Ava Vaziri

> *“Oh grow up, you don’t actually care about me, you wanna be on good terms ‘cause you don’t want Jules takin’ sides again…”*
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> - Ava Vaziri, arguing with Jeff Grey in ***Life After: The Arising***
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**Ava Sanaz Vaziri** is a minor character in ***Life After: The Arising***.

A high school senior, Ava is best friends with Julia Marino when she partakes in a marching competition at Thomas Massey high school during the beginning of the zombie apocalypse that kicks off the events of ***Life After: The Arising***.

## Appearance and Character

Beyond her larger than average eyes, and the fact that Jeff Grey initially thought she was more attractive than Julia "until she opened her mouth", Ava is not described in any detail, though Jeff certainly knows her well enough.

Though it may simply be an affect of her poor relationship with him, Jeff feels Ava falsely prides herself in interpersonal honesty when, in reality, she is simply tactless. If nothing else, Ava's lack of decorum is a frequent feature of her hostile relationship with Melody Landon, whom she openly disparages, and Jeff, whom she is only too willing to criticize.

## History

Born between May 20th and June 20th in 1988 to Reyhan and Vahid, Julia was raised in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania alongside her older brother Armin. Ava becomes friends with Julia at Langstoon Chase middle school, where the two are jointly involved in the school band. The two would continue this pursuit at TMHS, where Ava would continue playing piccolo and Julia took up French horn. They both met Jeff simultaneously at their first band camp, introduced by John Anderson.

Eventually, Julia and Jeff drew closer together, something Ava didn't mind since she enjoyed his company, but once he became a regular fixture in social outings on the weekends, Ava's resent for Jeff began to fester. Under the direction of Ava, Julia's friends decided to convince her that Jeff was souring their friendship. Stirred by Ava's passion, Julia started giving Jeff the cold shoulder in June of 2004, resulting in Jeff spending two months doing everything in his power to convince Julia to take him back.

While initially determined to spurn him indefinitely, Julia became too heartbroken to continue consciously hurting Jeff and began working toward building good will between the two of them, but right at the beginning of this process, Jeff makes out with another girl at Drew Rusciotto's condo in Wildwood. Jeff tells Julia about it as soon as they're back together, but when Julia informs Ava, she instructs Julia to end it with Jeff right then and there. The two have an uncomfortably tense argument on the subject, where Ava's curt, insensitive personality finally bubbles over, leading her to insist that Jeff never had Julia's best interests at heart. Julia, in turn, insists that it was Ava who failed to heed her best interests from the beginning of this episode, and that Jeff shouldn't be expected to remain a saint when she wasn't even speaking with him. Though Julia and Ava remain friends, the situation with Jeff remains unresolved.

## Recent Events

### *Life After: The Arising*

With the marching festival underway, the TMHS band takes the field at approximately 9:00pm. When Jeff charges the field and grabs Julia, Ava immediately gives chase, following them into the parking lot before they descend into the bowels of the school, first encountering Richard McKnight, a local vagrant squatting in one of the school's alleys. Jeff continues up to the green house on the high school as the panic in the stadium erupts into the parking lot. Once settled, Jeff explains the grim possibilities of their situation, drawing the ire of Melody and impetuous sophomore Matt Hughes while finding some support for his plan to stay put in Ava, John "John Squared" Johnston, and Rich. Jake and senior Don Mason say little, but ultimately agree to spend the night. During the course of the evening, they are joined by Steve Parmacek, a student from out of town who was injured by one of the zombies. As a precaution, Jeff insists they restrain him before trying to sleep. While the rest of the group attempts to settle down, Ava blows up on Melody Landon, a recent graduate whose complaining has drawn Ava's ire.

By morning, Matt has disappeared and Steve has turned into a zombie, confirming Jeff's suspicions about their predicament. Jake tries to leave as well, but is talked out of it. The group splits up to gather supplies, listening to the radio once they reconvene. They learn that the zombies are believed to be protesters, but the town is nevertheless quarantined. As Ava, Rich, and Jeff go to acquire more weapons, Ava casts aspersions on Melody's continued presence, making Jeff angry in the process. Thereafter, the group takes up Julia's suggestion of keeping a lookout on the roof. After one such rotation, Jeff accompanies Don to the downstairs bathroom. A short while later, Jeff returns without Don and succumbs to the throes of an asthma attack, eventually passing out.

After Jeff recovers the following day, the group is shocked to encounter Anderson, who would appear to be the lone survivor of his National Guard unit following an engagement with the undead the previous night. Shortly thereafter, when Julia and Ava head off to get showers, Jeff tells them they can use the phone as long as they don't try to bring any friends or relatives to the school. Ava clearly wants to argue this point until she realizes this directive came from Anderson.

When they all reconvene in the greenhouse, Jeff suggests they do away with the rotation, prompting Rich to challenge Jeff's apparent leadership of the group by insisting that Anderson should be in charge. Jeff tries to avoid acknowledging as much by finally apprising the group of Anderson's next plan: lead the group to the nearest check point and reattach with the Guard. The disagreement ends amicably when Rich decides to resume the roof rotation, but his departure results in Ava's tactless attitude finally getting a rise out of Jeff. The two then launch into a long, brutal, ugly fight where the two criticize each other's personalities, elevating to shouting by the time Ava dredges up Julia and Jeff's separation. Julia, who is sitting right next to Jeff throughout the argument, is too horrified to interject as these long unspoken hostilities are finally aired. The argument ends when Ava leaves the room.

Shortly thereafter, Julia and Ava have a long talk that results in Ava apologizing to Jeff. The group then seems to settle in to more natural groove, listening to the radio and calmly discussing their upcoming sojourn until a throng of undead sieges TMHS later that evening, splitting the group in half as they scramble for an escape; Jeff, Julia, Melody, and John Squared go one way while Anderson, Jake, Ava, and Rich go another. A chase across the roof leads Anderson's quartet through the auditorium roof access, where his group is set upon by the undead and Ava is killed, deeply affecting both Jeff and Julia.

Later, Jeff wonders if his love for Julia means he would ultimately sacrifice himself to save Ava for her benefit. When Julia is wounded by a zombie, Jeff remembers the moment when he first met Julia and Ava two years previous. Days later, Jeff considers that he'd like to know what happened to Ava, but hasn't worked up the will to ask Anderson. Later still, while locking the doors at TMHS, Jeff considers that, despite their issues, he misses Ava.

### *Life After: The Void*

Two months after the events of ***Life After: The Arising***, when Jeff is planning a sojourn with Anderson and Mursak, Rich reminds Jeff that his insistance that the group stay put may have been responsible for John, Don, and Ava's death. Jeff thinks about her again later in the day, reminiscing that she and Mursak once joined him in climbing the roof of the high school long before the apocalypse.

Much later, Melody recalls that Ava called Jeff a "cheater" during their last argument, at which point Jeff finally comes clean about his brief split with Julia. The two commiserate on how they both had someone fulfilling Ava's function on the wrong side of a troubled relationship that shouldn't have ended.