Just Another Day: A Zombie Survival Choose Your Own Adventure

[Norendithas]

But lettuce is always appreciated. Much better than chewing on dirt. =]

Honestly, I'd rather take the dirt. It probably has more nutrients.

Meh, not really. While lettuce is low in calories and fat-free it is big in Vitamin A. Which is good for out immune systems [and essential for reproductive systems]. So it might just help us out if our immune system can fight the "zombification". ^^

 

[RaNDM G]

Honestly, I'd rather take the dirt. It probably has more nutrients.

Meh, not really. While lettuce is low in calories and fat-free it is big in Vitamin A. Which is good for out immune systems [and essential for reproductive systems]. So it might just help us out if our immune system can fight the "zombification". ^^

That was a joke.

 

[Norendithas]

That was a joke.

I fail at jokes sometimes. Dx

Makes me think I should be getting more sleep.

 

[RaNDM G]

So... How's everyone doing today?

 

[Norendithas]

So... How's everyone doing today?

I'm just dandy. I remembered why I am not a big fan of Penn Station; they're food is too greasy for me. x.x

And you?

 

[RaNDM G]

Okay, I guess. I just finished getting all the achievements in Tony Hawk Project 8, and I just had Left 4 Dead crash on me. Pretty average day.

 

[Ninjat_126]

Apologies, I've been busy and then watched a bunch of movies. Let The Right One in really puts a damper on the imagination.
I guess we'll be going with c) and e) then.

Sorry about the slow updates anyway. I haven't been entirely sure where to go. Now I've got a better outline of the story and you've got most of the gear you'll need, expect more zombie hordes and the like.
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It only took us a while to realise how terrible our forward thinking really was. We may have been well supplied, but all it took was one loud noise and we'd attract a swarm of zombies up the stairs, through our barricades and straight at us.

We decided to stay on the roof for as short a time as possible; just long enough to come up with an actual survival plan and another place to hide. Our packs held a few days of supplies, plenty more than we'd need if we had our destination planned and didn't get sidetracked or held up by zombies.

We also shared some information on the zombies. They had a tendency to bite victims on the cheek or face, and didn't seem to act like your typical "flesh-eating-zombies" at all. Runners also seemed to be attracted by loud noises such as alarms and screams. Both varieties would eat anything dead or wounded. A wounded zombie attacked by his comrades would not struggle or fight back, but simply lie still and be eaten. A wounded runner would flail and scream in an attempt to escape.

Choices: Pick one major choice and one minor choice from its category.

1. Stay at the mall.
a) "Salvage" more gear.
b) Barricade yourself on the roof more securely.
c) Go for the gun shop.

2. Take what you can and get out. (This includes a "salvage" run.)
a) Run for a nearby apartment building.
b) Try to leave the city.
c) Search for signs of other survivors.
d) (Specify alternate location)


Hints:
- There's not much else you can do in the shopping mall, aside from loot and wait to be rescued. That's alright IRL, but a pretty boring story. If you choose to stay, I'll be throwing some more events at you.
- Leaving is risky. But not every choice in that category will kill you.

 

[RaNDM G]

2. With practically the whole town swarming the Mall, it wouldn't be smart to stay no matter how well stocked you are. But before we make any hasty decisions, lets look at the options we have:

a) Not a smart idea. Even if you can fortify the second story and tear up the stairways, you'll still be trapped with limited resources. There is the possibility of finding survivors, but it's also likely you'll run into a few stray infected inside. It's not worth the risk.

b) Leaving the city would be your best option, but take into account that most other survivors in the inner city will be thinking the same thing. Freeways and major city streets will be jammed with cars. If you do choose to leave now, steal a couple of bicycles or a motorcycle with plenty of gas. Stick to suburban and rural areas where the population will be much lower. Odds are you may come across more survivors since the infection may not have hit that part of town as hard as the inner city.

c) Somewhat defeats the purpose of trying to survive. It may seem like a smart idea to follow the crowd of survivors. Unfortunately, the infected will be thinking the exact same thing. If there is a civilian evacuation point and you know the area is going to be crowded, we should head in the other direction.

So b is our best option in the long-term, but for now where do we go? If we're careful and quiet, we may be able to get by using our melee weapons. But when shit hits the fan, we're going to need more stopping power. I'd suggest we take one last visit to the gun shop before leaving the Mall. If the entrance is still crowded with infected, we can leave without a second thought. If the store is empty or if there are only one or two infected standing outside, we can sneak in and take what we need.

