Nadia Al Hanaki

Nadia Al Hanaki
Aliases /Nicknames	Hogmanay (by the Last Riders)
Gender	Female
Affiliation	New Canton
Occupation	Communications Operator Air Traffic Controller (formerly)
Status	Alive
First appearance	S01 M08 The Old Mill
Last appearance	S10 M30 Only Lovers Left Alive
Voice actor	Jennifer Tan

Nadia Al Hanaki is the main communications operator for New Canton. Although she's little to you other than a voice at the other end of the comms link, Nadia seems reliable, passionate and pragmatic. She seems to be in a relationship with Lem. If your two settlements weren't at war, you'd imagine you could have been friends.

History

Pre-apocalypse

Nadia worked as an air traffic controller, managing multiple planes as they landed and took off.

Nadia enjoys the beach and once won a competition for building sand castles.

Early Apocalypse

In the early days of the apocalypse, a pilot went grey in mid-flight and Nadia was unable to prevent a collision with another plane. Nadia felt guilty for this and lost faith in herself.

Nadia heard about New Canton and used the last of the petrol in her van to head down there. Unfortunately her van broke down in the middle of a zombie horde. She hid in the back and locked the door, but she knew it was only a matter of time until the zombies broke through. She was rescued by Lem, who led all the zoms away. Nadia was immediately smitten with him, but he kept his distance. Lem said that what she was feeling was just gratitude and he didn't want to take advantage of her.

After finding out about her skills as an air traffic controller, Lem talked her into being the Comms Operator for the New Canton runners. She proved adept at this due to her previous experience, able to run at least three missions simultaneously. It is said that she has only lost three runners since she began working as radio operator.

Season One

Lem gets trapped on the roof of a mill by a surprise horde of zombies. Nadia stays on comms with him while he is up there. Lem calls out to someone who leads the zombies away and gives Lem the chance to climb down. Lem tells Nadia that a runner from Abel Township just saved his life. Then Lem realizes that he has been bitten. As he starts to cough, Lem says a heartfelt farewell to Nadia, then gives his headset to the other runner and acts as bait to lure the zombies away - though Nadia does not seem to realize Lem does this. Nadia continues calling out for Lem long after he says goodbye.

Nadia sends Archie and Runner Five to the Keeley Centre to get some equipment. As they approach the building, Nadia alerts them of a runner from Abel Township heading the same way. Archie and Five wait in the treeline. Nadia tells them that a helicopter is approaching as well. Nadia hears some noises but can't see what's going on very well due to patchy cameras in that area. Archie tells her that soldiers from the helicopter are firing rockets at the Keeley Centre. Archie then says that the soldiers are back in the helicopter and heading north.

Archie tells Nadia that two people she knew from the Keeley Centre are at Steve Reeves Hospital, so Nadia sends Archie and Five to talk to them. As they approach, they all see that the hospital has been nearly destroyed by fire and there are three bodies on the ground outside, all shot in the back. Archie and Five head inside and discover a woman who is injured but still alive. Nadia checks New Canton's information files and figures out that she is Monica Kaye and is on the list of key personnel to find and retrieve. Archie and Five help Monica into a wheelchair and escort her out of the building. Along the way, Monica explains how a group of people from Pandora Haze attacked the hospital with "guns and fire and zombies". Monica says that it was like the zombies were obeying orders. Monica warns them that she heard Professor Van Ark say "Now we've dealt with Reeves. Time for New Canton." Monica admits that she has been bitten and asks them to kill her. After a moment of hesitation, Archie shoots her. Nadia goes to speak with the Permanent Advisory Council about what she's learned and they agree to take action. Nadia tells Archie and Five to rest up: they'll soon be heading to the Jeffro Complex, where Pandora Haze is currently based.

Nadia guides Runners 43 and 49 in a field test of the effectiveness of flares against zombies. The test is successful, with the zombies being attracted to the light and sound of thrown flares.

Nadia coordinates New Canton's assault on the Jeffro Complex. She directs Runner Five and Archie to place six devices around the perimeter of the building, allowing them to hear the conversations inside the walls. They hear Van Ark confirm that he is planning to attack New Canton. The Permanent Advisory Council makes their vote: those six devices are also bombs, and they are ready to detonate them. They just need Runner Five's vote to continue. Archie is concerned about the Abel Township runners who are also at Jeffro, so Runner Five decides to set off the furthest bomb first, giving the Abel runners the chance to escape. Nadia relays that the PAC has agreed with Five's decision; there is no need to further antagonize Abel before New Canton's raid against them.

