Realistic or Modern Fortune Amongst Hardship - CS Thread

[RascalRoadkill]

FORTUNE AMONGST HARDSHIP
"These are the end-times,
there was no hope of survival.
This is how you died."
​

---

PLAYER CHARACTERS​

I will preface by saying that this will not be first-come, first-serve. It's not personal or a strike against your writing abilities; it's just because I prefer to pick out a group of characters that I think will mesh together in interesting ways. I know my limits, and I simply can't give a ton of players and characters the time and attention they deserve if there's too many people.

Faceclaims - I will ask for no very well known celebrities. I think it'd be pretty difficult to imagine our survival scenario with, like, people with the faces of KPop stars and major actors running around. I ask for no AI generated images either. Aside from that, anything goes, I have no preference between drawn, realistic, or just plain text description. Hell, if you forget one completely, I'm honestly probably not gonna notice. The substance matters far more to me than the appearance, though it is helpful for theatre of the mind.

Character Sheets - Freeform. There will not be a traditional character sheet. You can elaborate on your character concept through descriptive writing, a classic character sheet, or a mix of both. As long as it establishes the character's concept and gives me an idea of who they are, it's fine by me.

I only have one requirement for it. On the sheet, I would like answers to 2-3 of the following questions (your choice!) regarding your character. They are purposefully vague. Consider them "pre-RP"; these aren't intended to ask about what happens to your character during the initial conflict at the start of RP.

• What selfish thing did you do for your own survival, and what were its consequences?
• Who was the latest person to die because of you?
• What was your latest sacrifice?
• Who resents you for what you did, and why?
• Why were you forced to leave your old group before Fortune?
• What is the cause of your current grief?
• What secret have you never told anyone? Why are you terrified of it being revealed?

If these questions all sound rather despondent- good! That's the intention. I want flawed characters with histories that might come back to bite them. Surviving is a matter of skill, but it is also a matter of luck.

Your escape, after all, will mostly be a matter of good fortune.

---

EXTRA INFO
​

I’m looking for a group of at least 4-5 players, probably maxing out at 7-8 players total. There will be only one "active" character per person (in the sense you only have one PC at a time; if they die or otherwise leave the story, you are free to make a new character). You're free to post as many potential PCs as you want, but in the end, I'll only be taking one from each player for the PC survivor group (though you're certainly welcome to bring one of them into play if your active character Kicks The Bucket later on).

Feel free to make as many backstory characters as you like- some might end up having bigger roles as NPCs. In this case, I might ask about them in the future for more detail about certain dynamics, and I will play them as in-character as possible to your vision of them, if you have any key notes in mind.

I should note that the mortality rate/danger level will be just as high for NPCs, including ones you make to be part of your backstory. For the sake of keeping the stakes where they should be, they are not bound to the same injury/death permissions as I would exercise with your PCs. Please be aware when you make these NPCs/background characters: they are likely to come up in the future, and they are likely to experience tragic circumstances, injury, or death outside of you and your character's control on a narrative basis. This is not to say that you are unable to make suggestions/pitch ideas for their arcs, plot involvement, or when you'd prefer for them to come up.

Here's a summarized list of premise reminders, or otherwise relevant info:

• You are all from the safe haven "Fortune Amongst Hardship". Its destruction will be the inciting incident of the RP. You can have been here for as long as you like; years, months, weeks- hell, maybe you only found the place an hour before shit hit the fan.
• The settlement is built into a small town in Massachusetts, surrounded by forest on all sides. It is not nearby any coastline or other towns. Otherwise, its location will remain purposefully vague to allow you more freedom in character creation.
• The apocalypse started in 1990, and the year is currently 1995. The current season is around the beginning of summer.
• Speaking of the apocalypse- nobody quite knows what caused the outbreak in the first place, or where it originated from. There was talk of a general pandemic a few months beforehand, and just about every place in the country was hit about the same time.
• I would prefer for your characters to be, at minimum, 16 years old.
• I would like answers to 2-3 of the questions above. Please mark them somehow for the sake of clarity! Otherwise, the sheet is completely freeform and you can go about it as you'd like.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them here or on the interest check thread. I do not currently have an estimate of how long these submissions will stay open; likely until we hit the maximum of 7-8, or we get far enough into the RP, whichever happens first. Still, that should be a decent amount of time. I'll end up PMing the Discord link to anyone accepted- I'll note when I start to send those out.

Happy hunting!

 

[sophiezaur]

Aubrey Patterson ✦ age ;; 22 ✦ gender ;; Female, she/her ✦ race ;; Wasian ✦​

basics
name ;; Aubrey Patterson
nickname(s) ;; none
gender ;; Female
age ;; 22
race ;; Mixed, White & Asian

appearance
height ;; 5' 6
build ;; Quite fit, not exactly super toned but still lean. Used to weigh a lot more but ever since the apocalypse started she lost a lot of weight.
hair ;; Thick wavy black hair. Usually up in a bun
eyes ;; Dark brown upturned eyes
face claim ;; Christina Chong


personality traits
abilities ;; Aubrey is a very skilled crafter, being able to make her own simple tools and utensils from wood. She got a lot of her wilderness skills from her father, who was labeled as crazy for believing in an eventual apocalypse. Although for a while she thought he was crazy too, she still loved him and learned a lot about survival living from him. She is also an alright cook, being able to whip up simple meals from little amounts of food.
flaws ;; Very indecisive, and dwells a lot on the past. Sometimes will come off as cold, but really she just gets lost in trying to figure out what to do. She used to be very spontaneous but now she tries to keep to herself, not really doing too much to help others or herself.
favorites ;; She loved movies, while she could still watch them. Will often also be singing songs that she remembered from before the apocalypse started, finding comfort in the songs that were popular while she was growing up. Loves kids, loves observing people.
dislikes ;; Mushrooms, even though they are fairly essential to a lot of diets now. She also dislikes harsh sounds, trying to stay away from any loud noises or scratching sounds, which is difficult given the circumstances. Hates shooting guns but deals with it anyways (prefers melee weapons but those don't fair too well in most situations)

character questions
What selfish thing did you do for your own survival, and what were its consequences?
When all of this shit started I had been at a summer camp, working as a counselor. The ages of the kids ranged from eight to fourteen, an overnight camp in the woods. I had been in the supply room when the infection appeared at the camp. The supply closet had two doors, one of them went to the area where the kids cabins were (this one had a deadbolt lock) and another door to the counselor's cabins, which was separated from the kids area. We had weapons locked up in the storage cabinet, so no kids were permitted in the closet. Everything happened so fast, with all the kids huddled together in their cabins, I'm sure things just spread like wildfire. I watched from the closet as chaos ensured, protected by a window and a deadbolt. I didn't move. I think I was frozen for a solid 10 minutes, watching in horror. Eventually I realized that what everyone's been talking about in the news finally spread to my life and went to grab a weapon, taking mental note of what my dad taught me about survival. While I was preparing to flee, a little girl starts running towards the door with maniac children, death in their eyes and their peers blood covering their hands starting making their way towards her. And me? I panicked. I was in so much shock that I made the decision I would think about for the rest of my life. As the little girl banged on the door, sobbing with fear, I ran out the counselor's door and didn't look back. I'm sure in some world I could have saved her. But fuck, is this not that world. I will never forget those sobs. I didn't know what to do. What if she was already bit? I take that mental image of that little girl with me, everywhere I go. That's the consequence.

