Colin Mursak

"'God… the screaming. At first it was just… all over the place. I could tune it out… then, as I got used to it, I could pick out the individual screams. They got louder, faster, closer together when they’d… get someone. In between you could hear the… it was like… static. Then they’d get someone, and it just cut through… didn’t matter if you covered your ears. You could feel it.'""- Colin Mursak, describing the bedlam of the first zombie attack in Life After: The Arising"Colin Stevenson "Sak" Mursak is a major character in the Life After novels.

A college sophomore, Mursak returns to his hometown to see the marching band competition at Thomas Massey high school just before the zombie apocalypse begins. In spite of the chaos, Mursak manages to find a place to hide until he is discovered by his friends Jeff Grey and John Anderson near the middle of the events in Life After: The Arising.

Appearance and Character
Mursak has a thin build, gangly limbs, and wavy brown hair down to his ears. He is described by friends as having a rubber face that aids in his singular, eclectic style of disturbing humor drawn on impressions and visual artwork; though his peculiar comedy was, at one point, considered legendary, the apocalypse seems to have greatly diminished it in practice.

Mursak is intelligent, shrewd, withdrawn, and occasionally acid-tongued. He rarely exhibited his full intellect or comedic facility with strangers or even acquaintances, leaving him something of an enigma to outsiders, and yet even within his close circle of friends, few could say they truly knew him; shortly after being rescued, Mursak spearheaded a trip to his family home, and despite encountering his parents in alarming circumstances, Mursak remained singularly fixated on getting Elena to safety, possibly alluding to some unspoken domestic strife about which Jeff and Anderson know nothing. With Elena safely in the fold, Mursak turns openly antagonistic toward Robert Proctor, whom he refers to as a "junkie", not bothering to furnish anyone with an anecdote about his experiences with a drug-addicted relative until months later, during which time he begins hoarding supplies in secrecy.

With his position on the friendship hierarchy seemingly second to both Jeff and Anderson, Mursak seems to relish in opportunities to commiserate with one over the other, particularly when Anderson grows critical of Jeff's increasing bloodlust, and when Anderson's brief incapacitation gives him an opportunity to engage in more activities with Jeff. In spite of this, Mursak never attempts to put any of his friends in conflict with each other, even though he himself frequently engenders resentment for his witty yet hurtful observations targeting those closest to him; at one point, an offhanded comment about Julia Marino sees Jeff seriously threaten Mursak's life.

History
Born between May 20th and June 20th in 1985 to Janine and Walter, Mursak was born in Havertown, Pennsylvania before his family moved to Newtown Square upon the birth of his younger sister Elena; during his brief stint in Langstoon Chase middle school, he joined the marching band, where he was acquainted with Jeff and Anderson. All three later joined the band at Thomas Massey high school, where they would meet Don Mason in their junior year, then Julia, John "John Squared" Johnston, and Ava Vaziri in their senior year; in band terminology, the latter of whom was Mursak's "little sister". At some point in high school, Mursak joins the track team and tears a ligament in his left thigh that never fully heals. Eventually Mursak, Jeff, and Anderson would form their own musical group called The Noctambulists. In their late teens, the trio would occasionally make use of access ladders on the outside of the high school to climb on the roof late at night. After graduation, Mursak began going to college in Rochester, New York.

Life After: The Arising
Mursak makes the trek down from Rochester to see the TMHS marching band competition, ultimately being spotted by Julia before finding a seat in the stands with Joe Harrington, Paul, Chris, Carlos, and Derrick, all of whom are acquaintances with Jeff. When chaos erupts on the football field, Mursak jumps off the side of the bleachers and runs to the concession hut, locking himself inside before the zombies have made it across the field. For the remainder of the evening, he's forced to listen to the screams of people being devoured by the undead, and over the ensuing days, he subsists on the food in the hut, avoiding travel so as not to aggravate the ligament tear he suffered during his years in high school.

