Abby Grant

**Abby Grant** is the protagonist of *Series 1* and the Big Finish Productions audio series of *Survivors*.

## Overview

Before the Death, Abby was a middle-class corporate wife living a comfortable existence in the suburban commuter village of Brimpsfield.

## Biography

###### Before the Death

Abby lived in the village of Brimpsfield with her husband David and son Peter. (*The Fourth Horseman*) During Peter's 10th birthday party, Abby met children's entertainer Leonard Cross, whom she was not impressed by his skills as a performer. *(New Dawn 1 - Behind You)* She sent Peter off to boarding school and was a distant mother to him. She owned a tennis court. *(The Fourth Horseman)*

###### Infection

After speaking with Peter on the telephone, Abby drove to Brimpsfield Railway Station to pick up her husband David. During the drive, she met with Dr. Gordon, the Grant family's GP, and was offered a flu vaccine for herself and David. After dropping her housekeeper, Mrs Transon at the railway station for her to travel to London, Abby learned that a staff shortage had delayed David's train home and she settled down in her car to wait for him.

Hours later, David arrived at Brimpsfield Railway Station disgruntled from the commute back from London which had taken him six hours. Abby began to notice the first symptoms of the Death in herself as she had lumps under her arms. Once home, Abby and David enjoyed a small meal before a powercut led to a blackout at their home. After waiting for Dr. Gordon until it was late, they decided to go to bed while Abby's condition worsened throughout the night. She slipped into a coma as she fought off the Death through the following few days. *(The Fourth Horseman)*

###### Early Days

Waking days later, Abby struggled from her sickbed and discovered the corpse of her husband David on their sofa. She dressed and explored the now-deserted village of Brimpsfield, coming to the conclusion that she was the only survivor of the Death. Before Abby could fall into despair, she remembered her son Peter had still been at boarding school and decided to find him. She travelled to his boarding school and discovered the corpses of a number of boys still in their bunks in the dormatory, none of which were Peter.

Before leaving, Abby encountered schoolteacher Dr. Bronson who informed her of Peter's potential survival with a group of students away from the school. She learned from Dr. Bronson that the government had declared a state of emergency before the Death killed off the emergency government and the remaining emergency services. He also inspired Abby to think about her survival after the Death and the need to relearn old skills in order to rebuild society.

Returning home one final time, Abby decided upon her purpose to find Peter. She cut her hair short and stocked her car with supplies and equipment, before dousing the home with petrol and burning the building to the ground, in a sombre moment of remembrance to her dead husband. *(The Fourth Horseman)*

The following morning, Abby witnessed a helicopter fly over while she was sleeping in her car. Eventually, she came upon the house of Arthur Wormley who held her at gunpoint until he realised she was not a threat. Abby was invited into Wormley's house where she learned he was a former Trade Union president and is attempting to form his own organised government. While she was his guest, Abby informed Wormley of her plan to find Peter and eventually become self-sufficient in order to rebuild. She also witnessed the brutal punishments handed out by Wormley's militia on lawbreakers which led her to leave Wormley's house.

She decided to light a bonfire to attract fellow survivors to her and begin forming a community of her own. The next day, she met Jenny Richards and Greg Preston. *(Genesis)* In need of supplies, Abby, Jenny and Greg visited a local shop to gather what they could to stock up. It was here that they first encountered Wormey's militia in action when they were caught looting and forced to register for rations from Wormley or leave the area. While Abby fought with Wormley's militia over their supplies, Jenny took control of the situation by taking a shotgun from them.

Back at the church, they found Tom Price helping himself to their supplies and he offered to join them, but they were immediately distrustful of him. After learning that Price had met a young boy who had survived the Death, Abby, Jenny and Greg went to confirm if the child was indeed Peter. Stricken with grief and relief, Abby discovered that the boy had died but fortunately was not Peter. Returning to the church, they witnessed Price ally himself with Wormley's militia as they searched the area for Abby, Jenny and Greg, but were saved by Milner, one of Wormley's militia, who warned them to leave. After discovering their supplies ruined and the church compromised by Wormley's militia, Abby decided to lead Jenny and Greg away. *(Gone Away)*

###### Search for Peter Grant

Weeks later, Jenny, Abby and Greg were on the road searching for Peter, when Abby decided to return to Brimpsfield. However, a fault with the car led to them visiting a garage for tools to repair the vehicle. At the garage, Abby, Jenny and Greg first encountered Charles Vaughan, accompanied by a young boy called Mick. Enticed with roast pork by Charles, they shared information about their plan for survival and learned from Charles that around 1 in 5000 people survived the Death. Abby was heartbroken to hear Charles' statistics about the current population and Mick's pain of losing his family at such a young age, reminded of how narrow the chances of Peter's survival were.

The following morning, Abby, Jenny and Greg travelled to Mardell to visit Charles' settlement. However, upon arrival they learned that most of Mardell were suffering from food poisoning, and a few of them had died. Eager to help, Abby took care of the sick survivors at Mardell as many more of them died without proper medication. That evening, she made her plans for the next stage of searching for Peter and shared a tender moment with Charles. However, his dogmatic view on repopulation through mass breeding within the community repulsed Abby and she decided to leave Mardell. *(Corn Dolly)*

Once Abby, Jenny and Greg reached Brimpsfield, Abby was confronted by Greg over the likelihood of Peter's survival. They discovered a minibus and parted ways, with Abby intending to return to Peter's school with reunite with Dr. Bronson. When she arrived, she discovered that Peter's school had been abandoned completely and rang the school bell in despair. She was joined by Jenny and Greg, and introduced to John Millon and Lizzie Willoughby. From the children, she learned that a boy from Peter's school had returned to Brimpsfield to collect boys and take them to 'the Angels' in Derbyshire.

