Background

Mabel was born on the 8th of February, 1989 in Denver Colorado. She was born to a single mother, her name was June Hayes. Mabel looked up dearly to her mother despite the hardship they faced for the first 10 years of her life. Mabel's mother June was hard of hearing, while Mabel was a very much well abled hearing child. Although no language barrier could hide a mother and daughters love for each other so she learned ASL along English as she slowly grew. Mabel always aspired to be like her mother, she was a chef and it always intrigued Mabel. For what bits she lacked while in school she always made up by making little pastries with the aid of her mother. They struggled but they were happy together. When Mabel was 9 years old things slowly shifted but she was too young to understand it just yet. She always enjoyed drawing, especially flowers and it seemed there were just more and more flowers spurting out of the ground than usual all over the place! Or maybe it was just her imagination? This happy childhood innocence wouldn't last forever. In the spring of 1999 when she was around 10 years old people started getting ill and then very aggressive. Her mother tried shielding her from what was happening but it was no use. Mabel saw on the television images and videos of the start of this deteriorating illness as well as little daisies popping out of seemingly nowhere. Mabel's mother hoped and prayed that this would all end soon as the time slowly passed. The area of which their home was located grew more and more dangerous every passing day. She refused to let her or Mabel be taken to any of these quarantine zones. They practically moved into Mabel's mothers little car for a few months, driving around the state as her mother kept on praying it would all end soon. Yet it didn't end, it was only the beginning. Things were looking gloomy for the pair about a year in. The car struggled to sputter along, unable to scrounge around or trade for any more gas and what rations they had were coming to an end. Her mother didn't entirely trust any of the quarantine zones. She was a stubborn and anxious woman, traits that Mabel would pick up on. Things were very dire until the two of them came across a caravan of people. They were a group made up of various people. Her mother desperately pleaded to join them, although struggling a little with her hearing but had Mabel to interpret bits and pieces. Life in this nomadic caravan was no easy thing. They had their struggles like any other group as they went around place to place, never stopping anywhere too long but it was something. Mabel was at first very anxious around all of these new people but eventually she came out of her shell, always trying to keep a little smile on her face even in tough situations. There came a very tough situation a bit over a year in, the group was doing some little gig for some people. Mabel's mother went to try to help with this gig. Mabel didn't really understand why just yet but when her mother came back she had a very solemn expression plastered across her face. She just hugged her daughter tightly. She got bitten by one of those unwell people. She slowly watched her mother get sicker and sicker, slowly deteriorating in front of her. A couple of days later she woke up and her mother wasn't there but instead a note. She couldn't handle her daughter watching her slowly die so she left. Mabel was distraught for a long time after this. She went back into her shell as she continued to go with the people from the nomadic caravan, she didn't have anyone else or so she thought. Although they slowly helped her back out of her shell once more, they became like a family to her, one filled with love and care for each other. She spent years with them, going through all the goods and bads, being taught various life lessons. Life was no sunshine and rainbows anymore like when she was a little girl, but now it was her turn to help, cheering others up in all kinds of situations. Mabel grew into a very hardworking woman throughout these years. She helped her group with the rations, she cooked a lot and it was her favourite thing, even if sometimes they had to get creative with what they had to eat. She tried her hand at various other important jobs and it usually worked out like foraging or setting up little traps around the place. She'd do anything for her family. They were her light in the dark. In 2009, 10 years after the world first got plagued with this sickness with the flowers her group sent her and a few others out to attempt begin scouting around the Knox Quarantine Zone. To check it out and see what it's like on the inside, see if its like what people said. They even heard about another much larger caravan of people who were seeking shelter inside the KQZ which was even more of a push to go see it. Mabel was ecstatic but alas it took them much longer to get there than anticipated. One of Mabel's closest friends got injured on their journey there. When they eventually arrived much later than expected it was not how they were told, everything had changed.