Who resents you for what you did, and why?
Funny story. This whole thing started after I turned 17. I was still angsty and stupid. A couple of weeks prior to my 18th birthday, I found myself at a camp for teens, placed inside a mall intended to train us to protect ourselves with the apocalypse and everything. The place had generators that worked so there was still some power. This allowed us to have some luxuries like a VCR, which happened to be the last time I saw a movie (It was Tarzan in Manhattan. Unfortunately). Well, I was a little dumbass back then. My friend Sarah found a pack of cigarettes in the more dead parts of the mall, so we went away from the camp to smoke. From there, we got caught so while we ran back inside, we tipped over a bucket of water and poof. No more power. Who the hell puts a bucket of water next to a bunch of generators, anyways? After that, I ran. Far. A couple of weeks later I snuck back to the mall area and the camp was still there with no power. I don't know if they knew it was me who did it, but I'm guessing if they did, they hated my guts. That was the last time I was in an actual group of any sort, other than that I've been a lone survivor. I travelled for a bit with Sarah but we ended up getting separated.

 

[LadyOfStars]

Vivian Grand

Name: Vivian Grand

Nicknames: N/A

Age: 26

Gender: Male

Height: 5’10” Tall

Weight: 142lbs

Likes:
Junk Food
Cold Weather
Parties

Dislikes:
Arrogance
Greed
Bugs

What was your latest sacrifice?
When the apocalypse happens we all lose so much; hot water, friends, family. But most recently I had to say goodbye to my morals and that hurt me worse than sacrificing my dignity. But when your life is on the line you do what you have to in order to survive.

Who resents you for what you did, and why?
If my family is still alive somewhere I'm sure they more than anyone in the world have some negative feelings towards me. When this whole crap fest started I thought volunteering to help the military establish a base was the right thing to do. i didn't know that they would take us from our families and abandon for not having skills they deemed useful. I watched my family shrink in the distance, surrounded by the chaos that was unfolding while I was taken to somewhere presumably safe. They have every right to resent me.

Why were you forced to leave your old group before Fortune?
I try not to judge a book by its cover, so when raiders kidnapped a bunch of us from a military convoy I looked at them as people who needed help. But it became clear they were just avaricious barbarians spreading mayhem. They were starving us and forcing us to work to help them build a sustainable home. I was tasked with getting their garden up and running, but the soil was not viable and even the grass wouldn't grow. i knew they'd kill me or worse so I ran.

What secret have you never told anyone? Why are you terrified of it being revealed?
I started a building fire in my last group and used it as a distraction to escape my captors. I would be mortified if anyone found out because I don’t want people to see me as an arsonist or maybe even a murderer.

Skills:
Gardening - Vivian learned to garden very early in life as an attempt to bring some greenery to his family’s cramped apartment.
Medicine - Because he spends his time around plants, Vivian is familiar with some plants that have medicinal benefits and can use them to treat some illnesses or wounds.

 

[Lost Martian]

Name:
Joseph “Jojo” Blum

Gender:
Male (He/Him)

Age:
28

Height:
6’

Build:
Slim Athletic

Face Claim:
Casey Cott

Likes:
Jojo’s main love in life was comic books, having read many before the apocalypse started. Even now he will read any he comes across as there is still plenty that he has not read. Jojo also likes candy, which is good because it’s one of the foods that survived the apocalypse. Jojo also loves watching the sunrise as it just calms him down, which is useful in a world where he needs to keep his wits to survive.

Dislikes:
Jojo has had a fear of dogs ever since being bit by one when he was young. He is incredibly uncomfortable around them, even as they are viewed as an asset in this new world. Jojo has also never been much for coffee, preferring juice or even water over it. Jojo also can’t stand when it gets to cold, spending most winters indoors reading or watching television. Thankfully it is currently the summer so he doesn’t have to deal with the chill.

Skills:
Jojo put most of his effort into the arts, becoming an accomplished penciller. Unfortunately that’s not much use in the apocalypse, though he still does it when he does come across some paper and a pencil. Jojo did take mechanical courses in high school and helped his uncle rebuild an old muscle car. This practice has led to Jojo becoming good with fixing cars, which helps with whatever vehicles he comes across. The only issue is that fuel reserves are getting harder and harder to find, as now new fuel is being produced.

Weaknesses:
Jojo is unaware that he actually has bipolar disorder. Somehow Jojo had gone his entire life without being diagnosed, as he tried to avoid doctors as much as he could. As such he can go between high energy manic episodes, to low energy depressive episodes. This emotional instability can put off others. Jojo also has asthma, though he hasn’t needed to take puffers for it since he was a young teenager. However it could easily come back, Jojo getting an asthma attack at a terrible time. Jojo also has proofed to be a terrible shot every time he has used a gun. He’s lucky if one in ten shots actually hit the target.

What did they do before the apocalypse?:
Jojo, born Joseph, was born in a small town in the northeastern United States. Spending a lot of his youth at the one comic shop in town, Jojo would dream of becoming a comic artist. While he had a decent amount of skill with the arts, Jojo’s family wouldn’t have the funds to send him to college.

Jojo would then get a job at the comic shop he loved, becoming close to the owner. Things were going alright for several years as Jojo moved out of his parents’ home and got himself a girlfriend. However things would change when the comic shop owner would suddenly die. Without a proper owner, the store would soon close.

Things would also grow wrong with his girlfriend, as Jojo and her grew apart. Then the apocalypse happened. In only a few days everyone Jojo loved, his family and girlfriend, were killed. Jojo would then flee town with some of the other locals, looking for some kind of safe place for them.

What secret have you never told anyone? Why are you terrified of it being revealed?:
Two years into the apocalypse, Jojo was traveling with a decent sized group of survivors. While looking for supplies they were ambushed by a group of raiders. After killing several members of Jojo’s group, the raiders offered to let the survivors join their raiding party. Jojo would immediately accept. The few who didn’t were murdered.

Jojo would work with these raiders for quite awhile, committing several heinous acts with them such as robbing other survivors or even killing them. Jojo justified it in his mind by saying that it was all so he could survive. It would only be after the raiders killed a child that Jojo would feel remorse. Looking for a way to leave the raiders, Jojo would get his chance when a small number of infected sneaked into their camp. In the chaos of fighting them off, Jojo stole a car and fled the raider camp.

