This is a story about a true-life hero, who only wants to do good in the world. It’s based on a real person, a Navajo child named Zaadii, who

was tragically killed by a distracted driver.His greatest joy in life was superheroes, and at three years old he was given a cape, and decided

he was a superhero himself.

We agree.

Our hope is that Zaadii’s message,and memory, will live on through

this book. This is hisUnfinished Story.

© 2020 The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved. No part of this story may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means, in anymanner whatsoever, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the express written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in a book review. Printed in the United States of America First printing, 2020ISBN 978-0-578-77796-2 The Travelers Indemnity Company. One Tower Square, Hartford, CT 06183

creating patterns thatgo on and on, until they

hit the shore and return,crashing into each other

in beautiful symmetry.

or me, the ripples started when I was just three years old, seeingmy favorite hero every week on tv.

if you dipyour fingersinto a pool ofstill water…

…itcreatesripples.

little concentric circles, radiating

outward.

lastweek!

ourheroes

have beenhungBY that

harrowingheel, THEHANGMAN!

cacklin’corrosive,

greyfalcon!

looks likewe’re about tobe melted for

sure thistime!

the images we see as children,often linger with us our entire lives.

I’m gladto see you’ve beenpaying attention in

chemistry class,sparrow!

as this isindeed a caustic

conundrum!

we dip ourfingers in…

…and radiate outwards,into the larger world.

well. itwas a pleasurefighting crimewith you, grey

falcon!

not sofast, my

youngchum.

for you see, the heinous

hangman forgotone crucial

detail.

the falconclaw in mycolorful

gauntlet.

wishme luck,

chum!

rollickingricochet, grey

falcon! yougot it!

I know because I’ve seenthis one. I’ve seen them all.

let’s notcongratulate

ourselves yet,chum!

not untilwe find and fell

our notoriousnemesis!

and sure, it all looksa little corny now.

but to three-year-old me?

“grey falconand sparrow” wasmind-blowing.

will ourdaring duo corral andcapture the hideous

hangman in time to saveliberty city?

they do.

a child watchesa story about

heroes, peopledoing good inthe world…

…and vows tobecome a hero,

himself.ripples in thestill water.

we’resaved!

to the innocents ofthis city and the bad guys

who try to hurt them…I have another name.

and cornyor not…

…man, I wantedthat car.

my name iszaadii tohzon.

it was chosen bymy grandmother

and tribal elders,after much discussion.

in the navajo language of myfather, it means, “speaks withthe power of gentle water.”

it’s who I am, whoI was meant to be.

goggles.

illuminate.

but it’s only one nameI carry with me.

focustarget. isolate

threat.

talon,embed mode.

fire!

WRITER: GAIL SIMONE ARTIST: J. CALAFIORE

they call me

and I am a

protector!

IN ARTIST PGS 1-3: MARK DOS SANTOS.COLORIST: JASON WRIGHT

LETTERER: DAVE SHARPEBACK COVER: JEFFERY VEREGGE

get thefreak!

please.just leaveme alone.

don’tworry, pal.this isn’t

gonna takelong.

we justwant to, you

know, have a littlediscussion.

see, the thingis, this guy, hepaid us money.

to get youprotestor types tomaybe reconsider

a little.

youfeel me?

and hesaid, if you didn’t

wanna cooperate,if you wanna beunfriendly…

…that maybewe should be

unfriendlyright back.

talon.encumber.target one.

hey. wait.what?

I don’t really want to hurtanyone, not even these guys.

there’s enough painin the world already.

talon. snapretract.

of course, perhaps a littlelesson in good manners is

called for, here.

talon.disengage.

I mean… …it’s onlygood civics.

um.

get out of the way,I got him.I got him!

no,goodsir. you most

certainlydo not.

still.

no reasonto be mean.

you okay,sir?

yousaved my

life.

hey, you’rez-hawk, right?you protect theenvironment!

someonetrying to

shut downprotest.

withviolentmethods.

and I havea pretty

good ideawho.

ceo of mammoth technology.

tyson arvellgardner.

