N A M E: Augustus Novak
A G E: 19
P L A C E O F O R I G I N: North Dakota, United States
G R O U P: Cheyenne State Capitol
O C C U P A T I O N: Patrol
F C: Logan Lerman
❝ Everything has changed and yet, I am more me than I have ever been. ❞
↪ p e r s o n a l i t y ;
P O S I T I V E T R A I T S: kind ; optimistic
N E G A T I V E T R A I T S: indignant ; naive
L I F E B E F O R E T H E O U T B R E A K:
He knew the name of God before he knew his own. While other kids might have been reading Dr. Seuss books – he didn’t even know who Dr. Seuss was; his mother read him the bible. In a small settlement in North Dakota, there was a community of devout Christians. Not the type who made sure to go to church every sunday, but the type who practiced the Old Testament to an extremity.
The community was remote; secluded, it wasn’t too far from a town, but it was far enough to a point where they wouldn’t be bothered. The community had started out with 15 people, but with the amount of children that were being produced, the number increased.
Augustus was one of the first few children to be born from his father, however, he was the first boy. The other two wives were seemingly jealous of the lucky third wife (though their jealousy was kept a secret), who’s baby boy would be getting the most attention.
Around the age of 11 is when problems started to arise. He was playful and energetic – but cared little about learning the ways of Christ. He should have; growing up, it was drilled into his head. Everyone spoke of Christianity here, it was everywhere you went in the small community, yet, somehow the topic didn’t interest him whatsoever. However, that didn’t go over well with the elders, they forced him to complete his bible studies, and if he didn’t, he was hit or wasn’t given meals (sometimes both). Even faced with severe punishment, he still found it hard to focus. They found it disrespectful, but that wasn’t his goal, it was just hard for him to focus on something he didn’t enjoy. Sometimes, he would say things about their almighty God on accident, not realizing just how heavy his words were. They upped his punishments – they hit him harder, longer periods without food, and when things got really bad, they burned him with a rod.
Once, when he was fifteen, a couple of boys invited to play baseball in a field not too far. He knew he wasn’t supposed to go, but how could he deny the offer? He had never been outside of the community before, only on the outskirts of the patch of land they had owned. So he went, but when he returned, everyone was furious – his punish had already been laid out for him. He was to be whipped fifteen times, and they did it in front of everyone like a public hanging.
L I F E D U R I N G T H E O U T B R E A K:
He didn’t find out about the virus from the news, he wasn’t introduced with it someone had turned in the community. It was hectic – no one knew what to do, and before anyone thought to kill him, he had bitten three other people. Not knowing that that meant they were infected, they tried nursing them back to health, but it was all for nothing, because of course, they eventually attacked too. When everyone who was infected was weeded out, it wasn’t long before the dead from the neighboring places started to migrate to their small area – forcing them to leave.
L I F E A F T E R T H E O U T B R E A K:
When they arrived in Cheyenne, their group had dwindled down to a group of 8. His father ( who abused him the most, and still continuously did ) was still alive, leading the group. He had found a new place for everyone to settle. Though, Augustus – the black sheep of the group, feels more and more like an outsider.
3 months later in Cheyenne and nothing got better; except, everything got worse. The more Augustus tried to stray away, the worse things became. The punishments became borderline unbearable – and one night, he had enough. His father and the group still hurt him, and he doesn’t want to put up with it anymore. That’s when he burns down their house, and his real life begins.
