Julie Grigio

Julie is General Grigio’s daughter, but she prefers Cabernet as a surname–she’s more of a red wine kind of girl. Julie is a child of the apocalypse, raised without ever knowing what a normal world looks like. She has lived through too many tragedies to name, and these experiences have forced her to harden, but also to grow a sense of humor. Now nineteen years old, she faces a world of constant danger and horror with cool resolve and sarcastic wit. She sees herself as nothing special, but when she’s captured and brought into the zombie world, it’s her fiery nature and overflow of life that will spark the beginnings of change in R, his fellow zombies, and the rest of their dying world.

Once upon a time, Julie Grigio was a bubbly, bright young girl with clear visions of the future she wanted for herself. Then the cataclysmic undead outbreak happened, her mother lost all hope and committed suicide-by-zombie, and her father... the less said about her father, the better.

At nineteen, Julie was still vivacious and passionate, but her difficult childhood following the death of her mother and her father's subsequent emotional withdrawal had taken its toll on her formerly bright personality. Despite the constant oppressive presence of General Grigio, Julie grew into a capable, confident adult who rarely knows how to take no for an answer and dislikes admitting that she has any kind of limitations. Despite her position as the de facto leader's daughter, she still insisted on taking part in supply runs in full knowledge of the danger that leaving the safety of the settlement walls brought with it. When she knows that she wants something, she pushes for it, even to the point of pushing away the people around her. This trait runs into both the good and bad, both decisive and incredibly stubborn with a disobedient and assertive, almost abrasive streak when people try to stand in her way. Julie is of the firm opinion that no one knows what's better for her than herself, and she isn't afraid to let (most) people know that.

That she is determined goes without saying, but her fearlessness isn't without its limits. Any smart person is afraid of the Dead that roam the now abandoned streets and alleys of the city around the stadium that can claim to be the last bastion of the Living in the area, and Julie is no exception. Her mother was lost to them, and she knows what they can do. When a group of them burst in on her and the supply group she's with, she doesn't just simply watch, but she does freeze with terror when one of them approaches her and strangely saves her life... because that is absolutely the most sensible thing to do.

Even in the middle of a zombie hive, however, there isn't a lot that can dampen her independent and adventurous spirit. She demands to be let go, almost certain she can make it, but is reasonable enough to understand that she needs to wait. She soon grasps the idea that the zombie who rescued her - R - is different to the others, but it takes a while for her to develop patience with him (after trying to escape a couple of times) and her curiosity mounts not long after as she takes the new situation in stride. Though she is prone to making hot-headed decisions at times, Julie is practical and rational at her core - something she would never admit that she might have got from her father - and self-reliant to a fault, disliking relying on others to make her decisions for her. In fact, most who would try would immediately get the sharp side of her tongue. As a result, she comes across as far more mature than her years and is someone who is always asking questions, always wondering why something must be a certain way when she can see a way that it could be different, or better. She challenges almost everyone around her, even her father, though those efforts are often met with less success than others.

Much like her mother, Julie is a freethinking and conscientious person with a colourful imagination and a compassionate courage that sometimes leads her to strange places. Her relationship with one Perry Kelvin was one such place, when after the death of his father he began to abandon his dreams for more practical pursuits much like her own father did years previously. In spite of the ways he changed, she stayed with him, still trying to reignite that spark of hope that had attracted her to him in the beginning. She tries to do the same for her father, even while knowing that the death of her mother turned him into something that was barely one step away from the very things he took such pleasure in killing.

On the surface, on top of the myriad of complicated emotions that make up this girl, Julie comes across as a clever, perceptive and enthusiastic young woman who is always outspoken and highly reactionary to her surroundings and to new situations. She doesn't like to sit still, doesn't like to settle and seems to do everything with a sense of purpose. A side of her not too often seen by those around her, save for by her best friend Nora, is her romantic side. Julie is a dreamer like her mother was and hoped that she might have had a future with Perry before he was killed. Later, that wish to protect and later feelings of affection move over to R, and her practicality shows itself in how she forgives him for killing her boyfriend, who she realised may have wanted it anyway.

Julie is genuine and often humble, and beneath her daring, clever facade she is the kind of person who can take a little too much into themselves, particularly when it comes to self-blame. It isn't difficult at all for her to internalise that something might be her fault, that she could have done something differently to give a better outcome, but she holds all of that very firmly inside and rarely talks about it to anyone. She can be somewhat irrational in the pursuit of trying to make things right - as seen in The Burning World when she insists upon bringing her (Dead) mother along, even though she has half her chest missing and doesn't remember anything about her former life. This is where her determination can become a fault - Julie doesn't know when to stop, and her strong will can turn in on itself to become something damaging.

There's nothing too special about Julie. She knows how to use a few guns and some basic first aid. She's also the source of the cure for the zombie plague, but she doesn't know that yet.

AGE: 19 (21 with current CRAU)
HEIGHT:5'5"
BUILD: Slim
HAIR: Blond
EYES: Blue
APPEARANCE: Link
STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Supply runner

BACKTAGGING: Y
4TH-WALLING: Y
THREADJACKING: Y
MIND READING: Y
FIGHTING: Y
ROMANCE: Y
INJURY: Y
KILLING: Y - ask first!