The Zombie Apocalypse Game!!!
 

OK. Initial scenario...


Los Angeles, 2012 (lol).
You are at home, watching the boob tube. A news flash comes on, exclaiming that a strange virus is spreading and people are being infected. Reports are already surfacing that confirms the infected are spreading the virus via bites. The infected are increasing in number and authorities are warning everyone to stay indoors. Your home contains normal home stuff. Fearing for your safety, you round up all the weapons you can. You have: 1 baseball bat, a variety of kitchen knives and utensils, a car with half a tank of gas, and standard access in and out of your home. A scratching noise at the window alerts you and you view 2 undead lazily bumping their heads into the glass. You've seen zombie movies before, and you know it's only a matter of time before they either get in or attract other zombies. You need to act. You need to flee to a less populated area. Using the tools you have, what do you do? And if you escape, what do you take with you?

I hate you.

wtf?

Well... clearly, if there are already undead at your doorstep, fleeing would be useless unless you've got a motorcycle or happen to be an olympic runner. (In this case, neither apply) The roads would be clogged to uselessness and we can safely assume that the more populated areas have gone to ****. It would appear that your only option is to barricade what you can, grab all the supplies you have (food, water, weapons), and further barricade yourself in a remote part of the house. Preferably an attic because some attics have possible escape routes such as windows or, if desperate, chimneys. Alternately, a basement would work.

So after barricading the house and then barricading yourself in a secluded room, you make as little noise/smell as possible and wait it out as long as your supplies allow. (Two weeks to a month, realistically) After they run out, you have no choice but unbarricade and seek further resources. At this point, you have to hope that worst part of the initial infection has passed and the streets are rather desolate. From there, you make your way in the post-apocalyptic world...

I would take advantage of the time I have and act immediately. Since these two zombies have been lazily bumping their heads into my window, I assume they're rather slow moving - so outrunning them in the car won't be too hard. I only take the kitchen knives and utensils to use as weapons/survival tools and immediately go around back and drive away in my half-empty car, taking a route into the forest as far as I can go before I run out of gas.

I'd roll my car into the middle of the forest somewhere and use it as my shelter at night. I do my best to survive off the land, eating plants and drinking from creeks and streams, employing the kitchen utensils as survival tools.

I would quickly gather the baseball bat, and I would somehow find a way to jam the kitchen knives in the baseball bat, making a deadly bat with blunt force, but with cutting edge abilities :P. I take this with me, and I go out dodging the first fleet of zombies. I get my car, and go out, and make my way to the nearest shopping mall, hoping that I will pick up more survivors on the way. (did I play right?)

hokay.

Judging by the fact that the zombies are lazily bumping their heads into the window, it looks like we have the classic shambling horde scenario here, so not a lot of intelligence, and no particular speed advantages for the zombies. In which case, a moving car is gonna be a pretty solid barrier against them. So priority is getting to the car, and getting out into the country where there are less people => less potential zombies. This also means you'll need to either stock the car with supplies (risky), or stock up on the way out.

Judging by the fact that the virus is transferred by bites, that means that fluids are going to be infectious, which pretty much rules out the baseball bat as a weapon because of excessive splatter. You could try take out some knees and stop the zombies from moving, but a proper knee-smash really requires being in front of the zombie at close range.... yeah. Knives are equally useless if said zombies are "undead" since only decapitation will stop them then, which is a bloody and difficult procedure with just a knife. So in terms of weapons, kinda screwed.

The only tactic that remains is distraction. I Pack a backpack/largest bag I have available with as much food and water as I can, and some essential supplies (first aid kit if I have it, etc.), my laptop (if i don't have a laptop, I'll deal with it at the end) and then find a radio. Being a musicophile, there's bound to be something working around the house to that effect. Now, setting up the radio at the furthest part of the house from the car, I turn it to a talking station of some sort, loud enough that the zombies outside can hear it, but not so loud as to attract other attention. when the zombies move, clearing a path to the car, I move as silently as I can to the car, get in, and get the hell out of there.

