theck

Yes

Half Life's Crowbar uses the same systems DayZ uses, It's a "pistol with 1m of range where the bullet dissapears after 1m", It's not a bad system. I think that Knive as melee it's logical, but using pistol slot not primary.

I think it's not a good idea to start with an axe, but as someone said, a way to push zombies away from you will be a good starting point, you'll not make any damage to them, but will let you start running away from the zombie.