Young Writers Society

Character Spreadsheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... SQmc#gid=6
Workshop here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nf3 ... r_08w/edit

The Workshop



Apocalypse 101 - The Plot



Apocalypse 101 - The Characters



How Many People can Join

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Character Ideas

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Character Profile

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[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b] (all of Mr. Donahue's students would now be aged 21+ (he taught high school) but you may be as young as 16. Nobody younger than that will be permitted to leave the bunker on the first expedition.)
[b]Appearance:[/b]

[b]Personality:[/b]

[b]Strengths:[/b]

[b]Weaknesses:[/b]

[b]History:[/b] (please keep family details vague if you are attending the workshop.)

Name: Jasmine (Nicknamed Jas.)
Age: 24
Appearance: Jas has thick dark brown hair usually cropped to above her ears in front and tapering down to right above her neck on the back on her head. Her eyes are a stormy gray and she usually wears dark green glasses with thin frames. She’s thin, but mostly because of limited rations, not exercise. She generally wears jeans and t-shirts in dark colors with a black wool sweater that’s starting to get a little raggedy.
Personality: Jas is introverted and shy, and spends a lot of time drawing with any materials she can find. She’s intelligent and fond of nature, and back when she was a kid she spent a lot of time outside drawing what she saw. Jas has a tendency to obey authority; she’d like to know the reason why they have her so something, but unless it goes strongly against her morals she’ll do it. Because of this, she always was a really good student at school. She doesn’t talk unless she feels she has something important to say or she needs to, so her interpersonal skills have suffered as a result.
Strengths: Math and science skills(Up to high school grad level, since her parents helped tutor her after the apocalypse.) She never got English and History quite as well because she couldn’t understand people’s motivations.
Nature knowledge
Her drawing skills
Survival skills she learned about in the bunker
Weaknesses: Interpersonal skills-both talking with other people and understanding their feelings
Physical fitness-thin, yes. Fit, no way.
Vision-Her glasses are from eighth grade, so she’s become more nearsighted since then. Not like you can get new glasses after the apocalypse.
She tends to get nervous if she feels people are depending on her, worried she’ll fail, which makes her more likely to fail.
History: She grew up in the same town as Mr. Donahue with her parents and some siblings, but didn’t spend much time with the other kids. Instead, she wandered in the woods, read in the library, and listened to music in her room with her cat curled on her lap. Like any kid her age, she had dreams of the future; specifically, when she grew up she wanted to be a biologist, traveling to far away places and recording the life she saw there with her drawings and writing. In freshman year when she had Mr. Donahue as a teacher, everything went wrong. After the attacks, her parents, good friends of Mr. Donahue because they were almost as crazy as he was, were invited to stay with their family, including Jas, in the bunker. Jas was devastated because she had to give up more than ten years worth of drawings and her elderly cat. In the bunker, people basically had her look after the little kids with the other teens, but it quickly became apparent she was useless at that. She occasionally managed to trade for favors by making drawings based on people’s memories of the old world, but really didn’t have much to do anymore. Jas would really like to leave Keeping her family vague since I'll try to make it to the workshop.

Name: Hallie

Age: 25

Appearance: She has glossy black hair that is very long and dark brown eyes. She looks rough and she has scars on her legs from a mysterious cause. Her skin is caramel colored. Hallie is about 5'3'' and thin.


Personality: She's very curious and observant. She's not very social and keeps to herself though. She has little to no self-control. She likes to sew and sews up the other survivor's clothing or sheets.
At times the only people she'll talk to is her aunt or cousin.

Strengths: Her observance. She's also very resourceful.

Weaknesses: She has a hard time getting/asking for someone else's help. And her little self-control.

History: She was raised by her aunt and her late uncle. Her cousin was raised up with her and was just like a sibling to her. She and her aunt and cousin made it to the bunker together. They were all neighbors of Mr. Donahue. Hallie thought Mr. Donahue was crazy at first, that he was one of those weird Doomsday Preppers who were preparing for nothing. That was before everything happened. It came to her as a shock and somewhat a relief that she and her family had to take shelter with Mr. Donahue.

