DayZ Survivor Diary - Day 1

[Nicko2580 398]

So I decided to write up my first solid game of DayZ as an actual diary entry with a bit of a roleplay element. I'm not sure about the rules for swearing on here, so I've censored the naughtiest words for delicate sensibilities. ;) :P
 

This morning I woke up on a beach, wet, freezing cold and with a mouth that tasted like seawater and death. Bloody hell I was hungry, felt like I hadn't eaten for days. Come to think of it, I couldn't remember when I last ate. I still don't remember much at all, even my name or how I got here. I must have hit my head pretty hard at some point, there's still a sore lump on the back even now.

All I had were the clothes on my back and a flashlight. It was still pretty dark, but I could see that dawn wasn't far off. About 4-5am by my reckoning. Looking around, I could see some buildings off to my right. It looked like the outskirts of a large town or small city. The stars provided enough light for me to see, so I moved off towards the town. Maybe someone over there can tell me what's going on. Maybe there's a hospital, they can give me something for my throbbing head. 

As I approached the town an anxious feeling developed in the pit of my stomach. Something was wrong here. Where are the people? Where are the lights in the windows? Where are the cars? It's a largish town, there should be someone around, even at this hour. Where's the noise? I crept forward, keeping to the bushes and taking my time. It seemed like some sort of industrial area. A few apartment blocks, what looked like a hospital, cranes, warehouses. But something was definitely wrong here. 

I skirted around the first few buildings and headed back down towards the water, looking to the hospital. No lights, not even the light for Accident and Emergency. I crept forward, coming up to the side of the building and peered into a window - no good, pitch black inside. A ladder to my right lead up to the roof. I climbed it, hoping to get a better view of the town. 

Up on the roof I looked around the town for signs of life. Nothing. No one. Not a sound. The whole town creepily docile. Not even a dog barking. Slowly, I made my way inside, onto the top floor. The place was trashed. My flashlight picked out smashed furniture, overturned gurneys and - my heart almost stopped - blood. Blood everywhere. Splashed across the walls and floor. On one doorframe a perfect handprint, the dirty red colour of dried blood. 

I took a moment to compose myself. Okay, something very bad happened here. I began moving again. The beam of my light flashed across something orange. A heavy down jacket. It looked warm and in good condition so I grabbed it and put it on. It was better than the tattered green shirt I woke up in and provided some much needed warmth. I moved down to the next floor, creeping slowly and quietly in a crouch and checking every corner for signs of some unknown enemy. What the frack happened here? Why was there blood everywhere? I was about to find out.

On the third floor I found a heavy plumbing wrench. It's weight in my hand was so reassuring, boosting my confidence a bit. Now I had a weapon. I took the stairs down to the second floor, my flashlight lighting my path. Suddenly, there was a blood curdling howl from my left. I panicked and ran back up the stairs. I stopped at the top and turned to see the most frightening thing in my life. A woman, her skin sallow and pale, blood caked across her face and hands. A rotten smell of corrupt flesh around her. She rushed at me teeth bared, whimpering, screaming, growling like an animal. In panic I swung the wrench and cracked her across the shoulder. She barely flinched and turned to snarl and claw at me, but I stepped back and crushed her skull with a solid blow from the wrench and she crumpled to the floor in a heap.What the frack!? What the actual frack was that!? Was that a fracking zombie!? How? What the flying frack is going on in this town? How the frack is there a godsdamned zombie here!?

It took me what felt like a week to compose myself. I didn't dare touch the corpse...  not even if she's got a million dollars in her pocket, I thought. My heart was thudding like a bongo drum being played by a coked up Cuban, but finally I worked up the courage to move again. I took the stairs down to the first floor, super cautious now. On the floor, by a smashed medical cabinet was a medkit packed full of bandages, a syringe, saline, an IV kit and water purification tablets. I grabbed it and I got the hell out of that hospital, moving very slowly and quietly, my flashlight off.

I moved out onto the main streets. My heart still throbbing from my encounter in the hospital when I heard another sound. My blood froze in my veins - another low growl. Then a yowl, like an injured animal. I stop dead and look around and there he was. A man stood there, gibbering and groaning. He was clearly dead. The large chunk missing from his side and the loops of entrails hanging loose in the breeze told me that. He hadn't spotted me so I backed away very slowly and headed back around the hospital to the buildings on the other side. Okay. Zombies. I'm obviously delirious. I must have hit my head harder than I thought.

I needed to find some gear and get the hell out of town. I started ransacking buildings, triple checking every corner before each move. A solid looking motorbike helmet in one. It wouldn't do much, but it would stop another blow to the head. Some hiking boots and gloves, both in good condition. A coil of rope and a can opener. Little did I know just how important that innocuous little can opener would be for me in the weeks to come. 

I checked the top floor in the last building on a row of apartment blocks, my flashlight beam playing across the mostly empty benches. I almost wept for joy as suddenly, the light reflected off the glistening black barrel of a Blaze 95 Double Rifle and a box of shells. No idea how I remembered that, or how I instinctively knew how to handle the gun but I grabbed it quickly and loaded it, hugging it to me like a long lost friend. There was also, finally, some food and water. I ate my fill and drank all I could, taking a couple of cans of beans and a bottle of water with me. 

So that's how I spent my first morning in the country of Chernarus (as I later found out it was called). I'm holed up on the roof of an industrial building just down the road from the apartment blocks now, with a good view out over most of the city. I still haven't seen any signs of life. A few zombies are wandering across the highway. What has happened here? The city looks like it's been abandoned for a while. I must have known about this before I hit my head, it couldn't have happened overnight. 

 

I'll rest here for a few hours and move on when it's light. I'm going to head inland, away from the coast. Maybe there are other people alive out there. Or maybe I'm the last person on Earth. It certainly feels like it. In any case it's not safe here and I need to find answers. 

 

[ramstormrage 15]

Keep em coming.

[Nicko2580 398]

So after all the above, I log on today and walk over to the ladder to climb down from the roof. The 'climb down' icon appears, I press F and my guy starts getting on the ladder, bugs out, falls off and I die... 

I am crushed... :(

Oh well, time to start again.