Tomahawk

Surviving: The End. (Season 1) (CLOSING, look for reboot!)

Aaand here's my second character!

Emily Baker

Emily Katherin "Emmie" Baker

Group:
Walker

Date of Birth:
August 9th, 2002

Occupation:
Student

Family Life:
Jessica (Mother) (Deceased)
Thomas (Father) (Missing)

Hair:
Blonde

Eyes:
Blue

Height:
5'3" (160cm)

Weight:
106lbs (48kg)

Blood Type:
AB+

Immune:
Yes

Gear:
Emmie stows the majority of her water (plastic bottles, four) and food stuffs (canned food and snacks, a moderate amount) in a medium-sized backpack intended for recreational camping. Per weaponry, stuffed into her backpack is her father's Walther P22, for which she has run out of ammunition; furthermore, she keeps a strong utility knife in her jeans pocket.

Despite her situation, Emmie maintains control of her world by continuing to wear make-up (stashed in her back-pack) and dress in a fashion that could be considered both attractive and functional. For whatever reason, she also has her iPhone 7S, which has long since lost its last bit of charge.

Biography:
Emily Baker - preferring to be called "Emmie" by her friends and family - was born to Thomas and Jessica Baker in Springfield, Missouri, on August 9th, 2002. In their late 20s, Thomas and Jessica had been trying to conceive for years, and had nearly given up hope altogether when Emmie came into their lives; thus, it is unsurprising that the young parents doted upon the girl with reckless abandon.

Emmie excelled in school, perpetually on the honors list and involved with as many extracurriculur activities as she could manage; in particular, Emmie was one of the top volleyball players in the state at fourteen, a Freshman in high school. The Bakers were forever smitten with their little girl, and proud of every milestone she reached as a young woman.

Unfortunately, life could not remain so ideal: in 2017, society lurched into decline. It was difficult even for a young girl like Emmie, insulated as she was from the stark ugliness of the real world, to ignore the decay of civilization. She had been afraid during the riots caused by the war and the rapidly declining American economy, but now she was terrified: men and women were dying in the streets, and before long, the news was no longer broadcast at all.

Fleeing their home in Springfield, Emmie's mother was bitten by a large, wounded man. Her father managed to fight the attacker off, but her mother quickly began to change, grow aggressive, and attempt to fight her father; they abandoned her mother and fled the city, making it to a ramshackle survivor's outpost just outside of Springfield, on the I-44.

In the middle of the night, the camp was beset upon by monsters; Thomas thrust his compact pistol into Emmie's hands and told her to stay quiet, and run if anyone came after her. He left their tent, never to return. Soon after, hearing the approach of the living dead, Emmie fled her tent and the camp with her backpack and what little supplies she could scrounge together.

She continued along the I-44 on foot, collapsing of exhaustion, hunger, and dehydration outside of Marshfield. Emmie was found by a farmer, a rough, bald man named Paul, who carried her back to his home. Paul's wife, Elizabeth, tended to the girl's wounds, fed her, and helped her get cleaned up. Paul and Elizabeth had no children, but were welcoming and warm enough, insisting that Emmie stay with them; they considered their home, relatively out of the way of society, to be safe, despite the troubling times.

Emmie stayed with Paul and Elizabeth, helping Paul with his crops, for several months; as the winter grew closer, a small group of vagabonds happened upon the farm, and traded various supplies with Paul in exchange for some food. Becoming acquainted with the singular woman in the group, Alex, Emmie decided that her best bet to locate her father was at Fort Leonard Wood, rumored to be a safe haven for survivors of the apocalypse; it was the nearest military base in the state, and whether or not it was safe it made sense that Thomas might look for her there.

She agreed to travel with Alex and her friends, bidding Paul and Elizabeth goodbye, and thanking them profusely for their help. Entering Waynesville - just north of Leonard Wood - some time later, Emmie, Alex, and the rest of the survivors traveling with them were split up by a horde of 'zeds,' as the survivors referred to them; alone, with considerably little supplies, and uncertain of how to reach Fort Leonard Wood, Emmie took shelter in the ruins of an abandoned gas station and wept, terrified.

