Young Writers Society

Necropolis: Revelation.

I can hear them. Their nails claw at the flimsy, laminated balsa wood of the door I locked behind me as I scrambled into my apartment's bathroom. The second one of them puts its weight against the door instead of simply brushing curiously against it, they're through--and so I am. I was a fool to return here. I survived the outbreak, the army, the quarantines, and the firebombs...and my undoing will come on the wings of my own sentimentality. I had to come back for their pictures. I couldn't bear the thought of never seeing their faces again--or worse, forgetting them altogether. The people up North said that Ashville was mostly clear. They were wrong.

I saw them among those that pursue me, and now I will never remember their faces as anything but ghoulish.

I'll join them soon.

If you find this, get out. Get out now.

--Anonymous note found on the corpse of an unidentified male.

Discussion Thread.

THE SETTING: Melinda County, a small county in the Western US (home to about 150,000 people), the center of which is Ashville, a small city (about 80,000 people) in the year 2011 (Note: 3 years after the outbreak of Chemical Agent Z-1412.)

THE CONCEPT: If you haven’t read Necropolis, I would HIGHLY recommend you do so before considering joining this storybook. In 2008, Ashville was the site of an viral outbreak that consumed the city in a manner of hours. The U.S. Federal Government moved quickly to contain the situation, but were unable to do so. Their blockades were quickly compromised, and once the virus was in the open, it spread like wildfire across the nation. Within a week, the nation was essentially lost. Three years later, a post-apocalyptic society has slowly begun to resurface in the nation. Of particular interest to us is the developing society in and around Ashville, the center of the outbreak and where it all started.

MY PHILOSOPHY: I am God in this world. What I say, goes. If you don’t like the sound of that, or couldn’t handle having me correct you, don’t bother applying. Added 03-30-2012: I prefer to have constant contact with my writers as well as between them. If you don't have the desire to work as a cohesive unit and learn to love the people you're writing with, I don't think this is the place to be. I highly recommend having access to the chat room on a consistent basis, as well as at LEAST one of the major IM services (I think Skype is probably your best bet). My storybooks tend to have a TON of co-writing (working with one or more writers to form a post involving you characters) as well as a lot of communication in the Discussion Thread. Again, if this does not sound appealing to you (not just acceptable, but appealing), this is not the place for you.

THE NOW: Three years after the outbreak in Ashville. Characters will start in or around the Ashville area. I strongly urge you to work with other writers to find a way to have your characters meet, as writing alone really sucks sometimes.

THE CAST:
1) You MAY be military--though the government as we know it has been dissolved, it’s conceivable that a few military cells are still active and acting independently.
2) No special powers; everyone is a regular Joe or Jane.
3) All characters are to be approved by the GM (me) before posting begins.

THE RULES: (Thank you Grif)

1)No team-killing: If an active character is going to die, make sure it is thoroughly discussed between both parties involved.

2)On Writing Style: This is a Storybook RPG, so players may write in any style they please. First person, third person omniscient, it's all dependent on your personal preference. That said, I expect QUALITY writing. If you're looking for a casual storybook, you need not apply.

3)On God-Moding:

God Moding is vague. Here are the rules for it.

-- Other authors may control another author's character as long as it keeps the character IN CHARACTER. For extra help, communicate with the author of the character being god-moded first.

-- Authors have every right to determine what is in or out of character for their character. As such, any action they feel is wrong for the character can be vetoed within a few days of the post.

-- This isn't a turn-based RPG, it is a real-time RPG. That means that you aren't obligated to stop and wait for the author to reply to your character. This way, we don't wait three days for a response. Please be congizant of the fact that other people are posting in this storybook, so we don't want a flood of posts from two individuals that happen to be on at the same time. If you want to have your characters have a conversation, get together in chat or via IM or PM and co-write it into one or two posts. Please don't post more than twice a day, and do your best to let a couple people post in between yours.

4) Inactive Characters: If a character hasn't been posted for in a long time (a month) then it will go into the NPC pile. Another writer may choose to write for that character until the original author returns. If the original author returns, the character once again returns to his or her possession. If the situation calls for it, the character may also be killed off.

