Nash Sawyer

*"My fal'thuh wus a calloused man with a calloused life, said he helped his sistuh commit suicide once by holdin' her unduh kitchen sink; Ain't nothin' matter no 'mor to him than, wail, nothin'. My fal'thuh was also a wifebeatin' drunk bastard who, from what I've 'dun heard, was the son of a drunker wifebeatin' bastard, whose the son of'an' even drunker wife beatin' bastard. The man would rather drown 'is liver in a bottle 'uh poison than give half a damn about any family, friend whatsoevah. Anguh begats mor anguh.. Hate only begats mo' hate.. who would'uh known..."*
—Nash Sawyer
**Nash Eli "Skipper" Sawyer, Sr.** is an overseas war veteran and is a member of a band of survivors of the H.B.I. Pathogen (Human Bloodborne Infection) Pandemic from the American Midwest, known only as the Midwest Misfits.

## Biography

### Early Life

Nash Eli Sawyer, Jr. was born to a family in the small town of Calico, Tennessee on July 5th, 1946 at 12:30 AM, at Saint Kenway Associate Hospital. Aside from the majority of his adolescence, he looks fondly back at the first few years of his upbringing, as up until after his 10th birthday, around the time his father returned from service, he was well-raised and loved by his family, friends and community. He is the son of Jack Tenpenny Sawyer, an alcoholic Korean War veteran with a criminal record who served in the United States Air Force, and then worked as a local firefighter in rural Illinois. Nash worked in detasseling from a young age, cutting the tops of corn so they can pollinate in miles of corn in a field.

#### Military Service and Life on the Road

Nash would follow in his father's footsteps and enlist in 1963 at the age of 17 in the United States Special Forces as a Green Beret, serving in the early years of the Vietnam War, which are often regarded to be the most dangerous and traumatizing. Most would think Jack pressured his son into enlistment, but rather Nash saw it as a rite of passage. During his time in Vietnam, Nash served with and later bonded with a man named Maverick Ward, who would later become an EMS worker.

Following his return home, now in his twenties, Nash became disillusioned with the reasons for the war, and following his service he deeply regretted his actions. He also received heavy, violent criticism from members of the anti-war movement, especially since he voluntarily enlisted as opposed to being drafted, He quickly was shunned by his community and had a falling out with his father over his newly found love for Cassandra Shaffer, who he would later marry. Nash stole a bike and left without looking back, and moved at first to Clearwater, Nebraska before coming back later and stealing his father's 1973 Winnebago Chieftain. Living a nomadic type lifestyle out a Winnebago RV Motorhome, and later, his red 88' Ford Bronco he named "Ruby", as it's coat of paint was sunbaked into a more pastel terracotta color.

### Pre-Outbreak

Years after the end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, in the thick of the Cold War, there were occasional news reports and radio broadcasts about an alarming trend of rising cannibalistic attacks and murders throughout southeast Europe and the Baltic Region, of which all these reports had stayed out of the western media through direct government censorship. There was a occasional follow up reports of "riots" and "violent protests" within London, and shortly after time passed, Paris as well. In America, the U.S. in particular, these were largely ignored due to both the celebration of the Vietnam War as well as public paranoia and civil tension with the beginning of what was coined as "The Red Scare."

Largely due to the U.S. and the U.S.S.R's heated rivalry at the time, the issue of deadly pandemic on a world-wide scale was overlooked, both global powers instead censored media and distributed misinformation as to direct public attention away from panic. In due time, the problem became too great for both nations who had, albeit reluctantly, agreed to what would have been a temporary alliance to fix the pandemic within each of their respective influences. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done and the opportunity to stop the infection all together was long gone; both governments now instead preparing to weather the storm by procedurally selectively enacting martial law, placing a cordon sanitaire around all greater urban cities, and constructing shelters in population specific areas under the pretense of "in the event of a nuclear conflict" while said shelters were instead constructed with the intended purpose of withstanding the outbreak as long as possible. These shelters were built with industrial strength generators with enough power to last for 1-2 years and massive tanks for clean drinking water to match, along with fully stocked shelves of non-perishables.

