A.S.D. Pt 4- Nana and Joy.

Ada "Nana" Keeler and her granddaughter Joy.

There's no "how we met" tale here. Instead I'll be giving you an insight into the nature of this incredible woman and it will become obvious how much we need her as part of our family.

At the age of 79 years she has lived through the Second World War and she has the fighting spirit and presence of mind of many of her generation.
When we got to her she and her granddaughter had survived for 3 weeks and 6 days after the First Outbreak. Even at that point she still had at least another two weeks worth of rations in the form of tinned food, pickles, preserves and (due partly to the "Great British Weather") several litres of drinkable water.
They hadn't left the safety of their house and neither did they have to.

It's no exaggeration to say that Nana is the backbone of our new society.

She, along with Joy, cooks and cleans. She tends the vegetable plot and she always has a wise word and a kind smile.
Most annoyingly though, she can always tell when you're having a bad day, no matter how hard you try to pretend that everything is fine.

Possibly the best thing about her are the stories she tells us all. 79 years is a fair old time to be on God's Green Earth and she has a tale to tell about everything.
All sat around Tong's forge, she'll recall stories about everything from the price of liqourice twists (pre-decimalisation, of course) to caterpillars in the cabbages... again.
But the stories we all like best are the one's about the spirit of the War and the courage of the common people in the face of such horror.

These stories inspire us... give us hope.

Nana doesn't like what we do, but she understands why we do it. That we need to do it.
And in the midst of the all the anger and violence, she keeps us grounded and humble.
Without her, who knows what we would have become... maybe just another feral mob of barbarians, looters and rapists.
Maybe we would have joined the Squads.
Maybe we'd be dead.



Her grandaughter Joy is 12. She's tall and gangly (as her mother was, apparently), quite plain looking and would probably have needed her teeth straightened in years to come, but she has the same spirit and as her grandmother.

It can catch you out, seeing that amount of fire in the eyes of someone so young but she is devoted entirely to Nana and shares the same love of life. I just hope she has many years to go before she discovers the particular pain of that loss.

"Every body works. Everybody fights." That's the Leatherheads edict.

Everybody fights except Nana and Joy.

Shit, even if Nana was built like an Amazonian Goddess I wouldn't allow her in battle!
Of course, she would fight if I let her, but she knows that she is more use to us here and, to be honest, the thought of losing her fucking terrifies me and I'll be buggered if I'm going to take the chance of letting that happen sooner rather than later!

I won't let Joy fight as she's too young, she's not strong enough yet and Nana needs her here.
She's not happy about it though and practices with a Paddle every day.
I reckon by the time she takes her first zombie scalp she'll be a master of that particular weapon.
Watching her practice is breathtaking- The fire, the spirit... the aggression.
Nothing and no-one scares that skinny, frail girl.

No-one... except Lloyd.