Joseph Blackwell

## Pre-Apocalypse

*The following is an excerpt from Joseph's PNDRA Refugee Application,*

"I was born in rural Manchester, England. My family grew up somewhat impoverished; I was the oldest of five siblings and, along with my mother and father, we shared a one-bedroom flat. My education wasn’t great, since the nearest school was two hours away by foot and we didn’t have a car. When I was 12, my father lost his job and was unable to support us. He contacted his cousin, Josiah Blackwell, who lived in New Orleans and sent all five of us off overseas to live with him in the USA. It turned out he was the wealthy owner of a farm in the rural outskirts of NOLA.

I started going to school for the first time in my life at nearly 13, but I ended up dropping out once I turned 15. I couldn’t keep up with the other students and I didn’t really learn anything since I was so far behind. When I was 14, I found something I had a natural talent for. Fighting. Josiah looked after all five of us, but he never gave us any pocket money. Just the essentials, like food, water and shelter. To get some extra money, I began fighting in bars. I would place bets with the money I had that nobody in the bar would be able to lay me flat. I rarely lost my money.

Slightly before my 16th birthday, I met an old man named Charlie Saint-Benoit in one of those bars. He was a boxing coach, he’d been boxing since about the same age as me. He said he was impressed and invited me to his gym, Saint-Benoit Boxing Academy. I progressed quickly, and went amateur shortly after my 16th birthday.

I won an amateur state championship in Louisiana; Charlie told me I was gonna be the world champion one day. One day, on my 17th birthday, he gave me a present. I told him that he shouldn’t have, but he shook his head and insisted I opened it. It was a watch, an expensive one too. I probably could have cried but I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of my coach.

When I was 18, I went professional. A week after my first fight, old man Charlie died. The doctors notified me that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer after passing out and that he was slowly dying. I dropped everything I was doing and headed to the hospital. I stayed with him the entire time. Before he died, he told me not to waste my life away, he said that I had true, unmistakable talent. Then, peacefully, his heart stopped beating and he started no longer breathing.

I got sent an offer from a major gym in Louisville, Kentucky a couple of months after that. They said I had talent and they wanted to take over from my previous coach. I debated it and ended up moving to Louisville semi-permanently.

That’s how I ended up here."

## Season 0

Joseph failed to escape the city of Louisville before December 1st, 1994 and was incinerated in the December Bombings. They will be sorely missed.

## Personality

*The following is an excerpt from Joseph's PNDRA Refugee Application,*

"I believe I work very well in teams, and I’m willing to do whatever is necessary to help those I care for. I have never had an issue with fear and I am very good at controlling my adrenaline. I do admit to a lack of patience which has held me back and interfered in my life in the past. Despite this, I’m diligent and hardworking and I believe in protecting others before projecting myself. I’ve had issues with controlling my anger before, but I’m slowly getting better at it, and I assure you it won’t be a problem."