Would there happen to be an electronics store with any kind of long-range communications, like a CB radio? If so, couldn't hurt to stick around another day or so and look for that and/or guns. Hell, maybe call for a rescue with it if there is one?

If we do end up staying, this would be a good idea.

 

[Jedoro]

Would there happen to be an electronics store with any kind of long-range communications, like a CB radio? If so, couldn't hurt to stick around another day or so and look for that and/or guns. Hell, maybe call for a rescue with it if there is one?

 

[Norendithas]

I like not roasting over a pit of zombies. =]

Let's pack up and head out. Heading out of town would probably be the best bet. We don't know how far the infection has spread, or whether or not the place is surrounded by the government. If it is, good thing if we are let past. If they are trying to keep everyone and everything in, heh, that's our government.. From that point I would say we should try to hole up at a warehouse, office building, shipyard, or maybe even a hospital nearby.

 

[RaNDM G]

From that point I would say we should try to hole up at a warehouse, office building, shipyard, or maybe even a hospital nearby.

The first three are all very good ideas. Each provide ample space and plenty of corners you can use to lose a crowd. But there are two reasons why visiting the hospital is suicidal.

1) Too many people will be taking shelter there, attracting hordes of zombies and putting a strain on already limited resources. If you've ever played No Mercy in Left 4 Dead, you'll know what I'm talking about.

2) Hospitals are usually ground zero in an outbreak, meaning we risk greater exposure to whatever virus is causing this if we decide to hole up there.

Places to avoid in an infection: Government buildings, police stations, churches, and hospitals. Survivors will be flocking to these places in droves, and the zombie masses will be only a few steps behind them.

 

[Norendithas]

From that point I would say we should try to hole up at a warehouse, office building, shipyard, or maybe even a hospital nearby.

The first three are all very good ideas. Each provide ample space and plenty of corners you can use to lose a crowd. But there are two reasons why visiting the hospital is suicidal.

1) Too many people will be taking shelter there, attracting hordes of zombies and putting a strain on already limited resources. If you've ever played No Mercy in Left 4 Dead, you'll know what I'm talking about.

2) Hospitals are usually ground zero in an outbreak, meaning we risk greater exposure to whatever virus is causing this if we decide to hole up there.

Places to avoid in an infection: Government buildings, police stations, churches, and hospitals. Survivors will be flocking to these places in droves, and the zombie masses will be only a few steps behind them.

All points are very true. I figure there's no harm in skirting past a hospital to see if there's much commotion on the outside at the very least, and if there wasn't much activity in the area or nearby areas we could always peak in. But the only reason I would suggest such a thing is that while if the outbreak occurred over a slower course, normally the infection would have started in a hospital. But since it happened and spread like wildfire over night, I would think that if it did start in a hospital, it would have become much less of a threat. But as I said, you should only go in if there's not much activity nearby or in the immediate area. Besides, that would only be a last option type of thing. I would prefer a warehouse the most as it would be much easier to keep as a base of operations. Easier to defend than other places by far, plenty of space, containers could be used to block entrances and narrow down places you'd have to defend. ^^

 

[Ninjat_126]

At this point, I was sort of just waiting for some input because this choice scares me.

It scared me too Benndak. As you can see from my semiextended hiatus. Apologies again.

I've got quite a bit going on, with school and doctors appointments and psychology, so I'm not updating as much as I wanted to. I'll be away for the weekend as well.

So we're grabbing a radio & assorted crap, then running the hell out of the city. If that fails, we're heading for a warehouse or shipyard. On the way, we're making a trip to the hospital.
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It was time to move on. The rooftop was just too vulnerable for an extended stay, and our shelter wasn't worth the risk of staying. We left a note and some of the food we couldn't carry, and wrote signs to hang over the sides of the rooftop. If other survivors or a helicopter were to pass over, the signs would inform them of the abandoned shelter. We also took the boards off the doors and removed the barricades to allow fleeing survivors to reach the shelter easily if required.

We noticed a distinct lack of zombies in the lower floors. I took the opportunity to grab a gun and some ammo, as well as batteries, a manually powered torch and a hand-cranked survival radio with a broadcast option. Loaded up with gear and Oliver covered in the blood of more fallen zombies, we pushed on.

Due to the abundance of zombies in the direct route out from the city, we took a longer route around the edges. We passed a few empty warehouses, a few burning buildings, car crashes and still no survivors and very few corpses. It was almost as if every human in the city was undead except us.