Personality:

Emmie is a fairly resolute girl, doing her best to maintain some sense of humanity amid the destruction and danger around her. She is as hopeful and optimistic as she can be, considering the circumstances, due to her rather joyful upbringing. She is, however, somewhat naive and childlike, particularly in her insistance to apply make-up almost daily despite her surroundings.

There's a lot less substance here, unfortunately, due to her age and inexperience. I do have a solid idea for how I'd like to play her, however, and hope to develop her pretty thoroughly; while Robin is already a grown man with his own strengths and weaknesses, opinions and personality, Emmie is a bit more flexible, able to develop and grow in new directions. I feel they strike an interesting balance.

@Azseth

Oh, and @ChaoticFox, if you have any thoughts about how they can meet up, just hit me up. I'm also open to altering her backstory a bit, if you'd like them to already be traveling together when we start.

Surviving: The End. (Season 1) (CLOSING, look for reboot!)

@Tomahawk - I need a sample from you, but in the interim, everything looks well with Robin.

@Azseth

Sounds good. Working on my second character now, then on to the sample post.

@Tomahawk Maybe Marni and Robin should join up. Could be an amusing pair.

@Sterling

Yeah, I was thinking that! I'm entirely game for them to meet up at the beginning of the thread - or we can set up something before that, if you'd like. I have him listed as "solo" right now, but I can change that. Any thoughts?

Surviving: The End. (Season 1) (CLOSING, look for reboot!)

Here's my first character, Iraq/Afghanistan/Syrian war veteran/history teacher Jonathan Robin York, prefers Robin. My next character will be far less equipped to deal with combat, I'll probably crank her out tomorrow, and then I'll hook you up with a sample post, @Azseth.

Robin York

JONATHAN ROBIN YORK

Group:
Walkers / Solo

Date of Birth:
May 16th, 1987 (30 years old)

Occupation:
19D United States Army, 1st Armored Division, 1st Stryker Brigade, 6th Squadron (Retired) (2004 - 2010) (2016)
East High School, Kansas City, MO Sophomore History Teacher / Assistant Football Coach (2014 - 2016) (2017)

Family life:
Engaged†, no children.

Hair:
Black.

Eyes:
Blue-green.

Height:
6'1" (185cm)

Weight:
195lbs (88.4kg)

Blood Type:
A+

Immune:
No.

Gear:
- One M4A1 assault rifle, one magazine, no ammunition
- One Sig Sauer 1911, modified for .22LR 10rd., two magazines, 20 rounds of ammunition
- One M9 Bayonet combat knife
- One backpack, medium-sized
- Two water canteens; (A) full, (B) ½ depleted
- One flashlight w/batteries
- Small amount of canned food

Biography:

Born in 1987 to Corporal Jackson York and his young spouse, Hannah, Robin grew up just shy of being a military brat. His father, Jackson, was over forty years old when Robin was born; Jackson was born at the tail end of World War II and drafted into service in 1965, when the United States began its ground war against North Vietnam. "The battle against communism must be joined with strength and determination," said President Johnson, and Jackson York agreed enthusiastically.

Jackson spent the next twenty-two years of his life in the United States Marine Corps, retiring at forty three months before his son, Robin, was born. Despite his valor and service, Jackson was unfaithful, a womanizer and a drinker and a gambler - and a general degenerate. Robin's adolescence was pleasant enough, but as he made egress from his formative years and reached his late tweens, perhaps his early teens, Jackson's temper and perpetual need for a finger or four of Johnnie Walker came to a head.

The boy and his father bickered, quarreled, and - on more than one occasion - engaged one another physically. Hannah, ever the doting wife and silent third party, ignored Jackson's rage and vice and, instead, did what she could to nurse Robin's wounds. Meanwhile, Robin grew resentful, donning a jean jacket and Vans and blasting whatever filthy rock'n'roll he could dredge up from friends' CD collections. Van Halen, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Bon Jovi, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, et. al.

Robin grew his hair out and began to act up: ditching school, smoking cigarettes and pot and joyriding in stolen cars. He would spend weeks away from his home, crashing on friends' couches, on public park benches, and in the back of abandoned cars. At seventeen, he became enamored with the idea of a steady source of money and the chance to tote a loaded gun: Robin enlisted in the United States Army, forging his father's signature and volunteering to fight terrorists.

