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Myrtle Bentley
Fictional Character
The Disunited States of America
POD: July, 1787
Type of Appearance: Direct
Nationality: California (born in Virginia)
Date of Birth: c. 2027
Occupation: Retired
Spouse: Unnamed deceased husband
Children: Trish Royer
Relatives: Beckie Royer (granddaughter),
Louise (sister),
Ethel Snodgrass (cousin)

Myrtle Bentley (b. Myrtle Collins, ca. 2027) was an irascible septuagenarian born in a town called Elizabeth, in the country of Virginia. She later moved to California. In 2097, she traveled back to Elizabeth (passing through Ohio) with her granddaughter, Beckie Royer.[1]

Myrtle was a woman used to having her own way and complaining loudly when she didn't. When the Ohio-Virginia War of 2097 broke out she and Beckie were stranded at the home of Myrtle's cousin, Ethel Snodgrass and her husband Ted.[2] Ohio's opening move in the war had been to release a tailored measles virus into Virginia. Virginia's Consul Pendleton ordered a quarantine of all of the country's major metropolitan areas.[3] Myrtle did not suffer this in silence.[4] She also cast a chary eye on the growing relationship between Beckie and Justin Monroe, a young boy from Charleston, Virginia visiting Elizabeth with his uncle, Randy Brooks.

When her cousin died of the virus,[5] Myrtle was slightly adrift. She annoyed her granddaughter, and had little in common with Ted. Thus, when Randy Brooks explained that Justin had gone missing in the fighting and that he was going to make his way to Charleston, Myrtle demanded that she and Beckie go with him. Reluctantly, he agreed.[6] Myrtle did her best to make the ride to Charleston miserable.[7]

However, when they arrived at a motel, Myrtle started showing symptoms of the measles.[8] Beckie informed Randy and Justin (who'd made his way to Charleston disguised as a soldier), Justin was able to secure a cure for Myrtle.[9] Although she had cast aspersions on Justin the entire time she'd known him, Myrtle concluded that Justin was a "nice" boy.

References[]

  1. The Disunited States of America, pgs. 8-18, generally.
  2. Ibid., pg. 18.
  3. Ibid., pg. 62.
  4. Ibid., pg. 87.
  5. Ibid., pg. 166.
  6. Ibid., pgs. 198-201.
  7. Ibid., pg. 222.
  8. Ibid., pg. 243.
  9. Ibid., pg. 248-259.
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