[hider=Deepti Persaud]Name: Deepti Persaud
Gender: Female
Age: 13
Birth date: 09/05
Occupation: high school student, occasionally helps in the family’s restaurant 
Appearance: [img]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7lFpa8_-mkM/TXZmYnlsSDI/AAAAAAAAF18/xPqJJXQfSaI/s1600/India-student.jpg[/img]
- Height = 128 cm (about 4 foot)
- Weight = 29 Kg (about 65 lbs)
- Body Decorations = During Hindu holiday’s (or any time she feels like it), she wears henna. Her ears are pierced and she often wears earrings from her aunts or older cousins. For her tenth birthday, she finally was able to get a gold hoop nose ring. She absolutely loves to wear her bindi even though it isolates her more from her classmates.
Personality: Fussy—Polite—Cooperative—Restless—Cautious
Thoughts on:
- Religion: It’s right and proper to honor the gods. Christians and Muslims are weird. Buddhists are okay. Jains freak her out. 
- Sports: They’re okay. She doesn’t really like to play any in school, though.
- Arts: Dance and music are all beautiful ways to honor the gods. (Plus, she thinks they’re beautiful and graceful)
- Law: Her parents teach her to obey the laws because if she doesn’t they might not be able to stay in the United States. 
- Sex: Ew.
- Science: It’s boring to study.
- Government: It keeps the crazy people away, right?
- America: She wishes she lived somewhere warmer, like South Carolina, but aside from that she thinks America is pretty cool.
- Apocalypse: It is not something she worries about or thinks on.
- Humans: She thinks sometimes we’re too worried about getting what we want instead of getting what we [i]need[/i].
- Death: Until she reaches moksha in a thousand more life times, only then will there be true death and she’ll be released from samsara.
- Life: She will do her duty and live a good life. 
Background: 
- Born in Chhattisgarh, India; Currently lives in Fredrick, Maryland (and has been since she was five)
- She has two older brother and an older sister, but only her older sister went on to university while her brothers went to trade school. Her Pita (father) opened a restaurant. But despite strong gender roles, he ended up in the kitchen, refuses to learn English. While, Mam (mother) ran the business side and worked with the customers. Deepti has a large extended family that she keeps in contact with through Skype or other means. Only one other Persaud family live in the United States, but they live in Wisconsin. The rest of her Pita and Mam’s families live in India still. Sometimes she gets to visit every few years and thrives off the vivid green and overwhelming love of her family.
- She’s a teenager, but compared to the hell her older sister, Pavarti, put her parents through, Deepti is an angel. She went to large middle school with lots of diversity, so she had no problems working around her accent. And even though it rarely comes through, the high school she transferred into is smaller and more, well, white. It doesn’t help she’s a scholarship student attending a school where students normally get accepted because of their parent’s connection in the government.
- Pavarti and Deepti don’t have a great relationship. Maybe it’s the 7 year age gap between the siblings, but when the oldest sister went off to school, Deepti and her ten-year-old-mind just couldn’t forgive. So she became close with her brothers, Rashad and Haroon, twins who are two years older than her. They welcome their little sister to hangout with them and often, it’s just the three of them who would so off to the movies or camping for the weekend.
- As of late, Deepti has been getting in more and more fights with her Pita because of his refusal to learn English. For days, she’ll refuse to speak to him in Hindi. Like all Mams, her mother tries to mediate between the two. Deepti will have none of that. (Her mother often says, “Stop acting like Pavarti!” to get Deepti to behave.) 
- Deepti loved middle school. She had friends who had accents just like hers or accents so different than hers they laughed when neither of them could pronounce each other’s names. She was able to take classes for all sort of strange things like horticulture and animal science. High school has been difficult for her—not due to the academics, but because of the intense competitive pressure that suddenly exists around her. Since she and six other student were selected for a special program titled “Strategic Planning,” her isolation has grown worse. She was the only one in her collective class to pass the midterm exam.
- Her family was celebrating her success by placing offerings at the feet of Ganeshe, the popular deity with the head of an elephant, and the Ashvins, the twin devas. The restaurant was closed and Deepti was enjoying her favorite curry with maybe too much spice. Her father and she had not argued. The air was thick with Hindi and Tamarind and Lata Mangeshkar’s music filling any of the empty space left. As they were putting her to sleep, Pita started crying. Deepti didn't understand. They never told her about the men in dark suits who were going to take her away that night.
