(GEORGE MACKAY, CISMALE, HE/HIM) βΈ» Is that NATHAN SHAW? Before the outbreak, the TWENTY-NINE-year-old worked as a LIBRARY ASSISTANT. Those who have crossed paths with them describe them as OBSERVANT, though pressure often reveals their INDECISIVE nature. They are often associated with READING BY FLASHLIGHT AFTER SUNSET, BRUISES HIDDEN BENEATH LONG SLEEVES, APOLOGIZING BEFORE PULLING THE TRIGGER, A FADED FAMILY PHOTO FOLDED SOFTLY AT THE EDGES,& FIELD GUIDES TUCKED BESIDE AMMUNITION.
name. Β Β nathanial james shaw. Β Β Β Β Β nicknames. Β Β nathan (to everyone), nate (mom only). Β Β Β Β Β age. Β Β twenty-nine. Β Β Β Β Β birthdate. Β Β march 10th. Β Β Β Β Β gender. Β Β cis man. Β Β Β Β Β pronouns. Β Β heΒ & him. Β Β Β Β Β sexualΒ & romantic orientation. Β Β biromantic bisexual. Β Β Β Β group. Β Β saint marlowe medical center. Β Β Β Β Β territory. Β Β ventura county. Β Β Β Β Β positive traits. Β Β reliable, compassionate, humble. Β Β Β Β Β neutral traits. Β Β curious, soft-spoken, bookish. Β Β Β Β Β negative traits. Β Β idealistic, stubborn, conflict-avoidant. Β Β Β Β Β inspo. glenn rhee (twd), aaron (twd), father gabriel (twd), samwise gamgee (lotr)
REST TBD
pre apocalypse
Nathan Shaw never knew a world where it wasnβt him and his mother against everything else. Heather had him young, and though the two of them never had much, she made sure he never questioned whether he was loved. Home was filled with books, shared dinners, long conversations that drifted late into the evening, and the quiet certainty that no matter how difficult life became, they would face it together. He never felt deprived by the absence of a father. Heather and his great grandparents were more than enough. If anyone asked who his best friend was, the answer had always been the same: his mom.
Nathan inherited many of Heatherβs better qualities but very little of her fire. Where she could be sharp and unwavering, he was gentle to a fault. He grew into the sort of man who held doors open, remembered peopleβs names, and apologized when someone else bumped into him. It wasnβt always an easy way to live. His softness made him an easy target growing up, and while Heather taught him to stand tall, she could never quite convince the world that kindness wasnβt weakness. Still, he refused to let bitterness harden him. Like his mother, he listened more than he spoke, offered comfort without judgment, and found purpose in helping others, even in the smallest of ways.
Working as a library assistant suited him better than he ever cared to admit. He loved the quiet of the building, the smell of worn pages, the excitement on a childβs face when they found a new favorite story, and the satisfaction of placing exactly the right book into someoneβs hands. What came after the library, however, was always a question without an answer. He talked about going back to school, maybe becoming a librarian, maybe teaching one day like his mother, but βmaybeβ had a way of becoming next year, and then the year after that. At twenty-nine, he still lived at home, still shared coffee with his mother every morning, and still hadnβt quite figured out where he was going. To outsiders, it looked like he lacked ambition. The truth was simplerβ¦ Nathan had never stopped searching for the place he belonged.
People often whispered that the two of them were too close, too dependent on one another. Nathan never understood the criticism. Why would he rush to leave the person who made every place feel like home? There would always be time to move out, to date, to build a different life. Heather never pushed him from the nest, and he never saw a reason to fly before he was ready. Neither of them could have imagined that the decision would one day be made for them.
post apocalypse
Nathan was closing the library when the world finally stopped making sense. Rumors had been circulating for weeks, but rumors had always belonged to television screens and newspaper headlines, not Ventura County. By the time the panic reached his front doors, streets had become gridlocked, emergency alerts blared from every phone, and suddenly no one seemed able to answer the simplest question: Can I go home? Nathan tried. He left the library determined to get back to his mother, only to find roads sealed, checkpoints overwhelmed, and thousands of frightened people trying to do exactly the same thing. Somewhere between those barricades, he lost the only person who had ever truly anchored him. Though everyone insists there was nothing he could have done, Nathan has spent every day since believing he failed the one person who never failed him.
Saint Marlowe Medical Center became his refuge, but it has never become home. Surrounded by doctors, soldiers, mechanics, and survivors who seem naturally suited for this new world, Nathan often feels painfully out of place. He isnβt a medic. He isnβt an exceptional fighter. He isnβt the person anyone looks to when a barricade needs reinforcing or a weapon jams. More than once, heβs volunteered for scavenging runs only to be met with skeptical glances and polite refusals, his quiet demeanor and unassuming frame inspiring little confidence. Sometimes the same people who underestimated him as a child still seem to exist, only now the stakes are much higher.
Instead, Nathan has found purpose in quieter ways. He organizes supplies, updates inventory, helps prepare meals, cleans whatever needs cleaning, and reads to the children whenever he can find a story worth saving. He knows where nearly everything in Saint Marlowe is kept, remembers who skipped dinner, who hasnβt been sleeping, and whose birthday quietly passed without celebration. He has killed infected when there was no other choice, though every trigger pull is accompanied by a silent apology for the person they used to be. Violence has become a necessity he endures rather than something he accepts, and each day he wonders how many more pieces of himself survival will demand.
Two months after the outbreak, Nathan remains caught between the man he was and the man this world requires him to become. Every instinct tells him to leave the safety of Saint Marlowe and search for Heather, yet every day he stays because someone else needs help, someone else needs a kind word, someone else needs hope. Deep down, he refuses to believe sheβs gone. He carries a faded family photograph folded carefully inside his backpack, convinced that somewhere beyond the hospital walls his mother is asking strangers if theyβve seen her son, just as desperately as heβs searching for her. Until he knows otherwise, Nathan wakes each morning believing the same thing Heather taught him his entire life: tomorrow can still be better.
wc's.
The Protector - Someone who has unofficially adopted Nathan, sensing that he's a weaker survivor.
The Skeptic - Someone who thinks Nathan is dead weight.
Take a chance on me - Despite Nathan asking to go on scavenger missions, few want to take the risk as he doesn't seem like he'd be formidable on the outside. For reasons we can discuss, your muse agrees to vouch for him or take him out. MUST BE ZONE 2.
They know - It's been forbidden to explore the other floors of the hospital, and no would suspect Thomas of breaking the rules. But your muse has caught him in action. MUST BE ZONE 2.
The Roommate - Someone within Zone 2 that has become close with Thomas. They've been sharing living quarters for whatever reason for the last two months. MUST BE ZONE 2.
Library visitor (0/3) - A local who visited the library that Nathan worked at before everything.
The Crush - Thomas has a small crush on your character.
Pollyanna - Despite the horror of the world, Thomas is a hopeful and optimistic person, trying to keep moral up. Your muse may lean on his positivity or attempt to toughen him up.