He would drive the car as far away as he could before running out of fuel. Since then he has pretended like that part of his life had never happened, never revealing his time with the raiders. Jojo is certain that others would see him as a monster if they knew what he had done to the other survivors.

Who resents you for what you did, and why?:
Following escaping the raider camp, Jojo would wander into a nearby town, looking for any remaining food. While initially having no luck, Jojo would run across a group of other uninfected humans. Fearing them to be more raiders, Jojo was surprised to learn that they were actually a family who had stuck together since the infection began. Jojo would also be surprised when the father of the family allowed him to travel with them.

For several months Jojo would travel with this family, the Rolands. During that time Jojo would grow close to the older daughter, who was in her early twenties. Eventually a relationship began, keeping it a secret from the rest of the family. One night they would slip away from camp to have sex, not fully checking the area in their rush to be together. A zombie would then sneak up on them, biting the daughter on the shoulder, before Jojo smashing its head in with a rock.

The two would then return to camp, where the daughter was freaking out about turning into a zombie. After a day of deliberation and sickness, the daughter would ask her father to kill her before she turned. The man then did the impossible task of shooting her in the head. Then the normally gregarious father turned to Jojo and asked him to leave. Jojo did so, believing to this day that the Rolands hate him for his actions that caused her death.

Who was the latest person to die because of you?:
Once again traveling by himself, Jojo would end up in Massachusetts. Struggling with depression, Jojo would consider suicide, as the world seemed so bleak and he hadn’t seen another living human in awhile. That all changed when he was standing on a bridge above a deep river. But before Jojo could jump, he heard gunfire. Spinning around he saw several humans, bulls-eying zombies in the head.

These survivors would claim that there was a safe zone to the east, and would convince Jojo to come with them. After several days of walking, Jojo and the others would be nearing Fortune Amongst Hardship. However, with the settlement in sight, the group would come across a zombie horde blocking their route. Deciding to risk it, the group went forward.

While Jojo had a gun, he was a terrible shot and not much good against the horde of undead. All around him, Jojo saw humans go down, becoming food for the infected. That almost happened to Jojo, but another man charged the zombie in front of Jojo, both of them falling to the ground. As Jojo saw the zombie rip out the man’s throat, he ran toward the settlement.

Jojo would make it into the safe zone, alongside three other people from the group. Ever since that day several months ago, Jojo has vowed that no one else would die for him. He had seen enough death.

 

[tieflinq]

(i might add more to this!! debating giving elaine some specific npc connections, but there's enough here to submit for now o7)

NAME: Elaine MacNamara
AGE: currently 31, was 26 at the start of the outbreak
PRONOUNS: she/her
ETC: Elaine was on vacation in America when the outbreak started, and has been stranded away from her family in London ever since. Her most valuable skill is her patchwork array of medical knowledge and practical skills, which she gained by being a carer for her elderly mother.

Elaine MacNamara was entirely unremarkable before the apocalypse - and she resented it. Plain-faced, uncomplicated, lonely, spending most of her days caring for her elderly mother in their gloomy house. Life was... nothing. She watched her mid 20s tick by without anything to show for them.

And then she entered a contest on the back of a box of cheap cereal. Obviously, she didn't win the first prize - £250,000, enough to leave behind her meaningless little life - but she won something that would become just as life-changing: a trip to Riverside Park amusement park, in Massachusetts. It was something. A break from her mother, a chance to get out of the house, an opportunity to be someone interesting for a week before she had to return to monotony. Elaine was optimistic when she boarded the flight to London, but obviously, things would go downhill within seven days.
After the initial quarantine deteriorated into chaos, Elaine found herself stranded in Massachusetts. She was miles away from everyone she'd ever known, away from her responsibilities, away from the smell of her mother's bed-pan, and it felt... invigorating. She threw herself into survival with a will to live that she'd never felt before. Her limited medical knowledge, gained from years of caring for her mum, were suddenly incredibly useful when the hospitals were overrun and the doctors were undead. Her bland face and mutable personality made her an easy fit for the quickly-forming survivor groups, and she found her way into relative safety very quickly. Elaine had waited twenty six years to make something of herself, and the chance had finally arrived.

Why were you forced to leave your old group before Fortune?

Elaine's survivor group roamed aimlessly for months, periodically returning to the amusement park at which they'd met to gather supplies and use the coasters as vantage points to scan the landscape for other signs of life. It took almost a year of transient life and scavenging before they finally settled and started to build a ramshackle community. Living with the arcs of the park's coasters on their horizon, the group quickly became known as Riverside, and their proximity to such a viewable landmark meant that wandering survivors were constantly stumbling into their community and deciding to settle. Elaine was... unhappy with the way the community had grown, to say the least. At the beginning of the outbreak, she'd been valued and appreciated, the one that people turned to for medical advice, but as their numbers grew, Riverside had gained people with real medical qualifications, and people lost interest in what Elaine had to say. She found herself being drawn towards a number of the founding members of Riverside who were unhappy with the community's expansion, all with their own reasons for their displeasure: paranoia, resource-hoarding, isolationist tendencies, all the natural fears that come with an apocalyptic community. Months passed with nothing more than covert gossip and night watches spent in bitter complaint, but, as often happens, their sentiments snowballed, and some of the more vocal members of the group decided to act. Before she knew it, Elaine was pulled into a messy attempt at a coup. The fighting went on for one long, brutal night, but the self-identified revolutionaries were vastly outnumbered. Both sides suffered injuries and losses, and a swathe of the settlement was destroyed. In the end, the surviving members of the 'revolution' were cast out of Riverside with enough supplies for a few days and nothing more.

Elaine was quick to separate herself from the others and hiked in the opposite direction, nursing a wound to her face that would slowly knit itself into a taut, liver-red scar that puckered her expression and finally gave her face something memorable. When asked, she tells people that she left of her own accord, feeling that her last community no longer needed her and that she could benefit somewhere else instead. However, the truth is that Elaine's petty insecurity got her exiled from the Riverside settlement.

What was your latest sacrifice?

On her quest to be considered a valuable asset to her community, Elaine has stretched her paltry medical knowledge to its limits - and surpassed them. It would be fair to say that half a decade of survival has taught her many lessons, and she is better equipped than she was in 1990, but she still falls very short of the abilities of a trained professional. Despite this, Elaine has volunteered herself on multiple occasions to treat injuries and illnesses that she has little understanding of. While it's often easy enough to botch her way to minor success, her desire for praise caused her to make a grievous error around six months before Fortune's destruction. Elaine volunteered herself to assist when a member of the settlement went into labour. It quickly became clear that things were not going smoothly, with the baby being twisted into an awkward position, but Elaine did nothing to seek help from more experienced people. Instead, she soldiered on alone, envisioning herself triumphant with mother and child both healthy and grateful. It would be worth a prolonged labour for the reward of recognition. By the time she acknowledged that she was in over her head, it was too late, and both the mother and her baby died. She feels cautiously optimistic that nobody was aware that it was at least partially her fault, and hopes that the devastation of the settlement has overshadowed her past mistakes.