Staying the night on their journey north, they visited an old railway station where they encountered Lincoln after he accidently shot Greg in the arm. Abby travelled into the mountains alone to meet 'the Angels' and was met by Jack, Matthew and Robert, a group of Christian recluses. She learned that the boys from Peter's school hadn't made it to 'the Angels'. Soon, they were joined by Jenny, Greg, John and Lizzie who had abandoned Lincoln after he turned violent, but Abby realised that she had brought the Death to 'the Angels' who had not yet been exposed to it.

As 'the Angels' suffered, Abby, Jenny and Greg realised that some of the survivors were never exposed to the Death and could still fall ill. Following their deaths, Abby, Jenny and Greg decided to leave Derbyshire with the children. *(Gone to the Angels)* After gaining a Land Rover, Abby led the group to find John Carroll, whom 'the Angels' claimed to be living with a boy named Peter. She allowed her optimism to cloud her judgement and rushed to meet the boy, but was crushed to discover he was not her son. Abby is broken by the realisation and decides to call off the search for Peter in favour of setting up their community.

However, upon learning of a community which included a number of young boys at Waterhouse, Abby raced off with renewed zeal to search for her son, where she encountered Knox's band pursuing survivalist Jimmy Garland and rescued him from their clutches. Together they fled into the woods of the Waterhouse Estate and Abby was introduced properly to Garland as the Earl of Waterhouse. She learned that he was in conflict with Knox over the rightful ownership of Waterhouse. As dusk fell, Abby and Garland retreated to Garland's hideout on the grounds of the Waterhouse Estate inside a cave, where she tended to his injuries and shared a drink while finding out more about Garland's worldview on survival.

Leaving Abby asleep, Garland left the cave to retrieve the Land Rover, but she was discovered and captured by Knox's band. She was taken to Waterhouse and introduced to its leader, Knox, who argued that it was Garland who was acting as an aggressor, having raided and attacked their settlement over the disputed ownership. To further his point, Knox informed Abby that Garland demanded Waterhouse be returned to him alone and the community become subjects to the Earl of Waterhouse, owing their allegiance and produce to Garland. She was offered to talk to Garland on Knox's behalf to call a truce between both sides of the conflict, especially after Garland attacked Waterhouse and took one of Knox's community as a hostage.

Reunited with Garland, she was offered a stolen Land Rover from Knox's band by Garland to allow Abby to leave Waterhouse unharmed. She refused to abandon the conflict and confronted Garland about the truth of Knox's claims, learning that Garland wanted to reinstate himself as Earl of Waterhouse and lead the estate with his skills able to benefit the entire community. However, they were betrayed by Knox upon arriving at Waterhouse, with Garland being tortured for information on his hostage while Abby was expelled from the area.

Returning to the Land Rover, Abby was reunited with Jenny, Greg and the children, and was in a state of panic over the fate of Garland. Together they formulated a plan to trap Knox and his men when they came to release Garland's hostage. They successfully rescued Garland and made their escape from the area, bidding a hopeful farewell to Garland and the promise to meet again one day. *(Garland's War)*

###### Founding the Grange

Some time later, Abby, Greg and Jenny came to the decision not to search for Peter any longer, and instead settle a farming community of their own. While travelling, they encountered a pack of wild dogs which attacked Emma Cohen at her cottage. Using rabbits as bait, Greg and Jenny lured the wild dogs away while Abby met Emma. She took care of Emma and promised to return with food that she would hunt. However, finding her gun missing, she was reunited with Tom Price who held her at gunpoint, before she confronted him for abandoning them to join Wormley. After convincing Tom to hunt and kill a pigeon for food, Abby attempted to falsely seduce Tom in exchange for food and, with Wendy's help, locked him in the back of his own van.

The next morning, with Tom still demanding his release from the back of his van, Abby, Emma and Wendy departed Emma's cottage in the van to find Greg, Jenny and the children. Spotting the smoke from a nearby manor house, Abby followed the signal and was reunited with Greg, with the promise of roast pigeon. While helping unload the van of its occupants, Abby and Greg uncovered the small arsenal of weapons stolen by Tom from Wormley's Militia. After an evening meal prepared by Emma between the group, Abby accepted that the manor house was the perfect environment for farming and defence. Well-fed and safe at last, Abby and Greg agreed to make the manor house their new home. *(Starvation)*

## Appearances

* *The Fourth Horseman*
* *Genesis*
* *Gone Away*
* *Corn Dolly*
* *Gone to the Angels*
* *Garland's War*
* *Starvation*
* *Spoil of War*
* *Law and Order*
* *The Future Hour*
* *Revenge*
* *Something of Value*
* *A Beginning*

* *Judges*
* *Esther*
* *Dark Rain*
* *Mother's Courage*
* *Savages*
* *Contact*
* *Rescue*
* *Leaving*
* *The Second Coming*
* *Angel of Death*
* *Come the Horsemen*
* *Beating the Bounds*
* *Lockup*
* *Journey's End*
* *Reconnection*
* *Bandit Train*
* *The Lost Boys*
* *Village of Dust*
* *Hearts and Mines*
* *Fade Out*
* *Conflict*
* *New Dawn 1 - Tethered*
* *New Dawn 1 - My Generation*
* *New Dawn 1 - Behind You*
* *Ghosts and Demons*
* *Crusade*