TEMPLE, K.

KEIRA MAY TEMPLE

LIMB BY LIMB AND TOOTH BY TOOTH TEARING UP INSIDE OF ME EVERY DAY, EVERY HOUR I WISH THAT I WAS BULLET PROOF WAX ME, MOLD ME, HEAT THE PINS AND STAB THEM IN YOU HAVE TURNED ME INTO THIS JUST WISH THAT IT WAS BULLET PROOF so pay the money and

PERSONALITY

selfish | even before the world was consumed by the flesh-eating undead, kei never really cared for other people. putting herself first had always worked for her, and once she saw people betray each other time after time, she decided to stick with it. her formal job of being a private investigator centered around fucking people over for her own benefit, and being a private investigator opened her eyes to the human race's natural instinct to protect themselves first. if you were in her group or partnering up with her and you were being reckless by bringing the walker's attention to both you and her, she wouldn't flinch in shooting you in the leg and leaving you behind. after all, it's a human race and kei was determined to finish first. "it's a dog eat dog world," she'd say. "and i'm not talking about the walkers."

hot headed | it didn't take much to piss kei off. even the slightest slip of stupidity could set her off. but she wasn't the type to yell and pitch a fit. if you pissed her off enough, she might just give you a single punch to the face, but typically it was more of a passive aggressive angry. conflict wasn't much her thing, and instead, she'd wait til you were sleeping, steal all your stuff, and go on her way.

pathological liar | her life before was built on lies, and that followed with her to the apocalypse -- in fact, it was now easier to lie. she was so good at lying, in fact, that she sometimes believed them herself. she never revealed to people that she was an ex-private investigator or ex-con artist. if they knew, they would know she made a living off screwing people over. furthermore, there was no need to let people know about her past self -- what was the point in it? the past was dead, and the present was so close to being dead. in addition, lying had always been like her first natural defense. if anyone wanted to know something personal about her, she would automatically lie; it was so deeply engraved in her, so horrible of a habit that she couldn't help but to. she floated survival group to survival group with a different identity each time. once she was an award winning journalist, the next she was a tragic housewife who lost her beloved husband. kei could be anyone she wanted to be, and she loved it.

curious | kei likes to know what makes things tick. as a child, she would peer over into whatever car her dad was working on and study the gears. she loved to watch the parts and gears fall into place, work with each other to make something magnificent. she studied people the same way. she learned their weaknesses, their fears, their strengths. she just wanted to know everything, know why people were the way they were, why things worked the way they did. she often found herself picking apart old technology or machines in her free time (which she had a lot of nowadays).

manipulative | once a con-artist, always a con-artist. she likes to know what makes people tick, and she always uses it to her advantage. in her past life, she was a gold-digger, and now she's the same, except for resources. she adjusts her personality according to person or who she needs to be. she can be sweet and timid to gain trust, or fierce and relentless to gain respect. what face to wear to tug at the heart strings, to get what she wants, she does it. her actions, again, are almost always selfish, so if one day she seems selfless and caring, chances are there's a tactical reason behind it.

loyal | her loyalty is odd. she is not a leader, but it's hard to say that she's a follower. the most accurate word would be a loner, but if you gain her respect, she will forever be loyal to you. the easiest way to gain her loyalty is, ironically, by being selfless. she admires courage and selflessness, perhaps because they are traits that she cannot have and rarely ever sees. that and being an overall badass with a gun will earn her respect. her loyalty is thick, and if anyone ever threatens those she respects, she will stick by your choices. it's one thing to work for you, because again, she's selfish at heart, but she will work with you. she also ironically has a strict moral code (even if it is different from everyone else's). she almost always only cons men, and will never con a child or single woman. she will only take a human life if they're scum and deserve it. other rules on how to function (like travel during the day, never travel in large groups, ALWAYS double tap) are followed by the teeth. she is loyal to her own code, and will almost never disobey them.

quick | being a private investigator taught kei to think on her feet. she can see ten different outcomes and always takes the most logical and rational path. her decisions are made quickly, and she acts on impulse. this often digs a bigger hole for her since luck plays a large role, and oftentimes luck doesn't weigh in her favor. most of the time, it helps her get out of her situations.

---

likes |

• cigarettes
  
• strong liquor
  
• tools
  
• sex
  
• morning runs
  
• fresh coffee
  
• drugs
  
• animals (kittens!!)
  
