Name: Evelyn Virginia Margaret Shepherd
Age: Thirty
Preferred Pronouns & Gender: She/her, cis-female
Relationship Status: Married
Previous Job: None
Community Job: Lookout
Reside in: A rundown log cabin in the farmlands— currently trying to make it more livable.
How long have they been in Redwood?: Two months
PINTEREST / PLAYLIST
tldr: eve was born to a young single mother and spent her entire life raised in a doomsday cult. she has never lived a normal life, and believes that the virus is a sign to spread her doctrine and begin cleansing the earth and preparing for the true end.
Biography:
Evelyn was a miracle. Her birth was ordained by a power much greater than just her mother— a girl with a quiet disposition, hands moving up and down the beads of a wooden rosary at all hours. She gave birth to her baby girl, an unblinking infant that did not make a sound. Evelyn does not know any other circumstances of her birth, of the life her mother lead before her. She has learned that if something is not known, it is best to not question it. Information will reveal itself, those who seek too much will find punishment at the righteous hand.
What she does know is that Diedre took her five year old daughter and her suitcase, and began a long journey. An act of blind faith, of rustic gas stations and hitchhiking, moved by something within her soul. Their direction was unclear, the beads of the rosary continued to move as days passed. They would later call it their pilgrimage, once its true purpose was revealed, the word tripping over young Evelyn’s tongue in long syllables.
Maryland was not the intended destination of their journey, but as with all things, one must have faith. They must trust that the woman running the strawberry stand off of a non-descript highway. When the woman saw the rosary and said true faith was so rare. When Evelyn had shyly introduced herself from behind her mother’s skirt, earning an expression of shock before the woman recovered her words, inviting them to come back to her home with her. There was surely a bed for a beleaguered mother and daughter.
It was not until years later that the true reason for their acceptance would become clear. The Eden’s Gate commune had been missing its Eve, searching for the sign of the end of days that was promised to them with each and every morning service. Their Adam, their leader, knew she had been coming, knew the importance of her arrival. While her mother was simply another mouth to feed, another set of hands to garden and clean, Evelyn was special. She was looked after. She was the symbol that the end of all things was near. The daily reminder to be alert and of sober mind so that they may pray, they may survive the coming end.
Though there was guilt and there was shame in her role, she could not escape the fate that grew around her. Pain was a secret language between God and the faithful; Adam's wrath translated it for her. She knew true love, the commune so intertwined around her, reliant on her good nature. Leaving was never an option, waiting became the great task of her life. How could she abandon those who had raised her, even when the burden felt so great she thought she might be the first to break.
When news of the outbreak reached them finally, it was almost a relief. Here was God's answer to the end of the world. They all prayed, waiting for their ascension. But the attack on their commune had not been predicted, it had not been preached, no one knew what to do. A group of holy people, all descended upon by creatures. The newly turned destroyed everything that they had built. Eden fell, Evelyn was locked out of it.
Though she escaped, Calamity Shepard by her side, she does not know if any other members have. She does not know what caused such a violent change in God’s will. A massacre so bloody, the only explanation must have been sin, deep and rooted. It must have festered, spread throughout people she’d thought she’d known. They had been bitten before she could cleanse them, save them, send them to heaven. They had hidden their true nature from her, and now would forever be cursed to wander.
She would prevent such a thing from happening again, the true believers would be found and spared. Those who needed to be saved would be found and given their chance at heaven. Redwood is simply a stop along her journey, another community which must not be overlooked in her journey. God had ordained her mother to deliver her unto the world, and she would deliver souls to heaven all the same.
Headcanons:
Her full name is Evelyn Virginia Margaret, she did not have a last name until she took Cal’s.
As she was raised in Eden’s Gate, Evelyn is particularly skilled with off-the-grid living. She is able to lend a helping hand wherever it is needed, from gardening to general medicine.
Another consequence of this is that she never had a formal education. Although she was given basic schooling, she has a distinct lack of cultural awareness.
She still keeps her mother’s rosary around her neck.