Skills:
- She knows how to sew fairly well. Nothing exquisite, but functional none the less.
- Strategic Planning was a class that exploited an already present skill in Deepti, that being problem solving. Yes, sounds simple. Yes, everyone does it, but she applies things like military strategy to treatment of cancer; the building of a hydroelectric damn to the reforestation process in certain parts of the amazon. She sees the underlying, basics of the problem which simplifies and allows the creation of more efficient solutions.
- Bi-Lingual (Hindi and English)
Miscellaneous:
- She sometimes smokes with cousins when she’s in India.
Equipment:
- Standard package issued by the government.
- Issued sewing kit is replaced by her own personal one that is kept in a red cloth roll.
- A topographical map replaced the standard US map.
- A note: paracord was excluded from her equipment due to the additional weight it caused.
Questions:
1. “You washed up on a deserted tropical island, alone. Right beside you is a box, what’s inside?”
- “Inside the box is a geographical map to which I’m able to see sources of freshwater and elevation changes. Also, information on the flora and fauna is included in a compact book,” she says, “The little supplies that can fit into the box, after all, would run out quickly, anyways.”
2. “The government has shut down and you are all on your own, what is your immediate objective?”
- “That still means I have to go to school right? Because it’s a private school, not public, so I guess, I’d just go to school and all the regular stuff, too.” She pauses. “It’s going to open again, right? Because if it doesn’t…I don’t want anything happening to my family because we’re foreigners. People get weird about us sometimes being in America.”
3. “You have been tasked to do something very important by someone important at the cost of your own safety, would you do it?”
- “Of course I would. It is what I should do and I should do it. If I die then—that’s not my choice. I either choose to follow the will of the gods or not. That’s is all I must choose,” she declares.
4. “A nuclear bomb has just gone off and you are now hiding in your shelter, would you allow strangers to come in to your bunker?”
- “Why wouldn’t I? It’s what I should do. They wouldn’t hurt me. We might become friends, anyways.”
5. “Someone you love dearly is dying, and the only cure is at the hands of someone who will never give it to you freely. What do you do?”
- “Bargain.” Deepti smiles. “Unless their Chinese, then there’s no hope. Indians want things cheep and Chinese want to sell things. We’re both hard bargainers. Mam hates working with the Chinese.” 
6. “If you were left alone to do something freely, what is your first action?”
- “I would go find my brothers. I don’t like the idea of being alone.”
7. “Would you ever give up?” 
- “Why would I give up? That doesn’t make sense. It’s a bad thing to give up and I don’t like doing bad things.”[/hider]

[hider=Maybaleen "Cherry" Windsom]Name: Maybaleen “Cherry” Windsom
Sex: Female
Age: 23
Birth date: 07/23
Occupation: high-school-drop-out-waitress (to be fair, she’s been working at the same place since she’s been 16, so it’s pretty much a profession for her) and a exotic dancer in a few joints scattered around (sometimes a prostitute when the cash is low).
Appearance: [img]http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w93/ungluck_me/cherry.png[/img]
- Height = 5’ 8”
- Weight = 135 lbs
- Body Decorations = Two piercing in each ear and unless she’s at the club, it’s the same studs day in and day out. She has one tattoo right under her left breast. It says “Never Again” in plain times-new-roman lettering and is about three inches long and in something like size 18 font if you need a visual. Her other tattoos are small, freckle like dots in the creases between her fingers.
Personality: Flighty—Independent—Flirty—Suspicious—Aggressive
Thoughts on:
- Religion: She goes to Church with her Daddy on Sundays, a proper and pretty in a dress with Harrison at Bible school during services.
- Sports: Just as religiously as she goes to Church, she attends all of her local high school’s football games, watches UARK whoop some ass on the T.V Saturdays, and goes to as many minor league baseball games she can.
- Arts: Like painting. She guesses that it’s cool, but she doesn’t wanna go to a museum or any shit like that.
- Law: She likes cops, not lawyers. The law she obeys, but mostly because she’s not about to go break it.
- Sex: Not shy about it. She likes a good hook up. 
