Justinas Garin

***"It's coming along, but it'll still be a while till it's done."***
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## Biographical Information

### Age

17 *("It Begins")*
18 *("A Long Road Ahead")*
18-19 *("An Iron Fist")*
19-20 *("No Time Left")*
24-25 *("Divide")*

### Occupation

High school student *(Pre-apocalypse)*
 Army cadet *(Pre-apocalypse)*
 Former guard and sharpshooter for the Clarkson Survivors *(Post-apocalypse)*
Former armoury chief at Hometown *(Post-apocalypse)*
Former armoury chief and co-head of security for Greencole *(Post-apocalypse)*

### Family

(Unnamed) - sister
Laika - adoptive daughter
Becky Grace - girlfriend

### Residence

Greencole
Hometown *(formerly)*
Clarkson High School *(formerly)*

## Appearances

### Death Episode

"Conquer"

"*I'm okay. **Truly**. You were right from the start. We gotta do everything - **anything** - we can to protect those we care about. That's what a soldier does. [...] I trust you, Henry. You're like me: a **soldier**. A **warrior**. I followed you because of your **spirit**. Now? Now I follow you because **you** are our best hope,*"
—Justinas to Henry during their conversation on the train[src]

**Justinas Garin**, also known as **Justin** to the residents of Hometown, is a main character and a survivor of the outbreak in *Strain Zero*, and the joint deuteragonist of the *Shadows* miniseries. He is a Russian student at Clarkson High School in the United States, and bands together with his fellow students as they fight to secure the school and clear out the dead. As a trainee in the United States Army Cadet Corps, Justinas is the group's combat specialist and is quick to turn to violence, but maintains a strong loyalty to those he cares about and becomes Henry's right-hand man in the early days of the apocalypse.

Presumed dead following the boathouse fire, Justinas in fact survived and eventually ended up at Hometown, where he served as head armourer. Unexpectedly reunited with Henry and the remaining members of their group, Justinas initially refused to aid in their escape, only to change his mind upon realizing his true loyalties and just how corrupt the people of Hometown had become. After saving Henry by killing Stoffman, Justinas joined the group as they fled into the wilderness, later taking responsibility for a young girl named Laika.

As the group began clashing with the Innocents in the ruins of Fargo, Justinas was grievously injured by Bart Rhodes, forcing his group to leave him as they escaped the Black Building. Released during a prisoner exchange shortly before the Battle of Briarwood, Justinas slaughtered the Innocent Mikhail before heading westward with the Pioneers. Five years after the establishment of Greencole, Justinas had settled down with Becky and her daughter Sarah as keeper of the town armoury, working with Henry as co-heads of security.

## Overview

### Personality & Traits

Justinas is outspoken, violent and level-headed thanks to his time in the Army Cadets and resourceful attitude. He is obsessed with the practice of warfare and tactics, and as a result is the group's best and natural defender. Nonetheless, he is also a friendly, approachable man, genuinely caring about the well-being of the entire group, and he actively volunteers to help and defend them. However, his short-temper, self-admitted struggles in demonstrating empathy and impatience bars him from a leadership role, a position he shows no interest in pursuing. Instead, Justinas prefers to advise Henry in his decisions and as a result is one of his closest allies. As the apocalypse progresses and the world continues to degernate, Justinas finally musters the courage to cross a mental boundary and kill other living people in order to protect those he cares about.

In the year following the events of Hopeville and Port Collier, Justinas has undergone a complete mental shift. His time alone and around Stoffman has weakened his determination, and the fall of Hopeville has clearly dulled his fighting spirit. For most of his time as chief armour at Hometown, Justinas appears completely subservient to Stoffman, not even bothering to correct the residents when they mispronounce his name simply as "Justin". However, after reuniting with his old friends Henry, Holly and Emma his past self is reignited, although he continues to be torn between his loyalty to his old group and the people of Hometown. After realizing how corrupt the people of Hometown have become, however, he completely rededicates his trust to Henry and saves his life at the last possible second by killing Stoffman, permanently severing any loyalty he once held for Stoffman or Hometown.

