Benny

"You’re welcome to stay man. I’m just glad I ain’t the only one anymore. I mean shit man, I get pretty tired of myself sometimes. Name’s Benny."

- Benny introducing himself to Gavin Murphy

Benny, born 1984, was a male resident of River's Edge.

When he was twenty-three, Benny's hometown was put under attack by a disease that turned people into flesh-eating monsters, nicknamed "bees," due to their tendency to travel in swarms. Benny united with a fellow survivor, Gavin Murphy, and the two planned their escape from River's Edge, which was falling apart before their very eyes. Over numerous journeys Benny finally escaped the town, only to find that the problem had also spread to the world outside.

Early life
Benny was an only child, his father having died when he was around ten years old. After this he was presumbly raised by his mother.

Benny never attended college, not wishing to, but instead moved to River's Edge to get a job at the mills, which he couldn't keep, and so he bounced around from employer to employer, only wanting to be his own man.

Start of the Disease
"Dude, that’s some fucked up shit, man."

On April 5, 2007, when Benny was 23, newspapers in the town reported rodent infestations, with the main concern being rabies. Some time later, the disease turned out to be far worse then rabies, making humans rabid and bloodthirsty. At the time, Benny worked at a gas station. People talked to him a lot and he got a lot of people that worked there coming in talking about rabies, bites, and strange diseases. They would tell him while he rang them up about bar fights with crazy people, and lots of strange things happening that brought people in for treatment. More than was normal for a small town. Benny listened to the radio about rat infestations downtown. He knew something was up when the same people that worked there started showing up for their cigarettes but looking ill, with bandages on their hands and arms, telling him their horror stories.

A few days later Benny was working, as usual, and a man came in and headed straight for another person at the slushy machine and bit a chunk out of his arm and chewed on it. So Benny grabbed the bat from behind the counter and knocked him senseless, but the man didn't react. He just stumbled a few feet and kept eating the arm. By this time, the other man had left for the hospital, and Benny ran to the counter, grabbed the phone and called the police.

As soon as he hung up, the attacker came after him. Benny pushed him as hard as he could and hit him with the baseball bat, but he only stood there, head half caved in, blood running out of his ears and for a while nothing but standing. Then, he started shuffling after Benny again, and so Benny finally killed him by crushing his head completely before breaking into a nearby store, raiding it for supplies and camping on the roof for two days.

Sometime later, Benny found another survivor, Gavin Murphy, who was sleeping in the alleyway next to the building Benny was living on top of. Benny showed him the camp he had built on the roof, but they spent only a short while afterword in the camp, before the two decided to get out after they saw a diseased woman lose her bowels and not have any reaction.

The Journey Out
"Fuck yeah!"

- Benny while raiding Wonder Mart for supplies

They walked half an hour to a nearby store called Wonder Mart, which they raided for supplies. Benny fought off several diseased individuals, called "bees" because of their habit of walking in swarms. Gavin was too shocked to help, making Benny angry enough to tell him that next time he would be the bait. They spent the night in the store employee's break room before they decided to escape the town by crossing a nearby river, and set off.

Benny and Gavin soon came across a picturesque neighborhood, and broke into one of the abandon homes, hoping to spend some time there. By nightfall, however, several bees showed up outside and Benny made Gavin fight them alone. While Gavin fought the numerous bees, Benny found a car in the garage and planned to abandon his comrade, but at the last moment changed his mind and came back to pick him up.

They kept on driving, planning to leave once and for all and to go get Gavin's sister, Addison, up north, but were soon stopped by a military checkpoint, where soldiers were eliminating anyone who tried to leave. Abandoning the car behind them, they broke into a nearby diner, where they were attacked by a woman calling herself Maria, who mistook them for bees. Gavin promised that they would take care of her and carry her to the river with them.

They left the diner and went, upon Maria's instructions, down a path through the wide forests that bordered the town, and finally reached a shallow river they could walk through, but were shocked to see a soldier was also gaurding the waterway. They left Maria at a distance to keep her safe, with Gavin watching, horror struck, as two young girls and their father were killed for trying to escape. He sent Benny to go get Maria, but Benny came back saying she was dead. Benny swore that the bees got her, but Gavin believed Benny killed her.

Out of River's Edge
"I’m not so sure it’s about what’s right and what’s wrong anymore."

Putting it aside, they waded across the lake, and finally made it out of the town, only to see another bee, which made them realize that the disease had travelled elsewhere. Gavin killed the bee violently, and they walked on, surprisingly finding a house in the middle of the woods. After knocking on the door, Gavin was attacked by an old man named Rickett, who believed that they were there to attack his land. Explaining that they only need help, Rickett cleaned them up and let them stay the night. The next day, Rickett sighted a bee outside the cabin and told Benny to kill it.

