WALKER, M.

MACKENZIE ANGELA WALKER

looking back at sunsets on the eastside, we lost track of the time. dreams aren't what they used to be, some things sat by so carelessly. smile like you mean it.

PERSONALITY

VEGETARIAN. it was a young decision, but it's one that kenzie stuck with all these years. she hates the idea of what animals have to go through, or rather had to go through, just to feed greedy americans. it was sickening to her, and - after seeing her fair share of what they did to said animals before they were slaughtered in very inhuman ways - she refuses to be apart of anything like that. she tries her best to stick to her rights, even today, but she knows that selection isn't how it used to be, and being thankful for what she has is the best way to go.

HONEST / HORRIBLE LIAR. above anything else, mackenzie hates to lie. it doesn't matter if it's about something as simple as the colour of her room's curtains, or as big as hiding an infected person's identity. she's never been good at lying, and because of her dislike to lie, she's never had the experience to convince someone of something that wasn't the truth. she also has a really bad guilty conscious, so even if she was able to somehow convince someone of something, she'd never be able to let them believe it for a long period of time.

EASY GOING. mackenzie's the type of person to rather laugh about something stupid with people, than judge half of them with the other half. she does her best to ignore rudeness, and negativity by offering passive and kind responses. but when she's given the chance, she can be a really good person to hang around if you want a mood-lifter. jokes are never that far away when she's conversing, and she makes it her goal to make everyone around her smile by the time they leave the situation. it's not that hard to talk to her, and that's something she prides herself on.

INTELLIGENT. although most people think that because kenzie has a nice shell, and she enjoys having a good time, she's not that bright, it's the complete opposite. she just doesn't advertise herself as being smart, and if the situation doesn't call for it, she keeps her intellect completely out of the conversation and out of the way. she's never considered herself smarter than the average person, either, so it's not like she'd act as though she were higher up because she could understand a few more aspects in her career than some of the doctors she worked alongside. but she doesn't let things slip over her head like people assume she would; she notices when people are trying to get away with something, or when they're acting suspicious. kenzie just lets people believe they have the upper hand.

ONE OF THE GUYS. from birth, she's always been a tomboy. that, paired up with her sexual orientation, had granted her the gift of the title 'guy with boobs' amongst most of her male friends. she's into crazy antics that silly boys would do to either impress girls, or just to have stupid fun; pranks, skate board tricks, stupid stunts, you name it. even after the apocalypse, she's more cozy with the men of the island, simply because she's been around them more her entire life. it doesn't matter where the conversation turns; sex, alcohol, hunting; she's right there.

WORRISOME. because she cares a lot, kenzie worries a lot. about anything and everything there is to worry about. if the island'll be attacked eventually, or invaded by the infection. if they'll ever run up on dry crops, and they'll lose their rationed food supplies. if their men and women don't return from the raids, or if they do, and they're injured. most nights she can't get to sleep without spending at least an hour drowning in her worry-filled thoughts of scenarios that could happen in the future.



○ mint chocolate
○ tattoos
○ travelling
○ reading
○ discovering
○ sketching
○ exotic fish
○ skate boarding
○ weed
○ bacardi rum



○ cigarettes and cigars
○ negativity
○ scar
○ heartless people
○ heavy drugs
○ having to clean
○ meat and animal products
○ being contained
○ getting injured
○ religion



○ answering questions with questions
○ fiddling with anything in reach
○ re-organizing things (not excluding others belongs)

HISTORY

as far as mckenzie's awake, she was born in salem, oregon, from two perfectly normal people. two people who didn't love her enough to keep her. she wasn't ever told much about the day she was discovered in her stroller, nothing but a sweater and a blanket wrap to fend off the night chill. an older man and woman had been walking home from the grocery store when they heard her cries, and instinctively, both insisted on checking it out. when they found her, it didn't take longer than a second for them to scope her out of that trap, and comfort her the entire way 'home'.