### Skills & Abilities

Justinas is a physically strong, able-bodied man, able to hold his own against any zombie threats that the group encounters. His strength and his stamina are well recognized, and Henry often specifically requests his assistance in clearing out the undead. Justinas has the most experience with weapons of all types out of anyone in the group, and is exceptionally skilled when using rifles, shotguns and sidearms. He is also physically imposing, yet prefers to attack from a distance.

## Pre-Apocalypse

Very little is known about Justinas' life before the outbreak. He was born in the United Kingdom to Russian parents and lived in a Russian community. He also had a younger sister.

Justinas developed a passion for the military early in his life and joined the Army Cadets when he was first able to. He was so devoted to the Cadets that he joined their American counterpart when he joined an exchange student program in Renton, Sylvania.

## Post-Apocalypse

### Season 1: Remake

#### "It Begins"

Justinas returns to Renton having been away with the Army Cadets. The following morning, the exchange students are suddenly rushed out of their classroom as the military turns up at the school. One by one, the adults begin to vomit blood and transform into agile, ravenous creatures that begin to attack and devour the younger students. The exchange students are pushed into a supply closet by a teaching assistant, Mrs Dawes, who is promptly killed by an adult.

Many hours later, the group emerge to find the halls abandoned and bloodied, and Henry is forced to kill a ravenous Mr Dawid with a metal pole. Looking over his body, the group realize that Mr Dawid is slowly decomposing and is, technically, dead. The group are able to fortify a few hallways and classrooms, where they find a military radio broadcasting an evacuation signal. Meanwhile, James discovers a young girl, Emma, comforting special needs student Daniel and takes them in.

A week passes and nobody comes to rescue them, and the emergency evacuation signal is now playing on a loop. Realizing that they will be in the school for a long time, the group makes a plan to recover weapons and building supplies to fortify the school and secure more living space. With the rest of the group terrified and panicking, Henry takes command and assigns everyone a task, with him and Justinas heading out to find weapons. While checking out a workshop on school grounds, Henry finds and takes a hatchet, which he uses to break open an army truck and allowing them to take the weapons inside, including several Glock pistols and a single assault rifle, which Justinas takes. While on their way back, the two hear screams coming from a nearby house. Inside, they find and kill two zombies and find a teenage girl, bleeding from a bite wound to her neck. She asks the pair to kill her, revealing that being bitten causes humans to turn into zombies, but both Henry and Justinas refuse, unwilling to kill a living person, and lock her in her room while she pleads for death.

Returning to the school, Henry and Justinas find the secure zone under attack by zombies. Using a back entrance, the two are able to get to the others before the zombies break through. Handing out the weapons they found, Henry leads the group in a counterattack of the zombies, slowly clearing them out once they discover the zombies can be killed by shooting them in the head. Empowered by their victory, the group decide to call the creatures "walkers", finding "zombie" too ridiculous and terrifying to say.

#### "Friend Or Foe"

Shortly after a group returns from a supply run, Justinas calls Henry up the roof. Together, they watch as two brothers, Matthew and Kyle, approach their gate, asking for supplies in exchange for food from their farm outside Renton. As Justinas keeps watch on the brothers, the rest decide to accompany the brothers to their farm.

Justinas does not appear again until the end of the episode, where it is revealed he stayed behind to guard the school.

#### "A Long Road Ahead"

Eight months have passed since the events on Andre's farm, marking one year since the global outbreak. Since their confrontation with the Family, the Clarkson Survivors have been living off the canned food they recovered from the farm, but once again are running low. Despite seemingly being the only survivors remaining in Renton, every house and street appears to be cleaned out. Jess' pregnancy has advanced significantly, and she is in her final few weeks.

While keeping guard, Justinas unexpectedly falls asleep, only waking to find Henry screaming about a zombie attack. Justinas leads the defensive effort while the group gathers supplies before they all evacuate and leave the school behind. After hours searching for a suitable hideout, they stumble upon their old student residence and seal themselves inside. Overcome with grief over Daniel and the loss of their home, the group splits up for some private time. Justinas leaves to make sure the area outside is completely clear and that the herd from the school is not following them.

The group gathers in the living room that evening to debate their plan. Although Sarah suggests that the group make their way to Andre's farm and try to rebuild it, James reminds her that they burned it down. Henry then says that they are going to Port Collier, the origin of the emergency broadcast. With Jess' due date close, they decide to cut the journey time by taking a train from Renton to Port Collier. They plan to leave early in the morning, splitting into teams to gather anything that could be of use before all heading to the train station.

