Julius Petero (Apocalypse Life)

Julius Petero is the main character of Apocalypse Life. It revolves around his point of view during the apocalypse.

Pre-Apocalypse
Julius was a sophomore in a college, his major unspecified. He lived in a small apartment where Henry Materhorn, his boss, lived. Julius worked in Henry's pet supply shop, where he is assigned to do just about everything. Julius was hired thanks to his and his parents' good relationship with Henry.

Julius was oblivious of the plague hitting his town until his sister gave him an important phone call.

Post-Apocalypse
Initially, he refused to believe that the plague has reached his town. It wasn't until a wake-up call from his sister that he realized he was in danger. At first he wanted to commit suicide, but after realizing that both his sister and his parents are counting on him, he swallowed his shock and accepted that doom is indeed close.

He was tasked by his sister to drive right away to his parents' house to check on them. While preparing to leave, an unnamed man broke into his house to protect himself from the zombies that had already entered the apartment complex. Insisting that he should stay and barricade the apartment, Julius was further delayed until three zombies breached it. He quickly fled through a window, running towards the parking lot to find his car.

After seeing his environment change around him, he finally finds his car, only to be interrupted by Judith, who quickly hides inside his car along with his daughter out of desperation. He notices that she was chased by walkers, which were quickly surrounding him and his car. Minding Judith's daughter inside the car, he decides for them to use it to escape, placing the key on top of the car's hood and luring the walkers away from the car. His plan worked; he catches enough of the walkers' attention, letting Judith drive away in a rush. He quickly distances himself from the walkers he had attracted, and finds a detour leading out of the apartment complex.

He struggles to get used to his surroundings, as he slowly sees it transform around him. He tries hard not to mind it, and heads for Henry's house, which was a suburban area a walking distance away. Once he enters it, the neighborhood stood silent, the apocalypse already making its sweep. He started to see more activity as he went deeper, seeing SWAT cars and people desperately trying to leave, as the walkers were attacking. As he grew closer to Henry's house, he attracts a few along the way, forcing him to fight the small horde of five. He engages them, managing to take down one successfully, then carelessly killing another, forcing him down to the ground. Out of panic and fear, he struggles to recover as three close in on him. He finds relief as he saw all of them fall slowly through a series of gunshots. Once all of them were on the ground, he sees Henry, clutching a rifle, responsible for saving him.

Henry quickly accommodates him into his house, handing him some water and giving him some resting time. Julius quickly recovers, and asks if he has additional supplies, to which Henry quickly points him to the refrigerator. While Julius gathers scours for supplies, he asks for Henry to get ready. To his surprise, Henry refuses to go with him. He reveals to him that his own wife, Quinn, turned not too long ago and was wandering upstairs in their bedroom; he wishes to peacefully put her down. Julius tries to convince him to leave her, but realizes Henry's seriousness and painfully agrees to leave him to it. He exits the house, hearing a lone gunshot that weight heavily on his mind.

He tries to process the first casualty of his close relationships as he looks to leave the suburban neighborhood, heading way for its exit. Along the way, he encounters numerous walkers, trying to hard to stay hidden but ultimately attracted them. He encounters a hooded man holding a gun, threatening him for the bag on his back. Julius lays still, hoping not to get shot; the man continues to shout at him, attracting the walkers surrounding them. The man unsuspectingly gets bit, causing him to shoot his gun, attracting even more walkers. The man is quickly overwhelmed, enabling Julius to escape, but with a growing horde right behind him. He desperately runs for the exit gates, with a whole crowd just a few feet from his back. He is met with shock as he steps foot on the other side of the exit, as a pair of headlights was approaching to his left.

He leaps on the other side of the street out of desperation, successfully avoiding the incoming vehicle. The vehicle swerves and crashes, completely blocking the exit. Things turn for the worse as the walkers accumulate just on the other side of the car, trying to reach for the people inside it. Julius, with his backpack not on his back, help out the man he sees exiting out from the front seat. The man asks for his assistance, saying that there's another inside trying to get out. The pair successfully pull him out, barely avoiding the walker that had forced its way into the front seat. Julius only manages to grab his bat from his backpack, which was blocked by a crawler, as they try to speedily avoid the accumulation of walkers blocked by the crashed car.

