Ash (Eden Rising)



"I’m the last of my family. Miss ‘em like hell, but they’re long gone. These kids are basically strangers to me. And yet, I’m terrified at the thought of the things I’d do to keep them safe. That counts as family then, right? Not blood but... still family."

- Ash, to Jessie, about Darla and PJ

Corey Bolio, better known as Ash, is a main character in Eden Rising. Born by the name Corey Bolio, Ash was thirteen when the infected pandemic took over the world. He took care of his little brother Ben after the death of his parents, until Ben's tragic death at the hands of The General. Empty without his brother and now driven by revenge, Corey began calling himself Ash, named after the lead character in Ben's favorite movie series "The Evil Dead".

After joining a group of survivors led by Tom Snyder, Ash finally faced The General again and took his life, avenging his brother's death. Now that his quest for vengeance is over, Ash has been driven by a new sense of purpose, opening up to his fellow survivors and becoming a fiercely loyal and protective ally to the people he now considers his new family. He finds solace in acting as the big brother and mediator between younger survivors Darla and PJ and in his romantic relationship with an alluring outsider named Tamsin Pillsbury.

Personality
Ash was initially introduced as a hot-headed, arrogant and introverted teenage boy who refused to let anyone get close to him, traumatized by losing everyone he loved to get to where he is now. An expert hunter, tracker and fighter, Ash is quick on his feet but has difficulty dealing with his emotional instability.

On a personal level it is hard to crack the hard shell of poise and certainty around Ash, but when it DOES crack it's like an egg; lots of repressed and pent up emotions spill out, revealing a sensitive, caring soul. With a watchful eye, Ash has been able to learn from not only his own mistakes, but the mistakes of his mentors - he is not a natural born leader, but a developing one.

History
Pre-series= Born Corey Bolio, he was raised in a typical nuclear family. At age thirteen, Corey was enjoying video games with his twelve year old brother Ben when the pandemic spread throughout the world, killing the infected individuals, who then reanimated as blood-thirsty creatures (which Corey recognized, from video games he'd played and the movies he'd seen, as zombies). Corey and Ben's mother died the day of the outbreak, while his father abandoned him and Ben shortly their after. Corey and Ben supported each other on their own, avoiding human and zombie contact at all costs. Shortly after murdering perverts that tried to prey on he and his brother, a man calling himself The General approached Corey and recruited the boys, admiring the boy's "first kills". Corey and Ben were trained by The General's regime to be killing machines, hardened by rough experiences living in his camp, and the boys were eventually abandoned in the city by The General in order to train them to live on their own for a while.

The boys believed 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. Corey buries everyone at the camp and leaves on his own armed only with a chainsaw and a crossbow. When two police officers from the town of Glenley, Kentucky find Corey wandering around outside their borders, they approach him and ask him his name. He simply tells them he is "Ash", the main character of the Evil Dead series of horror films which Ben was a huge fan of.

Adopting Ash as his new name, the teenager settled into Glenley as a scavenger for food, living with one of the officers who discovered him, Javier Rivera and his son Kelvin. While in Glenley, Ash enters a relationship with a girl named Becky, and hosts a morning radio show with nurse Kate Kirby to provide Glenley with some form of entertainment.

In the series' pilot, Ash was introduced as the town's local radio host alongside nurse Kate Kirby. Later, he was smoking marijuana with his girlfriend Becky and two friends of theirs, when they heard an intercepted broadcast from an external source through the radio tower, the first one in the town's history. The broadcast was the voice of a woman who talks about Eden, a sanctuary for survivors. Tired of his mundane life in Glenley and wanting something better, Ash rallied to look into Eden though the town was largely uninterested in leaving their humble abode.
 * -|Season 1=

After the town was put under intense stress because of threats from a mysterious stranger and the town's resident farmer Bart was killed, Ash was assigned to farm work at the barn. He was partnered up with Darla, with whom he bonded. Throughout the day, Becky pressured him to run away with her. When he returned home that night, Javier was in one of his ranting modes and said some awful things about Ash and how he makes every situation about him. Ash proceeded to pack what little things he had and decided to run away. He was on his way to get Becky and sneak out of Glenley to go on their own when Darla sees him and offers him a place to stay. Her father, sheriff Tom Snyder agrees with Darla and says there's a spare room he's welcome to take. Convinced, Ash welcomed their invitation.

