Mark Hanson

## Backstory

 Mark Hanson was born to a rough life in the slums of Boston Massachusetts. He lived with his mother and his dog Alister as his father was not present in his life. Mark was involved in gang activity as a youth and was quite the rough edged individual. For years he lived like this until he came home from a day out in the city with large knife wounds. For Ms. Hanson this was the last straw. Contacting her own mother and father, she convinced them to spare some of the money they had plenty of, and sent him to a better school on the opposite side of the U.S. in the state of Ohio. In this school he continued to have problems with the students there. He was constantly bullied for his background. He did only have one friend and her name was Nadia. These two developed out of a friendship into something more. They stayed in a happy relationship even after their schooling years were over. Then the world ended. First came a sickness that took the world by storm, then the dead began to rise. With the dead walking the earth people began to panic. They stole, they looted. This was all before the military moved in and enforced Marshall Law. But after that, they all left. Had it not been impossible to go without noticing the sound of boots and military vehicles, maybe no one would've noticed. Those sounds just went away one day. The soldiers, the Humvees...  With no authority now, the riots started and got progressively worse. Gunshots and screams rang out through the city. Over time, the screams changed. They had no audible cause. As time went on there were fewer and fewer screams. The occasional gunshots still could be heard, but they didn't usually mean anything good... Especially when they were followed by the screams of a person being ripped apart. Possibly even mutilated in front of those they were protecting and loving. Bodies littered the streets, blood stained the many and various surfaces, corpses roamed Over all, the moaning and groaning of the undead was all that was left... Now, years into the apocalypse Mark was a lone trooper. Caring for no one but himself. Mark's story begins with him near vainly attempting to scavenge in an alley. His life of a loner ends when a younger male comes up behind him with a gun. Mark later learned that the younger man's name was Gus. The two were unsure of each other but were forced to cooperate when a bell in the town they had been searching rang, drawing a horde in upon them both. This was the start of Marks first possible friendship since the first day that the dead began to rise.

## Escape from Hopewell

Mark Hanson was scavenging for quite literally anything he could use in the alley between a couple buildings. He was approached by a young man with a pistol. A bell in the town began to ring and a horde closed in on the unlikely pair. They escaped the alley via an fire escape ladder on the side of one of the buildings. Finding themselves trapped inside the building after their first escape, the young man who was later identified as Gus Milner, nearly tried to sacrifice himself as part of their escape. Mark fought his way through the assembling horde and risked himself to wait for Gus who made it out of the building and through the tightening gap in the cluster of monsters. Mark and Gus then made their way to the meeting place that Gus' group had set.

## Dorsey Farmstead

Mark arrived with Gus Milner at the Dorsey Farmstead. Mark didn't make a very good impression on the group leader, Owen Price as he made himself look hostile despite his best attempt not to. Luckily an older man by the name of Jasper McKinlay who with Gus' help convinced Owen that Mark might be worth giving at least a bit trust. Gus gave the point that Mark had helped drastically in his escape from Hopewell. As it got darker, Mark went to use his flashlight and found the batteries dead. He was approached by a friendly redheaded girl, Lilly Morgan whom he chatted momentarily with and was given batteries by. Mark was allowed to go with Owen's group to their shelter. Towards the beginning of their walk, Mark expressed his thanks to Jasper and also introduced himself to Jasper's daughter, Isis McKinlay who gave him the nickname "Lighthouse" due to his earlier behavior of shining his flashlight down on the group during a discussion of theirs. Later during the walk thanks to Lilly's apparently playful personality, she decided to force an exhausted Mark to piggyback her and even fell asleep. Mark and Isis were given the job of clearing Walkers out of the back yard of a farm house they came across. ( Dorsey Farmstead ) Here they found a single remaining mustang which was being attacked. Thanks to Isis' and Mark's quick response the horse was spared from a unfortunate demise.

## Rescuing Robbie

Robert Schultz, AKA Robbie, was lost in the escape from Hopewell and Isis McKinlay, Gus Milner and Mark were the chosen volunteers who were sent to retrieve the child. After their search, they were brought to the boy by the sound of a car horn which had been occupied by Robbie and a boy named Tim Collins. Tim's group needed help and Isis was compelled to provide it. Being forced to leave with the child, Gus and Mark began their trek though a intense storm. They took shelter in a abandoned Double Decker Bus which is known as The Duke. ( Duke University Transit Service ) Mark found the keys and drove back to the farm. Upon arrival, Mark was met by Jasper McKinlay. Mark was forced to explain that they had left his daughter behind to do her own rescue. Mark did a poor job as he was nervous and unused to breaking bad news like that. Jasper was left extremely unhappy and Mark was left with another person who now disliked him.