I alreadyhave a car.

you allright, man?

nothing broken?

good.because I’m

gonna cuff you and call the

police.

listen,I feel likeI owe you

some-thing.

youneed a ridesomewhere?

that’snice ofyou, sir.

but,see-

z-runner.non-collisionhoming mode,

now!

every hero’sgotta have a great

ride, right?

the z-runner.all electric,self-drive.

my dadwoulda beenso proud of

you.

when I’m not wearinga cape, I’m just plain

zaadii tozhon.

my friends say I’man “activist lawyer.” but the people I go

after call me names thatare much less nice.

zaadii,I mean,

z-hawk?

we took over his father’sprestigious law practice.

this is mybest friendtony reese.

even with a rich dad, he practicallylived at my house. he and his dad,they never got along, somehow.

it’s okay,tony. the

blocker’son, no onecan hear

us.

okay,right. listen,

shouldn’tyou get some

rest?

he’sright, z.take the

rest of thenight off,that’s anorder.

and here’sthe thirdpartner in

our practice,and the onlyperson asidefrom tony to

know mysecret id,

margaretreeves.

no one fightsfor just causeslike margaret.

I couldn’t havedone all thiswithout them.

we getthe decision on

our injunctionagainst mammoth

tomorrow,remember?

you’reright. I’d better

hightail it.

z-runner.jump mode.

all right.good luck

to all of ustomorrow.

andzaadii?

…until suchtime as the legitimacyof the original impactassessment can be

firmly and objectively established.

thanks,tony.

but if itworks, all ourfamilies will beproud of us.

tony and margaret,they keep saying I’ve got

to get more rest.

and fora good two

hours?I takethat

advice.

zzzzzzz

and likealways

I dreamof a

hawk.

my mothersays hawkshave alwaysbeen in thesky duringmy most

significantdays.

so I tookthat as my

hero name.

unfortunately, I sleptthrough the alarm.

zaadii!do you knowhow late you

are?no,I…

you lookterrible, did

you sleep?

a bit,see…

did you eatanything?

nevermind, eat

this.

and forheaven’s sake,

straighten your tie.

…in light ofcompelling testimony

regarding the potential damageto the surrounding ecosystem,I am granting counsel’s motionto suspend all operations at

the factory site…

you thinkyou can stopprogress?

you did it.zaadii, you

did it.

wedid it. thank

goodness.

…in this seeming david andgoliath story, three lawyersfrom a small environmental

concern have put the brakeson a massive new factory

concern...

...that they sayinfringes on theland and water

rights of a localtribe.

mr. tozhon, to whatdo you attribute this

incredible victoryin court this

morning?

well, kat, I want to thank myteam, but I also want to thank

these amazing friendswe’ve made during this

long trial…

so fornow, at least,the sound of

blasting in theiron mesa willbe silenced,

making thesefolks very

happyindeed.

kat wilson,channel four

news.

you thinkyou’ve won,don’t you? excuse

me?

you think an insignificant littlepaper pusher like you can stop

tyson gardner?

of course,we’ve pickedup an enemyor two along

the way.

we’llresume fulloperations

tomorrow.

it’s cheaperfor me to pay the

fines than halt the workers, mr.

tozhon. and doyou know

what?

I lookforward topaving overyour little

mesa.

well. I like mostpeople. I don’t

hate anyone.

but I’ve grown toactively dislike

that man.

ooh,he’s a bad

one. you haveto stop him.he’ll do it.

do I knowyou, wisemother?

stophim, dear

child. notin thatsuit.

in yourother one,

do yousee?

I…

I will.

I swear by myancestors.

I will.

boom.

there’sno choice,

tony.

we have tohave evidence thatthey’re pollutingthe water basin to

stop them now.

I under-stand, butzaadii. becareful.

gardner’snot foolingaround.

he’smean.

and he’stricky.

yeahwell.

I have a few tricks,

too.

z-runner.

hydrofoil!

oh, hownice.

our guesthas arrived.

best makehim feel

welcome.

whatthe..?

warning.proximity mines

detected.

warning.proximity--

zaadii!what’swrong?

therunner’s notresponding.

zaadii!

I’m coming!I’m on my wayright now!

…whynot just

savetime?

[tsktsk tsk.]this won’t

do.

I supposeit falls to the

decimatorto save thislump from

drowning.

I am so utterlyunappreciated!

on secondthought…

I know,decimator.

but not nearlyas mucH--

one lessdo-gooderin the world,

right?

oris it two

less, sinceI’ve turned

heel?

doesn’tmatter. the

point is, we’reall better

off.

what…

what’shappening?

what’sthat? areyou trying

to mumblesomething,

do-gooder?

can’t quite hear

you, yousee.

STRONGERTHAN HE LOOKS!

eh?

talon.

wing target,woundmode!

what?

ow. that stings,birdboy!

and doyou know

whatelse?

as this,I bet.

yes, yes. doyou know, thebad guys arealways betterwith the quips,

don’t youfind?

don’t evenknow why you

bother,really.