The next day, Ash spent a lot of time with Darla. Later, while she was being taught how to shoot, he and Kelvin spent a lot of time bonding while shooting at cans. After an attack on Glenley occured by The General, Ash tried to defend himself, Becky and Darla at Declan's farm while working there. Becky was bit tragically and Ash was forced to put her down with an arrow to the eye. Ash was injured and ended up passing out, leaving Darla to protect herself and Ash. She managed pretty well, until Tom and the others arrived. Ash escaped Glenley with the rest of the group, and learned from Kelvin that Javier was killed in the attack. While on the road, Ash convinced the others that their goal should be to find sanctuary in Eden.

Ash was present for the reveal about Declan's past, and was one of the few supporters Declan had for staying in the group. Finding a mansion full of alcohol, Ash took advantage of this and got completely shitfaced, finally finding his way to mourn Becky's death. Ash and the others heard a radio broadcast announcing pick-up points where airplanes were shipping survivors to Eden. Ash was extremely excited about this, but, upon arrival at one of the pick-up points at a carnival, Ash realized that this was The General's camp where he and Ben were trained.

The group was taken in by The General as slave workers, but Ash and Gwen, whom The General had personal vendettas against, were taken to 'Valhalla', an extension of the carnival's tunnel of love. Here, both were forced to fight for their lives in a gladiator match between other survivors and biters. Ash and Gwen managed to keep themselves alive in time for Kate and Kelvin's plan at rebellion, freeing the pair and also unleashing all of the biters on The General's camp. However, Ash got captured again and was tortured and then sexually assaulted and raped by The General, in an attempt at humiliating the teenager. Finally freed, Ash managed to hunt down The General and take his final revenge by brutally murdering him in cold blood. The group finally reunited after the rampage was over, and Ash was devastated to hear that Kate was killed in the fight.

While on a pitstop on their way to the next Eden pick-up point, Ash stopped at a church where he planned on playing a game of Russian Roulette with himself. Spinning the chamber of the revolver he held in his hands, Ash contemplated his future, noting that ever since Ben's murder, his life's goal has been all about finding The General one day and making him pay. Now that The General is dead, Ash felt like his life was complete and he was ready to die. He put this in fate's hands, spinning the chamber, putting the gun to his head, and pulling the trigger... but the gun clicked, and no bullet came out.

Tom explained to him that the people around Ash need him, they are a family. After this experience, Ash was left a changed young man, with a new sense of purpose in finding his true destiny in life. Along with the rest of the group, Ash witnessed |-|Season 2= At the season's start, Ash was very interested in arriving at the airport and was introduced to Leigh Vega, the woman whose voice played over the radio broadcasts he heard, the whole reason they were brought there in the first place. With Darla getting bit, Lieutenant Griggs blowing up the airplane in fear of bringing contaminated survivors to Eden, and Tom losing it and killing Griggs all at once, Ash was wrapped in the chaos along with the others and volunteered to get medical supplies to save Darla's life. After being taken hostage by Maude, a crazy hermit woman claiming to be from the Last Chance Society, a religious community, and witnessing Leigh talk the woman down by claiming to know of Chrissie, her daughter, from a sleeping bag in her tent, Ash grew suspicious of Leigh.

Knowing that Griggs lost it because he knew there was a traitor among the group living at the airport, Ash confronted Tom about Leigh's suspicious behavior by saying he went into the tent too, and noticed that the name "Chrissie" wasn't on any sleeping bags. After Tom confronted Leigh about the sleeping bag plot, he discovered that she was in contact with the Last Chance Society via radio because of her dying father being tended to by nurses from the community. She didn't want to disclose this information in fear of being falsely identified as the traitor, and Ash was informed of this because of him coming to Tom first, and said he trusted Tom enough to believe in her innocence if he did.

