Callum Donaldson is a journalist who often writes gossip articles about various scandals.
| Spoiler warning! This article contains details about the plot. |
History[]
Pre-apocalypse[]
Callum is the younger brother of Rose. His mom died when he was a baby. His father was a violent alcoholic who physically abused Callum and Rose. When Callum was 12, he waited until his father was passed out drunk. Then he took a hammer and beat his father to death with it. Rose knew that Callum was old enough to be tried as an adult, so she decided to take the blame for their father's death. Rose was convicted and sent to prison. Callum was adopted by his English teacher and moved south a year later. After Callum became a journalist, he often sent letters and copies of his articles to Rose in prison.[1]
Callum had an affair with Andi, Manisha's wife. When Manisha confronted him about this, Callum was honest with her and the two of them bonded over drinks.[2]
Callum wrote an article exposing Pandora Haze for poisoning the water in Somalia.[3] Callum was aiming to take down the higher-ranking executives who were responsible, but the company pinned the whole thing on a new employee, Billie. Callum was frustrated by this, but still posted an article condemning Billie as the cause of thousands of deaths.[4]
At some point Callum became associated with Netrophil. Not as a member, but as someone trusted by the ogranization. A member of Netrophil managed to get hold of a certain armlet, and gave it to Callum to give to the leader of Netrophil, Geri. Callum and Geri made an arrangement to meet at Gadsen Manor in several months time.[4]
Callum leaked footage of Keith Carroway severely beating a cloakroom attendant while on cocaine. Callum later interviewed Keith, seemingly to document his drug rehabilitation, but in reality Callum was looking to goad Keith into attacking him so that he'd have another scandal to write about. During that interview, zombies broke down the door so Callum, Keith, and Manisha were forced to flee for their lives.[3]
The Way of All Flesh[]
Callum calls Rose two days into the apocalypse. He tells her to meet him at Gadsen Manor on the same date he's to meet with Geri.[1]
Callum arrives at Gadsen Manor with Keith and Manisha. There they meet Rose, Geri, Chris McShell, Jody Marsh, and Professor Walter Huebner. Another woman, Sheila, is trapped in a treehouse outside. As everyone is introducing themselves and sitting down to eat, they hear the doorbell ringing. Everyone goes to check the door, but there's nobody there - only the zombies crowding at the fence. They return to the dining room and Callum begins to eat his stew, but suddenly he starts choking and collapses. Manisha checks him and pronounces that Callum is dead.[3]
Judging from the discoloration of his body, the others determine that Callum has been poisoned. Jody, Geri, Rose, and the Prof move his body out of the way.[5] At this time, Geri retrieves the armlet from Callum's body.[4]
After investigating everything, Chris reveals that the person who killed Callum was Sheila - the mother of Billie, the woman who was blamed for the Pandora Haze incident. Billie had killed herself in prison and Sheila wanted to take revenge.[4]
Appearances[]
Quotes[]
- Callum: "I tell you what, I’ve got a few things still to tell. Stuff I couldn’t publish before the apocalypse, but now… you know they’ve started up that new internet system, Rofflenet, between settlements? I’m going to put it all on there. Everyone’s dirty little secrets, out in the open."[3]
- Manisha: "[Callum and I had] been friends for years. He… he was there for me when my wife died. He was the only one who really understood what I was going through. And it’s just… while Callum was alive, it felt like I still had something normal. He was a bit of the world before I could hold onto."[5]