19 Delta, Cavalry Scout: ten weeks of BCT, seven weeks of AIT, rolled into one grueling OSUT course at Fort Knox, KY. Robin came out the other side stronger, both physically and mentally, having discovered his absolute limits. He knew how to march, how to follow orders, and how to hit a man with an M4A1 at 300m.

In the year 2004, anti-Iraq sentiment was at an all-time high, and Robin was deployed with the 6th Squadron - 1st Cavalry Unit - to maintain peace and order in Iraq. Robin endured the hatred of Iraqi civilians, suffered the mental rigors of suicide bombers and children chucking dud grenades into his truck; fired upon and killed enemy insurgents, and lost more than one friend to roadside IEDs. It was a miserable time to be enrolled into a Combat Arms MOS, but Robin endured, and grew harder for it.

In 2008, the United States Army withdrew from Iraq. Robin found himself repurposed for the front in Afghanistan, fighting in Kandahar, the nation's most dangerous province. At twenty-two, Robin had lost count of the number of men's lives he had taken - yet the cold sweat and sheer terror of combat never abated, no matter how routine and perfunctory its mechanics had become.

After two tours, Robin had lost his taste of the Army and did not re-up for a third. In 2010, Robin returned to his hometown of Kansas City, MO, to begin his life as a civilian. Adjustment was difficult; he had never been on his own, independent of some overarching system, as an adult. He struggled, but used his G.I. payments to attend the University of Kansas, Kansas City campus; four years later, he received his Bachelors in History.

During his collegiate pursuits, Robin also met Kelly, a gorgeous, wiry brunette studying pediatrics at UMK. They soon fell in love and moved into an apartment in the city together. Robin gained employment as a tenth grade history teacher at East High School. He even wound up becoming one of the football team's three assistant coaches. Coming up on thirty, Robin had managed to string together a lovely suburbanite life - a far cry from his troubled youth and his time in the sandbox.

Meanwhile, a proxy war had been brewing in Syria since early 2011; Alawi government forces, supported by myriad other Shia groups, was locked in conflict with a rapidly growing Sunni rebellion. The Syrian Civil War erupted in 2013, dominating American news as several insurgencies came to prominence, the most noteworthy being the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - colloquially recognized as Islamic State, or ISIL. They were a radical brotherhood of armed Muslims so extreme as to be disowned by Al-Qaeda, and for the first time since the late 1970s American SOF troops were fighting alongside members of Al-Qaeda, now in Syria, hoping to combat the global threat that was ISIL.

Tension boiled over in early 2016: the Syrian government was projected to control just 12% of Syria, the Sunni rebels another 22%, and ISIL a whopping 66% of the nation. Public, televised executions became a daily affair, and citizens of the western world grew weary of watching their brothers and sisters meet an executioner's blade, or be drowned, or immolated, or blown to bits. Things had gotten out of hand - but nobody wanted to legitimize ISIL as a sovereign entity, or, even worse, be the clean-up crew after ending the Syrian Civil War.

After an ISIL attempt on the life of the President of the United States of America in late January of 2016, "war" was inevitable. There was no declaration, no draft, no sounding of the alarms: tier one operators were deployed to establish local connections and geographic footholds; then, the Rangers were mailed to the outskirts of Syria via parachute, courtesy of the U.S. government; finally, infantry battalions were stationed across the country, and the War in Syria began. Critics noted the similarity of the war's opening stages to the abrupt invasion of Iraq during the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Title 10, United States Code, Section 12305(a) states that "the President may suspend any provision of law relating to promotion, retirement, or separation applicable to any member of the armed forces who the President determines is essential to the national security of the United States." In essence, because Robin had served in the War in Afghanistan, the Army could recall him for active duty service until six months after the end of the conflict; as the war had raged for the last fourteen years, Robin was eligible to return to service.

Return he did, kissing his girlfriend goodbye and joining the rest of his old unit in Syria. It was a war not unlike Iraq or Afghanistan before it, only noteworthy in that ISIL combatants were considerably more fierce than insurgents before them; it was odd, working alongside the same Al-Qaeda members that Robin had fought tooth-and-nail years before, but curious times made for strange bedfellows.

Only perhaps six months into his deployment, in the midst of a firefight, Robin's was wounded by shrapnel from an explosive device; after the skirmish, he was airlifted to a medical triage unit, and then flown to Germany for further treatment. It was determined that, with considerable physical therapy, his leg would heal just fine - but that he would lose perhaps ten to fifteen percent mobility in the process.