When the soldiers living at the airport decided to rebel and try murdering Tom's group, they were sidetracked by a biter attack. Ash and the others participated in keeping the biters away, but during the attack, Ash turned his crossbow on the soldiers' ringleader Michael, shooting him in the eye. Ash said he did what he had to do, or else those men would have killed them first. Kelvin, whom Ash recently patched things up with, disappeared during this time period, and Ash and the others went on many searches to find him, to no avail. Ash accepted the fact that Kelvin was most likely dead.

Four months later, Ash took part in a supply run with the youngest survivors of the group, amputee Darla and eplipetic PJ. While on this run, Ash became closer to the youngsters, developing a big brother-esque bond with them, PJ in particular, who nearly died after experiencing hallucinations while crossing a creek, noting his fear of water. In the chaos of the rapids, Ash lost Ben's atlas, which the group has been using to keep themselves on track, leaving the three stranded. After meeting a girl named Jessie, who claims to be a victim of a family of cannibals, Ash is able to teach the kids a life lesson in who to trust. As Jessie becomes increasingly suspicious, and not willing to sacrifice his newfound family for a stranger who is potentially dangerous, Ash decides to use force to search through her things and he discovers a knife with fresh blood. Completely doubting her stories now, Ash shoots the pleading girl in the head and uses this as a lesson to the kids; trust no one.

Continuing their journey back, the trio later found themselves in the midst of a shipwreck. They explored the shipwreck and used a radio to contact the airport, while PJ found a suitcase with vials. Rory, Kitty and Manila arrived to pick the trio up from the shipwreck. Rory studied the vials at the airport, discovering they contained the virus. An assailant kills Sidney, Phoebe and Regis, leaves Manila injured, and stole the virus from the airport. Ash participates in the journey to the Last Chance Society alongside Gwen and Darla, to save Manila's life.

Upon arrival there, Ash discovered that Kelvin was still alive and acting as the town's sheriff. He also reunited with Declan here when escorted to the town's 'jail', the Red Zone. Kelvin insisted that he was keeping them there for their own safety, in fear of a rebellion. This rebellion happened, and Ash and Declan were manipulated by fellow prisoner Maude, who escaped on her own while using their help. The pair were taken hostage by a rebellious guard named Moffat, and set to be hanged in an attempt to calm a crowd of rioters by using these two "outsiders" as scapegoats for the conflict. Kelvin intervened, and in the fight, he threw himself off the bell tower alongside Moffat, hanging himself but killing Moffat in the process. Declan and Ash escaped, and were later saved by the skin of their teeth by an infected Kelvin, who dropped down from the ropes he hung from and attacked a rioter that nearly killed them. Out of respect for the man who acted as his older brother through tough times, Ash shot the zombified Kelvin and put him out of his misery.

Upon arriving at the airport, Ash boarded the plane and arrived in Eden, where he moved in with Tom, Darla and Leigh as a family unit. However, Ash was left shaken by Tom's cold nature toward Kelvin's death -- Ash felt he died heroically and redeemed himself for his downfalls, while Tom was more ruthless, saying he offed himself as a coward. After this, it was shown that Ash was very conflicted on what to think of Tom and this obviously hurt their relationship as a whole. Ash moved out from Tom's suite, no longer on speaking terms after being suspicious of Leigh's behavior and turned off by Tom's comments regarding Kelvin's death. Ash has joined the Touch Star security team that works to keep Eden safe, and moved into his own room, making a living on his own.
 * -|Season 3=

Ash accompanies PJ and Darla as their "chaperone" throughout a journey outside of the dome to gather scrap metal for construction, as punishment for their misbehavior in school. Things go wrong while visiting a coastal shantytown, as they are attacked by pirates. Ash and PJ buy Darla enough time to escape, but the boys are captured.

The boys are taken to The Serpent's island. Here, Ash is thrown into the SlaughterBowl, a televised game show phenomenon where contestants are forced through a ridiculous obstacle course inside an arena, killing each other and the infected. Ash met Tamsin, the hairdresser and fashion expert behind the games, who chose each contestant's personas. Tamsin decided to dub him "the Wild Boy" after he refused to cut his hair and she used that to her advantage in crafting his 'persona'. She flirted with him for a bit. He is expected to die, but instead, he happens to kill the most popular contestant on the show and the game is cut short. The Serpent is so thrilled with Ash's "performance" that he lets him stay the night in a pretty pink house on the lavender fields with Tamsin. They have sex that night.