- Science: Chem and Bio? Forget it. She’s good working on engines, but it helps having a father who runs the local repair shop in town. But she doesn’t often consider that to be a science. More like plugging things where they should go.
- Government: Straight ticket Republican voter, if she remembers to vote. She doesn’t care much about paying taxes because most of her pay is cash and tips can be taxed anyways.
- America: She’s the “support our troops” type of gal.
- Apocalypse: The Preacher’s been talking about it a lot lately in during services, but aside from that, Maybaleen doesn’t give it much thought.
- Humans: Some are better than others. Some are trash that are a waste of space. And some are like her.
- Death: The idea seems nice, sometimes.
- Life: Sometimes it fuckin’ sucks (like when she gets home at 3 am to find Harrison sick and her Dad passed out on the couch).
Background: 
- Born and Raised in Formosa, Arkansas
- It’s been Daddy and her since she’s been four. There’s no pictures of her mom and she doesn’t care that much about the lady who died from cancer. It seems as if her mother and Daddy got hitched because that’s what a man and woman do when they have a kid together. And despite her father’s lows when he’ll go on quiet drinking binges, they’ve had good, functional lives. She doesn’t have any extended family even though Daddy’s family has been in Arkansas before it was even a state.
-Harrison came along in Maybaleen’s life when she was 17. His daddy was some educated University boy who she enjoyed for a night and then thought nothing about until her breasts started growing and the morning sickness interrupted her classes. She quit school, starting working full time at the Hill Diner, and didn’t look back. She’s not about to tell that it was all worth it, that Harrison’s the joy of her life, and that she loves her life. Those are all lies. But sometimes, they are the truth. 
- She started going to clubs when she over heard one of the girls talking about it at the Diner. She works part time at four different places, all at least an hour drive from Formosa. She’s young, but she’s got the body of a woman because of Harrison. Her stretch marks are covered up with nettings or feather or whatever the costume that night has going on. It was Kim, the owner of [i]Tiny Dancer[/i], who talked to her about prostitution when she was 20. All cash. Off the books. All the customers have to wear condoms and are checked out for certain HIVs before being allowed to buy one of the girls. Work is done in private backrooms and a girl can only be bought once a night. (If Maybaleen’s being honest, she likes the power she has over these men more than the money she gets out of it.)
- She’s made some fucked up decisions before. She’s not the most responsible mom ever. Her friends complain about how flighty she can be. Having sex—making love—with Kim was worse that the first weeks after Harrison’s birth. Worse than when Daddy found out she worked as an exotic dancer. Worse than when customers got too rough with her. Worse in the type of way that it was so fucking great she didn’t know what to do with herself. 
- Years of laughing and talking and love and then some old army buddy of Kim’s shows up, a little too high and rough for Maybaleen’s taste. So she keeps away for a bit until she gets a call at the Diner. It’s so loud in there and she almost hangs up because she can’t hear much until she hears someone mention a name: “Richard.” That was Kim’s army buddy. Then someone in the diner turns up the news and she gets ready to shout at them to turn that shit down. But her eye catches on the purple sign of the building on the T.V. The red headline blurs and all she can see is the [i]Tiny Dancer[/i] charred black in one too many places. “Two U.S. Soldiers Dead,” the T.V. said. Her apron’s on and she realizes she still has a customer’s check in her hand when she’s in her trunk, trying to start it. 
- After Kim's murder (the corner says it might have been a suicide, but she doesn't believe that shit), she started going a little harder in the clubs and sometimes taking a few more customers after hours. Two weeks later her Daddy sits her down and tries to talk to her about the program that she's been enrolled in and that "It's for the best." Daddy was too drunk to really explain to her what the program was and Maybaleen was too drunk to understand that night anyways. When the government men came for her, they didn't even need to drug her to keep her asleep because she was so far gone. 
Skills:
- Daddy would let Maybaleen tinker in the shop growing up. She knew how to change her oil and tires before she even got her license. She straddled the world of women and men by wearing make-up and short-shorts when she has grease on her arms and her hair shoved into a baseball cap as she works on brakes or under a customers car.
- She knows when it’s time to rush to the hospital or when it’s okay to wait something out. She’s a good judge of knowing when a customer is just a little handsy versus needs-to-get-the-fuck-out.
Miscellaneous:
- Alcohol: Whiskey and beer when she can afford it or when someone else is buying.
