Name: Renee Brandon Age: 42 Community Job: Doctor/Medical Personnel Job Before Events: Doctor Reside in: Small three bedroom home close to the School How long have they lived in Redwood?: 2 years Family: Two sons, Oliver (6) and Henry (4), Husband Andy Status: Separated Faceclaim: AJ Cook
Biography:
Renee Noel Brandon was born and raised in a small town in upstate New York. She was the oldest of three girls and although they were a very happy family, Renee also knew that she was being held to a higher standard than her younger sisters. Their parents were constantly busy with their businesses, which left Renee to take care of her sisters after school. She learned to cook fairly young, helped them with their homework, treated all the cuts and bruises, broke up fights and once she learned to drive, was in charge of getting them to and from school and other activities. Somehow she managed to do all of this while padding her resume for college. Renee was academically gifted and a natural athlete and her senior year, she earned a full ride scholarship to college to play soccer for Virginia Tech. It was tough to say goodbye to her family, but after taking care of her sisters for so long, she was glad to get away and do something for herself.
Her freshman year, Renee wasn’t sure what she wanted to study. She had been so focused on getting into college and taking care of her sisters she hadn’t really thought about what she wanted to be when she grew up. She maybe thought about becoming a famous soccer player but she knew that as much as she enjoyed soccer she wasn’t overly passionate about it. It was only in her second semester when she took biology and human anatomy for her undergraduate requirements did she realize that she was fascinated and truly passionate about medicine. It made sense – she had always taken care of people growing up. This way she could help them as an adult. She graduated with a degree in Pre-Med and was quickly accepted into the medical program.
A year into her program, she met Andy Brookes. He had transferred from Texas to attend the med school in Virginia. The two became fast friends, however their feelings grew and the following year, they entered into a relationship. The day they both graduated from the program, Andy proposed. He didn’t want them to grow apart. Of course, she said yes and the following year they were married. Renee got a job as a doctor in the hospital while Andy joined the military as an officer to practice medicine. Life seemed perfect – and then she found out she was pregnant with their first son, Oliver. Renee offered to drop her career to take care of their new bundle of joy but Andy knew that Renee loved what she did and didn’t want her to give up that. Andy planned to get out of the military and be the stay at home dad, he just had to finish his contract in a few years. The year he was supposed to get out, Renee found out she was pregnant again. Andy promised he would do whatever it took to get out faster, but he came down on orders to deploy and a month into her pregnancy, he left.
Andy had been gone for four months when the transmission came across the news of the outbreak. Renee went home and got Oliver and immediately tried calling Andy, to no avail. Phone lines were down and no one could connect with anyone. Renee was supposed to go back to the hospital to help with an influx of injuries but then she got word that someone had entered and was infected and the hospital was shut down. Renee couldn’t believe it. Unable to get ahold of anyone, Renee bunkered down in their home and waited. Hopefully things would get under control and Andy would come home. But it never happened. She ended up giving birth to her second son, Henry, and if it hadn’t been for her neighbor who heard her screams during labor, Henry might not have made it.
With no word about her family, Renee waited for as long as she could and did her best to take care of her two boys. Eventually, though, she had a choice to make – stay and starve or venture out and try to find a settlement of survivors. It was risky but she had no other choice. She left a note in her home in case Andy came looking and packed up what she could with her boys and left. She traveled west into West Virginia and came across Redwood. She joined their community as one of their doctors. She was glad to find a safe place for her boys to grow up, however, she still wonders what happened to her husband and her sisters.
Headcanons:
Renee is fiercely protective of her sons. While they had been traveling to Redwood, Renee and her sons had been attacked by a group of crazed individuals. Renee hid her sons to protect them and took most of the assault herself, but in the end she had killed their attackers. She doesn’t talk about what happened and is glad that her boys were too young to remember what happened.
When she got to Redwood, she became good friends with Penny. They bonded when Renee was stitching Penny up after an accident. There was something about Penny that reminded her of her sisters and it seemed like Penny could use a friend. When her boys aren’t at school, they can often be found with Penny in the gardens and with Penny’s nephew.
Renee has a radio that she often falls asleep to, hoping to hear her husband’s voice calling out to her. She’s afraid he was killed or infected but deep down, she knows he is alive. Or maybe it’s just wishful thinking….
Has started a "relationship" with Jake Hawk, but things have been put on pause since Andy has been found alive. She has deep feelings for Jake but she is technically still married so she's trying to decide what she wants to do. But she won't know until she has that conversation with Andy.