5) Out of character discussion is to be carried out in the Discussion Thread for this Storybook.

6) Enjoy.

7) I reserve the right to edit any post to add a timestamp or modify content as needed in order to retain the continuity of characters and plot. Please begin all posts with a timestamp in the format of name, location, day, time. Do your best to post within the flow of the timeframe--backtracking or jumping ahead really interrupts the flow of the posts. Any backtracking should be done in the form of a flashback (the difference being that a flashback takes place in the present--a memory of a past event, whereas backtracking is literally going back in time).

8) This is absolutely an adult, R-Rated storybook. If you can't handle adult content (such as violence, language, sexual content, etc.), please don't bother applying.

NAME: Kevin Scholler
AGE: 25
HEIGHT: 6'2"
WEIGHT: 160 lbs (formerly a solid 220lbs)
EYES: Brown
HAIR: Brown
PHYSIQUE: Slim, a shadow of his formerly muscular/athletic self.
NOTABLE FEATURES: Rarely without a baseball cap of some sort, formerly handsome features now sunken and beaten down. Unkempt beard and long, scraggly hair.
EDUCATION: High School grad, BS in Kicking Ass.
GEAR: Springfield XD 9mm pistol (w/ two spare magazines), Ruger Mini-14 Rifle w/Eotech Holographic Sight (w/ two spare magazines), tactical belt loaded with a tactical thigh holster and various pouches containing Godknowswhat. Utility backpack, 4" Ka-Bar open assist knife, well worn journals and pen.
PROS: Expert with firearms, handy in a fist fight. Highly intelligent. Level-headed in a crisis. Utterly ruthless, and very decisive.
CONS: Very low empathy toward the well being of other people. Self comes first, others second, if ever. Addicted to a variety of pain-killers (Demerol, Vicodin, Percocet, Oxycontin, Codeine, you name it), borderline alcoholic. Possible Schizophrenic, likely drug-induced. Injured left knee that didn’t completely heal, severely limiting his explosiveness and mobility. Walking and jogging are okay, but dead-sprints and leaping ability is greatly limited. Near-paranoid mistrust of police officers and government personnel. Utterly ruthless, and very decisive.
BEFORE THE OUTBREAK: Grew up in a stereotypical American household; mother, father, and two siblings and a dog named Woofy. Older brother was killed by police officers due to a misunderstanding, contributing to a vicious hatred of organized authority. Lived with his two best friends and his girlfriend in a small house they were renting prior to the outbreak. Was head of the boxing club at his school, and was an accomplished Wide Receiver for the Varsity team. He worked out frequently and vigorously. His hobbies were sex, sports, and, strangely, journal writing. Most recently, held down a job at a sporting goods shop, where he worked the firearms counter.
SINCE THE OUTBREAK: Survived the initial spread of the virus in Ashville, and the subsequent occupation of the city by the US Army. Allied himself with a small group of survivors, and become their de facto leader until he “sacrificed” himself to lure a group of zombies away from the group (in actuality, he was trying to run away from the survivors, preferring to fend for himself rather than be responsible for another person’s life.) He injured his knee leaping over a wall, an injury that has haunted him ever since. Eventually he reconnected with the survivors and recovered in their makeshift fortress (a repurposed Costco warehouse). When he was well enough, he left them once more, abandoning the only group of individuals that had shown him any friendship since the outbreak. Details of his life are sketchy from that point on.