• cars and engines
  
• money/luxury items
  
• books
  
• pianos and guitars

dislikes |

• emotional investment
  
• crowds
  
• carrots
  
• sports
  
• blind optimism
  
• complications
  
• being wrong
  
• warm beer
  
• lazy people

strengths |

• works well under pressure
  
• adapts easily to new circumstances
  
• reading people
  
• crafty with engines/machines

weaknesses |

• very stubborn, has a hard time seeing things other ways
  
• children -- she is always much sweeter to children and often finds herself being generous to them. definitely not herself around them
  
• after the adrenaline stops pumping, she's very vulnerable to anxiety
  
• when her lies are figured out and she can't lie her way out, she feels trapped
  
• she's much more dependent than she likes to admit

fears |

• the most obvious -- getting eaten alive
  
• commitment
  
• sharks
  
• crows
  
• being figured out

quirks |

• insomnia (but this isn't so bad when you have to be awake in order to survive)
  
• when nervous, plays with surrounding (if she has paper in her hands she'll start folding it)
  
• sings quietly while working on machines/other
  
• sleep paralysis
  
• her anxiety is really bad. after stressful events, she shakes and needs a cigarette or drink to calm her down.

HISTORY

inhale | kei's fondest memories were of her in her father's garage, watching her dad work on cars. she watched in awe as he took chunks of useless metal and turned them into polished works of art. as he worked, he would talk to her, tell her about the pieces. well, she liked to believe he was talking to her, when in reality, he just wanted to talk about the pieces to the open air. cars were his passion, and kei loved to see her dad in this state, with his eyes shining and the ghost of a smile constantly on his face. "this," he'd say, "is the connecting rod. it holds the piston to the crank. it's one of the most important parts -- well, every part is just as important as the next." she'd scrunch her nose, and frown. "doesn't look like anything special," she'd say, eyeing the rod. he'd give her a look over the hood of the car and give her a smile. "most things that are important never do," he'd reply.

she would love to say that she had more fond memories with her father, but the truth was, she didn't. her father was a drunk, and any time he wasn't in his garage, he was wasted. he never hit kei or her mom, but he definitely threatened to. arguments and yells broke out in the house almost nightly, and kei often locked herself in her room to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. her mother would knock on her door, crying to be let in. kei would let her in, and lock the door behind them. her mother would hold her, wiping away her tears. they would sit on her bed and her mother would talk her to sleep. "keira, my sweet girl," she would say, with tears thick in her throat. "one day you will get out of this. you will live in a beautiful home with a successful husband who loves you. you are beautiful, my keira. do not let anyone make you feel less than that. promise me you will use your beauty and your intelligence to make something of yourself. promise me you will not be me." her mother cried, but kei felt no tears. she held her mother close, but still she felt so distant. "i promise, ma," she whispered.

as the years went on, her mother grew weaker, and kei grew colder. she continued to watch her father beat the life out of her mother with words, watched how cruel a man could be to a submissive wife. she watched her mother flinch when her father came home, and hide when he began to drink. she, too, began to hide. she would leave at night and not come back til the morning, when her father was at the garage. she would spend nights at houses of strangers, older men who lusted after her. she was only fourteen years old when she realized the effect her looks had over men. she saw the way they gawked at her, and at first it disgusted her. they wanted her like a piece of meat, and that was something she was not. though, eventually she learned how it helped her, how men would pay for her things or buy her dinners. how they would give her gifts or give her company. she realized then how to manipulate them. how just a flirty smile could reel them in. and in a way, it was kind of fun.

when she turned eighteen, she left home and didn't look back. her mother was beyond saving at that point, and her mother didn't even want to leave her home. her mother, to kei, was weak. on her own, and with only a high school diploma to support her, kei learned to survive by conning people. she would go to a music store, flirt with one of the employees, and then when they went to get something from the back for her, she would run off with a guitar in hand, only to later sell it to a pawn shop for money. she would date rich men she'd meet at bars, sleep with married rich businessmen. anything she needed to do, she would.

when she turned twenty-two, she conned the wrong person. she had stolen his keys and was in the driver's seat of a maserati when a policeman pulled her over. she failed to flirt her way out. in the sheriff's office, the same man she conned was there. "this is just a misunderstanding," she tried to lie her way out, with a pout. "i just wanted to test it out." he had laughed, shook his head and gave her a look. "you can drop the act," he chuckled. "now, what's your real name?"

by the end of the conversation, kei had found herself with a real job as a private investigator. the man she conned explained to her how he had lied to her previously. he had told her that he owned a business, but in reality he owned a private investigating firm -- a successful one that oftentimes worked with the fbi. she was reluctant at first to take the job, considering a job meant real commitment (and working with the government in most cases), but after they settled on some terms, she couldn't help but to agree. it seemed like the perfect job for her. in every case, she would be a new person, use her skills to con people, and then get paid for it. because she was constantly under dangerous conditions (she often flirted her way through to the homes of notorious drug lords or ceo's who liked to business... dirtily), the firm trained her in combat, both with her body and with guns. she fell quick into training, loving how powerful it made her feel. kei almost immediately adjusted to her new lifestyle as a private investigator. her life was a constant lie, a constant adrenaline rush. and she loved it.

