Name: Valencia Vasquez, commonly referred to as Val
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Skills:

• mechanical genius
• eidetic memory
• very, very good with machines, almost intuitive skill with vehicles
• handy with a pistol but not much else

Background:
Valencia grew up in Sol Azteca, a settlement in the Spanish interior. The town there had strict, brutal rules, a la ancient Babylon—an eye for an eye, literally—so that everyone could survive on equal terms. Val was the daughter of small-time farmers who attended to Azteca's miniscule vegetable gardens, but even at a young age she had an aptitude for mechanic work. However, according to the strict codes, occupations were passed down from family to family—Val was going to be a farmer, and that was that.

She said 'screw that' and started going to the local vehicle warehouses in secret. The lead mechanic there, Ferio, was willing to teach her—she was utterly useless with plants, and he was old, and looking for a replacement. He thought that maybe, if she was skilled enough when they brought up the idea of switching professions, they might win over the leaders to their side.

They didn't. When they were discovered, Ferio was immediately executed—left to die just outside the town's shoddy, sand-block walls, and Val had to watch. They thought it would cow her into doing her duty—it did the opposite. She wasn't quite so sadistic as to burn their crops before she left, but she painted several...obscene images onto buildings before she grabbed her personally modified motorcycle and as much water and food as she could carry and got the hell out of there.

So far, 'surviving' is a nice way of saying what Val's done. She's eaten things no human should eat, done things no sane person should do, just for the sake of surviving on her own. She values her independence fiercely, but she knows she can't last forever like this, and as long as someone's willing to let her do her thing with her scraps of free time, she'll put her (frankly ridiculous) mechanical skills to use for any bit of shade.
Equipment:

• mechanic's toolbox
• basic overalls and goggles
• welding tools
• survival gear
• an ungodly amount of water in various vials, pouches, cans and jars
• motorcycle

Name: Willow

Gender: Female

Age: 23

Skills:

-Naturally perceptive and receptive
-Loyal (Nearly to a fault)
-Extremely stable hands
-Above average skill involving medicine
-Skilled in driving

Background:

Willow was born into a family that had been enslaved for several generations. A small, over crowded, hovel was the place she called home. Many others, including her mother and father and a plethora of other family members, also were kept within the dusty quarters. Her family wasn't the only group of slaves kept, but she rarely interacted with anyone outside her circle. The slaves were owned by a 'wealthy' man who made his living off of selling flesh. He owned an entire underground slave selling society. Dealing in everything from mothers to sex to blood. She was conditioned from birth to only do as she was told and to never go against orders.

The slaves were not given the privilege to learn to read and write, and while few in the destroyed world could, they were simply forbidden to attempt to learn. Her master figured that an educated mind would lead to an uprising. Growing up Willow's duties varied. Some days she would be out in the sun, tending to the pathetic crops the man tried to grow, and other days she would be locked away in the hovel, diligently mending and sewing together scraps of fabric to form clothes. Willow truly enjoyed, however, the times when she was permitted to practice medicine. Helping her fellow slaves with anything from healing their lash marks to removing splinters made Willow feel like she was actually making a difference.

But as she became older her duties became much more personal for her master, which she carried out without a second thought. During her twenty three years Willow watched as friends and family were sold off or, in the case of some of the more rebellious, beaten and killed. Willow never questioned this, she knew asking questions would bring about punishment, even when she was forced to watch these executions and auctions herself.

Being the personal assistant to her master had its benefits though. She was one of the only slaves who was given permission to learn how to drive. Her master did quite a lot of driving around his property, but as he got older Willow drove with him in the passenger seat. Willow wasn't sure why but driving gave her a strange sense of satisfaction. Being in control of a machine, being the one in command, made her feel stronger.

However, the monotony of life would soon become destroyed. For whatever reason or another Willow became undesirable to her master, likely he bought a younger and fresher slave girl, and Willow was sold away. Any shred of confidence was stripped from the girl as she was suddenly far away from everything she considered 'normal'. But as she was being driven, with a group of equally terrified slaves, to a more populated hub something clicked. She suddenly realized how vast and free the world was.