Sticking to wide roads as much as possible (less chance of getting cut off by abandoned cars), I make a beeline out of the city. Half a tank should be enough to get far enough away before i have to make a pitstop to refuel. At the earliest opportunity (small, low population suburb with a petrol/gas station with a fair degree of visibility around it), I stop and full the tank to the top, leaving the door open and the keys in the ignition (but not the engine on, for obvious reasons) in case a quick getaway is needed. If no zombies show on the horizon in this time, I make a quick foray into the station, keeping an eye outside at all times, for more food, and possibly some things I'd missed from my house: batteries, a radio if there wasn't a spare at my house, some better weapons for some long range killage if possible, wireless interwebs if I'm really lucky.

having stocked up properly, I'd move out of town further, and find somewhere to camp it out. Preferably up high, isolated and difficult to get to, but not far removed from civilisation two story at least is a necessity. The plan would be to knock out the stairs and put in a ladder system instead to screw any zombie attempts to get up over, and to scavenge the house for other supplies: does it have interwebs, food stuffs, is there a way of refrigerating stuff upstairs or would that have to be remedied.. etc etc. if a number of places seem possible, things like upstairs refrigeration, internet and easy-to-destroy-without-too-much-noise stairs would be ideal. Next stage would be to find a bicycle for decently fast but silent travel for supplies. After that, it would be a case of gathering weapons, food and other supplies as often as possible without attracting attention, and attempting to keep in contact with any other survivors. Laptop and wireless internet is the ideal, in which case so long as service lasts the web can be checked for groups fighting it out and for coordinating with other survivors. Without that, the radio, and hopefully a walkie-talkie of some sort for more primitive communication. Given the shamblingness of the zombies from their description, that should be enough to "survive", with a large chance of being able to take part in ending the problem should such an ending be remotely possible.

EDIT: lol @ the fact that 2 people responded in the time it took me to write that. guess that's what happens when I'm awake at 2am considering a zombie apocalypse...

RVCA didn't read the instructions.

Conan escapes first, having used the tools at his disposal (as indicated in the scenario) in the most quick and efficient way. Conan gains one survivor point.

Moonlit Sunshine also escapes, but has planned too far ahead of the scenario. Remember, your task is to simply survive the scenario and be ready for the next scenario. Don't over-think it. Each scenario is a moment where you make decisions based on the info you are given. Your prime directive is to survive that scenario and nothing more. If one player's escape constitutes a better management of time and resources than the first survivor, other players may challenge the ruling. Until then, Conan gains one point for surviving first.

Bear in mind, the initial scenario was meant to be simple so that everyone knows what's expected. Other scenarios by survivors may well end up being complicated and with more than one conclusion, with one of them being best. Good luck.


Next Scenario:
Conan

(Remember, Conan.. your scenario starts from where you ended up.. which is in the woods, and with the tools you brought with you, if you should choose to include or discard them in your scenario. Obviously, you can find things along the way as well.)

I didn't? How so?

@RVCA You are supposed to quote the scenario.

Oh, what the balls.

The woods outside Los Angeles, 2012

You've been living in the middle of nowhere for months now, and you've been struggling to find drinking water that hasn't been contaminated with zombie blood from upstream. Your lack of company and almost constant dehydration (not to mention grossly out of proportion body hair) have driven you a bit mad - you realize you need to move out of the area to somewhere with a more stable source of water and supplies, but you don't know which way is safe. All you have at your disposal are the bare bones of the kitchen utensils you packed (including a few steak knives, a filet knife with a saw edge, and a mixing spoon), the various components of your car, and whatever you can build from the forest around you.

One morning, a surprise - a fellow survivor has stumbled into your camp. You ask him where he comes from, and he tells you he is from a refugee camp to the East of your location. He claims to be a scout looking for fellow survivors, and instructs you to follow him immediately. Upon closer inspection, however, you notice a bite mark and blood around his leg. His eyes are reddened, and he seems sick and generally abnormal.

Upon asking him about the wound, he becomes enraged and demands that you follow him.