 

[RascalRoadkill]

Okaaay, I’m gonna send some discord links soon people are still free to post CS’s though, just gna get a few people in to start

 

[Miaow]

Juno Belrose

• Basics
• Personality
• Background
• Questions
• Extra

• 
  FULL NAME:
  Juno Belrose
  
  NICKNAMES:
  June, Junebug
  
  GENDER:
  Female
  
  PRONOUNS:
  She/they
  
  AGE:
  Twenty
  
  HEIGHT:
  5'2"
  
  SEXUALITY:
  Pansexual
  
  
• From childhood, Juno was weirdly obsessed with bugs. Many kids had a bug phase, but Juno never grew out of it. She loves sharing fun facts about bugs and will stop while on walks to look at an interesting bug.
  
  Juno loves animals in general. She's the kind of person that would prefer to spend time in a room full of animals than a room full of people. She has demanded her group take in a stray dog on multiple occasions and was only successful once.
  
  In times of high stress, Juno prefers to isolate herself. She finds it hard to open up to people and finds social situations tiring, so would much rather hide away when she's feeling overwhelmed.
  
  Juno loves working with her hands. She rarely stops moving, always having to fidget with something to keep her mind occupied, but when she needs to relax, she turns to arts and crafts. Coming from a farming family, she became pretty handy.
  
  Juno has two modes, talking too much or complete silence. In stressful situations, she verbally shuts down.
  
  Juno is generally slow to trust but, once she befriends someone, she'll do anything to make them happy and keep them safe.
  
  Juno struggled to make friends growing up though, once her home environment improved, she found herself a small, close knit group of friends.
• Juno was too young to meet her biological parents and, to protect her from the truth, her first foster parents hid the truth. As she moved foster homes multiple times, the story became lost and she may never know who her real parents were. Her initial foster placement took her in in the first few days of her life, raising her until she was around 2 after the death of her foster father. She moved from foster placement to foster placement, including group homes, and never seemed to settle with any of them.
  
  Juno was 10 when she was placed with the Roberts family. They had three older boys. The mother, a psychiatrist, was far more equipped to cope with the "problem" behaviours other families had brought up. She wasn't giving them the "silent treatment," she simply needed space. She was praised for "talking too much," rather than shut down. Around this time, she began to come out of her shell, maybe two good friends at school which she clung to for the rest of her teenage years.
  
  In her new home, Juno's love for animals flourished. Her new foster parents had chickens which had shown useful in teaching previous foster children before her. It became a passion and she dreamed of studying Zoology at university. However, as she was only 15 when the outbreak began, she never had this opportunity.
  
  Being somewhat self sufficient due to their small farm, she and her family remained in their home for the initial few months until their supplies ran dry and they were forced to move elsewhere. Over the next few years as the family travelled on foot, their numbers slowly decreased, until only Juno and her eldest brother remained. The pair encountered a small group of survivors made up of strangers.
• Who was the latest person to die because of you?
  While travelling with the small group of survivors, they encountered raiders. When a member of their party refused to hand over their supplies, they were attacked with the aim to kill them and take everything they had. In the scuffle, a member of the group, a father and a husband, protected her and died as a result. Juno and his wife were the sole survivors, though his wife cut ties after this incident. Juno was left injured was taken in by Fortune Amongst Hardship shortly afterwards where she was treated for her wounds.
  
  What selfish thing did you do for your own survival, and what were its consequences?
  While Juno and her older brother were alone, they encountered an injured man. He wasn't quite on deaths door, but he certainly wasn't able to survive on his own. Rather than helping him, the pair took his backpack and went on their way. The two had considered putting him out of his misery, though neither felt able to kill him, instead leaving him to die. Juno has nightmares about this man regularly and what happened to him regularly.
  
  What secret have you never told anyone? Why are you terrified of it being revealed?
  
  Spoiler: Trigger Warning: Abuse

  Juno suffered abuse at the hands of one of her many foster parents prior to the age of 10. Afraid of not being believed and the consequences of speaking up, Juno tolerated it until she was eventually moved to a new placement.
• Weaknesses:
  Juno is far from combat trained and has never once killed an infected. In times where she has faced conflict, she has gotten injured or been protected by someone else.
  
  Juno has never been an adrenaline junky. In times of high stress, she can sometimes shut down.
  
  Skills:
  Being small, Juno is agile and can fit into small spaces, such as vents.
  
  Juno learned how to fix vehicles and tools with whatever was laying around on the farm, her mother was an expert at it.
  
  Juno is knowledgeable on keeping animals and cultivating basic crops and vegetables.
  
  Given her upbringing, Juno is physically fit and has surprising upper body strength, though lost some strength due to her injury.
  
  Other:
  Prior to the outbreak, Juno had a part time volunteer position at a thrift store. She most definitely gave more money to them than they ever did to her as she had a soft spot for random knick-knacks and trinkets.
  
  Juno kept multiple pets growing up, including fish, stick insects, an elderly tortoise, frogs, and mantises. Her family also fostered kittens on multiple occasions.

​

 

[Augustin]

"In the new age of our chaotic lives, there is nothing more peaceful than the sound of agony. Without the screaming, and the pain, and the fear of the unknown, we'd almost forget that humans had ever existed."

Full Legal Name: Ansfrid Harald Värmodsson

Date of Birth: 3/19/1956

Age: 39.

Height: 6'6" / 198 cm.

Weight: 171 Ibs / 77 KG.

Gender: Male.

Sexuality: Heterosexual.

Nicknames: "Surtr, Jötunn, Ansie."

Personality Description: A rather sporadic individual, their personality can widely vary in terms of their moods. They can be a bit unpredictable, a bit cheery and friendly, a bit aggressive and irritable, and extremely shy in some cases. The only times that their personality likely stands out, is if they experience any sort of delusion or hallucinations, for which then they experience high rates of severe anxiety and paranoia.

Likes: Poetry, philosophy, various genres of metal music.

Dislikes: Optimism, conformity, fake personas.


