Joe Cole

**Joe** is a supporting character in Rot and Rise.

## History

### Start of the Outbreak

Joe and his brother-in-law Will were hunters, who set up a camp early in the outbreak to keep safe. They found Donny and Eddie nearby, and inspected them at gunpoint to see if they were infected. When they realised that they were safe, they invited Donny and Eddie to stay in their camp. Will helped them realise that it was zombies causing all the havoc, which Donny and Eddie didn't believe until another zombie attacked. At Will's request, Donny shot the zombie, earning his first kill.

### Week 3 of the Outbreak

After three weeks of camping, the group had started to raise their kill counts, and made a competition out of it. Donny was still stuck on one kill, as he was traumatised by the thought of killing someone, even if it was a zombie. Will was on the opposite end, slaughtering every zombie he came across. One night, Donny had a nightmare about his inability to kill, and how it would lead to his death. The nightmare woke him, and he decided to go for a walk, until he was attacked by a zombie. Donny froze, and it seemed as though his nightmare was coming true, until Will killed the zombie with his shotgun. Following the incident, Eddie notified the group that Joe had gone missing.

The next day, the group had been searching all throughout their area for Joe. A member of The Stalkers arrived at their camp, claiming to know where Joe was. He would return Joe, as long as Donny, Eddie and Will left their camp, and evacuated the territory that the Stalkers were attempting to claim. The group weren't ready to give in, but were unable to get any more answers out of Albert, so they left him chained up inside the camp. When Will and Donny left hunt for food, Eddie began torturing Albert with a knife to get answers out of him. Albert revealed that Joe was being kept in the Stalkers camp nearby. After retrieving the answers, Eddie murdered Albert, and put him on display in the Stalkers camp, threatening them to give Joe back.

When Eddie returned to the camp, he lied about what happened, telling Donny and Will that their hostage had fought back and escaped, running back to the Stalkers camp. Will went to search for the camp, while Donny and Eddie prepared their weapons. While doing so, Eddie warned Donny that he's a liability, and that if one of them needs to be sacrificed, Eddie won't hesitate to sacrifice Donny. This infuriated Donny, who was going to prove that he's capable of killing when it's necessary. But before he could prove it, they fell under attack by Stalkers. Eddie was injured in the gunfire, but Donny moved forward, until he found Will and Joe both held captive by the Stalkers.

Having fallen right into their trap, Donny was held at gunpoint and threatened by the Stalkers. The leader of the Stalkers tried intimidating the group for a while, even revealing his heavily scarred face. They were soon interrupted by Eddie, who had just killed another Stalker. A fight broke out, and the Stalkers leader murdered Joe. Will quickly retaliated and killed the leader, getting revenge for his fallen brother. They fought against the Stalkers, until a horde of zombies came after them. Donny finally broke his anti-killing mindset and slayed as many of the zombies as he could. The next day, Will, Eddie and Donny dug a grave for Joe, and buried him right near the campsite. They had nothing left to do but move forward, and try to survive in this apocalypse.

## Notes

* Joe Cole was played by Vendus in Rot and Rise.

## Related

* Appearances of Joe Cole
* Images of Joe Cole