Day Z: Day 0

Author's Note:  The following is a work of fiction.  These events are based on my gameplay of the Arma II mod: Day Z.  Day Z is a game in alpha development where you must survive against infinite zombies and players who will shoot you for a can of beans.  I'm writing these for writing practice as well as free entertainment for anyone interested in reading my story.

Survivor Viljo - Day 0

It was a miracle that I survived long enough to make it to Chernarus. The outbreak on the USS Stockdale happened fast. Most of the crew knew of the zed rumors.  No one expected an outbreak on the ship. The ship was overrun in under an hour.  Those of us with any sense of survival knew that the only escape required we leave the ship.

Forty of us made it onto an LCAC.  The USS Stockdale was too far out at sea for the LCAC to make it to the shore.  Our mission objective at this point was to get us as close as possible and drift the rest of the way.  The plan went smooth initially.  Land could be seen from our location.  What our scope also revealed was the zed.  Adrift, the survivors of the USS Stockdale discussed our next step.

Fate intervened.  A fishing boat approached us from Skalisty Island.  A few of the crew tried to wave them down for aid, but many of us were skeptical.  We had little firepower on our vessel due to the nature of our retreat.  If they were hostile, we were in trouble.

They were.

The open fired, mowing down several of our crew.  Planning was out of the window as survival became our only option.  In order to survive, we had to brave the watery depths.  Those of us still alive, scattered after shots were fired.  I have no idea how survived.

I washed up on the shore not far from Drakon. The glint of steel from Elekrozavodsk, Electro as I took to calling it, could be seen from my beach location. I had little gear and if I was going to survive, I needed to find something fast. I could have followed the coast to the east, but decided the closer city was my better choice. There’d be more, but more loot to find.

I’d like to say I did well at first heading into Elekro. It didn’t take too much running around to figure out what it took to shake of the zed. It wasn’t a perfect system, but I avoided getting eaten alive. I hadn’t been in the city for long before I got very lucky. I found myself an AK47 off of a dead Russian solider. He only had a few clips, not much, but enough to make me feel comfortable.

I huddled until dark in a corner of an abandoned building before setting out in the dark to find more supplies. I was hungry and badly in need of food. I found a few scraps here and there as well as some medical supplies and some emergency flares. I really wanted to light them up, but I did not want to attract zed.

In the end, I was glad I went out at night for supplies. It didn’t work out the best in the world for me. I hit a residence and a hotel. Saw a local survivor run by, never got a good look at him. Kept my AK47 ready in case he came after me. No one appeared. After a long wait, I ventured back out, found some more supplies in a church and then made a run for a nearby firehouse.

This time, my luck failed me. I was noticed by a couple of zombies. I ducked past the gate, ducked inside the firehouse and turned. My AK47 served me better than its previous owner and downed my pursuers. Unfortunately, this alerted the attention of a few more nearby zombies. I had expended more ammo that I had wanted, but I was alive.

I closed up the firehouse and began scavenging for supplies. I had a good stock of bandages now, lots of flares, and quite a few drinks. What I really needed was food, and I wasn’t finding any of that inside. It was getting late, and between my swim and my run, I needed a place to hide out for the night. I was overtaxed and had a lapse of judgment. I climbed my way up a tower in the firehouse to look at the city of Elektro for a place to retreat to for the night.

As I peered out a window to get a glimpse of the surrounding area, a sniper shot me.

Gameplay Note:  My first character lasted about thirty minutes.  I ran to a town, triggered some zombies, ran away and managed to lose them.  From that point forward, I knew this first character was dead.  I played conservatively at first to learn how to avoid zombies and then experimented to see what does and doesn't alert zombies.  One of my experiments failed.  As I do my play through, I will note all character deaths as they happen.  The above is my second character.