Peter BIOGRAPHY
Name: Peter Jay Murphy Age: 30 Height: 5'8 Sexuality: Bisexual Relationship Status: Widower. B I O G R A P H Y
( before ) On a cold December night, a week before Christmas, the screeches of Marie Murphy giving birth echoed across the run-down mountain neighborhood. At her head, her two eldest boys stuck to her side in concern as their Daddy, Will, swayed in the shadows, already disinterested. The Doctor didn’t notice. He was more concerned about ensuring a safe delivery. A goal that resulted in the successful birth of Peter Jay Murphy. Unlike his brothers though, he only got to enjoy his mother’s warmth for one night before she forgot to put out a cigarette and unintentionally burned herself alive in the very bed he entered the world. This was only the start of a long road ahead. Growing up, he was attached to his brother Sam. Despite their differences, Sam always protected him from their abusive alcoholic father and Adam, their unstable eldest brother. While Peter did eventually bond with Adam and take on the poor characteristics of the older men in his life (substance abuse, petty crime, and dysregulation of his anger), Sam’s sensitive nature had rubbed off on him and he encouraged Peter to pursue his love of drawing and art. By the time he made it to high school, he had ambitions to be a full-time artist. He took advantage of any program he could and became the unofficial set designer for the theater department. He had a chance, despite his white trash background, but lost it when a drug deal went wrong and he stabbed a politician's kid in self-defense. Even though he was a minor, the kid's family pushed to punish him to the fullest extent of the law possible. He got two years in juvie. When he got out, he tried to rebuild his life but his drug-related felony made every door slam in his face. Desperate for money, he started freelancing hand-drawn designs for tattoo studios. He caught the attention of Frankie Dane, a popular tattoo artist in Atlanta. Frankie took Peter under his wing to help him build a career as a tattoo artist. To support himself during his apprenticeship, Peter worked whatever odd jobs he could, some of which violated his probation but he needed money where he could get it. One night, on one of his drug routes he met elementary school teacher and former farm girl Sarah Henley in a dive bar him and Adam frequented. She paused her pool game to throw a drink in Adam's face when he got handsy with her and to say Peter fell in love with a gross understatement. The artist in him finally understood the meaning of a muse. After a year of dating, they got married in her parent's background then bought a place outside the city so she could follow her dream of owning a horse stable. He converted a shed in the yard into a tattoo studio and a quiet place to do his art. It was heaven. They even let Sam move into the guest bedroom so he could escape their childhood home and build a life of his own. It was the least Peter could do after his brother practically raised him. ( the fall )
At three am on a Saturday morning, Adam showed up on the farm with the roar of his bike. He nearly kicked down the front door to tell them Atlanta got overrun by maneaters. The weeks that followed were spent barricading themselves on the farm and trying to avoid going into town or the city as they watched the world fall apart on tv. Then, when the local broadcasts cut out, they listened to it on their radio in candlelight. The plan was to stay on the farm. To wait for it to pass. They'd take care of the horses and hunt for food in the woods. Peter was so sure they could outlast it. But then the starving hordes from the city came. They lost all their horses except Flash. The house went down in a blaze of flames Adam set to distract the dead, and their foursome barely escaped with their lives. Two months in, they linked up with a group they found but everything quickly went south. Adam stole booze from one of the leaders, starting a violent fistfight that ended with him being shot in the head. Then Sam shot the guy who shot Adam before him, Peter and Sarah tried to hide in the forest. The group hunted them. Driving them straight into another horde. Sam got ripped to shreds protecting them, while Peter and Sarah ran. In a rash decision Pete would regret for the rest of his life, he suggested they cross the river to get away from the walkers chasing them, not realizing a boat had crashed upstream, drowning everyone on board. The dead dragged Sarah underwater so fast, he made it most of the way across before realizing she wasn't behind him. Blinded with grief, Peter herded the biters up and led them straight back into the group's camp where he rescued Flash and rode off as the walkers made quick work of the men who killed his family. ( finding redwood )
Weeks later, Peter was riding Flash down an old highway when a walker jumped out of nowhere, spooked the damn mammal, and got him thrown off onto the broken windshield of a car. None of the dirty glass cut deep enough to sever a vein or puncture an organ but one of the cuts on his arm got infected. After catching Flash, he tried to continue on his way but the fever and chills were so bad he couldn't sit upright on the saddle. He would've died if a resident of Redwood didn't find him half unconscious and resting against Flash's mane as he grazed. When he was nursed back to health, he agreed to stay and help with the upkeep of Redwood on the condition he could keep his horse and stay near him.
H E A D C A N O N S
Peter's art style of choice is charcoal and ink so his hands are always stained from working on his recent piece.
Despite having never finished high school, Peter loves reading. He's fascinated in learning about the anatomy of the human body. Its a current point of interest in his drawings. If he got a do-over, he'd try to be a Doctor.
When he isn't working, Peter is drinking himself to death and reading his latest three library books at the bar.
His former experience as a drug dealer allots him a vast knowledge of different medications. Another reason he's interested in eventually helping in the clinic.
Flash is all he has left of his former life, so he gets very testy if anyone messes with his horse.
Still influenced by his childhood growing up in a secluded mountain shack, Peter tends to care very little about his appearance. He's often dirty and intentionally wears ripped clothing.
While he was offered a house, Peter can't bear the thought of living in an empty home. He likes the isolation of his tent.
He's careful not to remove his shirt around anyone because he has a lot of scaring on his back. The formerly infected cut on his arm healed into a long scar above his elbow.