Nadia is guiding a group of runners when they hear gunshots nearby. They assume that people from Abel Township are shooting at them. Nadia tells her runners to return to New Canton - they'll be initiating the raid against Abel within the next 24 hours. Then Nadia notices something on her scanners: Lem's headset. And it's not moving like a zombie would. Nadia is thrilled to find out that Lem is still alive.

Nadia is frustrated when her cameras are suddenly disabled just before the raid begins. Nevertheless, she sends her runners out towards Abel, relying on their feedback to guide them. She sees Lem's tracker moving again on her scanners and becomes excited. Aware that it could just be a zombie, she tells Lem to change directions - and he does. Satisfied that it is indeed Lem, she diverts several of her runners from the raid to go check on Lem and find out why he hasn't returned to New Canton. But then Nadia receives a message and recalls all her runners - a huge horde of zombies is coming from the north.

An explosion goes off in Abel Township. Nadia takes the opportunity to send two of her runners towards Lem; either to bring him home or to kill whoever is impersonating him. The runners confirm that the person wearing the headset is not Lem. Nadia summons them back to New Canton then switches over to a private channel to talk to the person with Lem's headset. With quiet anger in her voice, she tells them that they'll have to come to New Canton eventually, now that Abel's been destroyed. To Nadia's surprise, an automated voice suddenly appears on the airwaves, announcing a test of the emergency broadcast system. Nadia's comms are then overridden entirely by the broadcast.

Season Two

New Canton and Abel Township form a tenuous alliance after realizing that they have both been targeted by Van Ark. Abel's Major de Santa forms a plan to capture some of Van Ark's fast zombies for study. Nadia guides Runner 93 (actually Abel Township's Runner Five) through an office building where Van Ark is retrieving intel about the zombie virus. As planned, Van Ark sends some of his fast zombies after the runner. Sam Yao, Abel's comms operator, comes back and criticizes Nadia for changing his runner's designation; Nadia reluctantly goes back to calling them Runner Five. Five succesfully leads the zombies into the trap that was set up beforehand. Nadia and Sam celebrate, then Sam accidentally reveals that Five was the Abel runner who had been wearing Lem's headset. Nadia barely manages to keep her anger under control.

Nadia is noticeably cold towards Runner Five on their next mission. She sounds displeased at how the New Canton-Abel Township alliance seems to be favoring Abel Township at the moment, as well as how the Abel refugees don't want to stay in New Canton and would rather return to Abel. Archie points out to her that New Canton isn't their home, and if the situation was reversed Archie would feel the same way about returning to New Canton.

Nadia sees on Rofflenet that the highly aggressive Dedlocks have recently moved into the factory district. Still furious with Runner Five for pretending to be Lem, she sends Five towards the factory under the guise of scavenging for supplies. Sam sees Five on his cameras and warns them just in time as the Dedlocks begin shooting. Sam accuses Nadia of trying to get Five killed. Nadia lashes out at him over comms, saying how unfair it was for Five to make her believe that Lem was still alive. Sam furiously berates her and tells her to grow up, saying that New Canton would have done the same thing if it had been an Abel runner who had died. He also tells Nadia that Lem was the one who gave Five his headset in the first place, which is a surprise to Nadia. She falls silent as Sam guides Five back to safety.

New Canton places Nadia under house arrest due to her recent actions.

While going through Lem's possessions, Nadia finds a note from him saying that she should go to Lem's home to find a message that he has left for her. Along with the note is the key to the house. As Nadia is still under house arrest, Esteban Sosa from the Permanent Advisory Council goes in her place - along with Runner Five. They find the message and play it for Nadia. In it, Lem tells Nadia that he loves her, that she's a good person, and that she shouldn't let his death change that about her. Brought to tears by Lem's words, Nadia apologizes for her actions. Runner Five returns to New Canton to have a talk with her.

Nadia and Runner Five talk, and Five does not object to her going back to work as New Canton's comms operator.

Abel Township is evacuated due to a dangerous chemical spill, causing its residents to temporarily relocate to New Canton. Nadia is forced to share the comms room with Sam and they immediately begin bickering with each other.

When Van Ark sends an army of fast zombies to attack Abel Township, Nadia helps coordinate a group of New Canton runners as reinforcements to aid their neighboring settlement.

Nadia participates in the first annual Abel/New Canton boat race. She's on the New Canton team with Runners Sixty-three and Seventy, going against the Abel team of Runner Five, Sam Yao, and Jamie Skeet. The race is interrupted when a horde of over fifty zombies appear. The boat teams lead the zombies away with noisemakers, but get caught in some unexpected rapids. Nadia's boat capsizes. Her rowers make it safely to shore, but Nadia hits her head on a rock and has to be rescued by the Abel team. They reach a lake, but the zombies are following them under the water. Nadia knows that the island at the center of the lake used to house a military base, so she and Jamie hop out of the boat to retrieve some weapons from it. Nadia throws a frag grenade into the lake, blowing up all the zombies.

