Vanessa Campbell

***Vanessa Campbell*** is one of five secondary protagonists throughout the novel; *Cataclysm: Definitive Edition* (and the original), she is saved by Doctor William Samson and joins the group of the doctor, Robert Charlton and Katrina Davenport, briefly before he death.

***"I've got'ta warn ya, I'm a heavy sleeper"*** - Vanessa Campbell joking with Doctor Will Samson. (*Chapter 7: Farmhouse)*.

## Pre-Book History:

Vanessa was born in Everpool, a place which lies on the western coast of the North-West and is ruled by a ruthless group called Clan Scouser, or simply the Scousers.

Growing up with her cousin, Vanessa and her cousin would get into trouble on a daily basis. When she and her cousin turned twelve in 2227, the two became addicted to cocaine in a bid to stall their hunger problems.

By the time they were sixteen in 2231 the duo became thieves. Late in 2231, Vanessa and her cousin were imprisoned by Clan Scouser for wearing red, which was the colour of their rivals, the Pool Crew, with Clan Scouser wearing blue.

Vanessa's cousin's crimes caught up with him and he was guilty of multiple counts of thievery and was sentenced to have his right-hand cut off. Vanessa managed to escape and rescue her cousin and the two of them ran away from Everpool, eastwards in hopes of making it to the Democratic Trade Union's Territories.

Along the way Vanessa and her cousin would rob travelers for their valuables and drugs. Eventually the duo came across what seemed to be a drug deal gone bad, there they found some cocaine but mostly heroin.

The duo began to experiment and eventually become addicted to heroin. From 2232 to 2237 to pay for their expenses the duo would spent a couple months in different towns and cities, depending on how much they could get in those places, they would be hired to steal as well as steal items for themselves, buy drugs and from 2236 to 2237 Vanessa began selling herself as a prostitute, whereby her cousin would soon become her pimp.

Eventually Vanessa's cousin became richer from pimping her out and robbing her customers, to the point that Vanessa would borrow D.T.U. credits from her cousin. In return Vanessa gave her cousin a higher percentage of her money per customer.

In early 2238 Vanessa and her cousin were caught by the D.T.U.D.F. in Tradesville attempting to steal from merchants from Utopia but managed to escape. The duo used fake names during their stay in Tradesville and those fake names were put on the Black Register.

Due to having to escape from Tradesville immediately the duo left most their belongings, including a majority of Vanessa's cousin's credits. Vanessa's cousin blamed her for them nearly being arrested and demanded Vanessa repay him, which was not helped by the fact the two of them had little heroin left and were afraid of suffering from withdrawal.

While hiding in the Tattered Woods, a large area south of the D.T.U. Territories, where lawless Roadside Trappers, gangs, slavers and D.T.U. patrols roamed, Vanessa would be pimped out by travelers and merchants in the bushes. Still unable to repay her cousin the value he was due, and being close to withdrawal, Vanessa's cousin became increasingly aggressive towards her. Vanessa would eventually give her cousin a few sessions of fellatio to ease his temper and repay him at the same time. The two would then endure the vicious process of heroin withdrawal together in the Tattered Woods.

## Appearance & Personality:

### **Physical Appearance:**

* **Eye Colour -**Brown
* **Hair Colour -**Brown
* **Hair Style -**Untamed, long
* **Facial Hair -**None
* **Skin Colour -**White
* **Height -**5'8" (172.7cm)
* **Weight -**5.7st (80lbs)
* **Accent -**Scouse (Liverpudlian)
* **Age (in 2238) -**23-years-old.
* **Other Features -**Vanessa has many track marks on her arms, legs and feet caused by needles from her drug abuse issues. Hair and skin damaged from the drug use seeping into her hair and skin pours.

### **Attire & Arsenal:**

Vanessa wears torn rags, that are filthy from months of living in the woods.

She has no weapons to speak of.

### **Personality:**

Vanessa is a drug addict (cocaine and heroin) yet handles her withdrawal a lot better than her cousin. Vanessa is kind hearted but quick to crumble under pressure.

When introduced in the novel Vanessa is deeply depressed and is tempted to commit suicide, however the doctor shows her the light and she begins to feed off his energy and become positive minded and share the same outlook on life as Doc Samson, finding a new purpose in life.

## Biography:

Unable to bear the thought of starvation and no heroin anymore, Vanessa's cousin was driven insane and began to beat up Vanessa on a daily basis. Eventually Vanessa and her cousin came across travelers and Vanessa refused to have sex in exchange for food with them, deeming herself clean from drugs and now did not want to stoop down to selling her body anymore. Her cousin took exception to this and began to beat her in front of the travelers, luckily Vanessa managed to escape.

Vanessa's cousin chased her through the Tattered Woods as Vanessa screamed for help and pleaded with her cousin to not hurt her. Her cousin caught up to her and began to beat her up then attempted to rape her. Luckily Doc Samson arrived in time to halt any further beating or rape from occurring and Vanessa's cousin turned his focus onto the doctor. Will warned her cousin to cease what he was doing, when he refused to do so, the doctor went to shoot her cousin but his shotgun jammed. Fortunately for Doc Samson and Vanessa, Robert Charlton had managed to sneak up behind her cousin, where after he stabbed him in the back and killed him.

Vanessa desired to die and begged the doctor to leave her with her injuries so that she may die alone. Doc Samson refused to grant her that wish and convinced Robert to bring her back to his wagon to rest after the doctor had patched her up.

It is here Vanessa would meet the young girl; Katrina Davenport. Soon after the group made it to a farmhouse where they would rest. The group meet two men called Keith and Marty who turn out to be Night Snakes. During the night the Night Snakes attempt to rob the group but desire to kill them first. It is here in the dead of night that Marty snuck into the room that the doctor and Vanessa slept in and stabbed Vanessa to death.

With no time to spare once both the Night Snakes were killed, the group raced off into the night, not wanting to be around when the reinforcements of the Night Snakes arrived. Vanessa's dead body was left at the farmhouse where it was later discovered by the Night Snakes. The faction's leader; Viper, would burn the farmhouse down after this.

## Trivia:

* Vanessa was intended to have a greater role in the original drafts, becoming more of a love interest with Robert Charlton, however Darryl M. Finch-Ellis felt that Robert did not need a love interest, believing a love story within an adventure would be too much of a troupe.
* The man attempting to rape Vanessa when she is first introduced was originally going to be her brother, however this was changed to her cousin as Darryl M. Finch-Ellis had recently watched the Season 4 Game of Thrones episode "Breaker of Chains" and did not want any parallels between his novel and the Lannister Twins' scene.
* Vanessa was killed off too early to explore her drug addiction within the novel.
* Vanessa cannot read or write.
* Vanessa's links to the Scousers is a rare indication of where she would be from pre-cataclysmic event, in this case being Liverpool.
* Vanessa's favourite song is; *The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun*.