Ben Bolio (Eden Rising)

Ben Bolio is a minor character in Eden Rising, having only appeared in the flashback issue Birthday. He is the younger brother of Corey Bolio, better known as Ash. He was twelve years old when the outbreaks took place.

Pre-series
Ben is presented as a very intellectual and sensitive young boy. Corey is constantly annoyed by his presence, but there is still an unspoken love between them. On the day of the outbreak, Ben was watching Corey play video games. Their mother was bit and turned into a mindless zombie, something Corey and Ben recognized from the video games and movies they watched. Shortly after driving the boys out of the city, their father abandoned them. Corey and Ben supported each other on their own, avoiding human and zombie contact at all costs. While navigating through the broken world, Ben was admired by some perverted looters who believed that he and Corey took their stuff. Corey eventually killed the looters to protect Ben, and this was witnessed by The General, who admired Corey's heart. Corey and Ben were taken in by The General's regime to be killing machines. Ben wasn't as good as Corey and The General was unimpressed with his results and it is implied that if it weren't for Ben being related to Corey, his star protege, he would have disposed of the boy immediately.

The boys were eventually abandoned in the middle of a deserted city by The General in order to train them to live on their own for a while. Corey and Ben did not know of his intentions to return, believing that The General was not coming back, and decided to live in the abandoned city on their own. They were later picked up by a lovely couple named Noah and Elaine, who have their own sanctuary for survivors. Seeing the parallels between The General's violent camp and Noah's peaceful one, Corey and Ben settle in there. The General returns, wanting to recruit Corey back to his regime. With Corey gone hunting at the time, The General slaughters the entire camp, including Corey's brother Ben. Ben is still barely alive, and begs his brother to leave him before he turns and eats him. But Corey doesn't care. He cradles Ben until he dies. Corey later buries Ben without a shot to the brain, having spent all night holding him and digging his grave.

Trivia

 * Ben's favorite movie was Evil Dead 2.
 * After Ben's death, Corey adopted a new name, believing that Corey died with Ben. The name he chose was Ash, a nickname Ben gave Corey while using a chainsaw to murder zombies, in reference to the main protagonist of Evil Dead 2.