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[b]Name:[/b]
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[b]Since The Outbreak:[/b]

Name: Dr Bernard Grahams
Age: 28
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 150 lbs
Eyes: Pale blue
Hair: Light blonde
Physique: Healthy. His fitness improved by necessity since the outbreak.
Notable Features: He wears a medic armband (white with a red cross) on his arm to identify himself as a doctor.
Gear: He carries a gun now -- a Smith and Wesson .38 Revolver. He also keeps his dwindling medical supplies with him at all times in a large backpack.
Education: British medical graduate of the University of Manchester. Now known as The Doctor or Doc.
Pros: Dependable in his role as doctor. Works well under pressure. Has a near photographic memory. Optimistic, idealistic and trusting.
Cons: Physically weak (though improving). Sometimes too trusting as he looks only for the goodness in others. He is indecisive outside of medicine and this makes him a poor leader.
Before The Outbreak: A typical school geek that changed his stars at uni. While he was bullied through most of the British school system, he used university as a chance to reshape himself as a more confident man. His long-term romance with another medical student culminated in a holiday right after graduation. They travelled America, and were unfortunate enough to be in Ashville on the night of the outbreak.
Since The Outbreak: After rescuing Kevin and returning him to Costco, Bernard found he was the only one with proper medical training. He got used to others depending on him and made a place for himself in the fledgling society. When Kevin left again (before his injury had properly healed, no less) Bernard watched helplessly as the society collapsed. He recently lead a group on an unsuccessful mission to retrieve more medical supplies from the local hospital. The two people who were meant to be protecting him were killed. He now carries a gun himself.

Name: Kylie Harris
Age: 27
Height: 5'8''
Weight: 155
Eyes: Blue-grey
Hair: Blonde, medium length, often worn up in a tidy bun.
Physique: Comfortable weight, size C bust, curvy hips and a little extra weight on her stomach.
Notable Features: She's clean. Short clipped nails, fresh blonde hair and it stands out. One look at her and you know she's not from Ashville. She also has slight scarring on her left arm; an old chemical burn from an accident at the lab.
Gear: Medical supplies, one surviving truck, lab equipment: test tubes, chemicals etc. Clothes, hygeine equipment, survival food, restraints. She keeps a few key items in a back-pack that's close to hand but most is in the back of the truck. Beretta 92FS, government standard.
Education: She skipped third and fourth grade, moving straight from second to fifth. Then she skipped seventh grade and entered High School at the tender age of eleven. After ninth grade she attended summer school and skipped tenth. She graduated at fourteen and took four years to complete her BSc in Biomedical science. After that she enrolled in med school and four years later she completed her doctoral degree in Medicine, specialising in research.
Pros: Sharp, unemotional, and co-operative. Kylie can work either as an independent unit or as part of a team, though she's better at the former. Kylie has spent a lot of time around death and has developed a calculative approach to it, thinking of it not as death and life but success and failure. Losing a patient is something akin to scoring badly on a test and while that's upsetting, it isn't life affecting. Or, not her life at least. She's quick on her feet, adaptable and willing to use any resources at hand.
Cons: Judgemental and difficult, Kylie is not as a rule a people person. While she's in charge or working with people proven to be capable, she's comfortable. Anything else and things can get dicey. Kylie is not the consoling type and has been described as acerbic. Weapons are not her strong point. Despite her medical background, Kylie is not what you could call a 'doctor'. She knows most of the basics in theory but she's pushed it out of her head over the years to make more room for 'research' and information on every known virus.
Before the Outbreak: Kylie grew up in White Pine, Nevada with her parents and a brother, older by eight years. She started consuming books at a young age and her parents decided they had a genius on their hands. Her family had the money so they paid for extra tutoring and pushed her to advance through school quickly, which Kylie was more than happy to oblige. After graduating she got snapped up straight away by a small infectious disease research center. They operated in conjunction with a hospital and rarely housed any patients themselves. This made work an exciting but reclusive environment which suited Kylie just fine.
Since the Outbreak: Kylie was brought samples of blood and told little about the virus at first, only that it was a classified case and high risk of contagion. The samples were studied but with few results and eventually as news (and the virus) started to spread, Kylie found out what she was actually working on. Then the military started moving in and turned her work location into a fortress, defending the disease centre in hopes that it would make progress on discovering a cure. Months passed, then years and the military worked to keep their base and its inhabitants well supplied but the virus proved difficult to crack.

Then, about six months ago, ideas were put in motion and two months later, Kylie received clearance to track the virus to its source and study it in its home environment. Along with several other researchers, she was enrolled on a two month intensive course of gun training and truck driving as well as a week of survival training. They set off with a military guard but ran into trouble on the way and only the supply truck at the back of the entourage made it safelt to Ashville.