Name: Rheyalyn (Rhey)

Age: Seventeen years old

Appearance: Rheyalyn is a tall, slim girl with a hardened look in her black, black eyes. Her long, wavy hair starts out auburn at the roots, but as you go further down it darkens to a black-brown color. Her skin is a bit pale in color, but she doesn't burn in the sun.

Personality: Rhey is a headstrong girl with an likable personality and a friendly smile, who loves to talk. Despite the fact that she hasn't seen her parents since she was a very small child, she has always tried to make the most out of life. She has a slight attitude and will almost never back down from a challenge, which once cost her the price of two of her baby teeth when she was ten. If you give Rhey an order, she may ask you, Why, why, why, but sometimes she is smart enough to shut up and follow orders. Some would call her brave, but in truth, she is just reckless.

Strengths: Rheyalyn's strengths vary from charm to algebra to determination. She's decent in mathematics and is an excellent artist, and specializes in sketching. She likes writing, too, but she doesn't find very much time to pursue her hobbies. However, she will stay up at night wondering about what the surface looks like -- the glow of the moon and stars, the feel of the wind, the smell of the rain, the dirt, the grass, and so many other things.

Weaknesses: Rheyalyn is quite idiotic at times when she feels like it. She needs to work on keeping secrets -- she can be quite loose-tongued at times. She isn't very strong, though she is very ambitious.

History: Rheyalyn doesn't quite remember her past, because she has always lived by 'never brooding on the past, never borrowing tomorrow's troubles.' She knows her parents brought her to this safe haven, but she doesn't know what happened to them. She wonders about them at times, but not often.

Name: Dex

Age: 22

Appearance: Medium-brown hair, combed forward. Rectangular glasses with a thin frame, small nose. Usually has a serious expression. Tall but thin. Extremely pale due to staying in the bunker for so long. Usually well groomed.

Personality: Dex is usually quite cynical and sarcastic, with a bleak outlook on life. He is often quite suspicious of people he does not know well and tends to stay within the groups of people he is comfortable with, if he's with them at all.

Dex however, tends to be determined and likes to pay attention to the finer details. Fiercely protective towards his friends and his ideals, Dex is loyal and hardworking.

Strengths: Fast. Good at outsmarting and outrunning the enemy. Intelligent. Observant.

Weaknesses: Lacking in physical strength. Short sighted. Sometimes apathetic.

History: (please keep family details vague if you are attending the workshop.) Used to be a student of Mr Donahue.

Name: Keanen Doherty

Age: 24

Appearance: Keanen has a very pretty face, and often reminds everyone of it. He's also unusually well groomed considering he's been in a bunker for ten years. He has very pale skin despite having dark hair all over his body, from the hair on his head to his eyelashes. His eyes are big and blue, and has a relatively muscular build because he feels it coincides with his 'manly stubble'.

Personality: Basically, he's a little sh*t. He's known by everyone as a conceited, self-righteousness young man who will always argue his case whether he's in the right or wrong, the latter being the case 90% of the time. You can't get much more selfish than Keanen, and he considers himself the most beautiful creation to ever grace the earth. He's not necessarily a bad person and wouldn't go out of his way to hurt people, but he finds it highly amusing to wind others up. His general narcissistic attitude may or may not be due to unresolved issues with his sexuality.

Strengths: Keanen will fight until the end to get what he wants, so he is a massive benefit when what he wants matches what everyone else wants. He's also oddly calm in dangerous and terrifying situations, and as he's not afraid to offend people, he's more than happy to make them push their fears aside and get on with what needs to be done. He's very physically fit as well, and so is useful for physical tasks.

Weaknesses: His crude, selfish behaviour doesn't exactly make him very popular and so there aren't many people who are willing to work or spend much time with him, and he makes a lot of stupid decisions due to him basing those decisions on his own wants and needs. Keanen also doesn't feel negative emotions very often, but when he does, they overpower him and he has a tendency to shut down completely. When he's like this, he's not only useless but becomes a hindrance.