…why... becauseI don’t likeyour kind, hawkguy.

I don’t likethat you stand in

the way of almightyprogress.

thinkingeveryone

owes you some-

thing.

well, nomore.

the hydro-electric damn,holding in the reservoir you

cherish somuch?

I’m goingto blow itup. floodyou out.

okay, that felt rewarding.

pick thelock.

I’ve gotmargaret.

she’s goingto have simplythe best view.

from rightatop the blast

zone.

stop meif you can,“hero.”

margaret? he’sgot margaret?

he knows. heknows who I am.

and for a minute,maybe many minutes…

my body gives up.I lose consciousness.

decimatorhas all the

cards.

and he took me downwithout even trying.

car’s destroyed.

I can…can barely standafter that voltage. andit’s starting to rain.

doesn’tmatter.

decimator?I’m

coming.

no matterwhat.

talon.

I know,mags,

I know.

margaret?

margaret,are youhere?

z-hawk!

dude.you’re allright.

I wasmonitoring…thought youcould useback up.

youshouldn’thave come,tony. this

guy…he likesto hurtinnocentpeople.

but I’m glad you’rehere. findmargaret.

I’llhandle theBAD GUY.

zaadii. thedecimator!he’s…he’s…

youwon’t.

he’stony.

oh, that’sright, zaadii.

my “brother.”you caught

me.

you stinking,ridiculous

do-gooder!

howdid youknow?

I didn’t, atfirst. I was sosure you weregardner.

but youflinched when

I touchedyour bicep.

“exactly wheremy talon tagged

your arm.

“why, tony?”

all my fathercared about was hiscauses. deep inside,he knew I resented

those…those covetous,grasping people he

helped. hatedthem.

youmost of

all.

he wantedsomeone like youto be his son, not

his own fleshand blood.

and now,when I hit this

button, I undohis work, anddestroy his

name!

no,tony.

I’m aprotector.

talon. targetdetonator.

fora moment,I almostlet himfall.

but that’s

not whoI am.

not whomy family,

my tribe, myfather,raised me

to be.

not whomy hero

would wantme to be.

becauseI’m not a

destroyer.

ripples inthe water.

Zaadii always wanted to protect the environment, even at a young age. | know this, because the character you’vejust been reading about was based on a real person: my son. My name is Rachel, and | am Zaadii’s mother.

“gentlewater?” doesn’t

that make himsound kind of

weak?

...he lovedSUPERHEROES.

Zaadii was born eleven days late,at 11:22, the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year 2011.

Zaadii’s father is Navajo.Our son was born in ahospital on a reservation.

And everyone knew,somehow, withoutdiscussion...

His grandmother andother tribal elder womengave him his name.

“Speaks With thePower of Gentle Water.”

“Zaadii Tozhon.”

Zaadii’s grandmother explained.

“Gentle water has the power tomove mountains and carve canyons.”

Zaadii Tozhon,he became.

He was raised in a family witha love for fantasy and sciencefiction books and comics.

And above all...

...he wasa wonder.

We called him, “Mr. Eleventy.”

Zaadii was full of life and joy.

And even intohis dreams.

His older sister, Bahazhoni,got a cape from her favoritemovie. Zaadii would alwaystake it and run off with it.

This led to someEPIC sibling warfare.

It was time for Zaadiito get a cape of his own.

And we looked.

But ANOTHER costumeentirely caught his eye.

His parents bought himSUPERHERO movies, and hewatched them ENDLESSLY.

Of course, that meant sometimesIMPROVISING when it came togetting the costume CLEAN again.

And that changedEVERYTHING. He’d found

his hero.

Let’s End Distracted Driving

Each day, seven people are killed by distracted

drivers,* their stories left unfinished. What could

have been, had the driver not been distracted?

For more information about the Travelers distracted driving efforts,

visit travelers.com/distracteddriving

TRAVELERS

In 2018, Travelers launched the Unifinished Stories campaign. We worked

closely with Zaadii’s family to imagine what could have been for him, had he

not been killed by a distracted driver. His story serves as a powerful reminder

of the responsibilities we all have behind the wheel. The Travelers Institute®

Every Second Matters distracted driving initiative recognizes that every

driver, passenger, cyclist and pedestrian has a role to play in changing social

norms around distratction.

*National Center for Statistics and Analysis. (2019, October). 2018 fatal motor vehicle crashes: Overview. (Traffic Safety

Facts Research Note. Report No. DOT HS 812 826). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

SM

ILLUSTRATION BY JEFFERY VEREGGE