Day 103 – Survivor Profile: Brad & Jenny

Note: This was taken pre-apocalypse.

Brad Chambers: Brad Chambers was the unofficial leader of the ACE Hardware crew that made their way over to us after the zoms hit. To understand why our crew was so happy to see him, you have to understand his “back story” if you will.

So Janet is Brad’s mom. She had been with Reason’s for over thirty years. When the time came, favors were called in, and both of Janet’s children picked up jobs at Reason’s. When Brad worked at the store, we became fast friends. We would always talk movies when we worked together and even wanted to make his own low budget army film to put on YouTube. He loves Sylvester Stallone (whereas I am a Schwarzenegger fan) and is fascinated with all things military. Which I think is part of the reason he became interested in Kasondra. I swear this grocery store was a breeding ground for relationships (some good, some bad). Note: Tell you guys the “Libby II” story. I am writing that down.

Now it may just be coincidence but here is Kasondra. A little older, involved in the National Guard, and, admittedly, there is nothing sexier than a woman that has fired a .50 caliber machine gun from the roof of a Hummer. Everything was going good until Kasondra was promoted to manager. This was going to cause a conflict of interest as she was going to be Brad’s boss. So Brad decided to move across the road to work at ACE Hardware. (And I am sure all the survivors over at ACE thank God for that fact.)

By now, you all know the story of his harrowing escape to get back to Reason’s and his lovely bride-to-be. Kasondra and Brad were supposed to be married this past weekend but the whole Zombie Apocalypse kind of put the kibosh on their plans. That really is the most aggravating thing about zombies ending the world: They have no consideration for your personal life…

Brad is a bit of a momma’s boy… but in the best way possible. He loves his mother very much and I would say it was probably about 55/45% Kasondra/Janet motivation for Brad to get over here. However, Kasondra has confided in me that post-apocalyptic Brad has remained much more clothed than pre-end of the world Brad. And I kind of thank him for that. Apparently, the extent of Brad’s wardrobe consisted of boxer-briefs once he got home from work. Still, he is man pretty and people would much rather see Brad in that outfit than me…

He is a good kid, a better shot, and he was a natural choice to be part of the sortie teams that went out scavenging.

Jenny Deffenbaugh: I’ve spent some time trying to find the silver lining in this whole end of the world. When I was in high school, there was a very nice young lady who graduated a year ahead of me. Her cousin graduated with me and I was good friends with her other cousin. (This is one of the trademarks of living in a small town. Everyone is connected somehow.) Well, Jenny’s family is the one that owns the ACE Hardware that was across the street and she was one of the survivors that managed to barricade themselves inside. Now, I know that Jen was over there and I had even given them a little bit of business from time to time. So I would say that we were acquaintances before all of this went down. We graduated from the same high school and that is a bond that you never really break. We were both Adair Warriors but for me… Wow, I just realized that was twenty years ago.

Nevertheless, when Jen and that crew came through the door and we both saw each other, there were hugs exchanged and we held on to each other a little longer than you would with a stranger. And when we broke that hug and we looked into each other’s eyes, we both said wordlessly, “I am glad you made it.”

And now that we are over one hundred days into this septic pit of despair, I take great pride in the fact that Jen and I have reconnected. It is kind of like those people who would complain about their parents only living five miles away from them but they have only had dinner with them once in three months. Here is this wonderful person that was out doing her thing, that I used to see every day in school, had math classes with, and then life pulled us in different directions.

I had heard she had married (and later divorced) that one dude. But I didn’t know about the trials and tribulations that led her down that road. And they were some bad ones… Jen and I both rarely go down “memory lane” in that we feel that it is best not to drag up the memories of what we have both lost. But having someone that you went to school with in your survivor group, it is like an anchor to the past. It is a living reminder that the world was not always in the state it was now. I think that is good for both of us.

Jenny is in the same boat as many of the young ladies that populate our group. She tries not to think about her kids that would have been at Adair Elementary when the outbreak hit. I wish that was her lone Achilles’ heel but Jen does have a bit of confidence problem. She doesn’t see the level of strength that she has welled within her. Now, I will say this, she doesn’t have the issues that Shannon has. She feels like Jenny believes that she would have crumbled if she would have been on her own but I believe she would have risen to the occasion. She just cannot see it. But when she does, she is going to be a force to be reckoned with…