- Smokes one cigarette a day. Half in the morning, half right before her shifts at the clubs.
- She doesn’t do drugs. At all. She’ll lose her jobs at the clubs if she does. Besides, that shit is too expensive.
Equipment:
- Standard issue equipment is included.
- Personal items include Arkansas Naturals’ baseball cap and elastic hair ties.
- A basic tool kit has been added to her pack (multi-tool pliers, adjustable & assorted wrenches, electrical tape, screwdriver handle and several bit types, assorted hex keys, torx wrench, and zip ties). Adds an additional ten pounds of weight, thus paracord will not be included.
Questions:
1. “You washed up on a deserted tropical island, alone. Right beside you is a box, what’s inside?”
- “Why’s there a box? That’s so weird. Okay, whatever. Um, I guess a cell phone. Not my piece of shit cell phone, but the type that uses satellites,” she says.
2. “The government has shut down and you are all on your own, what is your immediate objective?”
- “Like end of the world kinda shut down? Well, shit, I’d get as much gas as I can. That is what’ll be worth the big bucks. I’d hole myself up in Daddy’s garage, too. Because all those tools are easy weapons. Plus, that’s where he keeps all his ammo.”
3. “You have been tasked to do something very important by someone important at the cost of your own safety, would you do it?”
- “Like what? Save a person’s life? I’m not a doctor. I don’t do good with whiners and I hate blood and stuff. So, probably not. I don’t give a shit how important this dick is.”
4. “A nuclear bomb has just gone off and you are now hiding in your shelter, would you allow strangers to come in to your bunker?”
- “Do they have food? If it’s a kid or a pregnant woman…Aw, hell, I couldn’t leave all of Formosa out there. I’d probably let them all in. Except the worst of the meth-heads and those who ain’t [i]really[/i] Formosas.”
5. “Someone you love dearly is dying, and the only cure is at the hands of someone who will never give it to you freely. What do you do?”
- “Anything,” she says. “I’d do anything.”
6. “If you were left alone to do something freely, what is your first action?”
- “Gosh, I’d take a nap. Hands down, a good, solid nap like Harrison does after lunch.”
7. “Would you ever give up?” 
- “Give up? Sure, why not? Somethings just ain’t worth it, ya know? But when you’ve got someone to take care of—sometimes that’s not even an option for yourself.”
[/hider]

[hider=Saito Nijinsky]Name: Saito Nijinsky
Sex: Male
Age: 17
Birth date: 11/13
Occupation: high school student; summer camp counselor (not originally by choice); works at a gym 
Appearance: [img]http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w93/ungluck_me/saitonijinsky.jpg[/img]
- Height = 5’ 6”
- Weight = 165 lbs.
- Body Decorations = Gages in both ears. Keeps ‘em small and simple. He’s thinking about a tattoo, but hasn’t gotten there yet.
Personality: Realistic—Bitter—Stringent—Calculating—Patient
Thoughts on:
- Religion: He thinks people spend too much time talking about it instead of acting as they should. But maybe that’s just his Pure Land Buddhist background coming through. Grandpaw (on the Japanese side of the family) would be so proud. 
- Sports: He loves to play a good round of baseball and likes to go to games with friends. He hates the MLB. He also like surfing and MMA—[i]drools[/i] over MMA.
- Arts: Spoken word. Graffiti. Street dancing. That’s his art. Not the stuff in museums where you have to pay to get in. Not where it’s so quiet that if you sneeze someone looks at you like you just licked the floor. 
- Law: Oppressive and stupid.
- Sex: Can’t say much on it. He’s still a virgin. Doesn’t seem to be a concern of his, either.
- Science: Saito doesn’t like how much money is going to stuff that doesn’t really matter (Why do you need a diet pill? Why don’t you just buy [i]good[/i] food? Those millions of dollars could go towards public education instead!)
- Government: Republicans are dumb-shits. And sometimes the Democrats, too. Actually, it’s a complete pool of mosquito larva infested water and it’s suppose to protect millions of lives? What. A. Joke.
- America: Ideally. Not so bad. He’d rather be Canadian on the worst of days. But he’s happy he’s not in Russia or Japan where the two sides of his family are from.
