Garth Ennis' Just a Pilgrim (Repsot)

Just a Pilgrim is a five-issue comic book limited series written by Garth Ennis, with art by Carlos Ezquerra, and published by Black Bull, the short-lived comics publishing division of Wizard Entertainment, in 2001.

The title character (never named, simply called Pilgrim) was a Green Beret prior to the burn. During one mission, he and his comrades were left adrift at sea in a lifeboat, and forced to resort to cannibalism to survive, with Pilgrim being the only survivor by the time help arrived. He was exonerated, but he had developed a taste for human flesh, and continued the practice after he escaped. He was eventually caught by the authorities. During his imprisonment, he was routinely visited by a priest, and eventually accepted God. When the burn happened, he was freed, though he was the only survivor in sight. Struck by the death of the holy man who tried to lead him to redemption, he took the preacher's cross and burned his faith into himself (the scar on his face).

The series begins some years later, when Pilgrim encounters the group of refugees and offers to show them the way. He helps defend them from a group of pirates who attack them during their trek. The Pirates are led by a man with no eyes, two hooks for hands and two peg legs. Pilgrim befriends Billy Shepard, a young boy who keeps a diary and sticks up for him. Most of the refugees do not trust Pilgrim, as their numbers keep dwindling and, according to a few, his stories do not make sense. Eventually, Pilgrim leads them in a climactic battle, revealing that he had knowingly used the refugees as bait to lure the pirates into a trap. The battle annihilates both the refugees and the pirates, and leaves Pilgrim the only survivor.