they never made a hospital trip, because they knew that the infant would never be released back into their care after she was well, so they kept her instead, doing everything they could in their power to warm her. with luck, she was better by morning, and they continued to care for her from that day forward, as if she were their own.

kenzie was cared for wonderfully, and she was unaware of the truth, even with noticing the differences between her parents, and other children's parents. they were much older than other parents, and seemed like they knew more, but didn't give her as harsh as punishments. when she was younger, she didn't see anything really out of sorts about it. she just had different parents than everyone else, and it made her feel a bit more special whenever the last bell of the day rang at school, and she took off to rush to her mother. she actually cared about kenzie, genuinely happy to see her after a day of being away from each other.

it wasn't until she started high school that the differences became something that was brought up. naturally, she felt embarrassed about having her parents around, as any other teenager would, but slightly more so because of the fact that they were so.. old. she was constantly being asked if they were even her parents, and not her grandparents, or just some old couple who'd been handed a brat to take care of. eventually, it got to the point where kenzie was skipping school, just so she didn't have to face the wall of insults, and prying questions into a world she'd thought was so solid. the stress carried home with her every day, slowly spreading into her atmosphere when she returned from all the chaos.

at the age of sixteen, she'd had enough. mckenzie boy-cotted school, and awaited for her parents to rouse from their duties in the living room. when they noticed she was still home, they showed concern, scared she was feeling ill. instead, she spewed every last question that had been asked of her over and over to their faces, demanding an explanation for the way things were. only, kenzie hadn't assumed she was adopted, so to speak. she'd assumed that her parents had needed to give her away, to her mother or father's parents, in order to be cared for properly. that they were still alive out there somewhere, and she could go and see them. that her parents now at least knew their names.

when everything was all said, and out on the table, kenzie didn't know what to say. it was hard enough to think, let alone put words together. instead of continuing the conversation, she left the living room and locked herself in her room to put the pieces together. but even after she made sense of everything, the girl that walked out of that room wasn't the same girl who'd entered.

for the longest time after learning the truth, she'd shown a lot less interest in being around her adoptive parents. and, although she did owe them her life, and so much more for their charity and love, she just couldn't look at them the same. she felt betrayed, and lied to. her entire life was practically a lie; it's origins, anyway. no matter the age she came to be with them, they weren't her flesh and blood. her real parents had given her up, so willingly left her all by herself, defenceless against mother nature, not to mention defenceless against everything else. but she'd been raised to believe that she'd been with them all along, that they were her true family. a lie like that wasn't going to go unnoticed by mckenzie's self conscious, no matter how much she knew she should be easier on them.

as the years passed, and kenzie's graduation rounded, she'd come to better terms with her past, and the truths about her family life. it helped her come up with better things to say to people who were being rude, as well, so her backbone was no longer suffering from the age difference between football star tommy's parents and her own. it helped her grow as a person, and with the love and kindess that she'd been given as a child, she used her teachings to try and better other people, too.

it started out as just an idea, going to college for nursing and a medical degree, and working part time at the hospital. for a few years, that kept her tied over, but becoming a nurse or just a doctor didn't really seem to cut it for her. kenzie wanted more than to just work in a hospital. she wanted to help people who really needed it; people who either couldn't afford the kind of medical attention they needed, or people who were in countries that didn't really have much of a medical basis. after her third year of college, kenzie switched her sights, and started to study herbs and plants specifically in south america, her goal being to help cultures almost untouched by american influence.

it took her five years to get the proper experience, funding, and a team set up to make the trip to bolivia. they took a plane as far inland as they could, before saddling up their backs with their equipment, and transferring most of their stuff onto a boat. their main 'base camp' as they liked to call it had been on their boat, which they left cradled within the amazon river at all times. whenever they needed to do researched that didn't involve technology, or anything that their boat couldn't provide, it was an on foot journey.

while they were there, they discovered a number of different remedies involving the plants grown within the area, not to mention the information, techniques, and religion aspects of the natives. everything they experienced made kenzie's eyes open in a different way, and every time they returned to the ship, whether it be days or weeks, she'd scribble down everything she could remember in her journal, just for safe-keeping.