#### Initial Outbreak

On March 15th, 1988 at 4:41 AM EST, over half an hour of breaking news covered reports on the pandemic at global scale in all languages, being followed up with each country's respective EMS broadcast with specific instructions.

Nash had been living a nomadic lifestyle travelling, gradually, from Nebraska to his own off grid homestead in the Tennessee Smokies. All the meanwhile he practiced taking survivalist precautions, along with teaching himself fully how to fish and hunt big game. He learned basic bushcraft, and amateur first-aid and metalworking. Nash was eerily and coincidentally well prepared for a new lifestyle he did not anticipate nor expect, one which the H.B.I. Outbreak surely delivered. In the early weeks of the apocalypse he had laid low and studied the behavior of Runners, learning early on that the virus can afflict wolves and bears as well as humans, only later learning it can turn sheep and deer as well by witnessing one of his early acquaintances turning after eating tainted venison.

#### One Year, Post-Outbreak

Nash, now a first year veteran, later reunited with his fellow soldier, Maverick. Following the formation of the Midwest Misfits the two began working with Arc, a belligerent heroin junkie, who would often join them on their supply runs and firefights with opposing factions. One day during one of these scavenging trips, Arc went missing, and while searching for him they stopped to look for supplies in a derelict rural neighborhood. During their detour, they met their world's version of Connor MacArthur, a former convict at Rikers Island. Maverick nicknamed him "Jailbird," and Connor was initially apprehensive to survive alongside him but they eventually resolved their issues.

The trio came across a "racer" scampering across the road, a weaker but much faster breed of Runner due to certain medical conditions pre-infection. On their travels, they found a farmhouse as a temporary shelter. During their night's stay they revealed that the homestead was formerly owned by a family of cannibals, finding a human carcass whose organs were harvested and whose blood was everywhere. Maverick suffered a nervous breakdown and Nash briefly suffered a traumatic panic attack and let out a bloodcurdling war cry, unintentionally announcing their presence to a horde of zombies. The group of survivors went upstairs and removed access to the staircase as a precaution.

## Personality

*"Our life will be hard livin', we will have to live life comfortably without any luxury. We must unduhstand that to fear the smallest things will spell death. That from this point forward should we ever hold out hope for the world to be the same someday that we'd never see it. That is something only our children or even our children's children will live to see, and that if we die they die with us! It is our duty to do what little we can on this earth for the others, more than we can ourselves. Amen."*
—Nash Sawyer
Nash is very, humble, bold and brave man with a hard, calloused, desensitized look on his life and the lives of others around him. He has a wise, humble grandpa-like demeanor about him. Life is temporary; do in your life what you can, while still you can. He is protective of his friends and of his family, placing their safety above all else, even himself. This was evidenced when he stayed behind to thin out the infected horde while his son was rushed to the hospital.

He is a born leader both kind and endearing, fair and just, but not without a vengeance. Anyone who so would so much as lay a hand on the people he cares for, will lose that hand. Anyone who would so much as say the wrong word about his family, will lose their tongue. He makes promises, not threats. When he seeks revenge, it will be achieved. A friend of Nash is a friend for life, and an enemy of Nash will be hunted for life.

## Physical Appearance

Nash is a half-Hispanic American man from the Kentucky / Tennessee region of The United States with a copper skin and thick, and dark blonde, ear-length hair often kept in a middle part or a comb over. The first thing one notices is his intimidating stature and muscle mass, with the muscle build that of a strongman or a silverback, standing a little over 6'4" and 6'5" with his boots on, earning him the nickname "Paul Bunyan". He has gently set, pleasant hazel green eyes that grow dark and intimidating with the bout of each brooding anger that overcomes him. He keeps a rugged, well kept beard that highlights his strong jawline and his toothpaste commercial smile.