Name:Nathan Boskuy

Age:24

Height: 6'0

Weight: 90 Kilograms

Eyes:Dark Brown

Hair:Short blonde hair

Physique: Pretty impressive. Got quite a bit of muscle on him.

Notable Features:Has a strong mind. When he wants to do something he usually can do it.

Gear:Carries a 12 Gauge shotgun wherever he goes as well as some food. He also carries a few mechanical parts like car batteries etc.

Education:Recieved a normal education and was attending university before the outbreak.

Pros:Basically sets the standard for not to be fucked with as he he goes hulk.

Cons: Goes uncontrollable some times.

Before The Outbreak:When Nathan was a kid all he ever wanted was to become an army officer in the army. That dream came true at the young age of 19 when he joined the army as a private. He was quickly shipped off all the way Afghanistan and was made to serve there for five years until a fateful day. He and his squadron were badly injured in a mine explosion and were surrounded by the enemy. Nathan couldn't stand the sight of his friends dying so he got up and limped over to his squadron's upturned truck. He jumped on the mounted machine gun, and against all odds, he held them off until evac came to get his squadron out. He was taken back to the US and was made a officer and Recieved a medal. However, once he decided he wanted to go back to Afghanistan, he was made to stay in the US for a couple more months. He was lucky enough to stay and witness the full power of the outbreak as it set across the land. His only hope was to join and help dr Kylie Harris find a cure...

Since The Outbreak:Has been defending his leader with all his might and has been desperately trying to get her safe to Asheville. Waves and waves of enemies came at him but he manged to hold them off. Most of his fellow soldiers died on the way to Asheville. It didn't take long for Kylie to realize that with his experience, courage and leadership skills, he would make a fine squad leader.

Added the following to the original post under the section MY PHILOSOPHY:
Added 03-30-2012: I prefer to have constant contact with my writers as well as between them. If you don't have the desire to work as a cohesive unit and learn to love the people you're writing with, I don't think this is the place to be. I highly recommend having access to the chat room on a consistent basis, as well as at LEAST one of the major IM services (I think Skype is probably your best bet). My storybooks tend to have a TON of co-writing (working with one or more writers to form a post involving you characters) as well as a lot of communication in the Discussion Thread. Again, if this does not sound appealing to you (not just acceptable, but appealing), this is not the place for you.

Discussion thread is up.

Name: Annika Backes
Age: 28
Height: 5'6'
Weight: 104 lbs.
Eyes: Green
Hair: Burnt-sienna, shoulder length, often worn in a single french braid.
Physique: She is quite emaciated at this point and has lost a lot of muscle mass.
Notable Features: Though she's evidently extremely malnourished it's easy to see that she hasn't given up yet. She has retained her neat and groomed style and has yet to abandon basic hygiene. She has pale skin but is very freckled. She retains bruises easily and her legs are covered in them.
Gear: She packs light and, having recovered items from a army surplus store, carries a canvas rucksack with basic supplies, a cold steel Latin machete, and a lightweight crossbow. She is adept with the bow but has not mastered the use of the machete and cannot use it as a weapon.
Education: She studied at the Coast Guard academy and served in the force for 2 years but stepped down for academic leave. After that she studied Admiralty Law at Tulane University and has been a Military Lawyer, Naval and Coast Guard Branch, ever since.
Pros: She is a fast talker, very analytical, and very well versed in battle strategy. She is an excellent communicator and leader, though she easily works well as a part of a team. She is intelligent and very worldly. She can make decisions quickly and adeptly. She is physically fast and evasive as well as very resourceful. She is an excellent swimmer. She is a good improviser and uses her creativity to its fullest extent. She is neat, organised, and very prepared.
Cons: She is not physically strong at the moment and her strength to weight ration is only about 1:1. Though she likes people, she does not view them as individuals, more as systems to be figured out. She does not give second chances easily and is not quick to trust. She will shoot first and ask questions later and upholds justice over mercy. Additionally, she holds grudges and will never forgive or forget. The disaster weighed very heavily on her and sometimes she has mild tremors where she will lash at anything, leading to her being reckless and unpredictable.
Before the Outbreak: She lived in California where she practiced Admiralty Law in a small but successful law firm. She lived a generally average life, forming connections with people very high in military circles. She had no time for a social life and did not have many friends outside her work. However, she had a close relationship with her father and would go on hunting trips with him every summer. She became knowledgeable in survival and mastered the crossbow for hunting purposes. During her stint at the Coast Guard Academy, she went through basic training, survived boot camp, and became an adept swimmer, certified for rescue missions. One of her connections in the Naval branch tipped her off about the disease and warned her to get out as soon as she could.
Since the Outbreak: Annika has remained strictly nomadic, travelling frequently and staying out of the way of other humans. She travels quietly and discreetly, staying only to gather supplies and food. She does not drive a car but has, instead, traveled on foot. She has been keeping a journal detailing her observations of the infected and puts herself in harms way to study them. She does want to find a safe place to settle, but she has seen a lot on her trek East and isn't sure if anywhere is safe. She knows that the infected are not the only dangerous things out there. She is currently around Ashville. She is very low on supplies.