Deemed unfit for service, Robin was awarded a purple heart and given a medical discharge. He returned home to Kansas City, to Kelly, and - after a few months of physical therapy culminating in his recovery - to his job at East High School. Things were peaceful for a time, but, inevitably, war found Robin: on Valentine's Day, 2017, he proposed to Kelly - and she accepted. They told their close group of friends, tentatively scheduling a wedding date of April 15th, 2018.

In the days to come, society came crashing down around them; Robin lost Kelly early on to one of the living dead, affectionately referred to as "biters" by the company he kept. Emotionally devastated and considerably colder, Robin joined a group of veterans or former PMC-types, gathering firearms and charging tolls to cross major bridges and robbing other survivors at gunpoint.

His morality decayed, but Robin maintained a hard line that he would not cross: he refused to murder innocent civilians, or stand by as others did so; refusing to abandon some sense of humanity, Robin became the black sheep of the wolf pack, and was constantly forced to assert his dominance over other, less-experienced group members to avoid exile or execution.

In September of 2017, as a chill began to permeate the air, Robin lost his place in the pack. A younger, more hot-headed member - another veteran of the Syrian war, an infantryman - tried to rape a young woman held captive by Robin's scouting party. Pushed to the brink and worn thin from the world they now lived in, Robin cut the man's throat, and when the other member of the scout detail moved against him, Robin blew the man's brains out.

He cut the girl free and she fled - and he did the same. Kansas City was no longer safe for Robin, but he'd been mulling over an exit plan; Fort Leonard Wood, a military installation some two hundred miles from Kansas City, might still be operational. He hadn't seen any military convoys in the city to suggest as much, but perhaps the Marines had abandoned the larger settlements; they were, for the most part, overrun by biters or the vicious bandits that Robin had aligned himself with.

He was set, then: it would take some time, but Robin would make his way to Leonard Wood, and hope that some semblance of order might remain there.

Personality:

Robin is tough, that's for sure: he's survived three wars and the end of civilization, and not many men can attest to similar experience. He's reasonably charismatic, capable of leading a group, and has a mind for strategy - but he's been made callous by the loss of his beloved, and no longer has much faith in the world or humanity as a whole.

Because of this callousness, Robin is more likely to partake in morally ambiguous activities, and think only of himself in a crisis; he's a good man at heart, and the desire to help others hasn't abandoned him entirely - but that good nature is buried deep, beneath many layers of grit and grime, and it would be difficult to recover at this point.

He's a wry man, a fan of tongue-in-cheek humor, and smiles come few and far between - but when they're there, you know they're for a damn good reason. He's fairly patient, though he inherited a temper from his abusive father. Due to his upbringing, Robin does not drink or partake in any drugs harder than marijuana.

Surviving: The End. (Season 1) (CLOSING, look for reboot!)

Very cool. We can talk about it more once I've written her up - I'm just now finishing my first character.

Surviving: The End. (Season 1) (CLOSING, look for reboot!)

@ChaoticFox

Speaking of your character, I'm writing a secondary character, a young girl - probably fourteen or fifteen. Interested in perhaps pairing them together before we start?

Surviving: The End. (Season 1) (CLOSING, look for reboot!)

@Azseth

Thanks for the information about Leonard Wood in our universe, very helpful.

As far as the war in Syria goes, I can certainly expand upon it in my first character's biography. He's a veteran, and part of his recent past involves being roped back into war via stop-loss - so I can flesh that out, no problem.

Surviving: The End. (Season 1) (CLOSING, look for reboot!)

To be fair, if you're already not in the best health, the infection from a bite can end your life. The RAs can still just outright eat you alive, too. They present a genuine danger - just not the immediate danger of being turned, an all too common trope in zombie fiction.

Surviving: The End. (Season 1) (CLOSING, look for reboot!)

@Azseth

Sounds good. I've already ready those posts, but I'll give them another once-over, just to be thorough. I'll peep the other accepted characters thus far and see what I can come up with (I've already got an idea or two, so I might make multiple characters).

Just for the record, I work night shift, GMT -5 or EST. I'll probably be opposite most of you folks on time.

