Sandler Freeman

> *"Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to comfort him and his family. They said, “We're sorry to hear your horse has run away. It's most unfortunate.” You know what the farmer said? “**Maybe**.”"*
>
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*Sandler Freeman, 1993*

## Biographical information

### Date of death

December 1st, 1994; Killed in the December Bombings

## Pre-Apocalypse

*The following is an excerpt from Freeman's PNDRA Refugee Application.*

"I grew up on a small farm outside of El Dorado Lake. Mine was a quiet upbringing where nothing of particular interest occurred, unless one counts the mundane details particularly interesting! I was taught my letters and manners around that Lake and it was there where I learned to work with my hands. Afterall, there is always plenty to do around a farm, especially during the Summer when folks are out of School. Plumbing, as it happened, ended up being my passion. considering the benefits of a properly working irrigation system, or the ability to evacuate waste and keep it separate from your potable and non potable waters.

At eighteen, I served a minimum term in the US Army.  I had already missed the war, meaning Viet Nam, but chose to enlist anyhow.  Though I was never deployed, as my unit was not selected for the U.S. Grenada intervention, I took the experiences and responsibilities learned back with me to civilian life having never fired a round in combat. Stateside, I took the funds from the service and applied them towards getting a work vehicle, tools, and the other various necessities to start up an independent business. Nowadays, I end up making runs from the East to West coasts, when I can afford to and the pay is good enough, plying my trade.

I’d heard through a buddy of mine about some farms up this way that were looking to get bids on some heavy irrigation work. The potential pay was far too good to just pass it up, but let me say that Murphy should never have been a lawmaker.  On the way up to Louisville to meet up with a buddy and business contact all of this craziness started. I lost most of what I spent so long building up to, at least, that which was on my work Van.  Tools are tools and thus they are replaceable, so I’m not too worried about all that.

"I’m worried about what is out there, so I followed the rumours to this PNDRA site hoping to gather some answers, or at the least collect my thoughts while we figure this out."

## Early Louisville

Freeman was a wanderer in the early days of the Louisville. Confused and lost, he eventually turned to Christianity for answers and comfort. He took refuge in a church on the eastern side of Louisville not far from Versailles Row. He spent most of his days alone, occasionally talking to Adam Castle and Rois Sheabell on the radio.

Eventually, however, Freeman encountered a Feeder named Randall. Randall saved Freeman's life by using a shotgun; something Freeman had never seen or heard of before. Coaxing Randall to give up the weapon, Freeman was able to bring Randall to safety to his church. There, he conducted humane cognitive tests on Randall, discovered his remarkable intellegence and resilience against Chronic Hyperphagic Disorder.

## Research and the First Ooga Shakas

Freeman hesitantly invited Adam Castle and a woman named Rois Sheabell to come see Randall. Freeman needed fresh insights and help aquiring more Special Anomalous Feeders, or SAFs, as he called them. Though hesitant, both accepted.

Rois worked closely with Freeman, and Castle offered his support when he could. However, Freeman ran into his first signs of trouble not long after the death of Brady Jones. Freeman was attacked by an SAF and nearly killed. Thankfully, the SAF was scared away by an accidental rescue from Castle, who was passing by the scene of the attack by bus. Castle rushed Freeman to Jenny's Bazaar to recieve medical attention. Jenny's Bazaar was skeptical of Freeman's research, but Rois Sheabell and Castle convinced them allow Freeman to continue his work.

Jenny's Bazaar was soon assaulted, however, by the same SAF that had followed them. This SAF was the first documented Ooga Shaka, where it was quickly named such by its incessant use of boomboxes playing Blue Swede's "Hooked on a Feeling". Together, the members and visitors of Jenny's Bazaar hunted down the Ooga Shaka and killed it. The Tourist claimed ownership of the body and brought it back to The Motel, where it would be studied. Shortly after, another Ooga Shaka would attempt to break into The Motel, but it was successfully killed by Adam Castle, who had escorted the first Ooga Shaka's body to The Motel.

## The Burning Bush and Exodus

Sandler Freeman continued his work on studying Special Anomalous Feeders in his church. Inbetween the first Ooga Shakas appearance and Freeman's full recovery from his injuries, Rois Sheabell had rescued another SAF and brought him to Freeman.

In early March of 1994, a jet stormed over the city of Louisville in a night raid, dropping a load of napalm onto Freeman's safehouse. It was instant chaos; the roof was completly destroyed and sent several chunks of flaming debris onto those on the ground floor. The unnamed SAF escaped into the night while Randall and Freeman escaped together, being quickly met by Rois Sheabell. However, the noise and light from the napalm attracked a giant horde of Feeders, who began to attack the trio. In the chaos of the late night battle for survival, Freeman's left eye was gouged out and devoured, and Freeman was seperated from his companions.

Freeman spent the better part of a month hiding in the woods. While little is known about his time in the woods, it is known that he was saved and cared for by a Feeder Colony, and rescued a horse named Lazarus. Rois Sheabell eventually located Freeman, who had gone totally radio silent for fear of the jet returning to attack him, deep alone in the woods. She returned him to her group of safehouses, The Sanctuary, and tended to his many wounds and exaustion.

Over the next few months, Freeman and Rois Sheabell grew close, sparking a relationship between the two. Driven by a mutual desire to uncover the mysteries of Louisville, the two continued Freeman's research on SAFs and began warning other settlements about the danger of the jets.

## FERO Conspiracy

Not long after Freeman returned from his long hike in the woods, Jenny's Bazaar was bombed, which was highly suspected to be an action of the Federal Emergency Response Organisation, or FERO. This event sent the Refugees into a state of emergency, and aroused Freeman's suspicons. Determined to find who was responsible for bombing the church and disrupting his research, he decided to try and investigate FERO as best as he could.

A short time later, a man named Otis Plum approached Freeman and Rois Sheabell, claiming to have evidence of FERO activity in St. Peregrin's Hospital. The Sanctuary sent out a call to put together a team of individuals for the The St. Peregrin Raid.

Freeman, Rois Sheabell, and Castle participated in the Raid, among many others. Inside the hospital, several disturbing truths were discovered: FERO was responsible for both the bombing of the Church and of Jenny's Bazaar, there were several classifications of Special Anomalous Feeders, and CHD had bonded with an airborne virus and become even more infectous. Because of this, the United States and the world were under attack from all sides by feeders.

## Maybe

Freeman, as well as the rest of The Sanctuary began to withdraw from the public eye of the Refugee Community. Freeman and Rois Sheabell met with Castle one last time in August of 1994 before abandoning The Sanctuary's home in favor of a more secretive location.

Freeman, Rois Sheabell, and Randall, as well as most members of the The Sanctuary did not escape Louisville. Instead, they perished together after the December Bombings. They lasted only slightly longer than most other survivors. Copies of Freeman's research, however, remain in the possesion of Otis Plum.