Name: Becka Count
Age: 23
Height:5’2
Weight:110lb
Eyes:Brown
Hair:Brown, copper tones in the sunlight
Physique: While she displays wiry muscles, she is not extremely strong. Her muscles were developed from use, mainly from activities such as running and jumping. Her athletic ability lies more in the area of endurance, with speed coming second and brute strength last. A natural hourglass figure, Becka once bore the evidence of fat converted to muscle from belly dancing. The curvy figure is long gone, though, as are the hip scarves and tinkling jewelry. The posture of the belly dancer, however (weight in chest, not on feet, chest out, shoulders back and level, chin up and forward, weight centered and balanced) remains.
Notable Features What was once smooth, pale skin has become tanned and leathery from exposure to the sun. While she’s been mostly able to avoid permanent injuries, closer examination of her skin will reveal the scars of several near misses.
Gear .22 DA Colt Diamondback, a Smith and Wesson model 40VE, and a backpack full of various things at various times. Three constants are ammo, a deck of cards, and a small, locked box made of cedar wood.
Education: Was a liberal arts student. Her extracurricular education includes a summer of fencing and archery. She also attended karate classes twice a week for all of eight months before getting frustrated with the repetition of punches and kicks, and traded them for belly dancing instead. Daughter of an artist and an auto body technician, she understands the basics of working with and shaping metal.
Pros:
Size: Her petite size allows her to fit into otherwise cramped spaces, climb up, over, and through obstacles that otherwise might not have supported her, and generally grants her a greater variety of options when it comes to moving from point A to point B. Because she doesn’t have size or strength on her side in a fight, she’s honed in on being squirmy, good at twisting out of grips and breaking holds.
Inventive: While no MacGyver, thanks partially to growing up with an artist for a mom (“everything can be used for something”) she can usually find some way to put the materials at hand to use when it comes to solving a problem. Good at problem solving, she’s quick to look for alternative routes to an otherwise unavailable goal.
Cons:Lousy in a fight when it comes to dealing damage. In addition to not having size to her advantage when it comes to pushing weight, she also has zero technique, with only a few scattered moves remembered from her brief time in karate. Her “style,” if it could be called that, consists of throwing blows and swinging her fists at random with the hope that maybe she’ll make contact. While it’s obviously done her some good in getting her to this point, she knows the main reason she’s survived as long as she has because she’s been able to attach herself to a group. She’s since become better at avoiding fights, and while nobody’s perfect, at least she can survive. Dependent on having a group, and so isn't apt make decisions that would endanger her place in a group unless she feels she has the security of another to run to.

Before The Outbreak: Becka grew up an only child with the full support of her family. Encouraged to do whatever she wanted in life, she had no idea what she wanted in life. She became Liberal Arts student who spent most of her free time racking up volunteer hours. Her haunts varied from cleaning up local parks to helping out at a homeless shelter. It looked good on a resume, and it gave her something to do other than stare at a ceiling and wonder what she was doing, and what she was going to do after graduation. It also kept her out of the apartment she shared with two other girls, a nightmare everyone had warned her about, but that she was unprepared for regardless.