What do you do/where do you go?

I'd probably try to get behind him to avoid him biting me, kick him to the ground, and smash the back of his head with the handle of the knife.

I'd probably go East because if he truly was planning to eat me, I doubt he'd bring me to a place where there'd be competition.

As I'm sure that he's not actually attempting to eat me because he's not fully transformed, I follow him with caution, ultimately waiting until he seems comfortable and knocking him down. Once he's facedown, I climb on his back and hold his arms down with my knees, attempting to hold him down as well as I can to use a rock or branch nearby to bash him in the head, knocking him unconscious.

Once this has happened, I search his person for weapons and the intention to head East silently and with caution.

I agree to follow him, but the moment his back is turned I embed a steak knife in it. I make sure he's finished off (straight through the eye-socket, gotta destroy the brain) and then carefully scavenge for what possessions he may have, avoiding any body fluids. I decide to head in the direction he came from, as it's possible he was with a group of friends who saw that he had been bitten and decided to exile rather than kill him. However, I'll approach with caution- it's possible his entire group was attacked, and are all in advanced stages of transformation.

Oh and Freebase, have you read this?

http://xorl.files.wordpress.com/2010...ival_guide.jpg

Assuming I still have my kitchen utensils, I agree to follow him. After he turns around, I grab a knife and stab his back. He will fall, and be helpless. I ask him what "West" awaits. I kill him, in a situation of an apocalypse, trust no one. A bite mark means one thing, he will be a zombie no matter what. I take anything of use that he might have on him, and I take the kitchen knife and go east. The reason to east is I assume that this refugee camp exists, and this man probably got the bite on his way there. I head east, alone, remaining low, traveling by day, sleeping in abandoned houses and shacks by night.

Edit: I don't copy the guy above me, it just took me a while to think it out.

tl;dr, I give up.

Eat my brains.

Obviously the guy has been bitten and infected by a zombie but the virus has not yet started to affect him in a critical way. But, the bite mark and his sudden rage about it indicate that he will be a major risk when the virus starts to turn him into a zombie. Even if I am wrong about him, I don't want to risk my own life, and as cruel as it is I am only thinking of my own survival. I don't know how long it is going to take for the virus to start affecting him but like I said, I don't want to risk it. I locate a large piece of heavy fallen wood in the forest and smash him in the head from behind when he is unaware. I make sure he is dead (stab him if need be) because 1) I don't want him to turn into a zombie and then infect me and 2) If I do make it to this refugee camp and he returns or finds me, he'll know that I tried to kill him and be even more enraged.

As for clean drinking water, if the situation became dire I would drink my own pee. Yes, it's gross, but urine is completely sterile and is made up of mostly water so it is a way to get water into your system for survival means.

I would then get ready to travel East, towards this camp that the guy was talking about. I can't think of any reason as to why it would be some kind of trap... zombies are generally not that intelligent and plus this guy wasn't even a zombie yet. I decide that I am going to take the car. If I was able to roll the car into the middle of the forest then obviously there are parts clear enough to fit a car/ drive through, plus having a vehicle is not only a good form of protection and shelter but a good way to carry materials that I pick up long the way and can also be used as a weapon if needed.

I find the direction by using the sun and my wristwatch, by pointing the hour hand directly at the sun and then bisect the angle between the hour hand and twelve. This imaginary line is South. (If I'm in the Southern Hemisphere I do the opposite - point the twelve at the sun and bisect the angle between twelve and the hour hand). I know that this is only a very rough estimation of the direction, so then I start to head East, in my car, traveling as far as I can until the car runs out of fuel or the surrounding wilderness gets too thick to drive in.

Kaimon, ThePhanastasio, storymilo, xEMGx, and loose_lips_sink_ships die. Because although they did everything else right (aside from loose_lips), they failed to take into account that they do not know which way East is. And thus they wonder for days before either starving to death, going mad and killing themselves, or being infected by wondering zombies.