He has the calloused palms of farmhand and of a carpenter, a physical laborer's physique. He has a hulking closed fist that resembles a mailbox with iron studded knuckles. His grip strong enough to casually tear quarters and rip phonebooks in half, healed scar tissue in the shape of scratch marks litter sections of his face that go unnoticed (besides one on his left cheek) appearing as mere wrinkles without a closer look.

## Abilities

* **Peak Human Condition:** As a former Green Beret and living a survivalist lifestyle for most of his adult life, Nash is in peak physical condition. When he worked in detasseling, cutting down tall blades of corn over time gave him tough calloused skin and a strong swing. Once factoring in organ weight and bone density, over 150 pounds of Nash's bodyweight is pure muscle.
	+ **Peak Human Strength:** Nash is very physically strong as a result of years of farm work. His strong grip increases the stability of two-handed weapons, such as his iconic Remington 870 shotgun, as well as increasing the devastation of strikes from his equally as iconic fire axe. Theoretically, he could handle and discharge a four bore rifle, which produces upwards of 200 pounds of felt recoil, as though it were a standard firearm. Nash is strong enough to the point where he can casually curb stomp a zombie's skull apart (generating 520 pounds/235 kilograms/2,300 newtons of force), even from behind a helmet.
	+ **Peak Human Durability:** Nash's calloused hands and iron grasp are akin to that of a vise-grip, his tough skin serves more of like armor and his curled fists are that of lunchboxes made of concrete and cast steel. Nash lacks extremely little in being nimble, even if he's like that of walking slab of cut stone, but should movement ever be reduced, the carved out rock that is his body will carry him out.
	+ **Peak Human Reflexes:** Nash's reaction time is well above that of an MMA champion.
* **Expert Marksman:** Nash was extensively trained in firearms during his time in the Special Forces. As such, he is proficient with a wide variety of firearms including revolvers, pistols and shotguns, both lever-action and pump-action.
* **Expert Combatant:** Nash is a professional warrior, and a venerated soldier. He excels in multiple forms of combat, be it hand-to-hand, armed at close quarters and armed at long distance. He is never found without being armed to the teeth, and unprepared for any event to mind. Fighting Nash unarmed is like having a fist fight with a bear under a fallen pine tree, barefoot. Not only does it hurt to punch him, it is a stinging, bruising, aching hell when he strikes back closed-fist. If his mobility is ever hindered, he will endure it. His fighting style is akin to that of Muhammad Ali.
	+ **Axe Mastery:** Nash's experience with a machete transferred to him being highly skilled in wielding an axe as a melee weapon, landing devastating blows that can carry enough force to enter through the gut and exit out the back of an individual's spine, having shown before to take down multiple zombies in one fluid swing. As a given that his fire axe is essentially a sharpened sledgehammer, he can easily put to use both long and short blunt weapons, be it a hammer or a baseball bat or anything in between.
* **Stealth:** Nash is well-rehearsed in guerilla warfare and the battlefield tactics that are comparable to that of John Rambo.
* **Gifted Intelligence:** Nash is highly intelligent when it comes to battle and survival tactics.
	+ **Expert Survivalist:** Nash, surviving a casually nomadic lifestyle out of his former Winnebago adapted almost instantly to the effects of the outbreak, being well-rehearsed in hunting game, logging, rationing supply, fishing, tracking, bushcraft and growing wild crops.
	+ **Skilled Musician:** Nash taught himself to sing and play many songs by Johnny Cash, The Devil Makes Three, and Billy Joe Shaver on the guitar, in both English and Spanish.
	+ **Bilingualism:** Nash is fluent in both English and Spanish, as well as maintaining minimal understanding of Vietnamese.
* **Indomitable Will:** Nash having lived through a little under half a decade of warfare has seen a great share of death and bloodshed, even having carried some of it out himself. A frontline infantryman Nash has seen and has dealt out dismemberments, eviscerations, impalements, decapitations, guttings, zips, burnings, to name a few, not to mention the various states of decay they leave. As such, Nash is desensitized to horrific stimuli.