Since The Outbreak: When the outbreak hit, Becka was completely unprepared. It was only through piggy backing on a group of her roommate’s boyfriend’s friends that she was able to survive the initial wave at all. Until that point, her only firearm experience was a BB gun with a warped sight her dad let her use on occasion as a kid. The Diamondback was her first real experience with a gun, and it was with her first group that she learned how to shoot. After the first group fell, she and her former roommate were able to incorporate themselves into a slightly larger group. After a number of disagreements within the group, it eventually disintegrated until only a small few who could tolerate each other were left.

Tensions are still high in the group as the new leader demonstrated a near horrifying lack of experience. Becka and one other were frequently sent out to scavenge supplies from nearby houses or shops while the rest of the group remains in the hideout. As time went on, they had to search further out, increasing the distance they needed to travel both ways. One day after a bout of bad luck, they ran into a group of zombies. Becka was able to escape. Her partner, and the much needed supplies he carried, were not. Despite being urged to move to a new location, fear of the unknown by the group that remained at the hideout won out. Another runner was picked to accompany her and they were sent out again.

Becka continued to run out for supplies without complaint, not wanting to upset the group further lest they make her leave. At the same time, she’s kept an eye and ear out for people each time she goes on a supply run, looking for another group to join in this one’s place.

Name: Malcolm Addler
Age: 42
Height: 6'2
Weight: 182lb
Eyes: Grey
Hair: Brown
Physique: Wiry build
Notable Features: Has a scar from a bullet that grazed his skull, hooked nose and several bullet wounds on his chest and abdomen
Gear: Heckler & Koch HK417, Benelli M4 Super 90, SIG Sauer P226, Combat knife
Education: High School, barely
Pros: Good in combat, can keep a level head in most situations, military trained.
Cons: Is very wary when it comes to new people, due to his wounds he no longer has the stamina he used to.
Before The Outbreak: Joined the British Army at 22, served in Ireland, The Gulf War and Afghanistan before leaving in 2006. Did private security work for two years before trying to re-enlist. Got assigned to a NATO taskforce as a Warrant Officer 1st Class.
Since The Outbreak: The Taskforce was sent to America after the outbreak exploded over the nation. Their job was extract foreign nationals. It failed. Miserably. Contact with command broke down and the Taskforce, which was spread across the nation, was left to fend for itself. Most major groups went dark quickly and Addler's and two other sectionss were abandoned in near Melinda County when looking for a VIP. The unit lost members to zombies and survivors both. During a violent encounter with a sweeper team Addler was heavily wounded, receiving his head scar. Through some miracle and the medic's skill Addler survived the group spent the next three years moving from makeshift camp to another. Three years later only 6 are still alive and starvation has forced into a nearby settlement for work. The section now serve as muscle for the owner of a local bar and de-facto leader of the small settlement.

Name: Joanna McKylie
Age: 24
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 130
Eyes: Green
Hair: Brown
Physique: Skinny, but still strong. She lost some weight in the last three years, but tried to keep building muscle.
Notable Features: Her eyes, once full of curiosity, are now dead most of the time. She has lost a lot of the hope she once had.
Gear: Not much. Keeps one of those Camelbak backpacks with her, and an aluminum bat. Whatever she could salvage from Costco.
Education: Some college. Almost got her Associate's, but the attack came before she could finish.
Pros: Nothing surprises her anymore. She has stopped trying to predict the actions and reactions of others. Now she spends her time focusing on what she does know, making her more efficient. She no longer lets her emotions rule her, and in fact rarely expresses what she’s feeling.
Cons: She is seriously suspicious of others, bordering on paranoid. She also really dislikes others. Since Kevin’s betrayal, she has decided it’s not worth getting close to anyone. People are just tools to her now.
Before The Outbreak: Jo was an overachieving college student. She lived with her parents, who were divorced but had stayed together. Her father was a drunkard with a terrible temper. She had just left home in her last fight with her father when everything began.
Since The Outbreak: Jo was part of the Costco group, and became a sort of leader when Kevin was wounded. She joined up with Bernard for a supply run after Bernard’s medical supplies were raided. After what they found what they returned, she lost hope. Despite her current dislike of people, she knows that going off alone would be suicide.