Physical Appearance Description: A rather gaunt, slender male that physically appears slightly older than his actual age. From his neck down, he is covered extensively in tattoos. His hair and beard are a beautiful red color, without any deviation in its color scheme. The length of his hair flows all the way down to the middle of his back, and is usually kept in some form of bun, or otherwise just allowed to flow freely. The length of his beard is about long enough to lay on his chest slightly, being entirely filled upon his face. He has bright blue eyes, with a rather quaint nose. His lips a bit on the smaller side with a bit of a pale pink color, hardly visible to the naked eye through his thick facial hair. He is a rather lanky individual, having rather long and slender arms and rather long legs. While once he would have likely weighed a bit more in his prime, he is now noticeably thin, especially for his height. His jawline is rather strong, and even slightly noticeable through the beard. He has a few small scars that cover his face visibly, mainly being around his left eye, and on his forehead. His wardrobe consists of long sleeves and jackets with pairings of long pants, albeit rather thin long sleeves. Due to his height and proportions, he typically is commonly seen wearing the same clothes for days on end, washing them when possible. Only partially are some of his tattoos on his fingers, hands, and forearms, typically visible when his long sleeves are rolled up. He has ancient Nordic Runes tattooed circling around his neck, along with Nordic patterns seen on Viking longboats running down his arms, with writings of Norwegian to give praise to Odin and Thor. On his back, in curvy and connected letters, is the word "Yggdrasil." It sprawls across his shoulders, with a gigantic tree with nine branches representing each realm in Norse mythology. On his chest, the names of each important figure in Norse Mythology is written in a formation surrounding a gigantic raven. On his left leg is Fenrir with a wolf's head, and on his right leg is Jormungandr with a serpent's head. He has a deep scar upon his left shoulder, that stretches across it on the front side closer to his chest. Wrapped around his neck is a family heirloom, called Hofud, which was the sword of Heimdall. On various parts of his chest, four indents are visible when possible to see them, as reminders of his past life.


Background/Backstory: On March 19th, 1956, Ansfrid was born in Rogaland, Norway, to a woman named Annika. Ansfrid's father, Harald, had passed away previously before his birth, due to what was speculated as a heart condition. In his very early years, Ansfrid lived in Norway, to where he went as far as to attend his first year of school there at the age of six. He spoke fluent Norwegian, as he does to this very day, and although he came from a very low scoring socioeconomic status in comparison to his peers, his simple life made him very happy. Ansfrid was a rather small and frail child, his mother always referring to him as a cute childhood nickname, "Ansie." It wasn't until he was the age of seven years old, that he and Annika would move to the United States, after relatives offered her and her son better living standards. They arrived in the United States as immigrants in 1963, moving off to Cedarburg, Wisconsin, shortly after arriving by boat in New York. The rest of the early years for Ansfrid were slightly hazy in terms of truly impactful memories until he reached his adolescence, as during the rest of his single-digit childhood, he spent his time adjusting to his new life and learning the new and exciting language of English! While his mother, Annika, never truly picked up fluidity in the language, Ansfrid had no issues adjusting and learning due to a more constant exposure. One of his relatives that lived there on their property, his Aunt Helga, was very fond of Ansfrid. Unable to have children herself, she found his presence rather delightful, and due to the family's local success with their various businesses specializing in farming and leatherworking, he was afforded a bit more comfortability in terms of clothing and books. Aunt Helga particularly had a fondness for the color of Ansfrid's long straight hair. After all, his Aunt Helga used to say, "With that beautiful red hair of yours, you'd make Surtr himself jealous!" Thereafter, she always referred to him as Surtr, in reference to the Norse Jötunn.

Ansfrid overall was a well-read student, and had always enjoyed studying and reading, commonly getting As and Bs during the rest of his elementary school and middle school years. When he wasn't studying or attending school, he was learning to survive on the lands with his Uncle Dagen, the husband to his Aunt Helga. He greatly admired his Uncle Dagen, being one of the few male role-models in his life that gave him thought and consideration when approaching the vastness and broadening of one's knowledge. His Uncle Dagen taught him many life skills, such as simplistic crafting techniques and woodworking, types of hunting with rifles and bows, and even old herbology and general survival knowledge he had attained over the years. It wasn't until the age of fourteen, that the problems for Ansfrid began to show themselves. Ansfrid was a bit of an oddity when it came to some of the symptoms he began to display, as the teachers of Cedarburg High School were not fond of some of the ramblings and tangents that Ansfrid had begun going on during class. He had grown increasingly irritable, was demonstrating rather unpredictable behavior, and was seemingly immensely capable of detailing rather odd and bizarre thoughts, almost detaching himself from true and current reality in episodic fashion. The year was 1970, and at this point in time with repeated issues of aggression and overall odd behavior toward his authorities and peers, Annika decided it best to seek out professional help for her once so calm-hearted son.

For the rest of his remaining high school years, Ansfrid would go in and out of state hospitals. He would have terrible outbursts, both at school and at home, with displaying symptoms of severe anxiety and insomnia. Eventually, during his junior year, a diagnosis was made by a psychiatrist that he was suffering from a mental illness known as schizophrenia. Due to the ramping difficulties that Ansfrid began to experience mentally, his academic record began to suffer extensively. By the end of his senior year, he had just narrowly graduated. Ansfrid had in his younger years wished to join the military after his high school graduation, but sadly, this diagnosis prevented him from being able to serve. Heartbroken, during his last remaining teenaged year being the age of nineteen, Ansfrid only continued to spiral. While Ansfrid was prescribed medications that seemed to help in the short-term, his Aunt Helga refuted and despised him taking such things, deeming them, "Scientific monstrosities that go against our ancestors and their beliefs." By this point in time, the once small and frail Ansfrid had fully grown up physically, being an immensely tall and rather hefty man of Scandinavian descent. He had very long beautiful red hair, and a short beard to accompany it. By the age of twenty-one, Ansfrid had been living off of his family. He worked on the farmstead, in the shops, and doing other physical labor jobs around town. During the evenings, he spent his time reading obsessive amounts of poetry, and philosophy, as well as dabbling in hints of Norse mythology due to his heritage. In the late summer, his Aunt Helga would pass away, which was a devastating loss. She had passed away due to an infection she had gotten from an injury she hadn't wished to have seen or treated, believing in her own medicinal practices and ways. He'd never forget her final words to him, "Never fear what you do not understand, only embrace the fact you'll soon understand it." Ansfrid took the loss hard, holding her very hand the moment she passed on. Very soon after, he began to socially isolate himself for a few months, before he began to explore the city night-life, seeking solace and a way to cope with his grief.