- Apocalypse: He likes reading about it, but he doesn’t buy into the instant demise of everyone and everything. Because the real apocalypse is happening [i]right now[/i].
- Humans: Don’t get him started on [i]that[/i] subject—okay, too late. Humans keep repeating their mistakes and you know what’s happening? The same bad shit over and over again. You know the definition of madness? Doing the same thing over again and again and again and expecting a different results. “Most sophisticated thinkers, my ass,” he adds.
- Death: He wants to get old and wrinkly, thanks.
- Life: A whole lot better than being dead.
Background: 
- Born on Maui, one of the Hawaiian Islands; Currently lives in San Diego, California. 
- He lives with his parents and his Japanese grandparents in a two bedroom apartment where their couch in the living room becomes Saito’s bed at night. His dad is some pencil pusher in a shiny office building and his mom, the short Russian firecracker that she is, teaches tourists how to surf.
- He doesn’t have a good relationship with his grandparents. It doesn’t help that his Japanese is shit-tastic and that he’s studying Spanish in school. Plus, he has a menial job at a gym when he probably should be studying more for Calc or something. His dad is happy he’s not on drugs anymore. His mom is happy he’s happy.
- Oxycodone was his first introduction to opiates. He was 12. Then, other things he doesn’t remember the name of and for six months he lived in a haze—he can’t say bliss. Not now. His mom was the one who found his seizing in the bathroom. She was the one who took him to the hospital. Turned him to the police. Had him arrested and put into jail for 8 months and then he had to do community service through after school programs for troubled kids. He might not be a poster child of the rehabilitation program, but he’s a realistic depiction of it. 
- He had a girlfriend for a few weeks and was confused by what was so great about having one. He thought for awhile maybe he was gay, but then it became apparent he just didn’t have [i]any[/i] sexual attraction to anyone of any gender. That’s not to say he doesn’t feel love or pleasure of happiness, but that sex wasn’t a way for him to access those emotions. 
- His relief from everything in jail was—is—MMA
- The gym he works at is shiny and glistening. During the early morning and day, it’s full of the normal tanner babes and oiled dudes working on whatever jiggle they’ve got going on. It’s during the night, from 8 to midnight that he trains with the rest of the Fight club. Everyone collects together for a good, thought out fight. No-one likes the brute with too quick of temper. He’s not the youngest there, but he’s the only one who served time. And although his boss knows, he’s kept it on the DL. That night he was matched up with a 22 year-old new comer. Saito wanted to learn what he could from the German-Boxing-Trained kid and volunteered. The black mail came later, when they’re all sweating, maybe bruised, and drinking water. The German Boxer smiles and says in a voice that no-one would pick out as hostile, “Does fighting keep the craving away?” Saito tries to brush it off, act like it was nothing, but his hands shake and he ends up excusing himself early and throws up in the alley way.
- The German Boxer continued to harass him. One day vodka ended up in Saito's water bottle. The next, he finds his boss's pain meds shoved in the bottom of his gym bag. It's late at night when he tells his mom about it. Finally giving in to her arms and begging her to some how help him because he's not sure how much longer he can hold out (he cried when he poured out the vodka; his hands shook when he returned the pain meds). And she tells him it will be alright because she already has. He doesn't know that means she is the one who lets in the men in black into their apartment to take her son away that very night, with the television playing 4 am infomercials. 
Skills:
- If you were to boil it down, you could say Saito was good at hand-to-hand combat. He’s a little too defensive, sometimes, but that’s mostly because he’s not sure if he could hold back when he goes on the offense.
- Bi-lingual. Tri if you really wanna count his shit-tastic Japanese. 
- He’s willing to wait. Maybe it could be called Procrastination, but he will not hurry if another, better opportunity will present itself later. 
Miscellaneous:
- He’s been clean of opiates for four years now. Now way in hell is he going back. He gets sick if he even smells alcohol. He goes to meeting for addicts and the summer camp he works out is an extension of his mandatory volunteering after he got out of jail.
Equipment:
- All standard issue equipment is included.
- Personal item includes his old, sweaty wraps he uses during MMA matches and training.
Questions:
1. “You washed up on a deserted tropical island, alone. Right beside you is a box, what’s inside?”
- “Nothing. Why the hell would a box be full of anything? It’s probably full of salty water and sand just like my pants would be after washing up on a beach!”