Ego, hope this is okay.

Name: Amber Schuyler.
Age: 22.
Height: 165cms / 5 feet, 5 inches.
Weight: about 65 kilos / 143 pounds.
Eyes: Hazel, leaning more towards pale yellow-green.
Hair: Reddish-brown, shoulder-length, usually in a ponytail.
Physique: Slim, some extra weight/fat, mostly on her stomach and hips, mostly fit.
Notable Features: She looks like one those government people, despite everything -- Clean, well-dressed, pretty decent hygiene.

Gear: A bag with a working notebook/laptop in it, a cardboard file with what looks like research notes in it, a mobile phone (which probably doesn’t work anyway), a few bits and pieces, like scissors and pens, pencils, that sort of thing, a small, basic first-aid kit (with nothing much else in it apart from bandages, painkillers and band-aids) and a hand-held radio that’s currently flat and needing batteries.

Education: Basic high-school education and nothing more since the zombie plague broke out before she could find a decent college.

Pros: Loyal, kind, intelligent, doesn’t like to give up easily. Fast on her feet--when she’s thinking clearly, isn’t clumsy (much). Can usually handle herself fine when she’s not in a life-or-death situation. Slow to make decisions, but tries to make the right ones--usually doesn’t. Often tries to be helpful, as she prefers trying to help than just standing there being useless. Wary until she can thinks she can trust you--which should be fairly quickly (especially if you save her life).

Cons: Intelligence is out the window in a crisis situation, but she’s trying to improve (really, how many near-death, zombie attacks can you handle before you now longer freak out over it?). Can get a little shy, nervous and/or jumpy, depending on the situation. Currently almost useless in a fight, seeing as how she’s never really had a reason to do so yet.

Before The Outbreak: Amber’s father was a Scientist. She never knew what he did, apart from the fact that he worked for the Government, and therefore they always had decent things, probably better off than anyone else, really. Never really wanted for anything, nor had any real reason to fight with anyone. Life was pretty good...until the impossible happen.

Since The Outbreak: When the outbreak happened, the group her father worked with dragged them into their lab-turned-hopefully-zombie-proof-base. Inside the base, things were good. For a while... But when the zombies broke into the government-secured-lab-turned-base fairly recently, Amber had to make a run for it with her father and a small group of others, scientists and government people. They only got so far before the worst happened--Amber got separated from the group. And essentially, she got lost. Somehow, she managed to survive--for a few hours, at least--and ended up on the outskirts of Ashville with no idea where she was, how she got there or even if anyone was still alive and able to help her. Somehow, she eventually stumbled across group of survivors and they took her in--but not without a hell of a lot of suspicious looks.

Please check your inboxes, folks. If I've sent you a PM, it means I either have doubts, concerns, comments, or questions for you and want further contact with you. If I haven't messaged you, you're good to go. Please take the time to answer the questions I've presented in the Discussion Thread. I'll be accepting applications through the weekend, and then we can get started.

Please note: Certain people already have clearance from me to start writing.