It wouldn't take long for trouble to find the vulnerable Ansfrid, as in just a four year timespan, now being twenty-five, he had racked up quite the criminal record, both officially and unofficially. He had gone in and out of trouble, with breaking and entering, assault charges, robbery, and more. While he at this point in time, had been able to get away with lesser punishments so long as he attended therapy programs and community mental health awareness groups, he typically always found himself never committing. He had gotten involved briefly in drug-dealing, before he decided that he didn't enjoy how fake the substances they were using made them feel. The numbness of it all, the fake illusion of optimistic bliss he found those he referred to as, "deluded" became once the effect of the narcotics had taken hold. He officially stopped in this line of work when one of his buyers attacked him, cutting him across his left shoulder with a glass shard they had picked up in the old, dilapidated home that Ansfrid used as a base of operations. While he had managed to fend off his attacker, leaving them worse off than him, he decided it just wasn't a venture worth pursuing. Instead, Ansfrid found himself joining a local gang, where he would become the enforcer. They had called themselves the Cedarburg Coalition, in where they would essentially act as a more old-school mafia. They would extort local businesses, families, and other more petty criminals in their controlled area. Ansfrid was their enforcer, the guy that was sent by his boss, named Emilia, to handle any uncooperative clientele. By this point in Ansfrid's life, being aged twenty-five, his Uncle Dagen didn't speak with him, nor did he hardly keep contact with his mother, Annika. The two had given up on trying to alter the course of their once beloved boy they had raised, as Annika fondly held his childhood toys every night, contemplating as to where she went wrong.

Between the years of twenty-five to twenty-eight, Ansfrid acquired all types of new interests, tattoos, hobbies, and scars. Ansfrid had covered himself in all types of Nordic symbolism, starting at his neck, and working down the entirety of his body. He also had gained quite a few service scars, which he brandished as a warrior would of whom had achieved many small and questionable victories. He also gained a love for a constantly developing music genre, known as metal, and or heavy metal. He had gained quite the local reputation and respect among his Coalition, even rumored to have a slight spark between himself and his boss, Emilia. Emilia however would end up abandoning, and even coming to hate Ansfrid, on one fateful night. Aged twenty-eight, 1984, June 10th. It was approximately nine o'clock in the evening. Emilia's teenaged son, Daniel, had recently become an honorary member of the Cedarburg Coalition. In his honor, they were throwing a form of banquet that they did for all newest members. It was this night, that Ansfrid had one of the worst outbursts that he had ever experienced. Both he and Daniel were standing outside of the bar the Coalition had rented out, where Daniel had just lit a cigarette in his hand and Ansfrid was standing with an empty beer bottle recently finished. Ansfrid suddenly began to see it as he glanced over to the young adult, that thing, that thing! He threw the bottle right into Daniel's face, before beginning to beat him. Punch after punch, it was a miracle that the boy survived the encounter, as if by some fate, Ansfrid's anxiety made him flee the scene. A bleeding young man with a dying cigarette being the horrific sight found by his gang. It wasn't soon after that Emilia had him hunted, and on June 24th, in the early morning hours, a member of the Coalition managed to find Ansfrid staying at a local motel, named the Bugs Don't Bite. He was shot four times by a 9mm pistol, and left lying in his small, dirty motel room. Due to the closeness and vicinity of the motel, help was quickly called for Ansfrid. Luckily, after a total of a year, he made a full recovery, with four reminders of his former comrades. Having been released from hospitalization in the spring of 1985, Ansfrid drifted around. He went from job to job, living in parking lots and occasionally when life allowed, small apartments. Ansfrid rarely made many friends, and when he did make them, they quickly saw all of his physical symbols of his past affiliations, and distanced themselves.

Life had cast a tough hand on the Norwegian man, and there were many nights where he sat alone, trying to ponder through the sporadic and hectic thoughts that swirled in his mind. He was left wandering aimless for a few lonely years, isolated and treated like a monster from the world, a world that had never understood him or had even truly tried to accept him, to his view. He had been left to seethe, to plot, to scheme, to descend into disorder. He begun conceiving the wildest of notions, thoughts, ideas, until one winter night, did his reality snap. December 17th, one thirty-seven A.M. Nine days before the Christmas of 1988, a woman and her young adult son were found murdered in their more prestigious home. They were that of Emilia and Daniel Veylend. They had been stabbed to death, through a breaking and entering through the glass screen door in their backyard. They hadn't been discovered until four days after the thought of when the initial murder occurred. By this point, four days after the incident, Ansfrid had fled back to his dear mother at his family's homestead. When he found himself standing at the front door, a chill breeze that came from the bitter cold and snow, almost tried to signal him to turn away. However, he knocked, and Uncle Dagen answered. From there, the fight started. Intensive Norwegian being exchanged between the two men flooded the formerly quiet space in the living room, with Annika coming out from her bedroom due to the disruption. Ansfrid desperately tried to express himself, that he needed help, he didn't know what he was doing, what he had done, who he was. He had begun to act hysterical, crying, pacing around in intense and spontaneous movements. Uncle Dagen seeing that he was out of control went to call the police, as Annika attempted to calm her son down, but Dagen's act would set the tone for what would happen next. With a shove of fierce and vicious nature, Annika was pushed and hit her head on the side of the nearby family table. Crimson liquid stained the wood as she slumped, lifeless and motionless. Not realizing what happened, Ansfrid quickly scuffled and exchanged blows with his former role model, before he got advantage of the now much older man, of whom he went on to beat to death. Only the sound of fist hitting flesh, hitting bone, hitting memories, hitting flashes of smiling faces and wonderous laughs, could be heard in the family living room. Ansfrid after the episode calmed itself, was left on his knees, his hands covered in the blood of his relative. Tears filled his eyes, as panic and realization set itself in, as he turned to his now deceased mother, "Mamma?! What have I done?! Mamma?! Answer me! Talk to me!" The desperate voice of Ansfrid cried out, but then he saw her, what he had done.

That was the last of it. All he had left, laying lifeless before him. He had done this, this was all his fault. He truly was what they thought he was, he clearly had caused all of this, it was all his fault! The shakiness of his hands and breath were as if the entire earth was erupting in an enormous onslaught of guilt, of fear, of madness. He began to see them, the hallucinations, his mother's lifeless head suddenly snapping up and screaming at him. He'd cower away, crawling backwards like a fearful child and running to his former childhood room, and it was that night he'd spend underneath his old bed. He would stay at his old family's home until Christmas day, and that day he spent with them sitting silently in the living room, the smell being the last memory he'd ever have of them. He'd pack up some of his former clothes he had left at his home the following morning, along with some rations, and his mother's necklace she was wearing when she passed away. Then, with spare cash he had found stashed in the family safe, he set off for a new life on the run. He'd spend the year of 1989, aged 33, in the state of Massachusetts. There, he went around working various jobs, and even living in homeless shelters. He'd always wear gloves and some form of jacket and pants, along with scarves. Covering and concealing all of what he once was, working oddball jobs and always giving fake names, and only working for cash. While this was a hard way to live, it was the only choice he had, he had at least that much sense about him. He was paranoid, he didn't want to get caught, especially for doing things he didn't truly mean!

In the year of 1990, when the rumored pandemic truly broke out, Ansfrid was 34. While the initial chaos was immensely intense and scary, as the years went on and Ansfrid made decent use of his survival knowledge, thriving out in the wild, he eventually found himself discovering a settlement. In 1993, Ansfrid found himself staying in the settlement called Fortune Amongst Hardship. He would end up becoming part of this community, helping out when needed by doing anything asked of him, and generally keeping himself low profile when his mental illness allowed.


