“As opposed to humans, plants rarely stab you in the back.”
Gender: Female
Age: 23
Race: Caucasian
Group: Parris Security
Appearance:Kate is definitely not what would you call a ‘girly’ type. Her dark and unruly hair had always been short, and she has cut it even shorter since the society fell apart – when the hot water is limited, and a proper shampoo or conditioner are almost luxurious goods you don’t want to deal with unnecessarily long hair. She is slightly taller than average and pretty skinny; however months of tough work have hardened her body and she is much stronger than she looks.
You can usually see her wearing dirty overalls and heavy work shoes, her face hidden from the sun underneath a simple straw hat. Even though she tends to wear gloves, there is always a bit of dirt hiding under her fingernails. The sun had given her skin a nice bronze tone.
Personality:Kate’s view of the world is a bit fatalistic – she believes some things are just meant to happen, and there is no reason to cry or be angry or worry over them. Sometimes life gives you a piece of chocolate. Other times it kicks you in the stomach while you are already lying on the ground. There is nothing you can do about it, other than get back up and do your best to prepare for what comes next.
She is a mostly a loner, having lost everyone she cared about in her life she is now afraid to get close to anyone, preferring the quiet peace of her garden. She always carefully thinks through everything she says or does and rarely acts on her impulses unless there is an immediate threat around.
She is kind and tries to be friendly to people she considers nice. A pointless violence, someone killing or hurting innocent people can however light up the spark of anger and fury that is normally hidden beyond her calm demeanor.
History:Most of Kate’s life was pretty much perfect. She had loving and supportive family, one or two close friends, decent grades at school. Just one of the average teenage girls in the neighborhood – definitely not the prom queen or captain of the cheerleaders, but also not the weird outsider type.
Ever since she was a little girl, her one big hobby were plants and gardening. It was just one of those normal elementary school science assignments – take one seed, put it into a wet piece of cotton wool, leave it on a warm, sunny place and observe what happens. Little Kate was captivated by the tiny sprouts coming out of the seemingly lifeless seed, it was nothing less than a miracle to her. In the coming months and years, she slowly turned the back yard of the house into a blooming garden, full of life regardless of the season.
She wanted to go to university to study botany, even though her grades were not good enough to earn a scholarship. Her parents however offered to support her – she was their only child and they wanted her to be happy. They supported her both emotionally and financially her entire freshman year and the first two months of her sophomore year. That was when the ‘perfect’ part of Kate’s life ended. Her parents’ car was hit by a drugged driver. The man, driving a large stolen SUV, came out of the accident nearly unharmed. Kate’s parents’ small Honda was almost completely destroyed. Kate’s mother died in a hospital two days after the accident, never regaining consciousness. Her father survived but was left paralyzed from the neck down.
Kate left school and came back home to take care of her father. They had to sell the house and find a small, barrier free apartment downtown. The disability pension barely covered the bills, so Kate had to look for a job. The job market was not in a good place back then and since Kate didn’t have any relevant education, she struggled to find even a low-paid spot. Eventually, when the situation seemed hopeless, she came across an ad from Parris security and started working in their cafeteria. It wasn’t her dream job, but it paid well enough to afford a caretaker for Kate’s father while she was at work, cover all the bills and even set the rest aside for the worse time’s sake. Plus, the work environment was very open and friendly and despite Kate being a bit shy and introverted, she managed to fit in quickly.
Just as she thought that her life is back on the track, not perfect, but at least not spiraling towards a disaster, the Toxo outbreak started. As the situation in town got worse, Kate stopped going to work as she had to take care of her father herself. Not long after the government forces were overrun, and chaos ensued Kate’s father died. Ironically, it was neither the mysterious disease that killed him nor one of the infected. He was killed by a bunch of looters who came into their apartment looking for supplies, furious that they didn’t find anything useful. Fortunately, Kate was out at the time, looking for food herself. Having no one left in the world and no place to go, she returned to the Parris security, hoping that a PMC base was able to survive the attacks.
In time, she was able to use her skills to start small-scale food production chain. She confiscated one of the yards in the facility, turning it into a field where various vegetables could grow. It is not large enough to fully supply the community, but it provides welcomed addition to the canned and dried food.
Skills:Botany, gardening, herbal medicine
Weapons:She had received a proper firearm training in the past few years, but only uses a gun when going outside of the compound. She always carries a large hunting knife, strapped to her right thigh.