Sam contacts New Canton for help after Abel is invaded by bandits, so Nadia sends fifteen runners armed with bazookas as backup.

Nadia helps Sam on comms as Abel prepares to test Maxine's newest version of her anti-zombie spray with drones. They talk about how weird it feels to know that it might be the end of the apocalypse soon and what they plan to do if it really is over. Nadia isn't really sure what she'll do. Probably just stay in New Canton and help rebuild. When the tests go wrong and the spray ends up making the zombies stronger and faster, Nadia sends in her runners to intercept the remaining drones.

Season Three

Nadia accompanies Runner 5 on a three-day trip to an arboreal research center that has gone dark on Rofflenet. She and 5 test out the automated operator program, with near-disastrous results. When Nadia and 5 arrive at the network of treehouses, they find it empty, aside from some moldy half-eaten sandwiches, some booby traps, and a zombified lynx. Nadia's wrist gets caught in a snare while escaping the lynx, but Runner 5 manages to distract and kill the lynx before it can eat Nadia. As they recover from the chase, Veronica McShell walks up and chastises them for killing the lynx.. and her father.

Because Vince is dead and Veronica's research requires two people, Nadia stays to help Veronica study the zombie-calming blue flowers. In exchange, Veronica helps Abel and New Canton develop a zombie repellent spray.

Nadia returns as radio operator from the treetop base in "Sowing Season." After everyone in New Canton becomes mind controlled, Nadia guides Runner 5 through the dungeons under the castle. She has to seal herself inside the control room to protect herself from the people sent to help her guard the blue flowers, who have also succumbed to Moonchild's mind control. Because Nadia had been away from New Canton for so long, she didn't drink the tainted water supply and thus was not mind controlled.

Season Four

By season 4, Nadia has become close friends with Veronica and spends a significant amount of time assisting her. The two work on the S-type zombies while trying to find a cure for the zombie virus. Nadia also keeps in touch with Phil Cheeseman; the two of them enthuse about sound systems. Later, Nadia helps Runner 5 reach General Bakari to deliver Janine's message. She sacrifices herself to aid Runner 5, and The Minister's soldiers shoot her out of the tree she's perched in. Nadia survives, but according to Dr. Myers, she'll never walk again. Despite being badly injured, Nadia still gets on comms to comfort and instruct Veronica during the season 4 finale.

Season Five

Nadia works with Veronica in Sigrid's Abel. Although Nadia is in a wheelchair and apparently requires Veronica's help to propel the chair, Nadia still appears to be helping with research. She seems worried about Veronica, mentioning that Veronica used to laugh more and fussing about Veronica's safety.

Nadia: You know we have a strict agreement about what age you have to be before you can pick up samples from zombies with bubonic plague!!!

Veronica: *sighing* I remember.
Nadia: And what’s the agreement?
Veronica: Not until I am never. 

Nadia: That’s right.

It is later revealed that Owen and Nadia are dating. He apparently pushes her wheelchair so she can go on the long walks Veronica states Nadia loves so much. Nadia mentions this when Owen is killed for trying to reason with Ian.

Personality

Nadia usually maintains a professional air when working as New Canton's operator, although she does engage in some friendly teasing with Archie. Nadia is good at multitasking from her previous work as an air traffic controller and is often managing multiple runners or groups of runners at the same time.

At times Nadia allows her emotions to cloud her better judgment, such as when she purposefully led Runner Five into a deathtrap after discovering that Five was the Abel runner who had been pretending to be Lem. Nadia later shows regret for her actions and works to earn Five's forgiveness.

Nadia displays some nurturing tendencies in her friendship with Veronica McShell, treating the teen almost like a younger sister or daughter.

Relationships

Lem

Nadia fell in love with Lem after he rescued her from a horde of zombies. He rejected her advances at first, telling her that she was just feeling gratitude and he didn't want to take advantage of that. But Nadia was persistent, and eventually she and Lem started dating. They had a happy relationship, which came to a tragic end when Lem was killed by zombies.

Runner Five

Nadia and Runner Five got off to a bad start when Five used Lem's headset to listen in on New Canton's transmissions, inadvertently leading Nadia to believe that Lem was still alive. She became furious when she found out the truth, which culminated in her attempting to get Runner Five killed. Nadia eventually apologized for her actions and began working to repair her relationship with Five. The two of them eventually developed a friendlier relationship.

