Major Henry West is the main antagonist of 28 Days Later.
Biography[]
Major West was a British Army veteran. During the initial outbreak of the Rage Virus, he took command over a force of soldiers to defend the city of Manchester from the infected. However, they were eventually overwhelmed, and almost all the soldiers were either killed or infected, save for West and eight other soldiers.
West thus decided to flee and take refuge in the fictional mansion of Worsley House, alongside the eight remaining survivors. After fortifying the mansion with barbed wire, landmines and barricades, the soldiers all sent out a looped radio message across the UK, claiming to offer protection for those who travel to the blockade outside of Worlsey House, and also claiming that they have a cure for the infection and can 'rebuild society'.
23 days after the infection broke out, however, West found one of his men, Private Jones, contemplating suicide via pointing his gun in his mouth. Upon West asking what was wrong, Jones declared that there was 'no future' for society, and thus no point in them trying to barricade themselves from the infected. In response, West promised Jones and the rest of his men that they would use any female survivors they found to 'repopulate the country' via sexual slavery. Six days later, another of West's soldiers, Private Mailer, was infected, but another soldier, Corporal Mitchell, managed to knock him unconscious before he could attack anyone. The soldiers then decided to keep Mailer alive, but chain him up in the courtyard of the mansion for research purposes.
Two days later, four surviors -- Jim, Selena, Frank and Hannah -- make it to the blockade, but Frank is infected by a falling drop of blood, and the soldiers are quickly forced to shoot him down. The remaining three survivors are transferred over to the mansion, where West takes them in. That night, however, the soldiers begin sexually assaulting Selena and Hannah, as West reveals his motivations to Jim in an effort to bring him over to his side. Jim refuses, however, and the next day, Jones and Mitchell take both him and another, more good-natured soldier named Sergeant Farrell (who tried defending Selena and Hannah from the soldiers) into the forest to prepare to execute them. After they execute Farrell, however, Jim manages to escape.
Meanwhile, back at the mansion, West and his men force Hannah and Selena to put on red dresses in order to sexually appease them, but Jim then activates the blockade siren, and West and Private Davis head off to the blockade to investigate. They split up, and Jim sneaks up on and kills Davis, before sabotaging the jeep that West had arrived in and fleeing. Upon discovering Davis dead, West shoots a handful of infected who were brought on by the noise of the alarm, and is forced to make his way back to the mansion on foot. Meanwhile, Jim releases Private Mailer from his restraints, and all the remaining soldiers are killed in the resulting chaos.
Death[]
Major West's death.
Jim rescues Hannah and Selena, but West manages to catch Jim off-guard by hiding in the back of Frank's taxi, and shoots Jim in the abdomen. Hannah retaliates by putting the cab in reverse, allowing Mailer to pull West through the rear window and kill him, while the three survivors drive off.
Trivia[]
- West is played by Christopher Eccleston, best known as the Ninth Doctor from Doctor Who.
Victims[]
- 3 Infected Jaywalkers - Shot to death w/ machine gun