THE ARMORER

name: Vanity Rymes nicknames: Vee, Rymes age: thirty gender: cis woman sexuality: bisexual occupation: armorer + traits: skilled, good-humored, resilient - traits: unreliable, impulsive, uncommitted aesthetic: the smell of gunpowder, leaning the chair back almost to the point of falling, the smile of someone who knows something you don’t, cheap wine in an unmarked bottle, military green, undone worksheets.

I.

Vanity was the last child of Ernest Rymes, the only daughter out of the three he had. As a child, she liked toy cars, watching t.v. and causing mayhem. The teachers said that she was smart enough, but her grades would’ve greatly improved had she not spent her whole time at school causing trouble. Most of them saw in her behavior a call for attention; her mother appeared once every few months, without any real explanation of where she had been nor how long she would stay, and her father was often gone too, since he was a merchant that had to travel a lot. 

For the most part, Vanity was left at the care of her older brothers (who weren’t that much older nor responsable than her), or with his grandfather at his armory shop. Her brothers didn’t spent a lot of time with her, but they provided the basics: made sure she ate and that she was at the house to sleep at night. And while her grandfather could be sometimes cold and distant, he cared for her in a way that few other adults did. He passed away when she was sixteen.

Wyatt, the middle sibling, took possession of the armory. Vanity didn’t mind; even if she was the one who spent most time with her grandfather, she had no interest in working. And this didn’t change once she graduated. 

Once she got her diploma - a miracle, according to the principal, due to how many classes she skipped just to smoke at the parking lot -, there were few useful activities she was interested in doing. For the most part, she did small jobs, enough to buy chips and a can of coke from now and then, and sometimes, when her brother insisted enough, covered a shift at the armory. 

II.

Things changed overnight in the town when the pandemic hit. As soon as the first infected person arrived, it was over for them; it spread like a wildfire. Vanity only got out of there alive because Wyatt, who was at the house while she covered a shift at the shop, called to let her know what was going on. The call ended by a shout of panic and the distant sound of growling in the background. Vanity closed the armory shop, used a couple hours to get ready, and left with as much ammunition as she could carry. Perhaps it would’ve been smarter to wait there; after all, the doors and windows were covered with metal bars. Vanity had never been good at sitting put, though. 

She never found her older brother, nor is she sure if he’s still alive. He was out of town when the epidemic hit, so she can only hope.

She went solo for a while, until a hostile encounter with another group of survivors made her realize her chances of living multiplied if she wasn’t alone.She found a group with whom she lived for a couple of years, led by an ex-militar with whom she started a romantic relationship. However, a miscalculation of threat while they were traveling caused everyone to die at the hand of the infected while Vanity was out scouting, rendering her the only survivor. 

Still believing that there was strength in numbers, but not wanting to rush into any group in order to make sure they were people whom she wouldn’t mind living with first, she spent a couple months on her own, avoiding hoards of infected and investigating group of survivors she run into, until finally, she decided that the University of Colorado had what she was looking for. 

III.

She likes living on campus enough. It’s a safe space, she has her needs covered, she found a job she can do without causing much of a fuss. The skills and experience she possesses are enough to be the gunsmith, but the fact that she sometimes skips work and that she’s known for not paying enough attention makes it difficult for her to secure that promotion. However, she’s no longer than the eighteen year old kid she was when the epidemic first hit - over the years she learnt how to be slightly more responsible, meaning she might fight for the position a little harder in the future.