History: Keanen isn't connected to any family, he's simply an ex student of Mr. Donahue who entered the bunker alone. He was extremely close to Mr. Donahue for reasons unknown to others, and while he never admitted it, Keanen was distraught over the man's death. He shut down and cut himself off from others for almost a week afterwards.

Abigail Marsh

It was tense in the bunker this morning. Tenser than Abbie had known it to be across these ten years. Tenser even than when dear Mr. Donahue kicked it and they had to empty out the second store room because his body was stinking up their home.

Yes, it was a tough old world sometimes.

"Abigail, I don't think-"

"We took a vote, dear." It had been a landslide. For every person who didn't think they should unseal the bunker, there were another two who thought otherwise. Something in the combination of their dwindling supplies and the skeleton in the closet (though it wouldn't be so bad if he was a skeleton) had convinced the community that it was now or never. And it couldn't be never.

"But Abigail-"

"Paul!" It frustrated Abbie that her husband was one of the few dissenters. Kind, cautious Paul Marsh who hardly ever said a word out of place had the nerve to try and tell her that this wasn't a good idea. He had his reasons, all of them did. For all she knew, they could lift that seal and all die from radiation poisoning within the week. Abbie was no scientist.

The problem was that none of them were, but you couldn't hide a food shortage when you lived in a glorified basement.

Abbie realised there were eyes on her. Eyes from almost every corner of the room. "I suppose there's no sense in waiting." She looked around again and took a deep breath before nodding to herself. "Right then. Let's see what the world looks like."

Abigail lifted the panel on the electrics box and for a scary moment, it occurred to her that this wasn't a function they'd been able to perform a maintenance check on. What if she pushed the button and nothing happened?

It was too late for what ifs now. Abbie pressed the button to release the seal and then climbed up the stairs, key in hand. She turned it in the lock and slowly she pressed a hand against the door. And there was light. Abbie stopped, halfway to opening it, and the light breaking through like a halo around the door was almost enough to overwhelm her.

Then she pushed the door open and she saw the world.

Rheylayn Johnson

All eyes were on Mrs. Marsh. I was watching her. The person next to me was watching her. We all were.

She was going to lift the seal.

I only had vague, foggy memories of the Outside, and my last was the sky. It was night time, and the stars twinkled down on me, smiling. Don't be afraid, they said. Go. Get in the bunker. Everything will be okay. I had smiled back at them and whispered, "Good bye." Then my parents kissed me, hugged me, and said they would be back.

But they never did come back. I don't know why. Did I do something wrong? Were they killed? Did they never actually love me?

Not knowing is the worst. That's why I voted for opening the seal, and now here we were: Eyes wide, breaths caught in our throats as we watched. Afraid. Excited. Anxious. I was more excited than anything, and my obsidian-colored eyes seemed as big as dinner plates. I clenched my fists, watching...

Waiting...

... And she opened it. A halo of light burst through the open doorway, the doorway to a new future. The doorway to the Outside. The doorway to my home. I heard gasps and soft murmurs all around me, and before I knew it, I had let a loud whoop escape my lips. I considered feeling ashamed, but a wide grin was spread on my face. The Outside. For real.

I laughed. Not a giggle, but an actual, full-out laugh. It felt so good to see natural light from the sun. It felt so good to feel the slight draft, breathe in fresh air instead of filtered oxygen. It felt...free.

It felt wonderful.

|Byron Marsh|


Ten years.

The calendar fluttered to the cement floor, dampened and torn over the years, falling apart before Byron's very eyes. Are we getting like that, he wondered tiredly, are we falling apart.

He looked down at his own wrinkled hands. Maybe not on the outside yet, but on the inside. . . . Ten years of sharp tempers, broken relationships, depression, and hate. It was getting too much. Just too much.

“Byron?”

He glanced up and saw Carol standing in the doorway, her blonde hair falling neatly about her shoulders.” Mornin' Carol,” he said.