Benny explained that he did not know how to operate a firearm, and Rickett taught him how, before deciding to do it himself. He examined the dead bee and ordered Benny and Gavin to take one of his trucks up to the nearby town of Brightmoor, and to meet him there in a day, after he went to check on his sister and her family. He ordered that, if they didn't see him there, to keep going north toward where Gavin's sister attends college.

Benny and Gavin drive, and on the way there Benny stops to practice shooting some bees, and he discovers that the only way to kill them is to shoot their heads.

Brightmoor
Finally arriving in Brightmoor, the two find the town deserted. While waiting for Rickett to show back up, Benny taunts Gavin about his sister, Addison, which causes him to attack, going so far as to shove the gun in his mouth and think about pulling the trigger. This begins role-switching between the two, as Benny becomes more submissive, finally admitting that he acts the way he does because he's scared, and Gavin becomes more offensive as the necessity to survive changes him.

While waiting for Rickett, the pair go to check out some stores next to the parking lot in which they are sitting, where Benny finds a man called Clyde, a survivor of a bee attack that he reveals killed almost everyone and everything in the town. Clyde claims to want help, however, Gavin has a knawing suspicion that he may be trying to gang up with Benny to kill him as revenge for the earlier attack.

Physical Description
Little is known of Benny's physique, although he is athletically able, being an exceptional fighter. When pleased, he often wears a carnivalesque grin. He is six feet tall and has black hair.

Personality and Traits
"It’s really about who dies last. We all die. That’s the only primary truth out there. One way or another—natural causes, gunshot, bees grubbing our guts, airplane crash—we all fucking die."

- Benny

Benny is known to be enthralled by gore, demonstrating that he is violent. He swears a lot, only for the joy of doing so, and is not known to be compassionate, although he does have emotional mortality, which he has trouble showing, likely as a result of his father's death when he was young. He demonstrated this more often when he met Rickett, who was somewhat of a father figure for him.

Skills
"I've, uh, never actually used one of these before."

- Benny when presented with a gun

Despite being an able fighter in hand-to-hand combat, Benny could not properly use a firearm until taught to do so by Rickett.

Possessions
After he began his escape from River's Edge, Benny gave up most of his possessions, excluding all but the clothes on his back.

He at one time owned his own home, with his only desire to be able to pay the bills.

Family
Not much is known about his family, but he was likely upset by his father's death when he was young, and he cared about his mother enough to show some concern about her safety, albeit in a casual way.

Gavin Murphy
"I’m not your weak little bitch anymore."

- Gavin upon attacking Benny

Gavin first met Benny on April 14, 2007, when they were both trapped in the town of River's Edge as it was being attacked by bees and soldiers. Initially, Gavin was thankful for his colleague taking him in, but as Benny revealed his violent nature, most notably through rampaging at a large group of the monsters outside Wonder Mart, he loses Gavin's trust. The rift between them was deepened when Benny nearly abandon him, and any hint of possible friendship was virtually non-existant by the time they met Maria.

As they tried to escape the town, Maria dies, an event that Gavin is not witness to, but he blames Benny for her murder. The two become near enemies by the time they got outside of the town and were attacked by the hermit Rickett when they went to him for help, but the old man proves to be able to push him into line, only to have the discipline dissappear entirely when he orders them to leave and meet him in the nearby town of Brightmoor in twenty-four hours.

It was while in Brightmoor that Gavin and Benny's relationship became much more complex; after Benny insulted his sister, Addison Murphy, Gavin briefly, and seriously, considered killing him, but stopped only when he had the gun in Benny's mouth. It is then that Benny admits he only acts the way he does out of fear, yet by this time Gavin hates him with all his heart and soul.

Maria
Benny barely knew Maria, and never cared much for her, possibly going so far as to end her life.

Rickett
"I’m gonna make his ass chop some wood."

- Benny on if he ever saw Rickett again

Benny seems to be clearly afraid of Old Man Rickett. While he was staying at the man's house, he was frightened and awed by the fact that Rickett attempted to push him into line, and as such did as he said. However, when out of earshot from Rickett, he showed that he was also angry at the man for being harsh with him, and repeatedly used vulgarities and contempt when speaking about him.

Clyde
Benny discovered Clyde hiding in the deli in which he worked, and let Clyde come along and meet his partner, Gavin, when Clyde said he needed help. For this reason, it seems likely that Clyde felt some gratitude toward Benny, and perhaps even an inkling of respect, although it is unlikely he will keep this opinion as Benny becomes more aggresive, which, as of yet, he has not done. In fact, Benny is surprisingly cordial toward Clyde, going so far as to comfort him when Gavin Murphy was being cruel. In fact, their relationship was reminiscent of that between Gavin and Maria, a survivor that he felt obliged to.