2. “The government has shut down and you are all on your own, what is your immediate objective?”
- “Get the hell away from people asap. I don’t wanna be around when shit hits the fan. Ever hear of mass hysteria? Power in numbers, my ass.”
3. “You have been tasked to do something very important by someone important at the cost of your own safety, would you do it?”
- “No.”
4. “A nuclear bomb has just gone off and you are now hiding in your shelter, would you allow strangers to come in to your bunker?”
- “No. They might try to kill me. Even if they have supplies, then we’ll still run out of those supplies just as fast because they’ll be eating them too.”
5. “Someone you love dearly is dying, and the only cure is at the hands of someone who will never give it to you freely. What do you do?”
- “Euthanize. Getting the cure isn’t the only option to end that person’s suffering.” He doesn’t look in the interviewer in the eye when he says this.
6. “If you were left alone to do something freely, what is your first action?”
- “Go surfing. I’m not as good as mom or anything, but there’s something soothing about being by yourself with the board and the waves and the sun.”
7. “Would you ever give up?”
- “I’ve given up already. I don’t think giving up is one of those things you get a second chance with because you realize that it’s a one-way street to nothing.” [/hider]

[hider=Arrios Urais]Name: Arrios Urias
Sex: Male
Age: 20
Birth date: 01/02
Occupation: Rock Climbing & Mountain Biking Instructor; Volunteer Emergency Responder
Appearance: [img]http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w93/ungluck_me/ArrioUriacuteas.jpg[/img]
- Height = 6’ 0”
- Weight = 232lbs
- Body Decorations = None.
Personality: Adventurous—Dependable—Superstitious—Messy—Religious
Thoughts on:
- Religion: Born into the Roman Catholic Church, Arrios grew up with the taste of the host on his tongue in daily mass and the consuming smell of frankincense during blessings. He doesn’t give much thought to other people and their religions because for him, in this place of stained glass, crucifixes, and murmuring priests, is all he is concerned with. 
- Sports: He isn’t really a team player type of guy. He’ll sit around with his older brother and watch football/soccer, but he much prefers other extreme sports like rock climbing, mountain biking, trail running, hiking, and the like.
- Arts: He digs the petroglyphs that are scattered around Moab. For him art doesn’t really extend outside the Stations of the Cross, statues of Mary, and stained glass. He likes to sing in Church and jams out to country when driving his 4x4 up to Sandflats or down Kane Creek for a little camping.
- Law: Considering he works for a division of the U.S government and he’s friends with most of the cops, he has a certain respect for the law.
- Sex: Porn creates disturbing desire in both men and women. Sex should occur only after marriage…but he confessed his sins to Father McConnel and one of them was pre-marital sex. 
- Science: For him, it’s one of those necessary evils. It destroys and creates God’s good world.
- Government: He doesn’t have much to say on it. He votes in the presidential elections (democrat). He likes the National Park System and the state park systems. That was done right, for sure. 
- America: He thinks America needs to keep their noses out of everyone else's business (aka wars and such things).
- Apocalypse: Quotes from the bibles and sermons of brimstone and fire are the only thoughts he’s given towards the apocalypse. 
- Humans: He thinks we’re a little lost, but that’s why Jesus, God’s son, came to us. 
- Death: His soul is straight, or, at least, as much as it can be. 
- Life: A gift. A beautiful, enthralling gift that can be enjoyed to the fullest in the light of God.
Background: 
- Place of Birth: Puerto Rico; Current Residence: Moab, Utah
- His mom and dad are both back in Tampa Bay area and his older brother is stationed in someplace-he-can’t-talk-about. Most of his other family still lives in Puerto Rico, but he isn’t close with them. 
- He actually doesn’t speak Spanish. Sometimes, people are confused. (“Aren’t you Mexican or something?” they ask.) It was his father’s decision because even though his family has dual-citizenship, Mr. Urias believed that if you’re going to live somewhere, you’ve gotta speak their language. So through high school he took French, having fun with the Hatians the block over. Tasting their slag was like his first kiss: seductive and dangerous.