The tall woman stepped over and sat down on the hard, greasy bed next to him,” ready to leave
already?”

He glanced up at her out of the corner of his eye,” yeah, I am.”

Her soft brown eyes bore into him,” a lot of us are. I'm not sure we can stand . . . this. . . too much longer.”

Byron nodded,” life is made of choices. If we don't make a choice soon then either we'll starve to death in here, or we'll go the quick way out there.”

Carol looked down at the rough floor,” I really hope we weren't wrong in deciding to open the hatch. I really do. If we were wrong . . .”

Byron smiled and lay a hand on his sisters shoulder,” it's okay.” he said,” the kids'll be fine. You don't need to worry. We chose rightly.”

Carol smiled thankfully back and him, and standing, left the tiny room.


Ten minutes later he stood with everyone else, watching Abigail as she pushed the button and, her face worried, opened the hatch. To tell the truth Byron was ready for whatever was out there. It'd been a long time since he'd seen sunlight, but the screeching and crying and hugging that followed wasn't something he really flowed with.

Standing back in the corner he looked up at the blue sky shining outside the hatch and back at the dark doorway on the other side of the room. He was ready to leave, but as always he was careful with what he was doing, and scarcely felt the relief at the sight of real light.

“This is a bad idea.”

Byron glanced at Paul, standing next to him, looking half-resentfully up at the light pouring into the room full of celebrating people. He smiled,” what would you have us do? Stay in here till we die of hunger?”

Paul opened his mouth to speak, but there was nothing to say. He sighed,” look, Byron, I'm just being careful. Don't hate me for that.”

Byron shrugged,” I don't. You're just letting your care turn you into a coward. Don't let it.”

If it had been anyone other than Paul they probably would have been affronted by Byron’s forwardness, but Paul was used to it. His eyes narrowed one last time at his younger brother and he stalked away.

Suddenly a little figure darted past Byron, but reaching down he scooped up little Elaine. She giggled and squirmed in his arms, forcing him to smile,” let go Byron!” she squealed.

He chuckled,” you just stick around the back here for a while. Nobody's going outside for a few minutes yet.”

“But Byron,” she complained,” I wanna go-” her words were cut off with a squeal of delight,” mommy!” She cried, holding her arms out toward Abigail.

Byron grinned ear to ear and set the little girl down, letting her totter off through to crowd toward her mother. A life in a cave like this one didn't befit a little angel like her. And it never would.

He returned his eyes to the sky.

It was time.

Keanen Dohery

Never had I known a group of people more melodramatic than these idiots.

Admittedly though, I'd not had floods of company throughout my lifetime considering I'd been stuck here with this ugly bunch since I was fourteen. Actually no, that was unfair. It wasn't that they were all necessarily ugly, it was just that I was naturally a very attractive guy, and so disregarding some rare exceptions, they all looked crap next to me. That's just how it was. I would've felt sorry for them but that required empathising, and empathising required far too much effort for my liking. Not only that, but it made you weak: hardly a beneficial trait in this cramped crap hole.

Soon though, we'd have been out of here. The uncertainty and anxiety was noticeable on Abigail's face as she approached the bunker door, and judging by the overly bright eyes of some people, I was honestly expecting them to start clawing at the thing like a herd of rabid animals.

"I suppose there's no sense in waiting." Abigail's voice silenced any murmurs, and everyone's eyes were on her--by which I mean everyone but mine because I was busy trying to fix this irritating flick in my hair. "Right then," Abigail continued as I finally focused on her. "Let's see what the world looks like."

As she welcomed the group to the blaring sunlight by gently and slowly opening the door, the melodrama really revved up a gear. So much so that I genuinely considered repeatedly ramming my head against a wall until I knocked myself out, but that would have really screwed up my hair so I decided against it.

People either gasped as if they were trying to absorb every last breath of the limited oxygen we had, or cheered unnaturally loudly as if they had the brain cell count of a neanderthal. The worst though were those who cried because not only did it make them sound like slurring whales, but their squished faces and bloodshot eyes made them look even more horrendous than they did already. I was a god for tolerating this for ten years.