After a week in the concession hut, he is miraculously stumbled upon by Jeff and Anderson, who have been attempting to fortify TMHS as a potential safe haven from the undead; his first question concerns Julia, whom, he is horrified to learn, is dead. While pleased to see his friends, Mursak's overriding concern is that Elena is still at home with his mom and dad. Once he's met Rich McKnight, Karen DeMarco, Melody Landon, Jake Klimavicius and Robert, Mursak undertakes a dangerous journey to Havertown with Jeff Anderson. They successfully rescue Elena, but it comes at the cost of Mursak having to kill his zombified father. The fate of his mother, who was also seemingly infected, is left unknown.

An evening news report confirms what Jeff and Anderson intuited from their encounters with the undead when rescuing Elena: the first wave that left Newtown Square a week prior has grown and is set to return to the area within the next few hours. The group prepares to spend one last night in the community center, but the building is besieged and the group splinters in the confusion. By the time Anderson marshals almost everybody out of the building, he realizes that Jeff is missing and gets Mursak to follow him back inside for a rescue mission, ultimately finding him fighting the undead hand-to-hand on the roof. They escape to TMHS with rest of the group safely on the bus.

The group takes various positions around the high school to observe the approaching wave of zombies, but the undead seemingly take no interest in TMHS until a young woman runs screaming out of a house adjacent to the school. Anderson runs out to intercept her while Rich tries to lure the undead away using the bus.

Life After: The Void
Two months after the events of Life After: The Arising, Jeff, Anderson and Rich have settled their band of survivors into a new life at the freshly fortified high school, including a newly installed video surveillance system. Despite Mursak making some crude comments toward Melody that see him being publicly upbraided and shamed, the group tensions seem to have largely abated into a realm of amicable mutual respect. The recently rescued Helen Cleary has bonded with Anderson while remaining passively at odds with Jeff, and their newest arrival, a psychology student discovered holding up in the otherwise abandoned Lima Mall named Althea Luangrath, largely keeps to herself.

Having spent several weeks cooped up in TMHS, Jeff proposes that he, Mursak, and Anderson travel to their former domiciles to collect computers and personal effects while scouting the surrounding region over Helen's strong objection. While Jeff and Karen talk over the particulars, Elena and Mursak play in the high school courtyard. The plan to depart is solidified when Rich yields to his reservations, making their travel arrangements for the following day. Jeff, Anderson, and Mursak wake up early and hit the road, negotiating various obstacles and musing that they may not be the lone residents of the greater Newtown Square area. They first travel to Anderson's apartment in Secane by way of a local consumer electronics store, where they discover a group of well-armed squatters and barely escape with their lives. Anderson and Mursak next search the apartment complex, and once finished gathering Anderson's necessities, he and Mursak find Jeff dispatching a throng of undead with a display of unnecessary violence and aggression, for which they subtly chide him.

They next travel to Jeff's dormitory at Temple University Ambler, finding the campus abandoned until they encounter a large swatch of the zombified student body. While gathering supplies in the kitchen, Jeff tries to dig for details in Anderson's relationship with Helen, but Anderson ignores him. At Mursak's insistence, Jeff and Anderson agree to search the nurse's station for medical supplies, but they encounter a large swatch of the zombified student body on the way. Mursak's obsession with this task winds up putting Jeff and Anderson at risk, and though they escape unscathed, an ensuing argument reveals that Mursak blames Jeff for Julia's death. Jeff's aggressive threats to Mursak cloak the trip to his Havertown residence in silence, but not before yet another unsettling reminder that they are not the only survivors in the area. Shortly thereafter, it is revealed that Jeff has avoided sharing his conviction that this apocalypse has no end with the group at large, only telling Anderson, Rich, Karen, and Mursak.

The next morning, the group witnesses a news broadcast describing the use of a nuclear weapon in continental Europe and goes on to detail ongoing rescue efforts by the military, militias, and paramilitary groups within the United States. Anderson and Rich quickly agree that they should advertise their presence for a rescue, but Jeff's impassioned rebuttal leads to the group agreeing to a tribunal where Rich will argue to leave, Jeff will argue to stay, Anderson will serve as a mediator, and the rest of the group will cast their vote for either Jeff or Rich's initiative. With Mursak's vote and Anderson's tiebreaker, Jeff's argument carries the day.