EDIT: Question: you list Leonard Wood as a USMC military base, but it is - in the real world - an Army Support Center. Currently Leonard Wood houses the CBRN school, USACE, the MP Corps, the Transportation Corps, and 4th MEB. There's no USMC presence in the Missouri Ozarks. Is this just a bit of historical reworking?

EDIT 2: Also, did the war in Syria take place in 2016? And who was involved, from a global standpoint? Did it have to do with the current political tension in Syria?

Surviving: The End. (Season 1) (CLOSING, look for reboot!)

Sorry if I just missed it, but I didn't see anything in your first couple of posts here - are you still accepting characters/participants? I saw that you mentioned once the IC is rolling you're set for the season, but I figured I'd double check just to be sure. If not, that's OK, I can hang out 'til season two.

Haven (Open)

Hayley Cross

Name:
Hayley Cross

Age:
Sixteen

Gender:
Female

Occupation:
Student

Pros
* Athletic
* Intelligent
* Empathetic
* Positive

Cons
* Brash
* Know-it-all

Firearm proficiency:
1

Weapons:
* A well-used pocket knife, serrated, 4" blade

Equipment:
* Backpack
* Drinking water
* Food-stuffs (snacks, primarily)

Apparel:
* A worn Skid Row tee
* Pre-ripped, fashionable jeans
* Vans

Personality:

At sixteen, Hayley is a junior varsity allstar volleyball player; her lithe, toned physique is a testament to years spent working at cardio perfection. An only child, Hayley has often sought out and befriended as many likeminded folks her age as she can manage, and - as a result - has developed into an extremely empathetic, caring individual. She is exceedingly book smart, a straight A student, but has very little real-world experience, having led a sheltered suburban life before the fall of civilization - fortunately, Hayley has a good head on her shoulders.

Backstory:

After the initial outbreak, Hayley and her father were separated from her mother. They did their best to stick together, heading from failed evac zone to failed evac zone in an attempt to locate their wayward matriarch - but to no avail. Nearly two months of perpetual movement, scavenging day-to-day to survive, Hayley's father was stabbed by an angry vagrant intent on robbing them. She fled the scene, and eventually sought refuge in the settlement of Haven, an orphan.

John Bishop

Name:
John Bishop

Age:
Twenty-nine

Gender:
Male

Occupation:
Student; retired Staff Sergeant, 19D, United States Army

Pros
* Athletic
* Well-trained (Combat MOS)
* Resourceful

Cons
* Egotistical
* Brusque
* Functioning alcoholic

Firearm proficiency:
* 5, mid-range rifles
* 3, long-range rifles
* 3, pistols/sub-machine guns
* 2, shotguns

Weapons:
* M9 Bayonet, holstered

Equipment:
* Backpack
* Drinking water
* Canned food

Apparel:
* A grey PT shirt, "ARMY" written across the chest
* Blue-jeans
* Steel-toed work boots

Personality:

Bishop is an intelligent man, articulate and charismatic, with a mind for strategy - hence the rapid-fire promotion from enlisted to NCO, and on to leading his own squad of men in Kandahar, Afghanistan, as a Staff Sergeant. He has an ego - given his training, he, unsurprisingly, finds his own judgment to be far more sound than a civilian's. Furthermore, he can be very brief with those that he doesn't know, instead laying out a plan and expecting others to stick to it. After returning state-side, Bishop developed an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, but managed to maintain his schoolwork and social life without any problems; as of the outbreak, he has sobered up - but every day is a fight against the bottle, particularly days when they find booze.

Backstory:

After three tours, Bishop decided not to re-up his contract and instead was honorably discharged from service. He returned to the United States and began to pursue a degree in education, hoping to teach college level history. His plans were neatly kiboshed by the end of society, however. Local Nasties failed to maintain order - unsurprisingly - and Bishop found himself flying solo; it wasn't that dissimilar to Afghanistan, but he'd had enough combat in the war.

A few months on, Bishop stumbled upon the ragtag city of Haven, and decided to settle in - he had assessed the situation, and decided that this doomsday scenario made a lone wolf strategy unrealistic. If he was going to survive, he'd need the help of others - and Haven seemed like the perfect place to start rebuilding.

Yo. I know the sheets are a bit bare, but I've never been particularly good at pre-plot sheets. If there's anything you'd like me to expand upon, just let me know.