Ashton (ALRTF)

Ashton is the main protagonist of A Long Road to Fortune. A neglected and somber soul, Ashton was never one for bonding with people and those few bonds he did share, were considered unbalanced. A quiet young man, Ashton is more than used to loneliness and self-loathing despite his apathy for human life and sense of justice. Waking up inside of a new, apocalyptic world where those previous feelings meant few for the malevolent survivors that outlived the rest of civilization, Ashton's forced to changed and become a new man, something he cannot find himself doing.

Unlike the rest of his life, Ashton's time in the apocalypse was not spent alone for long. Despite his tragic goodbye to his dearly loved aunt Patricia Leon, Ashton was soon reunited with his childhood friend and soulmate Liza Cabrera, his old friend and father figure Mr. Chet, and his former partner in crime and loyal friend Alejandro Valdez, in a new world that demanded their company now more than ever.

Backstory
Ashton was born in the United States to a wealthy family. His family moved to Mexico when Ashton was just a kid. He mentions his parents are on vacation prior to the events of the apocalypse.

During his childhood, Ashton was often alone due to the fact that his parents were often at work in a law firm in Acapulco, Guerrero. Because of this, Ashton was resentful of everyone and was a loner in public. Ashton often spent holidays alone, like Christmas. It wasn't always loneliness and misery for Ashton however, as his parents had hired Liza's older sister to babysit him on a regular basis. This led to Ashton and Liza forming a very close friendship.

During his time alone, Ashton often read books and learned many things from them, knowing they could be useful to him. One of these things was the english language, which he taught himself to speak fluently in just over a year.

Pre-Apocalypse
Ashton used to be a juvenile delinquent, along with Valdez, who was his partner in crime. Due to this, Ashton was rather infamous and hated among the citizens of Tecpan de Galeana. During his parents' vacation, Ashton decided to stay home with his aunt, Patricia Leon, so that he could study for a physics competition. As the last few weeks of the pre-apocalyptic world went on, Ashton found himself stabbed multiple times by two members of the Costa Grande drug cartel while he and his friends escaped a shootout that erupted within the zocalo. Ashton was hospitalized soon after and extreme blood loss put him in a comatose state for the remainder of time. According to Mr. Chet, very few people were worried about Ashton's welfare after news of his hopsitalization hit the streets.

Chapter 1
Ashton wakes up from his coma after an undisclosed amount of time. After waking up, Ashton realized he was late for school and set out. Upon getting to his usual taxi spot, he noticed a herd and was sudsequently attacked by one of the dead. After killing his first infected, Ashton retreated back to his home and came to terms with the situation. He prepared himself to go back out into the new world when he heard snarling noises. The sound came from a zombified Patricia, who was chained up in the backyard to avoid attacking Ashton. Ashton put her down and dug her a grave. Soon after that, he set out to the zocalo\Upon reaching the zocalo, Ashton was horrified to see the zocalo overrun with the dead and panicked, causing him to bump into a car and set off an alarm. Ashton ran back after getting the attention of the dead. As Ashton ran for his life, he was rescued by Mr. Chet, who told him all about the apocalypse. After a few lessons in survival, the duo arrived at the marketplace. Upon arrival, Ashton was greeted by a man named Daniel, who was disappointed at Ashton's presence. The same reaction was met with most of the survivors. However, Ashton had been reunited with two of his friends, Liza and Valdez. Liza embraced Ashton and kissed him, much to his surprise. Later that night, Ashton slept in the floor near the lookout window and had a casual conversayion with the lookout, Jose Quintero until Liza called him over to chat. Ashton asked Liza about the kiss and Liza recalled their childhood memories together and use them to explain her situation. Liza also told Ashton her parents were murdered by men from the cartel earlier in the apocalypse. Soon after, Mr. Chet informed Ashton about his impending leave. Ashton asked to accompany him but Mr. Chet denied, saying that the people of the marketplace needed him. Soon after, zombies got into the marketplace.Ashton assited Daniel in killing the zombies that had broken into the northern part of the marketplace. Amongst the chaos, Ashton had a close call with a zoombie after he saved a young boy named Max Gomes. The following day, Ashton assisted Sgt. Mendoza in clearing the soccer field in order to start the expansion out of the marketplace. Soon Mr. Chet, Daniel, Jaime, and Aguila were kidnapped by Gustavo Texta's faction, which subsequently locked the group inside of the soccer field. After some trouble, the group set a course retreating back to the marketplace. Ashton went after the kidnapped and tracked them down to the Galeana Elementary school, arriving just in time to witness their escape.