Afterward, Tamsin admitted that Ash is the first guy she's had sex with that has actually wanted to talk to her and get to know her. When Ash's friends arrived to rescue him, Tamsin admitted she wanted to leave the island too. Gunfire from a platoon of pirates ripped through the house, and she and Ash grabbed rifles out of a safe. Ash and Gwen make their case for Tamsin to come with them, and Tom eventually agrees to it. Upon arriving at Eden, Ash showed Tamsin his bedroom and suggested she stay with him. Tamsin agreed, not wanting to sleep alone in unfamiliar territory.

Ash's independence continued to take many strides as the season carried along, with him taking charge and playing an important role in the clean-up efforts after Eddie's rampage on Eden. When his suspicions of Leigh were finally confirmed in video footage of her flooding the alpha sector and killing twelve scientists in the process, Ash took it upon himself to make the arrest. Ash took it upon himself to tell Tom about Leigh, not in an effort to prove himself right but to respectfully tell him in an act of forgiveness and to put the past behind them. According to United Nations protocol, Leigh had to be placed under psychiatric evaluation, against Ash and Victor's wishes, which is where Leigh made her escape.

With Leigh on the loose and the main power being turned off by the U.N. after they cut funding on Eden, Tamsin became uncomfortable and expressed her interest in leaving the dome. Ash told her they need to fight for Eden and rebuild a better tomorrow there, not abandon it. He began a search for Leigh while sanctioning a mission into the flooded alpha sector that Tom, Gwen and Gareth took part in. His words to Tamsin unintentionally inspired her to go outside the wall with Victor and Anton and offer her assistance in protecting Eden from an oncoming attack by The Serpent.

Ash sanctioned the mission to the flooded alpha sector, in order to turn on the emergency generator, allowing Tom, Gareth and Gwen access. He supplied them with weapons from the armory, as well. Ash was present for Rory's brief memorial service in the greenhouse, and soon after, went outside to help defend the dome. He was surprised to find Tamsin out here, and despite his hesitation, was proud of her for coming out on the front lines to defend Eden. When The Serpent and his army of pirates arrived at Eden, he demanded Séverine in his hands or else there would be an attack. Ash spoke for the majority of the group, showing off leadership skills in his negotiations with The Serpent.

Killed Victims

 * Numerous counts of infected
 * Numerous counts of "Jugulators"
 * Shorty
 * Willis
 * Becky (before reanimation)
 * At least one Valhalla fighter
 * The General
 * Michael
 * Jessie
 * Kelvin Rivera (Reanimated)
 * Papa Samedi (caused)
 * Dr. Cross (Reanimated)

Quotes
"Maybe you’re happy that there’s no preachy God talk, but who knows? I sure don’t. I know that I hate it, though. Your grave is so--- grey and lifeless. And that’s everything that you weren’t, Ben. You deserved better than this. You deserve to be alive. And just to think that yesterday you were, just a few hours ago, you were alive and happy and... I’m so sorry I left you behind, I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you, I’m sorry you couldn’t see the world and get old like you wanted to. I have this feeling that somehow, somewhere, there’s something better out there. Something good. I love you, and I’m so, so sorry. You were my brother, my best friend... You are everything to me, Ben. Even in death. Because you’ll be the one who drives me to carry on because I know that’s what you’d want me to do. Even though I feel like blasting a bullet straight through my skull right now, I won’t --- I can’t --- because you wouldn’t want me to. And I won’t let myself disappoint you. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure The General pays. He deserves to die, you didn’t."

- Ash, delivering his eulogy for his baby brother Ben

Trivia

 * Ash's theme is "Death Valley" by Fall Out Boy.
 * Ash is incredibly fond of children, finding his closest friendships in the youngest survivors of the group, Darla and PJ.
 * It can be assumed the reason he is so close to the younger survivors is because of how much time he spent nurturing his brother Ben, and he sees a lot of his brother's qualities in Darla and PJ.
 * Ash was the featured character on the site's main page, from May 1st to June 1st.
 * Ash was featured in the first UFSW Hunger Games, one of three characters from Eden Rising to do so, alongside Leigh and PJ. He was the winner of the Games.