Mrs. Wooly

Mrs. Wooly is a character appearing in Monument 14.

Biography

Day 1

Mrs. Wooly is driving the grammar and middle school bus. On her way to the schools (which are next to one another), a massive hailstorm occurs. She crashes her bus into the local Greenway in order to protect the students she is transporting. She unloads the eight students and leaves them at the Pizza Shack while she takes the bus back out into the storm in order to rescue the high school students on Mr. Reed's bus which crashed in the parking lot.

She uses an ax to break open the rear emergency exit on Mr. Reed's bus. Six of the fifteen plus students are rescued by her. She drives them back into the Greenway. Inside the Greenway, she has several of the younger kids get supplies for the wounded students, including bandages and clothing.

She holds a makeshift assembly to inform everyone that she is going to be walking to the nearby hospital to seek help, since her bus has two flat tires. She appoints Jake Simonsen as the temporary leader, and instructs them all to not leave until either her or their parents return. She then has the younger children go pick out puzzles and games from the Toy Department so she can warn the teenagers about possible looting and rioting. If that does happen, she wants everyone to meet in the Pizza Shack, with the older kids protecting the younger ones.

As she leaves the Greenway, she gags from the sight of several deceased Greenway employees, who have been bludgeoned to death by the earlier hailstorm.

Appearance and Personality

Mrs. Wooly is the elementary and middle school bus driver. Dean describes her as "A grizzled, wiry-haired, ashtray-scented, tough-talking institution" that is "Notorious and devoted to bus driving".

She is very courageous, having plowed her bus into the Greenway in order to save the eight students on her bus, while also going back out into the hailstorm to rescue the six high school students. In addition, she chooses to walk to the nearby hospital to seek help, which puts her at great personal risk.

Relationships

The Monument 14

The younger children seem to love Mrs. Wooly. Once Josie Miller has made her return on Day 3, she tells the younger children a fairy tale in which Mrs. Wooly returns to rescue them all in a brand new bus. Josie tells them that Mrs. Wooly will then drive them all home and lead them up their front walks to their parents.

Based on her heroism and treatment of those injured in the bus crash and hailstorm, she cares deeply about all of the students.