Meet The Survivors
Bailey
A boy who hates silence learns to speak—on walls, in whispers, and finally, with his whole heart.
Seventeen year old Bailey is the quiet heart of How Times Have Changed. Raised in the small village in England, he wakes after the Crash to a world of silence no power, no people, and no sign of his sister, Jess.
Timid but stubbornly kind, Bailey survives by doing: checking on empty houses, leaving handwritten signs for survivors, and piecing together clues that suggest the catastrophe wasn’t an accident. He hates being alone, sees the best in people, and when it matters finds a courage that surprises even him. As he crosses ruined towns with Benji, Bailey’s empathy becomes his greatest strength, turning fear into purpose and isolation into connection. He’s a listener, a note-taker, a quiet leader, and the voice that insists humanity is worth saving.
Beneath his reserved exterior lies a kind heart, full of untapped potential and a longing for real connection. His journey takes an unexpected turn when he meets new friends, including Harry, who makes him feel emotions he’s never experienced before. Blue’s story is one of self-discovery, friendship, and the courage to seek love and belonging in a world where he’s often felt invisible.
Benji
A stray who outran every leash until he realised home was the boy keeping pace beside him.
Nineteen year old Benji is the razor-edged heartbeat of How Times Have Changed. A chain-smoking drifter with a battered rucksack and headphones glued to his ears, he greeted the Crash like a dare, no rules, no attachments, just the open road. He’s quick with a joke, quicker with a smirk, and happiest when no one can read him. But beneath the swagger is a boy who’s learned to leave before he’s left.
On the move through emptied towns, Benji proves sharp, brave, and endlessly resourceful, picking locks, scavenging batteries for his CD player, and reading danger before it arrives. His Armor is sarcasm; his tell is how fast he steps between Bailey and harm. What begins as an uneasy alliance becomes something steadier, as Benji lets down the volume and lets someone in. He still swears, still teases, still walks like the street is his only now, he’s walking it for more than himself.
Caroline
The camp’s steady hearth—she turns strangers into family and proves that tenderness is a survival skill.
Caroline is the camp’s steady hearth, a calm, capable woman who turns scarcity into shared meals and strangers into family. In the park community she helps organise barter, settle nerves, and draw clear lines that keep people safe. She’s the first true refuge Bailey and Benji find after the Crash, welcoming them into her Victorian townhouse and, over a warm kitchen and easy conversation, coaxing the walls down around Benji’s guarded heart. When danger arrives, Caroline doesn’t flinch; she stands her ground and protects her own. Her quiet belief that tenderness is a survival skill, becomes a blueprint for the world they’re trying to rebuild.
Greg
A stargazer with a notebook—his quiet curiosity threads scattered clues into a path toward the truth.
Greg is the camp’s watcher and note-keeper, an older man with a stargazer’s eye and a mind wired for patterns. Living with Caroline, he collects rumours, dates, and scraps of evidence, turning them into questions that matter. Over dinner he invites Bailey and Benji into that curiosity and in the back garden, his telescope reveals a lone satellite still tracing the night sky, hinting that the Crash was no accident. Greg’s steadiness and methodical care make him a mentor figure for Bailey: less a grand speech and more a hand on the shoulder, a notebook on the table, and the reminder that truth is found by those who keep looking.