-His first girl was the captain of the beach volleyball team. He liked her. Liked her in the kind of way that he first saw the birthmark on her stomach and fell in love with the dark-splotch skin. But then she went to college some place north and cold and where he didn’t get to see that birthmark nearly as much as he’s used to. So he got a call one night and that was it. He told the priest he only had sex with her because he honestly believed they were going to get married. Her, teaching kids who drooled on themselves, and he, working from midnight to eight on another high rise with his father’s construction business.
-He bought a one-way ticket to Salt Lake City, his mother’s tears still hot on his cheek. He found a different kind of love in Utah, but not until he drove out of the La Sal mountains and down in the green patch of the desert that was Moab. Things fell into place from there. Not lived in the type of way that people think of. But the type of living where he only sees his room during week nights and his tent gets more use than his bed. 
- Volunteering for the Emergency Response happened like getting a job at one of the many adventure outfitters in town. By accident. He thinks that they’ll hire him soon. That’s why he was the first responder on a call that came in during a afternoon thunderstorm. Normally, he’s not. He doesn’t have the full training that the other responders do have; he doesn’t have the years of experience; he slings on his rain jacket and jumps into his 4x4 ready for the bright lightning, but not the thunder. A distress call came from in the Canyon on Kane Creek. It’s not even a half mile down the unpaved part of the road that the mudslide happens. He didn’t hear the popping of the rocks because the thunder ate any other sound. One second he’s in a control skid through a curve and the next his head is slammed against the window and his hands are off the wheel. He remembers flashlights and people and it's the team. 
- He's restless in the hospital with a compound fracture of his tibia, lots of bruises, and a concussion when he gets a call from his dad. He talks about this governmental program that Arrios had been selected for. The details were vague and even when requesting the lowest dosage of pain medication possible, Arrios doesn't understand that participation is not voluntary. He's taking a nap while he's waiting for his discharge five days later when his IV is spiked. When he's wheeled out, he keeps smiling in his sleep because he just found out that he's officially on the payroll for the Moab Emergency Rescue Team. But he’ll never get the bonus they planned on giving him…
Miscellaneous:
- He enjoys a beer after a hot day out in the sun or after a particularly frustrating tourist who has a problem appreciating silence. 
Skills:
- First aid training, CPR, those types of basics.
- He can keep his voice steady and clear during an emergency. 
- He knows how to work things like gear and pulleys, but he also knows how to read the sky. Knows when the rains settles in the mountains still means he can go rock climbing all day without feeling a single rain drop until he’s sleeping. That just because the wind is blowing hard doesn’t mean a storm is coming in. And that those big puffy clouds? Sometimes they’re really just big puffy clouds. 
- Awesome endurance. 
Equipment: 
- Some standard issue equipment is included, but much of it has been replaced by similar personal equipment Arrios already had in his possession (i.e. serrated knife, compass, sleeping bag, hygiene kit, hiking boots, mess kit, and sunglasses.)
- Paracord has been replaced by his own static climbing cord. Also, dynamic rope has been added. Other climbing equipment has been included such as two harnesses, several steel carabiners & aluminum quickdraws, an active belay device, a daisy chain, and lots of nuts or “wires.”
Questions:
1. “You washed up on a deserted tropical island, alone. Right beside you is a box, what’s inside?”
- “A corona beer with a lime in it.” He’s smiling. 
2. “The government has shut down and you are all on your own, what is your immediate objective?”
- “Check in with the Team. People tend to do crazy stuff no matter if the government in working or not and I’m gonna to be there to help.”
3. “You have been tasked to do something very important by someone important at the cost of your own safety, would you do it?”
- “Oh, yeah. I do it all the time. It’s not such a big deal when you get used to it.”
4. “A nuclear bomb has just gone off and you are now hiding in your shelter, would you allow strangers to come in to your bunker?”
- “Yupp. I’d probably go looking for people once it’s safe, too.”
5. “Someone you love dearly is dying, and the only cure is at the hands of someone who will never give it to you freely. What do you do?”
- “I don’t know if I can answer that question. I’ve never been in that type of situation before. I’ve never really met a lot of people who weren’t willing to help when it really mattered.”
6. “If you were left alone to do something freely, what is your first action?”
- “Probably jump on my bike and head out somewhere where the sky is so dark it scares the shit outta me.”
7. “Would you ever give up?” 
- “Nope. Don’t think I’d ever want to. ‘Sides, God’s got my back.”[/hider]