Penny's Story
Penny Wise (born Penelope Elizabeth Wise) is an American Theater Arts student trapped in the Malton quarantine. In 2005, she was visiting Malton, participating in a production of The Taming of the Shrew in which she played Bianca. It was in Act III during the wedding scene between Petruchio and Katherine that Penny first witnessed the undead of the Malton Incident. A group of zombies broke through the theater doors, some devouring audience members and others rushing towards the stage. Caught up in a tide of horrified people, she rushed from the theater and into the madness erupting in the streets.
Survival years
Days later, Penny found herself ducking in and out of shops, homes, and other buildings, relentlessly pursued by throngs of the undead at every turn. Everyone that she knew in Malton was missing and she survived only by the actions of strangers. Eventually, they moved less often, finding safer buildings and better provisions. Her group merged with another group of armed men and plans to escape the city were formed.
Upon reaching the outskirts of the city, they found that a quarantine had been instated by means of impassable walls. Worse still was the fact that the thousands of other helplessly trapped citizens near these walls had attracted the attention of a large horde of zombies. Penny found herself separated from the main group, but managed to stay close enough to some of the armed men to make an escape back into the city and away from the lurching zombies.
Escape plans turned to survival plans and though Penny had little combat experience, the men found ways for her to contribute to their survival. Fighting hunger and the need for safety, Penny's group soon faced competition during their raiding parties and her protectors devised a plan to use her acting experience to gain the trust of other survivors, who they would in turn steal from. The plan worked well for some time but after her deception led to the death of a married couple, she refused to cooperate any longer. The men did not abandon her, but they treated her unfairly. They gave her less than her share of food and water and mocked her relentlessly, especially in regards to her name. They demanded that she entertain them and sometimes insisted that she paint her face "Like Pennywise the clown". After two of the men forced themselves upon her, she vowed to go off on her own to find protection elsewhere.
Solidarity
After fleeing the group, she used the skills that she had learned to eek out an existence in the decaying city. Sometimes attaching to other groups of survivors, but rarely staying in one place very long. Though she was now armed, she relied on stealth to avoid danger. Months passed and she settled into the constant cycle of movement and survival.
During one expedition into a Mall, she was ambushed and captured by a group of rouge survivors. She recognized some of the men as the group that she had been attached to those months earlier and it seemed that they had recognized her as well. One night, the pair of men that had raped her came to her at night. They beat and tortured her and then, she felt the cold touch of death, her body was unceremoniously dumped into the gutter.
As is customary for the recently dead, Penny rose to her feet to join the ranks of the undead. She roamed aimlessly through the abandoned boulevards, drawn by unknown instincts. More months passed, though she had no concept of time. Buildings fell before her and her horde, though the hunger was never sated. She died many more times but eventually was brought back through revivification. And with new life came the memory of her betrayers.
Vengeance
Swearing revenge, Penny began to search the city for her killers. Using instincts earned during her time with the undead, she was able to find them relatively easily. Biding her time, she shadowed the group and waited for a moment when the duo would be detached from the group. A day arrived while the group camped near a barricaded hospital, zombies attacked and divided the group and Penny seized her opportunity. She ambushed both men and slit their throats while they huddled in a dark alley away from zombies. She then dragged their bodies into the middle of the street where zombies were sure to devour them. Though it was unlikely that the pair would ever rejoin their group, she decided that she would not take extra measure to ensure that they never would.
Before returning to the camp near the hospital, Penny used makeup to paint her face into a horrific visage of a unnatural and evil clown. The guise bought her crucial moments of surprise as she darted into the camp and raised her pistols. A man fell to the ground, two pistol slugs in his chest. And then another, who took a shot to his face. One man was fatally wounded in his side as he turned to reach for his weapon. Two others fled and one received a bullet in his back for his efforts. She had just murdered six men, and though that knowledge sat uneasily with her at the moment, she was keen enough to know that she had likely attracted the attention of nearby zombies. She did not give the same treatment for these four as she did the previous two.
Instead, she left the bodies where they lay and headed for the hospital. Climbing through a complex obstacle of barricades, she entered the building. When she looked into the dim light of the foyer beyond, she was being met by the astonished stares of a band of haggard survivors. Though none looked happy that she was in their midst, neither did anyone seem overly upset at the murder of the men outside, which they had apparently all witnessed. "Who are you", one man asked. Though her expression was deadpan, the smeared and bloodstained paint on her face appeared as a smile as she responded, "I am Pennywise".
|
