Zion Roberts

== Zion Roberts ==
Zion Roberts was an American Marine enlisted Sergeant and a squad leader of the Short Bus, a Marine combined arms squadron under the Harrisburg Committee.
== Life Prior to the Great Collapse ==
Roberts was born to a tumultuous household in 1996 with a mixed family environment and when young had much of his support from his grandparents. Roberts performed adequately in school, and by junior high, became invested in sports, particularly track and field. In High School, Roberts was a top performer in the school, even as a freshman. However, his grades held him back from greater scholarships. Despite seeing such a path, after only a semester of community college, Roberts enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.
Roberts did well in his weeks in bootcamp, and was particularly enthralled by his drill instructors, who he looked up to. He later attended school of infantry at Camp Geiger to become a rifleman, and after six months, in November 2015, completed his training as a Private First Class upon assignment to Camp Pendleton, California. While in Camp Pendleton, his girlfriend became pregnant. During his time in Twentynine Palms, Roberts gained the nickname "Diva" due to his liking for flashy pop artists from the late 2000s and early 2010s and his tendency to sing along playfully to such songs.
In May 2016, Roberts began his first tour in Iraq under Operation Inherent Resolve. During this period, he trained extensively, was part of patrols, and first experienced real combat. He gained a disdain for extremist Islam as well as many Arabic peoples. During his time in Iraq, his son was born. In November, he returned to Camp Pendleton, where his estranged girlfriend and his son reunited with him. Roberts continued training, was evaluated for promotion and became a Lance Corporal, and prepared for future endeavors. His more rounded and extensive training and preparation continued until June 2017.
That summer, Roberts was deployed again for his second tour, this time in Afghanistan. His active participation in patrols, support positions, and engagements with asymmetric targets of the Taliban and other affiliated groups further hardened his hatred and general animosity of both militarized middle eastern peoples and civilian populations, who he began to see as supportive or complicit in such brutalities. His stance on Islam became one of steadfast distaste. While in Afghanistan, Roberts was promoted to a Corporal and became an assistant squad leader.
== Return to Service in Pennsylvania ==
In early 2017, due to the spread of the Jinanvirus and reduced economic capacity of the federal Roberts, as well as many non-essential military members, were put on, what was at the time, temporarily leave. He returned to Camp Pendleton, California. By the beginning of 2018, his military status went into limbo, and his supplemental income was put on hold. Due to this, Roberts, his girlfriend, and his baby son returned to Pennsylvania as American hardships increased. During this period, Roberts' girlfriend had become pregnant yet again. As public services and infrastructure weaned, Roberts lost family members to the Jinanvirus, particularly his grandparents, which put a significant toll on him. Like others, Roberts began attempting to stockpile already limited resources. During the first half of 2018, he worked as personal security in exchange for basic necessities to influential individuals. Such individuals became de facto leaders of segments, gangs, and neighborhoods of the greater Philadelphia area.
In autumn 2018, having become hardened and more resilient but also psychologically weathered, Philadelphia was officially inducted into the Harrisburg Committee. With its heightened focus on military structure as a core component to restoring order, Roberts realized his value as an experienced Marine Corporal and enlisted again as it provided a secure stream of essentials for him and his family. His enlistment was approved by Colonel Krauss, as many were en masse. Roberts was in early rifle platoons that initially engaged Seaboard forces, and was active in missions in New England before allied units were repelled by Seaboard. During training assignments and assessments in Harrisburg, Roberts was promoted hastily to a Sergeant, and assigned a team.
In the early spring of 2019, Roberts and his squadron were deployed to New York as the intensity of the Seaboard-American war grew.