---

exhale | kei was in the middle of a case when the outbreak took place. she had been hired by a rich woman to find out if her husband had been cheating on her. she was at the bar, with a tight dress clinging to every curve of her body. her target was hitting on her, bragging to her about his success as a lawyer. she was taping everything he had been saying to her, and when he invited her to his hotel suite, she grinned. gotchya, she thought. they were making their way to the elevator, when all hell broke lose. a screech came from behind her, and she turned to look. a man was hunched over a woman's body, tearing into her stomach, eating her intestines. unsure of what was going on, kei turned to her target, who looked equally as confused. when the elevator doors opened, a woman jumped the target and bit him, and the man's scream curdled kei's blood. she bolted down the hallway, locking herself in a random room's bathroom. "david, there's some freaky fucking shit going on here," she panicked into her phone. he didn't sound very calm either. "people eating people?" he spoke quickly, and after she rushed back a 'yes', he responded, "here in the building too. something's going on, and i don't know what. i called 911, but they were no help. said to stay barricaded and that help will come."

help never did come. she had stayed in that bathroom until a woman was pounding on her door, begging to come in. she couldn't help but to let her in -- it reminded her so much of her mother pounding on her door as a child. the woman was carrying a radio, explaining to kei how what was happening outside was something extraordinary. they tuned into the emergency station and listened to the reporter warn everyone to stay barricaded, and by all means, to not get bitten. "come on," she had told the woman. "we're getting out of here." the woman looked at her with an incredulous look. "i am not going out there to get eaten! help will come eventually!" the woman had panicked. kei wrapped her hand around her Five-seveN pistol (the one she kept with her for every case, for safety reasons), and shook her head cynically. "you know, i don't think they will," she whispered back, unlocking the door and leaving the woman by herself. she sneaked her way out of the buildings and towards the streets, but there she realized she wished she had stayed inside. there was nothing but chaos in the streets, people running after other people, gunshots, cars running over other people, open fires -- it was like a scene in a zombie movie. and that's when it clicked in kei's mind. it seemed silly, to suddenly think that a popular sci-fi thriller could come true, but as an enraged, blood thirsty man came running at her, she shot him in the forehead and decided that it was better safe than sorry.

she had made her way back into the hotel and barricaded herself in an employee's break room. every knock on her door, every banging begging to be let in, kei ignored. there was only so much food and water left in the vending machines -- there was no way she could share. in the matter of days, the knocks became less frequent, the noises outside quieted. in a week or two, kei could feel that even though there were humans, there was no humanity left.

---

shoot | kei quickly learned that the only way to survive in this world was to be as cruel as possible. her life as a con artist and private investigator helped her to blend into groups. she would find a group of two or three, get comfortable for a week or so, and when they got on her nerves or she grew bored, she would pickpocket them, take their weapons and food, and leave. she traveled group to group, being someone new each time. kei wanted to survive this by herself, but she couldn't help but want a partner -- it's a lonely world after all. but there wasn't a soul on this earth that kei thought she could trust.

INVENTORY

fn five-seven pistol with silencer | with a magazine capacity of no fewer than 20 rounds, and up to 30, this pistol practically screamed to kei to pick up. it had been her favorite pistol as a private investigator, and it stuck with her throughout the entire apocalypse. she had made a point to pick up a silencer for it, and when she finally did, only the scarcity of ammo stopped her from shooting at any chance she had.

CLAW HAMMER | picked up at a construction site, and surprisingly an amazing melee weapon. it has the claw, which has the same functions as a crowbar, and is great for clawing out a walker's eye. the face was ideal for smashing a skull in. in addition, it helped her in daily construction work and in making barricades for doors.

swissgear backpack | well, this is kind of obvious -- she needs something to stuff the items she steals from groups in. it almost always holds a small blanket, water canteen, and first aid kit.

OTHER

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

OUT OF CHARACTER