a year after they'd settled in bolivia, however, the team was scheduled to head back to oregon. they said their goodbyes, and gathered up as much memories as they could carry, before meeting the escort team that was to take them safely back home. everything was well on its way, and even though kenzie didn't want to leave the beauty that was there, she was too excited to return home and see her family to let herself hesitate. unfortunately, with the travel distance, and the time that the team had arrived to get them, they had to touch down in san francisco in order to refuel and recharge. the plan had been to stay a night and two days, long enough to give the pilots eight hours rest, and for everyone to be comfortable without rushing.

the only problem? hours after landing, and mass confusion with hotel rooms, the first infected broke its way through the airport's main window and started the infestation, leading more to the location with the smell of it's victims blood.

two members of kenzie's four-man team fell before kenzie and jeff could find a secure location on top of a row of locker units. the airport was in ruins, screams and growls echoing into another, while the last of the living either scrambled to try and escape, or hide. the military came shortly after it had started to die down, and the only remaining infected were more than distracted with their fallen rewards to care about kenzie's shaky breaths, or jeff's constant whispered reassurances. they cleared the area, taking kenzie and everyone else they found alive into their custody. she'd thought that was the last of the fear, and that the military would have everything under control. for a few hours, she lived under that delusion, huddled with jeff while the military secured more civilians and kept up their offence.

then the crowd started to waver, screams breaking out as chaos started to unravel. people who'd been bitten, or scratched, had started to transform, and with them being locked up in such a populated location, things got messy rather quick. soon, it became a rave between outlasting the infected in the crowd, and dodging the military's open-fire. somehow, she'd managed to pull jeff from the pen and continued on, doing nothing but letting her boots carry her as far away from the noise as they could. it nearly got her killed; leading her right in front of a speeding truck.

if max cardigan hadn't slammed on the brakes when she had, mckenzie would've seen the last of her life then. luckily, instead of sent to her demise, max quickly called her aboard, eager to get moving again. it was with max and ben that she made it to the island, vowing that she'd do anything she could for their medical district for their generosity. at first she wasn't really considered, considering she looked nothing like a doctor, but after a few gun shot wounds, and broken bones arrived, kenzie proved her worth just fine.

INVENTORY

MILITARY KNIFE. after kenzie found out she was travelling overseas to the amazon, she requested the ability to carry a knife for protection, and to remove obstacles amongst her group's travels. after she was given the okay, she got the help from one of her more experienced traveller partners, and helped pick out the knife from a military weapons shop. she's had it close ever since.

9MM HANDGUN. after the infection hit its peak, and kenzie joined alliance with grim's row, she was given the gun to serve as protection. because of her status as a medical personal, and having travelled long distances in dangerous areas, she was also given it on the assumption that she'd use it while she was out on the occasional raids she'd accompany on. so far, she hasn't had to fire it.

MEDIC BAG. for obvious reasons, kenzie carries this around whenever she's not in the medical section of the prison. and even when she's inside the medical wing, it's never too far away.

WHITE BANDANA. the bandana used to belong to a really good friend of kenzie's. they used to work together in the amazon, before the infection. they had started to form a bit of a relationship, but after they'd touched down in san francisco into the chaos, he went down very quick protecting her. he'd forgotten the bandana in her bag before they had boarded their flight, and she's kept it wrapped around her wrist since she discovered she had it in her possession; just a reminder of what he did for her.

WOLF FANG NECKLACE. this particular accessory doesn't get worn by kenzie. it was the only thing her parents left her before they abandoned her for whatever reason, and so it's the only thing she really has to remind her of them. at first, she'd worn it around her neck, while she'd been in the amazon for work, but after settling on the island, it's been kept in a box within her dresser, stuffed under a bunch of clothes. it means a lot to her, but at the same time, she resents it.

OTHER

anything else that you feel needs to be shared with the world about your character can go here; optional.

OUT OF CHARACTER