Justinas, Sarah and Ben are the first to arrive at the train station outside Renton, where discover mountains of corpses, presumably the students that were evacuated from the school a year ago. They suddenly come under attack by gunfire: the few remaining Chester Woods Bandits have followed them and vow to kill them for their actions eight months ago. Although the group are able to kill the bandits - with Justinas, Ben and Aaron taking their first lives - Sarah is caught by surprise and bitten on the leg by a walker. Henry carries her inside the train station and resolves to amputate her leg to prevent the spread of the infection. With Sarah's permission, the others hold her down while Henry removes her leg with his hatchet.

Several hours later, having rested, the group begin their long walk along the train tracks in search of a locomotive. Working in shifts to carry Sarah, progress is slow and they camp for two nights on the side of the empty tracks. On the third day, however, Henry spots a train in the distance and the group hurries over. They arrive to find the train mostly derailed, having collided with traffic; they find the locomotive and two train cars intact, however, and decide to get it moving. While the others rest, Henry, Aaron and Ben - a train enthusiast - investigate the train and discover a lone survivor inside, a fidgety man with a guitar named Liam. After Liam gifts Jess some of his rations, the others allow him to rest with them.

Henry and Aaron siphon diesel from nearby cars to partially fill the train's diesel engine, and after several failed attemps due to the diesel's age the train engine finally starts. Before they climb aboard, however, Sarah tells the group that she can feel herself dying and she wants to be killed so as to no longer be a burden. Despite their arguments, Sarah does not change her mind and asks to be shot so she does not reanimate. Henry volunteers and carries her into the woods, where they have a final conversation about the kiss they shared back on the farm before Henry places the gun to her head. The others hear a gunshot and watch as Henry walks back, refusing to speak of Sarah and giving Alex a glare. Climbing aboard, the group rams the train through the crashed vehicles, now fast on their way to Port Collier.

With fuel low and the brakes damaged, the group are forced to run the train at low speed. H enry leaves the cab when he hears crashing waves and joins Justinas on the roof of the locomotive. The two have a conversation wherin Justinas thanks Henry for all the risks and sacrifices he has made as leader, and says he will continue to follow Henry because he believes that he is their best hope for survival. He finally agrees with Henry that they have to do anything they can to survive, even if that means killing others, and that Henry was right from the start, calling him a soldier and a warrior. While they talk, they spot Holly walking to the front of the locomotive and sit down; Justinas gestures to her, encouraging Henry to speak to her. In the evening, he listens and smiles as Henry teaches Emma how to shoot a gun.

In the cab, Henry and Aaron decide to stop the train so as to allow the engine to cool, and to give the others a rest from the noise. Using wood pallets they find in the back of the train, the group build a fire in the rear car and huddle around it. They share stories about their favourite walker kills and drink from Justinas' secret stash. Aaron asks Liam to tell them about himself, and Liam reveals that he travelled with another group "for a while" until they abandoned him, leaving him alone to live on the train. He confesses that he has killed before, but that he had "good reason". He then plays the group a song on his battered guitar, an acoustic rendition of New Order's "True Faith", that even Justinas sings along to. For the first time in a year, they each realize that they are truly happy. Their joy is cut short when a walker appears in the open doorway, attracted by both the music and their laughter. Cutting festivities short, they decide to rest. Henry takes up watchman shifts with Justinas and falls asleep to the sound of crashing waves.

The next morning, the group discover the train surrounded by walkers, who are unable to climb up and attack them. They decide to continue their journey to Port Collier; in the front car, Henry, Holly, James and Aaron sort out what supplies they could offer to any survivors in Port Collier to secure entry to the safe-zone. Unbenknownst to them, Ben has secluded himself in the rear car to scratch his favourite lyrics - "*Swing from high to deep, extremes of sweet and sour. Hope that God exists,* *I hope, I pray*" - into the floor with his knife before leaping from the moving train car.