The next day, Mursak awakens Jeff, alerting him to the fact that a young woman with an infant has been spotted in front of the school. Jeff and Anderson debate over what they should do before deciding to invite Tracy and Jimmy Dantis to spend the night. Karen takes Jimmy and Jeff privately welcomes Tracy, but she pulls a gun, makes an excuse to get away from him, and ultimately commits suicide in one of the bathrooms. Mursak is the second person in the room, agreeing to keep watch outside once Anderson arrives; a cursory examination of Tracy's body reveals that she'd been bitten by a zombie. The following day, Mursak is absent for the group's intervention with Jeff, where everyone seems intent on extracting an admission that he's not dealing with his grief and that his belligerence is only worsening.

On Christmas Eve, the group is awoken by the sound of helicopters overhead, heralding a military-backed scientific expedition to the cemetery. Once Anderson recognizes one of the scouts as an acquaintance from the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, he meets the soldier outside in secret, keeping the conversation private before conveying that their group is to remain inside to avoid interfering with the soldiers. Several hours later, the military pulls out without having interfered with the high school, leading Mursak, Anderson, and Rich to drunkenly celebrate the departure; clearly intoxicated, Mursak remarks on their impressive stockpile of supplies, vaguely insinuating that he deserves a greater share before Helen announces a vehicle approaching from the street. Shortly thereafter, Anderson insists that they take arms and defend themselves. The result is a brutal firefight in which several of the intruders are killed, Anderson is rendered unconscious, and both Melody and Helen are abducted. Jeff immediately conscripts Rich and Mursak for a rescue effort.

Tracking their assailants back to Delaware County Community College, the trio of Jeff, Rich, and Mursak do some amateur reconnaissance and discover that their attackers seem to be keeping the girls alive. After clandestinely traversing the woods on the outskirts of campus, Rich suggests that their only recourse is to kill all of the marauders, an acknowledgement to which Jeff and Mursak reluctantly agree. In between Rich using Anderson's silenced rifle to kill a few and Jeff murdering two with his katana, Mursak uses his exceptional imitation skills to reveal the number of their assailants and a possible location for the girls; after Mursak is failingly used as a potential decoy, they retrieve Helen and Melody. Once they believe they've killed their attackers, the quintet returns to TMHS.

The following day is Christmas, and the group celebrates with a large, elegant breakfast, during which Rob is introduced as having completed his rehabilitation, though neither Jeff nor Mursak are unreceptive to his apologies. The group exchanges gifts, and with his best friend still unconscious, Jeff opens Anderson's present to find a framed picture of his family, something that causes Jeff to break down into tears. The entire group embraces him as he cries. Following the meal, the group takes stock of their supplies and Althea begins therapy sessions. After a brief incursion with the undead on the front lawn, Jeff retires to the medlab to sit with Anderson, who remains unconscious. Mursak joins them, making it clear that he is unimpressed by Rob's convalescence and seeks to prove he murdered the girl whose corpse they found at the Gauntlett Center immediately before finding Rob; Mursak advances the idea to conceal their investigation with a "scouting mission". Later that night, Jeff reveals his Christmas gift to the group: he has trained the school's observatory telescope on Uranus and relates some of its astronomical data as a vague contextualization of the group's problems as compared to the enormity of the universe.

The next day Mursak and Jeff head to the Gauntlett Center, ultimately coming to the conclusion that it is highly feasible Rob killed the girl, whose undisturbed body is still decaying in the gymnasium showers. They return to TMHS, where Jeff rejoins Anderson just as he wakes up, hesitantly filling him in on the details of the last few days. Later in the evening, the group watches a news broadcast where it is stated that wounds on the extremities, such as those suffered by Julia, may not be as fatal as initially thought. A further concern is raised when it becomes unclear whether the government might begin using nuclear weapons on American cities. Jeff clarifies the consequences of that action by showing the group The Day After, and in the ensuing day, Jeff and Mursak once again muse on their circumstantial evidence against Rob.