Sam Yao

Nadia and Sam did not get along at first - mostly due to Nadia's attempt to kill Runner Five. After Nadia apologized for her actions, Sam was still reluctant to trust her, and they bickered frequently. But over time they came to respect each other as fellow radio operators.

Veronica McShell

Nadia and Veronica are good friends. Nadia assisted Veronica with her research and acted as a sort of mentor or guardian for the younger woman.

Owen Landis

Nadia and Owen became close during their time in the Ministry-controlled Abel Township. Owen quickly developed an attraction to her, but he wanted to take it slow after learning from his past mistakes in the field of romance. Nadia grew to care for him as well, and the two of them began dating. Nadia was devastated when Owen was murdered right in front of her by Ian Golightly.

Appearances

Season 1

• M08 The Old Mill
• M18 Eavesdropping
• M20 Listen In
• M21 Siege
• M23 Aftermath
• Abel Race 20k Jeffro Complex
• New Canton Race 5k Big Cheese
• New Canton Race 10k Etymology
• New Canton Race 20k Plasmapheresis

Season 2

• M01 Back Once Again
• M02 From The Ashes
• M04 We Used To Be Friends
• M10 Holding Out For A Hero
• M19 Dare
• M23 Galvanize
• M34 Ready To Go
• M40 Little Lies
• M44 Something Good, 08
• SM9 Zombies, Row!

Season 3

• M11 Stray Cat Strut
• M12 Ready to Start
• M13 Autopilot
• M14 Keeper of Secrets
• M15 Veronica
• M17 Carry Me Home (flashback)
• M19 Descent
• M49 Sowing Season
• M50 Listen All You People

Season 4

• M01 Pound The Alarm
• M02 We Built This City
• M09 Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
• M27 Hit Me Baby One More Time
• M35 You Win Again
• M38 The Game Has Changed
• M40 Choice

Season 5

• M02 Run To You
• M17 Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now
• M18 Here Comes The Rain Again
• M20 Stay Alive
• M21 Staying Alive
• M22 Hit Me With Your Best Shot
• M40 The Room Where It Happens

Season 6

• M28 Hot In Here
• M29 Drop it Like it’s Hot
• M35 Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling

The Home Front

• M13 Good Morning New Canton!
• M23 Making Plans for Nadia

Season 7

• M16 I'm The Shark In The Water
• M17 Paradise By The Dashboard Light
• M18 Inside Out
• M19 Free Falling
• M22 Down on the Farm
• M32 Trapped (recording)
• S7 Radio Mode

Season 10

• M30 Only Lovers Left Alive (unvoiced)

New Adventures

Abel's Buccaneers

• M1 The High Seas
• M2 The Devil and the Deep
• M3 King of the Jungle
• M4 Threshold of Paradise
• M5 The Philosopher's Stone

Trivia

• Nadia has the same voice actor as Jody Marsh (Jennifer Tan). Jody lampshades this by pointing out how she and Nadia have never spoken to each other.
• Nadia's granddad was in Vietnam and possibly fought in the war.
• Alternate universe versions of Nadia appear in several New Adventures.
  • Captain Nadia leads her pirate crew in search of the Philosopher's Stone in Abel's Buccaneers.
• A character named Nadiya who uses a wheelchair appears in Finis Africae, but she is not voiced by Jennifer Tan and is not an alternate universe version of Nadia.
• Nadia is the ninth most recurring non-player character in the main storyline of Zombies, Run! after Sam Yao, Janine de Luca, Maxine Myers, Jody Marsh, Peter Lynne, Paula Cohen, Amelia Spens, and Veronica McShell. Nadia appears in 50 out of 415 missions (12.0%) throughout seasons 1-10. (Note: This does not count Radio Mode appearances, hallucinations, or recordings.)
  • Season 1: 9/34 missions (26.5%)
  • Season 2: 10/64 missions (15.6%)
  • Season 3: 9/60 missions (15.0%)
  • Season 4: 7/42 missions (16.7%)
  • Season 5: 7/40 missions (17.5)
  • Season 6: 3/40 missions (7.5%)
  • Season 7: 5/40 missions (12.5%)
  • Season 8: 0/30 missions (0.0%)
  • Season 9: 0/35 missions (0.0%)
  • Season 10: 0/30 missions (0.0%)

Gallery

A tarot card featuring Nadia as The Hierophant.
(VR9: Escape From Runaway Fairground)

Letters from Nadia

The Home Front Mission 13: Good Morning New Canton!

Season 10 Mission 6: Extinction

Season 10 Mission 30: Only Lovers Left Alive