## Weaknesses

* **Human Vulnerabilities:** Homo Sapiens, even being the former dominant species on the planet, certainly lack in many aspects compared to our contemporaries in The Animal Kingdom. Humans are forced to cook their meat and wash their fruits and vegetables, and the dominant species susceptible to the H.B.I virus, only a small percentile of animals can be exposed to a viral vector and see any lasting effects. The only animals that can face the risk of being infected at all are bears, certain swine and certain sheep, wolves, and coyotes, with certain classification of the domesticated dog being oddly immune. Humans on the other hand are 99.9999% susceptible to a vector should blood or saliva enter a wound, or if virulent residue from under a finger nail scratch deep enough, all on top of if one were to accidentally breathe in the air that the infected exhale, the airborne sub-vector being the only way of infection possible that someone can be either immune or be strongly adverted to. All the while the human body requires maintenance and sustenance, while run the risk of conflict with another human.
* **Susceptible to Alcoholism/Nicotine Addiction:** Nash, being born with a fraction of Apache Indian heritage as well as being the born the son of a long, depressing lineage of alcoholic fathers, is susceptible to alcoholism and nicotine addiction. A little too much of one or the other in one sitting will leave him hooked, and hooked bad.

## Techniques

* ***Tennessee Mouthwash/Tennessee Alarm Clock:*** A attack that's ranged, but does no less damage up close, Nash takes whatever alcohol of choice and availability―preferably one with moonshine in it, will either rinse it like mouthwash and spit it or throw/bashes the bottle open on the target. Nash then backs up and shoots the opponent with his Remington 870 and sets them to blaze, though if he aims for silence and "subtlety" a box of matches will do.
* ***Kentucky Lumberjack Special:*** Nash is well known for his incredible accuracy, dexterity, and skill. With this attack, Nash combines all of it into one by throwing his Fire Axe in a curved arc and letting his grip go, twirling it through the air in such a way it destroys the target unfortunate enough to "catch" it. Nash likes to aim for the legs when dealing with hostile survivors, and for center mass when dealing with anything else, normally infected.
* ***Truck Stop Clorox Show-stop:*** Nash, while spending time with his cousin **Randy** and his younger brother **Lil' Red** out by Four Sixes, a (formerly) operating ranch near Guthrie, about four hours west of Dallas, learned a couple neat parlor tricks while a little buzzed one night. One of them being quite useful for after the outbreak. Nash will take any provided cleaning detergent that contains high amounts of bleach and, with gasoline provided, dump the entire bottle onto a target, or in their targets direction, before dumping the other. The minute only a single spark reaches the combination of chemicals, they will ignite and will sustain the blazing fire for an extended period. Randy, who used to teach a chemistry class, and Lil' Red who's a ex-convict, taught the trick to Nash for fun.
	+ Gasoline requires oxygen to burn, and sodium hypochlorite (household bleach) will provide that oxygen for an extended period. With proper technique and pyromaniac proficiency, Nash can create near-impenetrable walls of fire.

## Equipment

### Suit

* **"Vietnam Straightjacket":** Nash accustomed himself to wear protective clothing whenever possible, including thick treated leather coats and denim jackets, having learned this behavior from the unpredictability he saw during his service. Long before the apocalypse, Nash owned at one point more steel toe boots than he did tennis shoes, more thick leather bomber jackets and military coats then he did ties, and more reinforced studded knuckle gloves than he owns socks, and had only one sandal, which he tossed out of the window of his truck, for reasons unknown. Nash refers to this as habit **"***The Vietnam Straight Jacket***"** as it is a passively learned trait that he developed, and stuck, like a Straight Jacket. He has went to say himself that:
> *"If sumthin' good can happen, it'll happen. If somethin' bad can happen, pray that it doesn't".*
>
>