Name: Celia "Seal" Mitchell
Age: 26
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 125
Eyes: Green
Hair: Red, curly, long.
Physique: Seal is quite lean at only 125 lbs. She was at one point more like 160, and admittedly a little overweight, but the first year after the outbreak she couldn't stop losing weight. She had gotten down to 105, much too skinny for her build, and has since figured out ways to make sure she got enough food and has also gained a decent amount of muscle.
Notable Features: Seal's long red curls are her most notable feature, but in order to make herself less noticeable Seal almost always wears a black hooded zipper jacket that she can hide her red hair with. Seal also has a five inch scar down her right shoulder blade and onto the back of her arm, rarely visible.
Gear: Carries a Beretta 92FS 9mm, an array of extra bullets, a Busse Combat 6" Pull Dagger, and a small hikers pack/rucksack with random supplies--both useful and not.
Education: Seal finished her bachelors degree in anthropology through the Army a couple months before the outbreak began, attained through the Florida State.
Pros: Although her degree did nothing for her physically or provide her any survival skills, it did teach her to read people. Her ability to deduce someone's real personality upon a single meeting is uncanny. Seal is also naturally protective of those younger or weaker than she, which often led to a personal--sometimes potentially deadly--compromise. She has a black belt, gained before she enlisted in the Army, and is fantastically skilled.
Cons: Seal is not quick to trust. She doesn't often believe that people are inherently good, even with her ability to read others. She is also quite private, and isn't an easy shell to crack. She was, at one point, a crowd lover--but, when the outbreak happened, she became a bit of a loner. It's unusual for her to ask for help, even if she needs it dearly. Her size is not great and, caught off guard, she could probably be easily overpowered by a larger human.
Before The Outbreak: Seal grew up in Ashville with her mother, older brother and younger sister. Her father died when she was only 6 years old in a car accident and her mother never remarried. She was always great in school and graduated college in the top 5% of her class, and participated in many school sports such as soccer and basketball. She was very invested in martial arts and gained her black belt during her final year of school. After graduation, she enlisted in the Army--which her mother never understood. Seal was deployed 4 times in her 5 years of service. At the time the outbreak began, she was stationed in Italy.
Since The Outbreak: When the outbreak began, all troops were pulled from overseas and sent home to help with the fallout. Seal asked to be relieved of duty to check on her family, who lived in the eye of the outbreak, and the Army refused. Seal went AWOL in Florida, and was on the run for awhile as she was facing jail, at which point she dropped her full first name of Celia and started going by Seal in an effort to throw off the government. With all the commotion she wasn't high priority, but it was several months before she felt safe in public places. Her intent was to return to Ashville to rescue her family, as she hadn't been able to make contact with them since the outbreak began, but she had many snags along the way. With no transportation and still trying to stay under the radar for awhile, it took Seal three years to get back to the other side of the country where she grew up.

I DON'T GIVE A DAMN IF I CAN'T BE ONE OF THE FIVE BUT I WANNA BE THE CHIC!

That was insightful, Maria. Thanks for showing me who I don't want in my storybook.

Storybook is now closed to new writers--if anyone else posts profiles, it's likely because they were pre-approved by me and given permission. Anyone that posts a profile WITHOUT said permission will have their post deleted.

Storybook shall be considered OPEN, but I'd like to get some things worked out in the discussion thread before we really start going.

Name: Toni Bowen

Age: 21

Height: 5’6”

Weight: 115lb

Eyes: Blue, the washed-out kind.

Hair: Mousey brown. Below the shoulders, ponytailed.

Physique: Never the heaviest of people to begin with, Toni has not exactly flourished since the outbreak. She’s skinny, in a word, with muscle enough for running but little else.

Notable Features: Once you've noticed her at all, you'll probably notice the ever-present twitchiness.

Gear: Not a lot. A small, light rucksack holds basic supplies of the rations and first-aid variety, and a collar from one of the dogs. Has managed to pick up an army knife, but would probably cut herself first if trying to use it in a fight.

Education: High school, cut short by untimely zombies. Above-average grades, thanks to hard work rather than any kind of effortless genius.

Pros: Has become a fast runner (because her total lack of combat skill makes flight the better option). Doesn’t tend to cause conflict, being more of a wallflower.

Cons: Couldn't fight to save her life--well. Tried once. Also a total pushover.

Before The Outbreak: Lived a pretty uneventful life in an uneventful home not far from Ashville; mother, father and two rough collies. Worked hard at school, hung out with friends, ran a little, played piano a little.

Since The Outbreak: Escaped the zombies that caught her parents early on in the outbreak only because she was walking the dogs. Lost the dogs one after the other within a month. Has survived this long by attaching herself to the edges of whatever survivor group she can, and running away from everything else.