As for me, I just smiled. As easy as that, as easy as the slide of a door, we were free. I was free. Free from the claustrophobia, free from the same food year after year, free from the same conversations repeated over and over again as if any of it was anything new, and free from the burden of having to look at Mr. Donahue's body every single day and know that he was nothing but a rotting corpse of the soul he once was.

In that moment, I decided that I didn't care for anyone's worries regarding the danger of opening this bunker because those who worried were wrong. I'd always known best, and everything from my instinct to my logic knew we'd made a good decision here. As always, I was right. This was the best decision we'd ever made, and I was more than willing to fight anyone who thought otherwise.

Jasmine Smith

My hands shake slightly as Mrs. Marsh (I still called her that, a holdover from my childhood) opened the bunker door. Ten years since I had last walked barefoot in soft grass, leaned against a tree and closed my eyes, listening to all the birds and insects. Maybe some, even most of it would be gone, but there'd still be something. Ten years.

But something wasn't right. Mother had decided she didn't wish to leave. She was standing a ways away from the crowd, arms crossed. I ran to her and tugged her arm. "The Smith family should be together for this." She hesitated. "Please? For me?" Mother sighed, but she followed me.

I stood with my family and grasped my mother's hand. With my right hand I reached for Aaron's. My brother glanced at me, looking surprised at my initiating such a social gesture. I smiled tentatively. Looking at Mother, I saw that Father had taken up her hand. The Smith family stood united.

In the back of my mind, however, I could not forget my mother would not be leaving the bunker with us. At least Father had made certain Aaron and I would be in the same group as him, supplies.

Lance Marsh

As his mother opened the hatch, Lance grinned and stretched out an arm, reaching over to loop it casually about Rhey's shoulders. The dark haired girl was laughing and it made Lance laugh too. Crazy. It had only been like a bajillion years since they'd last seen the sun, and one little glimpse had everybody laughing and hugging each other.

Well, Keanen wasn't, but more fool him. That left more girls for Lance to hit on.

"I'd better go say bye to dad, but I'll see you up there. I can't wait to get a proper look at you." Lance gave the girl a wink and then followed his mother who was pushing the wrong way through the crowd.

Lance turned to glance over his shoulder. The people at the front were hesitating, but then they rushed forward, scrambling over each other to be the first one out of the bunker. Awww man. It would have been cool to be able to say that had been him...

"Aaron, hold on-" Lance put out an arm to stop the younger boy, his closest confidante for the last ten years. "Now don't go falling in love with a surface girl, you're marrying one of my sisters, remember?"

Lance ribbed him in the side to show he was mostly joking, but in all honesty, he hoped Aaron would marry Zoey. The girl could be headstrong for sure, but the next boy in age to her was Dex who always seemed to be making goggly eyes at Olivia. After that... well the idea of Keanen marrying his sister did not sit well with him. The guy was seven years older and not worth half of her.

Lance continued on his way to the back of the bunker where his mother was trying to wrestle Elaine into Zoe's arms, despite her protests that she wanted to see the surface. Paul stood off to one side.

"Guess I'll see you tonight, dad." Lance thrust his hands into his pockets and half avoided meeting his father's eye. Paul gave him a long, silent look and then a deep nod.

"Lance, Lance!" Elaine had suddenly noticed his presence and she wriggled free to wrap her arms around his leg. "Bring me a present! I won't stay 'less you bring me a present!"

"Alright," Lance said with a smile, but Elaine looked doubtful.

"Promise me."

"I promise." Lance intended to bring back something nice for both of his sisters, but first, first he would see the world.

Rheyalyn grinned back at Lance, her obsidian eyes glowing with pleasure. The Outside. The answer to all her questions. She wouldn't stay awake at night, wondering about what the Outside was like now. She was going to be outside.

"I'd better go say bye to Dad, but I'll see you up there. I can't wait to get a proper look at you," Lance said, winking. Rhey laughed in response, and he turned around to follow his mother.

