Gwen Hayes (Eden Rising)

"I single-handedly sculpted the idea of New Venice. Helped bring that  idea to life, in spite of the civil wars that are out there.  I've created many enemies.  And you've gone out of your way, come out to my room at the crack of dawn to tell me that my life might be in danger? Understatement of the year, man. You've wasted your time."

- Gwen, to Robert.

Gwendolyn "Gwen" Hayes is one of the main characters in Eden Rising, a former city planner who was once in charge of the post-apocalyptic metropolis New Venice. After the fall of her city and the losing of her status as a leader, Gwen mellows out as a soft-spoken member of Tom's group who isn't afraid to contribute, but doesn't exactly offer much of an opinion. Gwen eventually opens up, showing off the outspoken, reckless personality that led her to leadership in the first place, often respectfully challenging Tom's decisions.

Pre-series
After the outbreak hit, the city of Cincinnati, Ohio managed to keep things running. They flooded the city and created a high-rise paradise to protect themselves from zombies. Gwen's father was in charge of this operation, and as a city planner herself before the 'end of the world', she was very active in the city's efforts of rebirth. When her father fell ill, Gwen took over the reigns as the city's leader. Gwen was raped by a mysterious assailant at a party she attended with her best friend Kitty Drake. The rape turned Gwen into a darker person, with an intense need to overcome the males in her life. The rapist was caught and hung in a public trial, giving Gwen some source of closure but she still fought to retain some sort of dignity in her life and she succeeded in overcoming the rape, not letting it define her as a person.

Season 1
Gwen is introduced in the series as a diplomat from New Venice, arriving to one of the large metropolis's "sister cities", the small town of Glenley, in order to present her own plan of order once hearing of the arrival of a mysterious stranger. Gwen finds herself the target of The General, who wants to murder her and take over New Venice by luring her to Glenley, which he and his regime plan on burning down with her inside. Gwen escapes with a ragtag group of survivors led by Tom Snyder, one of Glenley's most well-respected sheriffs. When New Venice is taken and Gwen is left broken, she joins the small group of survivors on their journey to the potential paradise that is Eden. It takes her a long time to open up to her fellow survivors, and she begins to hollow out after watching her metropolis fall apart.

Season 2
Gwen starts to stand up and show off her leadership skills again as Tom begins to unhinge in the aftermath of his ex-wife Kate's death and his daughter Darla getting bitten in the arm by a zombie, resulting in her amputation. She begins an affair with best friend Kitty's husband Xander, which initially begins during a drunken spiel, but occurs again in her lust for sex. Their second go around inside the under-construction side of the airport, where biters climb up and attack them, leads to Xander's death. Gwen barely escapes the biters herself, but when she does, it exposes her affair with Xander to the other survivors. This leads to a silent fallout with Kitty, who refuses to talk with Gwen following this.

Four months later, Gwen has taken a more vocal role with the group, trying to prove herself. She starts to gain support, especially from Sidney. Gwen's angry, hot-headed temperament also leads to many siding with her just because they are intimidated by her. When a traitor attacks the airport, murdering Phoebe, Regis, and Sidney all in one night under Gwen's watchful eye, Gwen grows completely hallow and refuses human contact. She feels she's failed the group and slowly begins to stop questioning Tom's methods, realizing she was too confident and this confident has left three of her people dead.

Gwen manages to escape the airport, boarding the rescue plane to Eden with the other survivors.

Season 3
An indeterminate amount of time since the season two finale has passed. Gwen has gone missing between the timeframe of the season two finale and the season three premiere, with Ash, now a member of Eden's security team, feeling guilty that he wasn't there for her. He and Gareth examined her suite, finding that the place is completely trashed with many blood stains and strange scientific notes strewn around her room.

Killed Victims

 * Numerous counts of infected
 * Sidney Strauss (infected)