A day later, a small zombie incursion is put down on the front lawn, after which Anderson reveals that Mursak has been hoarding supplies. Jeff suggests that this adolescent chicanery is beneath sharing with the group at large, but Anderson counters that Jeff is behaving as the group's de facto leader and should address the issue accordingly. The next day, Jeff leads a group of Anderson, Melody, Karen, and Jake to DCCC for a reconnoiter, during which Mursak is responsible for both Elena and Jimmy. Though they return safely to TMHS, treated to the sight of Mursak and Rich killing zombies on the lawn, it was revealed, while they were away, that Karen is sick. On New Year's Eve, the group watches a celebratory broadcast in a secured Times Square. Shortly after midnight, Mursak sees the kids to bed.

On New Year's Day, the group indulges in another extravagant breakfast as they recount their resolutions. What would appear to be a minor siege from the undead turns serious when a few surviving runners attack, but the group maintains their composure and dispatches them. Once the corpses are deposited in the pool, Rich reveals that Karen has suggested some antiviral medications to combat her sickness. Anderson details a complex and infeasible plan to locate looters and trade supplies for the necessary drugs before Mursak reveals that he successfully acquired the medication at the Temple University Ambler health center. The group celebrates by getting drunk and goofing off.

The proceeding day sees the group starting to make serious preparations for the rescue of Jeff's friends in State College; having previously contacted him and told him that their water supply seems to have been contaminated, Jeff has successfully convinced Rich and Anderson that a rescue mission is warranted. Robert unofficially dubs their effort 'Operation Prometheus', after which it is determined that Jeff, Rich, Melody, and Althea will make the trip, leaving Anderson, Karen, Mursak, Jake, Rob, Elena, and Jimmy behind.

Operation Prometheus successfully departs the following morning, but by the early afternoon, the mob of undead spotted near the DCCC campus makes its way to TMHS, and Anderson is forced to implement defensive strategies with only Mursak, Jake, and Rob to help. When the members of Operation Prometheus return later in the day, TMHS is in the throes of a debilitating siege. In short order, Jeff rallies the new arrivals to fight their way toward Anderson so he can apprise them of their forthcoming offensive; in doing so, Mursak briefly meets Nick Wilborn, the pale and heavyset loner who previously murdered another member of the PSU group, Lada Dragomirov, a sturdy Russian expatriate, Andy Kremens, a vaguely distrustful and soft-featured nerd, Levi Hazen, a fit and stone-faced black introvert, and Nancy Candler-Hollowell, a traumatized old-money outcast. While giving them the rundown, Rich drives off into the horde as a diversion.

The initial offensive goes quite well, with the unified group continuing to make progress against hundreds of attacking zombies, until a series of compounding setbacks results in a faltering defensive line, compelling Jeff toward a bold series of maneuvers that drag him further and further from the rest of the group. The ensuing combat gets close and tense as Jeff tries to fight his way back, and he nearly manages to get clear before his hand gets bitten. Rob yanks the katana from Jeff's belt and hacks off the affected appendage just before he's dragged inside. Despite a deep concern for their friend, Anderson and Mursak return to the fight; though Jeff's tactics resulted in a grievous injury, he managed to buy them enough time to fortify the defenses and start driving back the undead once again.

A brief lull in the siege the following day allows the group an opportunity to withdraw; though the undead continue to build up around the TMHS perimeter and walls, Anderson assesses that their numbers are insufficient to threaten a breach. With Jeff unconscious, and Karen expressing doubts as to his survival, she and Anderson ultimately decide to give Jeff's possible recovery as much leeway as possible. Later, after Nick suggests they kill Jeff, Anderson stakes out Jeff's convalescence, delegating the defense of TMHS to Mursak and Jake. Sure enough, Anderson catches Nick in the act and kills him before he can carry it out.

The next day, Karen feels confident that Jeff won't turn, so she and Anderson wake him and inform him that, among other things, Rich has not returned or made contact following his diversion. Knowing that Jeff is out of the woods, Anderson returns to the fray with Mursak, directing the group's attempts to halt or slow the onslaught of undead. Seemingly low on definitive strategy, Anderson drives a truck into the horde, laying on the horn and rolling out of the vehicle as it continues down the street while Jeff watches from a classroom in TMHS. Anderson throws a Molotov when the situation becomes more chaotic, and before long, he pops smoke, effectively admitting that fighting the horde in the street is futile, and that their last chance at survival means relying on the high school's largely untested defenses.