Strengths: Ansfrid has a pretty good understanding of living off of the land, utilizing his survival instinct and knowledge to his best ability. He is familiar with rifles and pistols, but much prefers the use of a nicely made bow or a sharp or blunt melee weapon. He is capable of making basic tools should he need to do so, and due to his previous life, does have experience with violent and close quarter engagements.

Weaknesses: A major weakness of Ansfrid would be that of his mental illness, as while some days are better than others, the severity of his episodes can cause tendencies to become sporadic, and potentially problematic. He can also sometimes be a bit impulsive, which in the past has led him into unfavorable situations. Due to his very sporadic behavior, his social skills can also be viewed as a weakness, as he has a bit of difficulty properly understanding social spacing and social awareness.

"What secret have you never told anyone? Why are you terrified of it being revealed?"

I've never really spoken about the past life I lived before the beginnings of this false Fimbulvetr. I haven't talked about being a wanted man before life itself ended, or that I murdered people even pre-dating this indescribable situation. ..What was I talking about? Oh, yes! Sorry, sometimes I am rather forgetful. I would be afraid of having my involvement with these murders being revealed because if they were, people would judge me or think me some sort of monster. They could try and hurt me, and I don't want to be hurt anymore, especially when I didn't mean to do it! They-- They meant everything to me! I couldn't understand why they wouldn't love me, why they would leave me! I didn't mean to do it! I didn't mean to do it! Emilia hurt me, the gang would understand, right? If I ever saw them again.. Will I ever see them again? They must be dead! I hope they are dead! I hope they died slow.. Mamma, forgive me, please..

"What selfish thing did you do for your own survival, and what were its consequences?"

Before I arrived in Fortune, I typically roamed around on my own. Sometimes I found people camping, families trying to get by with what little they had. Occasionally I'd rob them in the night, and to be honest, it never bothered me. Reality has no morality, and when the world dies, who upholds its justice? I suppose I mean to say, that I held no remorse starving them if it meant I could survive. If they were me, they'd do the same! They'd steal from me, they would judge me, they would hurt me! Although there's one particular camp that I'll never forget. It was a father and a daughter, perhaps niece? I'm not entirely sure. It was very dark, very, very dark. I had found them because they decided to camp out on a small incline, the smoke had been high enough to spot beyond the trees. When I got there, they had a few pieces of meat left over that I guess the father had managed to scavenge. I ate them all, and as I was leaving, since for some reason I decided to eat while still remaining there, the girl woke up. I'll never forget the look in her eyes, and before I knew it, she screamed. The father woke up, and he saw me, and I hit him in the face as hard as I could. He went unconscious I guess, but when the girl tried to flee, I saw that she wasn't able to walk. Rather than trying to explain myself, maybe try and make things right, I just simply left. I don't know if they survived, or if that girl's screaming gave their position away to any unwanted company, but.. It wasn't my problem then. What I came for had been done, and I had fed myself as I intended. Survival of the fittest, in all senses, is what separates the weak and obsolete from those with a will to survive.

 

[Wyll]

Luc DesJardin​

• Basic Info
• Personality
• History and Bio
• GM Questions

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  Full Name: Luc DesJardin
  
  Gender: Male (He/Him)
  
  Age: 28
  
  Place of Birth: France but lived in New York
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  Appearance
  
  
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  Height: 6” 0’
  
  Eyes: His eyes are a deep chestnut brown (ironic as the poor guy is allergic to chestnut). If the sunlight strikes his eyes just right, they actually appear to me more of a golden brown. His eyes typically don't carry much expression; neither disdain nor excitement. His gaze always moving; his eye lids never quite fully open; the best way to describe his eyes would be watchful.
  
  Hair: Short and black, sometimes braided. How he looks is half of his lie and his hair is half of how he looks and so he goes to great lengths to take care of it. The curls must be curling at all times; the hairline must be as sharp as a needle point. When braided, it is a single, thick, tight braid on each side, running from front to back and finished up in a ponytail, which is actually a "warrior's wolf tail" but is also definitely a ponytail.
  
  Distinguishing features: Always seen with a pencil on his ear and a notebook is sure to be somewhere on his person at all times. After all, an artist never knows when the inspiration will strike.
  
  Weapons: Luc uses a crossbow and a quiver of bolts. The bolts are made from sharpened wood or metal, anything that would fit in his crossbow, really. He also walks around with two daggers - one on either hip - in the event that he finds himself in a close combat situation. Lastly, he always has climbing rope on him, not really as a weapon, more to make traversal easier and get him to high ground quickly.
  
  Detailed Description:
  Luc is a 6-foot man who sits at 185 pounds and has dark skin. His frame is fit but far from intimidating or muscular, such that he doesn't command much presence. Most people could bump into him and barely stagger. The boy was clearly built more for endurance and stamina more than he was built for strength and power. His muscles are small but firm, not likely to dish out much damage but capable of taking in a lot.
  
  His eyes are chestnut brown but lighten up to an almost golden-brown when hit directly by the sun and he styles his hair in a typical burst fade, usually braiding his hair when the top gets long enough. His outfits will typically have oranges or yellows in them, complemented by blues or blacks. He is a fan of the open shirt look and so one can just assume that all his shirts will have buttons ad he will use a total of zero of them. The abdominal muscles that peek out as a result are not large or attention-grabbing, but are well-defined nonetheless.
  
  Should he speak, his accent is best described as a tainted French accent - hinting at his French roots but also suggesting that he's been in the States for a while - and his tone has a practiced cadence, a soft yet projected voice. He isn't one to shout, not even on the rare occasion that he gets upset or annoyed, but he will be speaking his mind very clearly.​

  
  

  
  
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  "It's not that I don't care; it's that I can't afford to care with all that's at stake. Try again when the world isn't ending.”​
  
  

  
  

  
  Likes:
  

  • Being quiet and still
  • Starry nights
  • Swimming
  • Learning
  • Writing
  • Music

  
  Dislikes:
  

  • Selfish people
  • Loud noises
  • Spicy food
  • The cold
  • Rushing
  • Violence...unless it's violence against Zombies, that's perfectly fine

  
  Fears:
  

  • Failing to protect someone
  • Turning into a zombie
  • Being alone
  • Drowning

  
  Habits:
  

  • When cornered, he defaults to taking attention away from him, even if he has to lie
  • He tends to twirl his pen around whenever deep in though and/or anxious
  • Physical confrontation is always the very last resort for him

  
  Hobbies:
  

  • Writing stories and poems
  • People watching
  • Card games
  • Star gazing
  • Climbing

  
  Strengths:
  

  • Long-range combat
  • Resourcefulness
  • Stamina
  • Writing
  • Stealth

  
  Weaknesses:
  

  • Traitorous sweet tooth
  • Cares too much
  • Close combat
  • Perfectionist
  • Closed-off

  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  Personality Details:
  Most people would likely describe Luc as cold and uncaring but nothing could be further from the truth. He remembers the names and faces of everyone he has lost in the 5 years since the world flipped on its head and he would like to do anything and everything he can to stop that list from growing. The reason he appears cold is because he's forced himself to create some distance between himself and the people around him, understanding that there's a chance that they may not make it and preparing his heart for that. If he chose to be as close to everyone as he really wanted to, he'd have died of heartbreak by now from the number of people he's lost. Creating distance is his way of preserving himself, but he'll make sure that he's there if and when he's needed.
  
