Alrighty, here's Cassie again. I added a tiny bit, but nothing important. 

@Lo Pellegrino: Since your character is Simon's little brother, I just want you to know that he and Cassie were totes BFFs. For reals. So when she and Tomás meet it should be pretty interesting... Especially since the last she knew, Simon had been captured by slavers. 

[hider=Cassandra Shannahan]Once upon a time, in a land that was super shitty and infested by zombies, there lived a woman who was really awesome and the coolest thing since shortwave pocket radio transceivers. Her name was Cassandra Shannahan. She’s me. I’m Cassie. And I’m only writing all this shit about me down so that when I turn into a Zed-head someone can pin it to my shirt. Then when I inevitably get my rotting, human flesh craving brains bashed in by a Louisville Slugger wrapped in barbed wire, the lucky bastard who did it will know how fucking cool I was. So, Lucky Bastard, pay attention.

About me? Well, I’m a tall and lanky brunette. Greenish eyes. Long face. Evil smirk. Damn hot. Armed to the teeth with an M4 with an under barrel mounted grenade launcher…with no grenades; I’ll find some that don’t shoot chalk one day. Got a hatchet on my left leg, a sweet piece in the shape of a Glock 23 on my right. Then there’s my skydiving rig. 96sqft of red, black, and grey fabric that sits on my back in a red and black container. This rig has saved my life in more ways than one; It’s like the Swiss Army knife of the apocalypse. 
 
Guess you need to know who I was before knowing who I am so… Before the end of the world, my life was still pretty epic. My parents were both professional skydivers up in Michigan, so I grew up in a community of adrenaline loving, thrill seeking, crazy people. Needless to say, I was a pretty badass little kid. When I graduated from high school I moved out to Hollywood to become a stuntwoman since, you know, I’d been participating in life threatening activities since I was knee high. Nobody outside the movie making business would probably recognize my name, but I can guarantee that you’ve seen me before, you just didn’t know it was me. I was great at what I did and I fucking loved it. It… didn’t like me so much. Think I’ve broken like every bone in my body at least once. Shit, some days I can barely move my bad shoulder anymore. But yeah, one day, after a motorcycle stunt that went horribly wrong, I spent a few months in a hospital bed and had a little “come to Jesus” moment. Figured my body wouldn’t hold up forever, so I needed a backup plan. That was a degree in Communication Technology. Basically, if it sends or receives signals, I can fix it or make it. I’m a genius like that. A year after I graduated, the world turned to shit.

Seriously, dude, zombies. But you know that if you’re reading this. I got the hell out of Hollywood and drove off into the desert as soon as things got sketchy. Eventually I found my way to Reno Haven. Fucking sucked there, though it’s not the worst haven I’ve been to. Started actually using my degree in comm tech, making people radios and solar panels for electricity. But, ahh, I have a problem with authority… and sitting still. So I started drifting and salvaging parts to make into comm stuff and sell. I traveled all around the country, found a bunch of other havens, and had more than a few close calls… Like, close is number one on my speed dial. 

For some reason, I never went looking for my family until some fucked up shit happened and I ended up pregnant, scared, and totally alone. That was a bad time in my life; the worst, really. Not super big on telling people about it... But I traveled up to Michigan to find someone from my old life I could anchor to and ended up finding more than a few. My mom, and some friends so close to family that the only thing different was our blood and last names. I lived with them on the island haven of Mackinac until my daughter, Brianna, was weaned. Then I left again, alone. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I like to make the excuse that I leave my family to provide for them and to find them somewhere better to live, and that’s some of it, just not most of it. I don’t know what is.

But after one of my handful of visits to their haven, I decided that they’d be better off in Evergreen and I wanted to make it as comfortable as possible for them when they got there. So I made a deal with their council: I’d build them a device to make their haven safer, if my family was allowed to move there and be provided food and security. That’s when I met Petey; he was made my babysitter while I was there. I guess nothing’s really changed over the years as far as that goes. We survived and fought through the Siege of Evergreen and then escaped into the night with some others. I suppose those first couple of days were really when the Pirate Crew came to be. Yeah... Me, Petey, Isaac, Gunner (that asshole), Daryl, and Acacia; we were the first. And together we traveled out to Riley, Kansas where we met the Farmers for the first time. After that, well, everyone seems to know the rest of the story.

Oh yeah, I’m attaching a picture of myself to this letter too. You know, since when you read this I’ll probably be all gross and decomposed. I grabbed it off the picture wall of my home DZ’s manifest building last time I made a run up into Michigan to visit the family. It’s not in the greatest shape, but the thing’s been stuffed into the bottom of my backpack for like, seven months. Deal with it.

-Cassie Shannahan, Winter ‘22
[IMG]http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/dragster_chick14/skydive_zps61a9c3cd.jpg~original[/IMG][/hider]