Lateralus survives because she offered a reasonable solution to this fundamental dilemma. However, she failed to notice that the car was already out of fuel from the trek into the woods (see my survival post). Since she compensated for this by saying she'd drive until she couldn't, I'll let it slide. I was impressed that you picked up on the directional thing.

Next scenario - Lateralus. Inside the refugee camp maybe?

Well I just said I'd go in the direction he came from. But it's ok Conan, I think the best man (woman) won.

But I didn't say he came from the East, now did I? ;)

:D I'll let you take care of the scenario Lateralus. Your explanation was better than mine.

Uh-oh, late post edit. :D

:mad: Actually, I'd still just go in the direction he came from. I'm not sure I believe him about the camp, but he obviously came from somewhere so I'd rather investigate that.

This game is pretty fun.

edit: just read your rating post. Guess it does exist... in that case I die I suppose.

Scenario 3: "Refugee Camp"

You reach an old, isolated and seemingly abandoned warehouse. Extremely carefully you suss out the surroundings and after witnessing no movement at all you decide to venture inside. You kick down a door only to be immediately knocked out by what feels like the butt of a gun.

When you regain consciousness you are in the warehouse surrounded by a small group of people who initially knocked you out to make sure you weren't infected. There is a man, probably in his 30s, a woman of around about the same age or younger, and a child who looks about 12. They explain that there were originally more survivors taking refuge in the warehouse but they either left or became infected. They explain that one of the other survivors had recently left the warehouse to search for other possible survivors but had not yet returned. You realise that this is probably the man you killed in the forest.

The woman explains that she is going to travel to a nearby town where she has family. She is taking the child with her, although they are not related. She has a working car, two guns that she has picked up along the way, and a very small amount of food and water.

The man explains that he is going to travel towards the coast. He doesn't have a car but he is equipped with a baseball bat and a first aid kit, including an adrenaline Epipen, bandages, saline, some scissors, and other standard first aid equipment.

What is your next move? Please provide reasons for your choice.

I convince the woman that her family is probably infected already, and that going there is pointless. I get her to drive me, the boy, and the man to the coast - this way all of the equipment is together and we are safer traveling in larger numbers to a more deserted part of the state.

While noone else replied, as per the rules Conan is the first survivor (that's exactly the solution I was thinking!)

Next scenario - Conan.

I'd ask to go with the woman and child since I've haven't had much to eat or drink. As we're about to drive, I'd knock them out with the butt of one of the guns (or kill them if I had found any bite marks) and try to drive back to the man heading to the coast. I'd probably threaten him with the gun for his equipment, and knock him out.

Now I have less to people to take care of and have all the available equipment.

EDIT: asdfghjkl. Too late.

While Kaimon may survive, he is not the FIRST survivor and his situation isn't as ideal as Conan's for various reasons:

- People who travel alone in times such as a zombie apocalypse are more susceptible to becoming ruthless, frightened, mad, tired and thus easily defeated. The fact that you so willingly abandoned and violently injured fellow humans indicates that you display these features.

- If you encountered large groups of zombies you would be alone in fighting them off. More people means more weapons against zombies. While single zombies hardly pose threats due to being slow and dumb, large groups of zombies are dangerous.

- Traveling in a group means you can get rest/sleep while others take watch. Rest and sleep is important in remaining strong.

- More people means more minds for problem solving.

- "Hey, cover me!"

Etc!

I would assert to the group that I prefer to travel alone, but that I would be willing to travel with the man for some time, though I will eventually leave him to continue Northward on my own. It would be unwise to travel into any town at this point, especially a town I am unfamiliar with, as the likelihood of running into undead in a town that is known to still have people in it is far greater than if I head for the coast with the man.
I would bargain with the woman and trade her some of the tools/weapons I had collected thus far and would try to get the man to throw in some of his medical supplies for one of her guns and some ammunition for us to take on our trek. She can have the car, the food, the water, the other gun and the medical supplies. I know that while medical supplies are a luxury and in high demand, in the case of a zombie bite they would be completely useless. I would keep the saline and bandages for minor injuries that we may acquire on our journey.
In regards to the car, I would prefer to travel on foot anyway, since we are heading away from the city and a car would just attract unwanted attention. I can move quickly and quietly on foot and am much more evasive.