  Because of all the madness in the world right now - even before the apocalypse began - Luc has learned to enjoy the simple pleasures of life - the crackling of a fire, the stars in the sky, the cool breezy on a sunny day, a moment of peace and quiet. He understands that nothing is guaranteed nor owed, and so he's learned to be content with whatever he has wherever he is. As a result, he doesn't ask for much and is sacrificial, almost to a fault. He's fine not eating if it means those younger than him or less able to defend themselves get to eat; he's happy to volunteer to go into a dangerous place if nobody else is willing to do it; essentially, if it needs to be done, Luc is willing to do it - almost putting aside whether he's physically able to do it or not.
  
  However, this doesn't make Luc a pushover. Over the years, he's learnt where the line between asking for assistance and taking him for granted lies and he refuses to let anybody cross that line. He may not get physically violent - at least, he won't start a physical confrontation - but he can be rather harsh with his words if need be. However, on the rare occasion that you do manage to upset him, he's also quick to forgive, especially if bribed with any form of dessert.
  
  He specialises is long-range combat and reconnaissance missions - able to move quickly and precisely to give himself more of an advantage. He's more the type to lay down cover fire or provide a distraction while others escape, knowing that he is quick and agile enough to catch up to them. If forced into close combat, he's able to fend for himself but his skills are average at best, so he does everything he can to create and keep distance.
  
  
  
  
  
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  History:
  The story of Luc DesJardin begins in France, where he spent most of his childhood and early teenage years. He sought to become a writer and maybe a film-maker one day, and so he moved to the United States for work, living and working out of New York. Things were slow at first and he wasn't making much progress, but he finally found his feet and started working small writing jobs. It wasn't the glory and glamour he had signed up for, but it was a start and he was content. He was quick to make friends and it is those friends that got him the connections that he needed.
  
  He never did become a "big name writer" but he was starting to get bigger and bigger paychecks and he felt like he was on the cusp of finally realising his dream. Unfortunately, all this was in the year 1990. Just when everything finally seemed to be going well for him, the whole world flipped on its head. He had talked about it, joked about it, watched movies about it but he never actually expected himself to be living in the middle of the apocalypse. Worse, he never expected to be living in the middle of the apocalypse without his family - who was still in France.
  
  He didn't jump into "action hero" mode, in fact, he was still in shock. Thankfully, one of the friends he'd managed to make, Collin Waters, was made to be an action hero and lived not too far away from Luc. The two of them quickly met up and tried to figure a way to survive. Collin was the man with every plan and Luc was just doing his best to follow along and keep up. They were together for about a year, before Luc into his own. He was quicker, sharper, more decisive. He'd accepted that the world wasn't going back to normal but he'd determined that he would survive. He'd also determined that he'd help as many people as possible to survive as well, and thankfully, Collin shared that vision.
  
  The two of them agreed to be guards for hire, helping people get from one place to the other. Collin protected them on the ground while Luc gave cover from up above. The two of them made a very solid team. They worked well together for the next two years, helping many - both individuals and families - get to their destinations safely. The two of them had a pretty neat thing going on...until Collin and the family they were leading at the time got surrounded by zombies. It had been Luc's job to make sure the streets they were going were clear, but these zombies had come from inside the buildings. Collin fought as bravely as he could, Luc shot as precisely as he could, but unfortunately, Luc lost Collin that day, and also lost the family.
  
  Prior to that point, Luc had thought that he and Collin were invincible because they had never lost a family before. This was a very rude awakening for him. However, he continued steadfastly, helping people get around the country. Things were harder now without Collin, he lost more families - some because they refused to listen to him, others because he couldn't get to them in time. Whatever the case, a little over a year after he started going solo, a family had asked for safe transport to the Fortune Amongst Hardship. This wasn't his first time taking a family there. In fact, most of the requests he got, even when he was still working with Collin, were to get families to one stronghold or the other.
  
  This time was different though. This time, after dropping the family off, he stood in front of the entrance and thought over his life for the last year. He was tired. He was tired of losing people, he was tired of always being ten seconds too slow, he was tired of failing. Maybe taking it easy for a while wouldn't be such a bad idea. Maybe he could allow himself breathe for a second. And so he decided to stay. He was done with the bodyguard life. Despite getting most of his families to their destination safely, the few that he wasn't able to protect weighed heavily on him. He didn't have the heart to fail again, and so he just decided to stop trying. After all, this place didn't seem so bad. He could still be helpful here, but his time out there was done.
  
  
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  What selfish thing did you do for your own survival, and what were its consequences?
  One day, he was escorting a some kids to be reunited with their parents. As they were going, he saw a two women cornered in an alley and they saw him as well. They cried out to him for help. He told himself that he couldn't risk endangering the lives of the kids he was with to save them, but the truth was he just didn't want to risk his own neck. And so he continued walking, pretending like he had seen nothing. Two days later, while he was on the roof, watching the kids as they walked, two zombies were behind a trashcan, out of sight from him. As the kids walked in front of the trashcan, the zombies jumped out, one to each kid. He knew immediately that the kids were gone. but worse, he recognised what the zombies were wearing - it was the exact same outfits as the two women he had ignored.
  That was the last time he ever ignored someone in need, and the start of his sacrificial behaviour.
  
  Who was the latest person to die because of you?
  There was a family of three - a mother and her two sons. They too were trying to get to Fortune Amongst Hardship and had hired him as their bodyguard. The youngest boy, Sam, was only 7, and still didn't fully understand what was happening. He had told them to camp out in a building that he swears he had cleared while he went out to look for supplies because they were hungry. When he returned, he walked through the doors just in time to see a zombie launch itself at Sam. He managed to dispose of the zombies but, by then, the two boys had already been bitten and the mother refused to live without her kids. Saving the kids the fate of turning, and saving the mother the agony of seeing her kids turn/die, he shot the mother first, and then the kids.
  It wasn't the first time he'd had to kill people while they were still human, but this one was the final straw.
  
  What is the cause of your current grief?
  The lives of all the people he was meant to protect and failed - Collin especially - weigh on him like chains around his neck that he can never remove. Sometimes, their faces wake him up at night, other times they stop him from being able to sleep altogether.​