### Weaponry and Gadgets

* **Colt Python/"Ol' 'Nam":** Nash was issued a .357 silver revolver as his service weapon in the Special Forces. He used it as his sidearm during the outbreak until he obtained his Remington as his primary weapon.
* **IMI Desert Eagle/"Christi":** Nash found a Desert Eagle in the hands of a deceased survivor during his time in Texas, taking it for two reasons. He thought it looked nice, and thought it would be funny to say he "stole it off a corpse in Corpus Christi."
* **Winchester Model 1887/"Daisy":** Following his return home and at the time newly adapted nomadic off-grid lifestyle, Nash would purchase a Nickel-Plated Winchester Model 1887 and would quickly adapt to hunting big and small game with it, as it is similar to a cadet rifle he would have trained with at boot camp.
* **Remington Model 870/"Babe":** Nash took a shotgun from the corpse of the late Lance White of his world after he found him laid up against an old oak tree, surrounded by a field of tulips and roses. He quickly took a liking to the weapon and began using it more than his sidearm.
* **Ol' Red:** Nash's father left him a fire axe in his will, and it became his favorite weapon of choice. He seldom acknowledges it by name, as it could easily be confused for his younger brother, **Lil' Red**.
* **Arkansas Toothpick:** A large dagger Nash had purchased with what little money he had left before beginning to live his life Nomadically. Nash has maintained it for years regularly sharpening it and fixing it brand new when it has broken, and along side his fire axe it is one of his prized possessions.

### Vehicles

* **1973 D-27C Winnebago Chieftain:** Nash came back once and stole a 1973 Winnebago Chieftain from his father, who would have been long dead at the time, if not one of the first to be initially infected. Nash, though resourceful and thought out with its use, left it behind at a cache in favor of his 1988 Ford Bronco.
* **1988 Ford Bronco/"Ruby":** Nash had found the car keys to and fixed up a 1988 Ford Bronco, naming it "Ruby" due to the tinge of the red, sunbaked coat of paint. Nash puts faith in Ruby, and it is his most prized possession of automotive travel.

## Relationships

* Esther Leanne Sawyer † - Aunt
* Isabelle "Bella" Carmen Sawyer † - Mother
* Cassandra "Cass" Amy Sawyer † - Wife
* Sadie Macbeth Thompson- Half-Sister
* Dale "Lil' Red" Redmond Sawyer - Brother
* Randy Allen Sawyer - Cousin
* Nash Arthur Sawyer Jr. - Son

Allies* United States Army Special Forces
	+ Maverick Ward
* Midwest Misfits
	+ Arc
	+ Connor MacArthur/Jailbird
	+ Jason Kade

## Trivia

* Nash's favorite color is blue, his second being green.
* Nash's favorite bird is the North American Cardinal.
* Nash has a particular affection for classic old-west style weapons, which is why he's seen with an almost stereotypical cowboy style of loadout including Pump-Action Shotguns, Repeater Rifles, and Revolvers.
	+ Nash's favorite ammunition to use with his Remington 870 is buckshot shells, and uses it in tandem with birdshot.
	+ Nash's amateur mechanic and metal working skills give him skill needed to craft slugs simply out of parts you would find from under a kitchen sink, or a bike shop.
	+ A method used by homeowners in rural America who are answering to suspected home intruder is to load the first round with Birdshot, as the first extent of the damage done would be a spray of small hot burning bits of metal, then to follow with buckshot as either an intimidation tactic or to take care of an accomplice. Followed by another round of birdshot, and then the rest buckshot for when things go south. Normally this scenario doesn't particularly go that far as a simple rack of the shotgun gets the point across.
* Nash's favorite flowers are Maybells, Violets, and Morning Glories.
* Nash's favorite song is "Alone and Forsaken" by Hank Williams, along with anything sung by the late Johnny Cash.
	+ Nash's Main Theme is "Curse of the Fold" by Shawn James.
	+ His Intro Theme is "Sleeping Inside" by Lilium and Balmorhea's "The Winter". His Fight Theme being "Alone and Forsaken" by Hank Williams along with "In the House, in a Heartbeat [Metal Cover]" by John Murphy.
* Nash's accent is reminiscent of the deep voice of a Southern Baptist Pastor, and possibly has some family lineage in Louisiana.
* Nash is half-Hispanic.