Mirror on the wall Tell me all the ways to stay away, away, away
basic information
Age— 30 (April 2nd - Aries) Originally from— Upstate New York , Chicago Previous community — mobile Previous job— firefighter Community job— lookout / sanitation Living Arrangements — single room close to the precinct /feb 2043 Family — Renee (oldest sister) , middle sister
Andrea is the youngest of the Brandon family. Born and raised in a small town in upstate New York, she did not really have much to complain about as a kid. She spent most of her time between Renee’s care and a nanny. Her parents were those fairytale figures she only saw when they had truly time for her. Renee was more a mom than her sister. She learned everything a kid should learn with her big sister. As she grew older and understood just how messed up their family dynamic was, she started to act out. On many occasions, Renee had to get to school because she was in some kind of trouble. By the age of 17, she was expelled from two private schools. As a punishment, her parents put her in public school. However, the joke was on them because she enjoyed being nobody. She also joined a youth club of first aid responder, which stemmed in her a sense of duty. She did struggle to accept Renee’s decision to leave. For a long time, she was mad at her sister for leaving her in what she qualified as a shit hole. However, she had to live through that twice, as their middle sister eventually left too.
Not wanting to remain in that empty house, she just picked a spot on the map and decided to give it a shot. It would lead her to Chicago, where she would put her affluent upbringing aside and focus on her desire to make a meaningful impact on the world. That sense of duty just wanted to come out, and so she prepared to join the CFD. She did her written test, which was ok, but again she was never really the academic type. She then spent a year preparing for the CPAT, it was a tough test, but she passed it with a rather good result. For the next six months after that, she completed the Chicago fire Academy. During that time, she went low contact with her family. Really only giving Renee sparse updates, just for her not to worry. Once she graduated, she was sent to a firehouse that would leave a bitter taste in her mouth. Her mates, weren’t really welcoming her as a fellow firefighter, only saw her as a girl. She suffered a great deal from that , until her captain flat out told her to transfer to another firehouse for her own good. Andrea understood there and then what he meant: all the harassment would cause that captain problems he didn’t want, so she had to leave.
Well she did, but not before putting in a complain. She was not one to be silenced. That’s how she landed in Chief Ford’s firehouse and how she met another female firefighter who became her mentor. She quickly blossomed as the newcomer, but also because she could do her job for a change. When the virus broke out and all hell broke loose. As first responder, she saw the first instances of that virus and just how much of a nightmare the world would become. With no way to contact her blood family, she stayed with her fire family. It wasn’t easy, tensions sometimes ran high, but at least, they had each other …or so Andrea thought. One night, she heard some commotion while being on look out and went to investigate. Due to a slippery hill slide, she tripped, fell, and lost consciousness. When she came to her senses, it was midday, and when she hopped back up the hill, back to their camp, there was no one in sight. They wouldn’t just leave her, right? She stabilized her foot and began just following the truck marks. Eventually she stumbled upon a massacre, all she saw was corpses…moving corpses for some…
From that time one, she roamed alone, trading some stuff, hoping that maybe one day, fate would reunite her with the people she loved, in this life or another. She heard of Redwood on a few occasions, and decided to go trade some of her things, because she was near the supposed location of that settlement. Listening to her radio to pick up something, she found herself amid a conflict between Redwood and the Daybreakers, which would lead her to join the community and her family.
Headcanons:• Andrea hates her name. When she was little, she wanted to be called Andy, ever since she moved to Chicago it’s Drea. Don’t call her anything else unless you want to face a real bitch slap.
As a firefighter, she is specialized in closed spaces fires and was training for hazardous materials when the virus hit.
Drea enjoys thunderstorms, it calms her, and she often gets lost in the ambiance of it.
Drea believes in ghosts; she uses her radio sometimes as a sweeping device and swears to have heard voices on it. During her youth, while doing urbex, she also claims to have had the strangest encounters. One being of a man standing near an elevator shaft, who disappeared when she flashed her light at him.
Drea suffers from nightmares, a symptom of the trauma she witnessed as a first responder at the beginning of the outbreak. Although these days, the dreams mix with burn victims and her crew.
One of Drea’s things to trade is her liquor. She found some recipe of moonshine and when she can get her hands on grain and sugar, she’ll do something strong. Something as useful for cleaning wounds or drinking.