The sight of a red laser dot on the ground in front of me stopped me in my tracks. I looked at the windows above to spot an armed figure standing in the windows of an apartment building. He/she waved at us, beckoning us inside. Looking closely, I saw a number of other armed men/women standing at other windows in the same building.


Choices: Pick one from each group.

What gun did you take?
1. Handgun (eg M9) .
2. Revolver (eg .44 Magnum).
3. Bolt-action rifle (Like Jacob's).
4. Semiautomatic Carbine (eg M1 Carbine).
5. Assault rifle, civilian semiautomatic (eg M16).
6. Double barrel shotgun (Buckshot)

Actions?
a) Go inside the building.
b) Keep walking, ignore the gunman/woman.
c) Make a "negative" sign to the gunperson and keep walking.
d) Take cover and open fire on the gunpeople.


Hints: You're not getting much today.
- The bolt-action-rifle is the same kind as Jacob's, so you can share ammo.
- The assault rifle is fixed to only fire on semi-automatic. If you find the right person and some tools, you can change that.

 

[sage42]

3 Because it's the same type as Jacobs chances are it's a fairly common gun which means more ammo. For actions let's go with A) safety in numbers and all that good stuff.

 

[Jedoro]

I vote handgun. While it'd be nice to share ammo, it'd also be nice to take down zombies pretty quick in the event we got swarmed.

I'd meet up with the survivors, but keep an eye out for any kind of trap. Yeah, it's the apocalypse, but...it's the apocalypse.

 

[RaNDM G]

Because I have plenty to talk about concerning weapons, I'll start with what course of action we should take first.

b) Keep walking. The most important thing right now is to get out of the city. It would be a good idea to ask the survivors where the zombies are congregating most; that way you can head in the other direction. But you shouldn't hole yourself up with a group that big. There's always the odd chance that one or more of them are infected.

As for weapons, I would have suggested taking a pump-action shotgun, but that kind of weapon wasn't among the options listed. That means I'll have to go with...

5. An AR with a 16" barrel is compact enough to use in tight spaces and has the range to hit a target at about 200 yards (depending on the weather and how good your aim is). Most dealers you come across will carry AR parts and .223 Remington is one of the most common types of ammunition available in the U.S. Finding ammunition and replacement parts for your gun shouldn't be much of an issue.

The M1 carbine would be my second preferred option. It's tough, compact and easy to use, but .30 cal just isn't as easy to come by as .223.

A handgun is perfect for when you get grabbed by a zombie and need a quick way to kill him, but aiming a handgun requires you to hold your hands out to get a better shot. It'll be easier for a zombie to grab you in that instance, so it's not worth using one unless you need a backup weapon.

- The bolt-action-rifle is the same kind as Jacob's, so you can share ammo.

Convenient, but having two snipers in a group can be redundant. Besides, you probably wouldn't want to shoot a zombie unless it were up close anyway.

Bolt-action rifles in my experience can be very glitchy. Post-war models like the SKS are very reliable and very accurate weapons. However, someone who is inexperienced with firearms is going to have a tough time using a bolt-action. Even if properly oiled and maintained, the bolt-action can be very stiff, and it can be easy to jam your weapon by cycling too fast. Most of these rifles are also quite heavy compared to the other weapons available, are cumbersome to use in close-quarters, and have a pretty low rate of fire since you have to cycle every shot by hand. Bolt-action rifles are good for sharpshooting, just not for room-clearing.

A shotgun would be nice to have, but not a double-barrel. Besides being a hassle to reload, most modern double-barrels fire both shells at once, meaning you'd be wasting two shells in one shot. Again, I would choose a pump-action shotgun over everything else available, but I wouldn't take this.

All issues with handguns apply to the .44 Magnum revolver, except now you're limiting yourself to only six shots. .44 Mag is serious overkill, and firing it will break your wrist if you don't have a good grip on the weapon. If you were going to take a handgun, you would be better off grabbing something with a lot less kick.

 

[Draenin12]

Sporting shop get a weapon and some gear to protect yourself with then to the grocery store to get food and then the hardware store to use those bits of wood to seal off doors and windows and then go out to the gun store last maybe not at all guns make A LOT of noise.

 

[RaNDM G]

Sporting shop get a weapon and some gear to protect yourself with then to the grocery store to get food and then the hardware store to use those bits of wood to seal off doors and windows and then go out to the gun store last maybe not at all guns make A LOT of noise.

You do realize we're three pages into this, right?