roaming in due to the threat, but far enough to have a head start if the robots crossed the boundaries. He marks the spot by placing a stick on the ground. Then he moves around in the immediate location, dragging scrap material to his chosen spot, erecting a small shack that mostly relied on the trees to provide the base dependant structure. It would need some more work before he would be satisfied enough to bring his ma, but it is enough of a start. For now, his anxiety over leaving his ma alone in town is poking at his gut angrily.
Going back and forth between the town and his shack that he is working on for a few days, brought a dent in their income. But Billy's ma seems pleased with the idea of living on their own again even with the danger of robots nearby. Having set up two beds from cloth and a building wide enough to house the two of them, Billy decides that it is time to bring his mother to the house. They travel at her typical speed, taking almost a day to get to the location. She smiles upon catching sight of the shack amongst the trees. Billy bounces beside her, nervously twitching his fingers.
"Watcha dink ma?"
"It's perfect William."
Billy blushes a little at his full name and the praise, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Ah ma, ya know I don't like to be called dat."
She pats his face and enters the shack, inspecting it. Finding it suitable, she gestures for the teen to put their supplies down. After sorting it into preferred places, they settle in for the night. Cutting into the slight haze of presleep, Billy's ma speaks.
"Is dis place safe?"
"Yes. I mean I already told ya bout da limited danger of da robots compared to da safety their threat provides and you agreed it was a good idea.
"I did, didn't I. G'night William."
"Night ma."