ELIJAH WALSH
— ORIGINAL CHARACTER —

"The only reason you think my bark is worse than my bite is 'cause fucking you up would be a waste of my time."

Background.

Elijah “Eli” Walsh only had vague memories of the world before the portals opened and flooded Earth with a seemingly endless army of demons. Whether these were demons straight from some Biblical Hell or something else entirely, if anyone knows for sure, they aren’t telling. As far as Eli is concerned, it doesn’t matter where they came from; they did, and any hope of a normal childhood was right out the door after that.

The few things that are known about Eli’s past when found by the Demon Defense Force (DDF) Spades Unit are that they guesstimated him to be about six years old and that he was likely originally from somewhere within Queensland, Australia, due to the wolf demon’s den he was found in being located in the Great Basalt Wall National Park. Other than that, they also knew that due to his status as “infected,” he would never be allowed to join the refugee camps down in Port Augusta.

The first thing to know about creatures such as wolf demons is that, like many of the first demons through the portals, they could take regular humans and infect them with their demonic energies. When the Spades found Eli, he was amongst a demon-made pack of what would unoriginally be deemed werewolves. The same would go for similarly infected humans: zombies for those injected with necrotic energies, ghosts for those who had their souls torn out and made to serve. The list could go on. There were plenty, and once infected, they could be controlled by the demons that made them, giving the demonic armies an immediate boost to their armies with the bonus of causing despair to those who remained normal humans.

Like those other humans abducted into the demon’s pack, Eli had been bitten and infected with that demon’s energies. He was a feral child but not nearly as dangerous as the adults. The captain of the Spades, Bertha Walsh, saw an opportunity. Instead of putting Eli down alongside the wolf demon and its pack, the unit took him in and worked with the Defense Force’s R&D unit to find a way to bring back his humanity. It took nearly a year for them to make a breakthrough, discovering that a demon’s energies remained indefinitely within parts carved from a slain one. From the parts of a wolf demon, they created what would be called a Werewolf Pendant: a necklace charm made of bone, tooth, and claw of a wolf demon.

When given to Eli to wear, his behavior became less violent, friendlier, and far more human than animal. Best yet, when the full moon came about, he no longer changed and fell into a crazed frenzy, seeking others to attack and spread the lycanthropic infection to. After he was proven to be no longer a threat, Captain Walsh petitioned to adopt Eli. She was allowed to, but only if he remained in military camps or on patrol with the Spades. He would still not be allowed to join the regular survivors nor spend time with normal children.

Regardless, the concept behind his “cure” spread and was adapted to help recover other humans infected by more than just wolf demons. He was the first, but he wouldn’t be the last, and he would eventually fall into the subset of society called “recovered humans.” They would become essential to the push to beat back the demonic armies and, seven years later, close the portals once and for all. During this time, Eli grew up alongside his adopted mother’s unit, and while they took turns teaching him the basics — reading, writing, math, history — he excelled in being their little scout. Even with the pendant keeping his demonic tendencies at bay, he was still changed by those energies: he was faster, stronger, could hear better, could track by scent alone, and could see in the dark as any wolf might.

Those were the best years of his life, or so he would like to claim. Running wild alongside the unit, helping them set up ambushes against the demonic troops, always one step ahead of any demon trying to get the drop on them. He never considered trying to live alongside anyone other than his mother and her Spades until the final push to destroy the portal in Sydney. He had only just turned eighteen and had helped with the operations to take out the other portals across the country. Sydney wouldn’t be the last, but it would be the biggest.

However, before the Spades were to head out, Captain Walsh told Eli he was to stay at the base camp. The order created friction within the unit, but only Eli would raise an argument, one that sent him running off to sulk while the Spades went out into the field. What he didn’t know was that the commander running this battle had plans to group up any so-called recovered units and force them into what would be a suicide attack. All Captian Walsh could do to protect her adopted son was to deny him the glory of seeing this vital fight through with what had become his family.

Now, this could be where I say they were all wiped out, that Eli was left alone, but that isn’t the case. The DDF won the battle, and the Spades survived, albeit not all in one piece. Captain Walsh would have an arm irreparably damaged during the fight, to the point where what was left had to be removed, and as soon as Eli heard that, he was by her side despite their earlier argument. The injury would prove the end of Walsh’s time in the field, and she was promoted and given a desk job helping to manage the reclamation and rebuilding of Sydney itself.

As for Eli, he had two options: continue as an unofficial part of the Spades or stay in Sydney with his mother. He chose the latter. His mother had fought for him every step of his life, so he decided to remain behind and be there for her as she grappled with the loss of an arm as well as a new career.

A year has passed, and Eli sometimes wonders if he made the right call. With human society now returning and Sydney rapidly becoming a busy city once more — if still very post-apocalyptic — there has been a growing distrust and even hatred of people like him, humans that have been rescued from the demonic forces but still bear the mark of their corruption. He can’t find long-term work, he isn’t allowed to join the university that’s slowly pulling itself together in town, and a pause has been placed on his kind officially joining the military.

The best he can do is run errands for his mom these days, but navigating the nature of this New Sydney is trying for someone who grew up running wild across the continent.