Deciding to spend the night inside of an old storage room within the school's walls, Ashton found himself held hostage by Yuri and Francisco, but using his intellect, escaped. The following day, Ashton tried to make his way back to the marketplace despite being the target of a manhunt issued by Gustavo. Ashton managed to outwit one of the hunters, Bristol, and trap him with groseros.

Before Ashton could make it back, Yuri got to him. Shockingly, she opted to not kill him but her plans to escort him to Gustavo fell short when a bloodlusted Liza arrived and shot Yuri, and later holding Francisco at gunpoint. Thanks to Ashton's first aid,Yuri managed to survive. A week later, Ashton and Valdez were seen returning to the marketplace when Saul Mendrena's men began to infiltrate it.

Appearance
Ashton is described to be fairly tall teenger, being 6 feet even. He has a thin but muscular build and jet black hair. His current attire consists of many t-shirts and jeans. His weapon of choice is a machete, followed by his father military knife.

Personality
Ashton is shown to be a very intelligent individual with a passive voice. During his childhood, he developed an anti-social attitude due to his parents never being around. Thus he was often depressed and resented everybody including his the rest of his family. Prior to his capture and the end of his delinquent career, Ashton only showed openess to his childhood friend Liza, her sister, and Mr. Chet. He would later open up to his aunt Patricia Leon and eventually found a group of friends, who loved him despite his past and deep flaws. He is also very patient and full of vigor, being able to go nights without sleep and move faster than the others. Ashton is normally quiet and doesn't reveal himself but becomes lighthearted in the company of close friends. His fear is also minimal, evident by his calmness by guns and them being pointed at him.

Despite being an avid and experienced fighter, Ashton's combat capabilities are significantly hindered by his previous assault with knifes. This leads Ashton to often use his smarts instead of brawn.

Patricia Leon
Patricia was Ashton's aunt. Patricia stayed with Ashton in his house after his parents left on vacation. Patricia was one of the few people that worried about Ashton's welfare after his hospitalization. Thanks to Patricia, Ashton's life was saved after the hospital was burned down during the early stages of the apocalypse. Patricia lost he life saving Ashton's. Upon finding her zombified, Ashton put her down and dug her a grave. He thanked his aunt for everything she did for him.

Liza Cabrera
The bond he and Liza share goes beyond that of friendship. Having experienced life closely together from a very young age, Ashton and Liza are two opposite halves of an orange. Their romantic feelings have always existed but Ashton refused to get romantically involved with his childhood friend for the acts of crime he's committed and lack of self-worth he holds toward himself.

It is not until Ashton realizes how much he himself means to Liza that he finally decides to let go of his negative feelings and embrace her in a passionate romantic relationship.

Mr. Chet
Mr. Chet was one of the very few people who worried about Ashton during his hospitalization. After finding each other, Ashton and Joaquin were very happy to see each other alive. Ashton thinks of Mr. Chet as family and would do anything to help him out. He is the only person other than Liza and Valdez who see Ashton for what he really is and trusts in his hidden potential. Mr. Chet also serves as a father figure to Ashton, and the only person he's referred to as a father his entire life.

Valdez
Valdez was Ashton's partner in crime during his days as a juvenile delinquent and for this both boys share a very close friendship. Unlike Liza, Valdez has no filter and often talks to Ashton about many controversial and sexual topics such as politics and sex. Ashton sees Valdez as a sort of brother for his loyalty and care.

Killed Victims
Apart from killing numerous zombies, Ashton has also killed the following:

Ashton has killed the following people:
 * One unnamed cartel hit man (Triggered Ashton's grosero trap).

Ashton has killed the following people as zombies: Ashton has caused the deaths of the following people, intentionally or otherwise:
 * Patricia Leon
 * Sofia Galeana
 * Bristol (Trapped him in a room full of zombies. Ashton later showed regret and tried to help the man but he was scared off by a shotgun blast from him).
 * 2 unnamed cartel hitmen (Knocked out and left vulnerable to zombies).

Trivia

 * Ashton's theme is The Scientist by Coldplay.
 * Ashton is the only character to appear in every issue thus far.
 * Ashton is one of the few characters in the story to not have a common or traditional latino name. This is due to the fact that he was born in the United States, and thus his parents thought a name more common in the U.S. would be more suitable for him.
 * His American heritage comes from his mother, who is half american.
 * PBR Sharpshoot based Ashton's physical appearance and some of his other traits on himself.
 * In a what if version of the Hunger Games, Ashton placed 5th. To read it click here.
 * Ashton was purposely created without a last name as to further alienate his character from the reader.
 * Ashton committed his first murder in Issue 21, albeit unintentionally as his victim triggered a trap meant for killing. zombies.