Edit: Oh ****, did I miss it?

Scenario 4: The Coast

After driving through mostly desolate towns and back roads, you arrive at a beach house. It seems perfect for survival - raised 10 feet from the ground to prevent flooding means it's harder for zombies to reach you. There is a rather prominent set of stairs, however. No worries, you and your new friends simply dismantle them and build a few rope ladders from the store room. The man is very helpful and knows a lot about construction, while the woman says she had studied biology in college. The boy doesn't help out much and complains a lot, and seems very critical of every move the group takes. By the way, that store room contains...


The kitchen utensils you brought from your home.

A pantry full of food with long expiration dates.

The medical kit that the man brought from the warehouse

An armory of 2 shotguns with 10 shells to share, 3 9mm pistols with 10 round clips in each, and one long range sniper rifle with a single shot

As you prepare dinner one night, the boy begins to scream frantically and point out the window. You see an army of at least fifty zombies stumbling your way. Apparently the boy had been throwing food he found distasteful out the window during your journey here, and the zombies picked up on the scent.

The woman recommends dashing to the car and driving into town, the man recommends staying to fight. You know you won't make it to the car, and you don't have enough weaponry to fight.

What do you do?

If the stairs are dismantled you just have to pull up the ropes and wait it out. Zombies can't climb and 50 of them isn't enough to do any damage to the house. I'm not going to stop the woman from leaving if she's convinced she should, that would provide a rather nice distraction from the rest of us (at her expense of course...she's not going to make it very far). I'd keep everyone silent for as long as it takes and just wait for the zombies to lose interest and move along.

I'd probably throw food at a direction away from the house, wait until the zombies go for it, and run to the car with as many supplies as we can carry.

I'd snatch up the first aid kit and a few rations, stuffing the kitchen utensils wherever they'll go - possibly in the hand with the first aid kit. I'd make sure the safety was on the pistols, stuff one in my waist band and one would stay in my hand.

I'd then throw the boy out of the beach house, and run to the car. If the man and woman chose to follow, that would be their prerogative. The important thing is that the boy would be good zombie bait while I make my getaway.

The little ****er lured them in the first place.

While it seems smart and safe to stay put, you've underestimated these zombies. Remember that they were smart enough to follow your trail, so after hours of pounding they eventually figure to just stand on top of one another and enter the house.

You were close to surviving, but the zombies fail to go for your bait. They followed the food trail to the beach house because they knew where there's food, there are delicious brains. They aren't actually interested in your oreos or Ritz crackers.

You survive. The only way out was to sacrifice a member of the group as zombie food. You chose the least valuable member, who didn't contribute and caused more trouble than he was worth. It may seem cruel because he was just a kid, but you're out to survive the post apocalypse, not babysit.

So you escape in the car with Jimmy and Jane while poor little Billy loses his brain.

Next scenario - ThePhanastasio

Ok can we pause for a second and establish what kind of zombies we're talking about? I consider myself quite knowledgeable in regards to Max Brooks zombies (aka "real" zombies) but it seems like everyone is heading more toward the direction of the hollywood/Romero kind of zombies. Sorry to be picky but it does make a difference. =P

I like Max Brooks zombies. I say we go that route.

It's up to the person doing the scenario, but if that person doesn't specify what kind of zombie it is, then we just default on Romero zombies.
I don't think it'd be a story breaker if somehow there are different types of zombies. Just remember to include the info in the scenario so people know.

Oh, and I was thinking that somewhere down the line if we get to a point where the story has no choice but to end then we can call it a round and the person with the most survivals can write the whole story based on the scenarios, using their own name as the main protagonist who gets through the Zombie Apocalypse alive. (and be forever immortalized in a Zombie Apocalypse Legends thread)

Then the next round starts and we have ourselves another zombie apocalypse.
Anyone like that idea?