Noticing Ben's absence, Henry decides to investigate the rear cab and finds the note, as well as Ben's hunting knife. Realizing what has happened, Henry collapses to his knees and screams in agony, punching the hard floor repeatedly. Holly attempts to comfort him but he throws her off, having finally reached his emotional breaking point. He begins pacing madly before standing on the edge of the doorway. He asks Aaron to stop the train so they can fetch Ben's body, but Holly is able to break through to him that they don't have time. Henry desperately tries to convince them and collapses once more onto his knees, sobbing as Holly hugs him. Alex steps forward to offer an explanation for Ben's decision, but Henry roars at him to shut up.

#### "Around Every Corner"

When the group are cornered and attacked by a Hopeville patrol, Justinas leads their defense. He helps break down the boards covering a window of a nearby bar and takes up a defensive position near the entrance. When Henry and Holly announce their plan to find a boat at the docks, Justinas volunteers to go with them, but Henry asks him to stay and protect the others.

That evening, Justinas listens closely as the group come up with a plan to infiltrate Hopeville and steal the supplies they need to repair the boat. He is the first to vote for the final plan.

Inside Hopeville, Justinas accompanies Henry in breaking into a metal works on Hopeville's outskirts. While Henry jumps through a partially-built portion of the building, Justinas keeps watch and dispatches a guard that almost catches them. When Henry returns with a battery and other parts, Justinas catches him when he misses the final jump.

## Death

### Killed by

* James Cottingham

During the Frontiersmen attack on Greencole, Justinas works with Shadowman to clear a path to safety. While tending to Becky, Lawrence and Laika, he is suddenly shot in the face by James, killing him instantly.

## Killed Victims

* Stoffman
* 2 unnamed Chester Woods Bandits
* At least four unnamed Frontiersmen
* Numerous counts of zombies

## Relationships

### Henry Ward

"*Go on, brother. **Run**,*"
—Justinas' final words to Henry before his supposed death[src]

Henry and Justinas have been shown to be good friends who coordinate and cooperate well on supply runs and when fighting walkers. The duo's friendship was strengthened, albeit grimly, when they both refused to kill the Crying Girl to prevent her reanimating. The pair are seen to look out for one another right from the start, with Justinas being one of Henry's biggest supporters and, as the apocalypse progresses, his most staunch ally, as he believes a soldier should be. He eventually rises to Henry's right-hand-man as Henry begins to drift away from James. By his supposed death in the boathouse fire, Justinas has come to view Henry as a brother-figure and gives him a final salute before being crushed beneath the burning building.

Since their reunion and subsequent escape from Hometown, Henry and Justinas have become as close as brothers, with Justinas filling in James' role as Henry's best friend and brother-figure. Justinas is among those in the group who trusts and endorses all of Henry's decisions and choices, and is usually one of the first to come to his defence.

### Stoffman

"*You commie **fuck**...*"
—Stoffman's last words before Justinas shoots him in the head[src]

## Appearances

### The Walking Dead: Strain Zero

#### Season 1: Remake

* "It Begins"
* "Friend Or Foe"
* "A Long Road Ahead"
* "Around Every Corner"
* "All That Remains"

#### Season 2: Remake

* "An Iron Fist"
* "In Harm's Way"
* "What We Deserve"

#### Season 3: Remake

* "No Time Left"
* "Monsters"
* "Consequences"
* "One Way Out"
* "Fools and Dead Men"
* "Hopes and Fears"
* "Same Stitch"

## Trivia

* Justinas is the only Russian member of the Clarkson Survivors and one of four non-British members, alongside Sarah, Emma and Daniel. He is also the first Russian character to appear in *Strain Zero*, the others being Laika and Mikhail.
* Justinas was originally labelled as "deceased" following his presumed death in the boathouse fire in "*All That Remains*", only to return in "*An Iron Fist*".
	+ He is also the first member of the Clarkson Survivors to return after being presumed dead, the only other being Ben.
* Despite being Russian, "Justinas" is a Lithuanian name.
* Justinas is one of three characters to have some kind of pre-apocalyptic military experience, the others being Albert and Kieron.
* He is the tallest character in the series, tied with Mikahil, at 6ft 3''.
* Justinas is fluent in both Russian and English.
* Justinas has been shown to be one of the few smokers in the series, alongside Henry, Alex, Dirk, Stoffman and Bethany. He quits after adopting Laika.

## References

1. ↑ *Strain Zero* begins in 2003
2. ↑ The Clarkson Survivors in *Strain Zero* are each seventeen instead of sixteen as in the original series