Willow had never considered herself rebellious, but watching a group of free people rush by her in a modified truck brought something out of her. She snuck away in the night, unable to convince any of the other slaves to escape with her. She is currently trying to keep a low profile, now realizing what the fear of being captured was. It is easy for herself to keep quiet and unseen, but the brand on her neck indicates her true nature.

Equipment:

Name: Alessandro 'Fast hands' Rossetti
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown, possibly around 25.
Skills:
-Excellent Marksman
-Decent driver and mechanic (owns a large truck)
-Plays Guitar
Occupation: Trader, Gunslinger, Criminal.
Equipment: M1 carbine rifle (modded with a scope and night vision), Mosin Nagant Sniper Rifle, .44 Magnum, .22 handgun, backpack, three magazine belts, water flask, night vision goggles, medical kits.
Background:
-Alessandro Rossetti, like most born into the post-apocalypse, was born and briefly raised in very unsanitary conditions of a small town in the middle of the barren wasteland; He was also the fourth-born son of two hard-working traders but was one of two infants who survived into early childhood. Not much about his family's origins are known it is said by his father that the origins of his family are most likely to have descended from a pre-war city named 'Venice', a forgotten, war-torn city far away from where he was born and raised. Like his father, Alessandro would most likely inherit his father's small business but Alessandro had other plans, travelling the world. The young boy was a zealous, ambitious soul who wanted to travel and see the rest of the world, a behavior sparked from him when the boy was taught to read by his father and had opportunity to some old pre-war books that were scavenged by his father, but little did he expect what fate had for him.

When he was 10 (or so he believes), Alessandro's hometown was maliciously, suddenly sacked by raiders who then preceded to force all it's inhabitants into slavery. While in protecting their two children from these raiders, both of Alessandro's parents were shot and killed in the ensuing conflict which ended in both brothers ending up in the hands of slavery. The remaining survivors of the town were dragged north, where they were exactly going was unknown, only that they were to be slaves of cruel, unscrupulous masters. However, on the way north to the closest raider settle one night several days after the raid, one villager took the opportunity to abruptly attempt to end it all while sneaking up on a guard while asleep who was supposed to be on night-shift. This, inevitably ended in a small brawl and left an opportunity for Alessandro to escape with his brother into the barren desert that was one Europe. While running away into the cold night, both boys looked behind them to witness that their the majority of their villagers were massacred and only a few were kept alive to be enslaved. Alessandro would be later tormented and damaged after this incident as he saw his friends and family die or become enslaved all while being the sole survivor of an obscure little town he once found himself so secure in. After traveling the cinder wasteland for many days, his brother later died of heat-exhaustion and dehydration and Alessandro himself might have shared the same fate had he not been saved by a wondering scavenger who nursed the boy back to health and became his caretaker.

This caretaker was none-other than the infamous outlaw named Albert 'quick-eyed' Schiller, an escaped convict who was responsible of many armed robberies from the more fortunate and wealthy, illustrious business owners of the North. Schiller soon began teach the young Alessandro the art of gun-slinging and surviving in the Wasteland and after many years of years of rigorous training with the gun-slinging maestro, Alessandro became a very decent and agile sharp-shooter with very similar talents as his mentor. There was eventually close friendship between both opportunists as the young, tortured boy ironically began to look up to the notorious criminal. Unfortunately Schiller later died at age 40 from a fever when Alessandro was 16 years old, leaving the young pupil as his heir. However, Alessandro did not want to live a life of an unconscionable criminal like the men who raided his hometown many years ago, there were morals he still wanted to live by and even while committing petty crimes there was a code of honor Alessandro focused on.

In his later life, Alessandro began to take the jobs of anyone who would be willing to hire him for his talents which mainly included: Dust Running, armed-robbery or being a part-time mercenary. All of which earned him a stable income and with over 10 years of experience (on top of being famously known for being taught by the maestro gunslinger himself), Alessandro's employers and fans soon came up with a name for him, 'fast hands' due to his quick ability to draw weapons and fire them with uncanny precision, hitting is marks almost every time. To this day, Alessandro 'fast hands' Rossetti lives as a freelance alongside with his husky side-kick, Belmont, and is still known throughout the wastes as an excellent marksman and notorious gunslinger.