The pair reveal to him that they were searching for survivors to bring to the library, a safe location in the college Julius attended. They tell him that he is the last survivor they will ever rescue, as they were already losing too much time. The man, who was the first to exit the vehicle, was named Mathis; the other that they helped was Officer Graham, who told him that he was a security guard for the library. They head to the building on foot, since it was a short distance away.

Once inside, Julius was surprised to find that he was the only other survivor they saved. The only other person in the building was Mathis's fiance, Bowen. They exchange plans for their next move; Julius explains to them that he must go to his parents' house. Mathis tells him that the way is too risky; he urges him to follow them to their path outside the city and into a safer haven. Julius refuses, certain that he will see his plan through. Mathis is also serious about his plan in fleeing the city, not hoping to change it for the sake of Julius. Instead of conflicting, Julius and Mathis carry on with their own plans.

While they talked, Graham calls to their attention of a runner out in the parking lot, as he was observing from the window. Mathis and Julius see for themselves; aside from the few walkers that had just turned up, there was indeed something running, moving faster than the walkers. The three go outside to let it in, as it was clearly headed for the building. As soon as they see it nearby the entrance, Mathis opens the door. The stranger enters quickly, trying to catch his or her breath. Julius, being the first to greet the stranger, was surprised to learn that the stranger was Alice, his ex-girlfriend from high school.

Alice explains to him that she initially stopped at a building a block away from the library, her car running out of gas. She has since been running, away from the horde that she attracted from her initial stopping point. Instead of staying in the subject, Julius instead asks why they broke up. Alice gets annoyed of his question, stating that she needs to feel more comfortable in answering that, as there are walkers outside coming for her. She talks with Mathis instead to discuss their next plans, to which Julius shortly joins.

Mathis proposes to find Julius a working car, so that they can carry on with their initial goal. Alice stats that she's familiar with hotwiring cars, opting to go with Julius, also because he'll be alone on his journey. Julius agrees to this plan, telling her that it would also be his chance to talk to her.

Characteristics
Julius' solitary life has turned him into an introvert, often waiting for a conversation instead of starting it. He only interacts with his boss, Henry, and students from his class. He does not have a solid relationship with anyone in the college.

Hoping to accomplish many things, he refused to believe that the world is soon coming to an end. He was aware of the news, but always thought that his town wouldn't be hit. If it was, he expected that he would already prepared by then. He even went so far as to ignoring his sister's phone calls, since they always entail reminders of the plague heading his way.

Though always solitary, Julius still has a caring side to him; however, his solitary attitude always remains dominant, still placing himself as the most important of all. His selfless attitude does trigger at times, but it is usually out of a desperate situation. Julius believes that once he meets the right person, he will lose his solitary attitude.

Even if faced by the apocalypse, Julius still hopes to achieve most, if not all of his pre-apocalypse goals.

Killed Victims
Numerous counts of zombies.

Margaret Petero
Julius's older sister. Close as siblings, Julius holds high respect for her. It was her that persuaded him to act in times of the apocalypse.

Henry Materhorn
Julius's boss and unofficial godfather.

[[Alice (Apocalypse Life)|Alice
Coming soon.

Trivia

 * Julius is partly inspired by Glenn from the TV series version of the The Walking Dead. He is agile, prefers to act alone, and always carries a backpack.
 * Julius is partly inspired by Jim, the main character of the film 28 Days Later. They both have some similarities:
 * Julius was unprepared for the apocalypse, but instead of being completely oblvious, Julius was in denial, thus not having time to prepare mentally.
 * They both wield bats as weapons, with Julius's being metallic.
 * Both go to their parents' house during the aftermath of the apocalypse, only to find out that their parents are dead. However, Julius's mother was reanimated, forcing him to put her down.