The auburn haired girl turned around, letting the current of this river of people sweep her away to the Outside, to the sun, the grass, the first, the trees and flowers and animals. She would her the chirps of birds again.

Finally. Rheyalyn shaded her eyes as the Outside came into view.

Dex

This morning... was interesting.

Mrs Marsh opened the door to the Outside world for the first time. The first time in 10 years, since that war. My dreams were still haunted with the images of sitting in the class room as the room was filled with blindingly bright light and the ear-piercing sound of smashing glass.

A loud groan from the thick, dull grey door, before light flooded the hallway. S

She was out. In the outside.

There was some silence, before some laughing and and cheering. I remained silent with my arms folded, lips pursed. I didn't like the idea of going Outside - were there crazy mutant birds there or something? What about food? Surely everything had been destroyed, and what was above was a barren, desolate wasteland of black ash? What about the radiation?

"Cheer up, Dex!" Liv beamed, another prisoner girl with us in the bunker. "It'll be fine."

My arms fell to my sides. "You're just too positive." I paused. "Should we uh, go up?"

Aaron Smith

The sun shined through the open hatch like a million little fireflies tickling each and everyone of us. Even Keanen had cracked a smile, well at least my whole view of him wasn't changed as I saw his smile disappear as he noticed the flick in his dark hair spring back up. By the way he was acting though it was like the flick was a zombie rising from grave. Oh well, he was... Keanen. Enough said.

Even Lance seemed in a good mood, better than usual and he was one of the most cheerful guys in bunker. He joked around about me not marrying a surface girl but in all honesty, if a hot surface girl comes up to me and wants me, who am I to say no? Well that is if she's not a zombie and what she wants is my brain.

That's when I brought my attention back to my family... oh my family. Jas looked awkward holding hands with, you know, people. Dad and mom were holding hands like they were two bad actors paired up in a crappy rendition of Romeo and Juliet. And here I was, the only normal person in my family of musical and artistic misfits. But we were misfits who "stands together" to quote my dad.

It was kind of awkward standing around holding hands like we were praying to whatever god would give us more sunlight. So I took my chance and broke the link, even if I did receive a sharp look from dad and a resentful look from Jas, she was probably wondering why she hadn't of thought of that sooner. Oh well, Jas, in this family it's survival of the fittest- and by fittest I mean, the person who isn't in dad's death grip, I'm glad I was next to mom.

So now being a Smith family rouge, I went over to Lance, one of my best friends for the past ten years. He was just finishing up talking with his sisters and an awkward conversation with Paul. Lance met my eyes and smiled, probably grateful for a chance to get away from Paul.

We did this little handshake that Lance taught me when I was twelve and he was fourteen. It was long, complicated and even we sometimes forget how it goes, almost like our lives except with our lives we are still working out how it will play out.

He was a lot like me in personality and we always found some way to get into some mischief even in a confined bunker. Whether it's looking through Jas's diary, and getting caught to trying to hide Keanen's hairbrush, and getting caught. But that was when we were little, plus we don't get caught anymore.

Lance and I both started making our way towards the entrance, or should I say exit? Either way I could smell air, real air, not the filtered to death stale oxygen that we had been breathing for the past ten years. I gasped as I saw the outside come into view. Lance grabbed my shoulder. I could here everyone around us break out into either cheers of joy or gasps of disbelief.

Everything was overgrown, it was like looking at a small house in the middle of nowhere and nature had taken control of it, with vines snaking their way up the walls and patches of moss covering it like a blanket. Except this was everywhere.

It wasn't a barren wasteland like some people had been guessing but then again, we weren't in the city yet. I just turned and looked at Lance.

"Lance..."

"Yeah?"

"Please tell me I'm not dreaming."

Lance just gave me a sidelong look. "Wish I could tell you that none of this had ever happened and that you are still the seven year old sniveling kid I remember. But here we are, having this conversation, outside for the first time in ten f***ing years. Get used to it Aaron, this is our world now. And something tells me, this isn't even the start of what is in store for us outside."