On the 27th of May 2015, the United States government accidentally send out samples of a new biological weapon they were testing to various labratories throughout North America and various scientific centers in other countries. To the public it was announced that it was Antrax, not a biological weapon that had been send. This allowed the United States to quarantine any area they deemed hazardous, including the unfortunate recipients of the virus and later a small town in the middle of Colorado. Yet despite their initial successes, the quarantines proved to be ineffective against the virus. The government was able to contain local outbreaks and eliminate the threat, but new outbreaks started to appear throughout the country, eventually overwhelming the army and forcing them to adopt a new strategy.
With the civillian population becoming aware of the outbreak and the government losing its ability to manipulate the public eye, the army stepped in and took over, forcing the goverment to resign and instating the highest ranking general as the head of state. With the army firmly in control, martial law was declared and the government started moving its personnel and vital resources to bases in Alaska. The army was instucted to put up safe zones in all the major cities and on various other locations throughout the country side. These safe zones proved to be short lived and many were abandoned or overrun within months. Yet in those few months many civillians were successfully evacuated to safer regions still under government control, such as the desert like regions in the west and to a lesser extend, the frozen regions of Alaska.
But as time passed, the government slowly lost control over most the regions it held in America, the only exception being Alaska. Yet safe zones, albeit harder to encounter then before, still existed. From the territory still under their control, the American government is attempting to maintain a level of control so that some day in the future the land may be reconquered. Unfortunately with paranoia running high, most survivors opted to create groups of their own, some good some bad. With the country and the world burning to the ground, the days of mankind appear to be over.
The virus is both airborne and waterborne, resulting in large areas quickly becoming infected. Those infected by the virus through the air will experience a weakening immune system, eventually evolving to it being all but none existent. At this stage the virus will lay dormant and wait for its host to be killed, which can be achieved with a disease as simple as the common cold if medicine is not present.
For people whom have been bitten or that have ingested contaminated food or water. The infection progresses through a state of fever, aches, and internal bleeding, and is ultimately fatal. The virus spreads into the brain like meningitis and it infects synapses, mostly concentrating on those in the brain stem. It eventually causes the adrenal glands to hemorrhage and the brain to shutdown, all brain activity would cease, followed by the major organs and the body would be clinically dead: no measurable brain activity, no reflexes, and no respiration or pulse. A variable time later, the pathogen, would revive the synapses it infected and reactivates the brainstem of the dead body, but only the brainstem and not the cerebrum or cerebellum.
One theory suggests that the reanimation of corpses comes about when the pathogen leaks into the brainstem and tricks the blood surrounding it into thinking that nutrients were needed up there by the sudden density increase. The blood rushing to the stem would count as a body function, and would thus revive the human body.
Another theory suggests that the virus itself, being a dormant pathogen that activates after heart failure, latches itself onto the first solid it can find, which is the brainstem. The time it takes for the pathogen to totally cover the brainstem is proportionate to the time it takes to reanimate. It is unknown why in some cases it only takes a few minutes to cover the entire brainstem, yet in other cases it can take several hours.
Walker: Walkers, much like other infected, have no sense of self-preservation other than eating, and will not react at all to the deaths of other zombies or to potentially lethal dangers to themselves. They have enough intelligence to walk upright, to use their bodies to break objects, and to climb around or over somewhat small obstacles such as chain-link fences. Zombies can ascend and descend staircases, as well as climb ladders, but they do so very clumsily and slowly. They cannot operate doors or gates, and prefer bashing through obstacles rather than traversing them.
Walkers are void of any emotional expression and thought. When stimulated, whether by noise, sight of prey, or simply encountering a problem they cannot solve, such as being unable to open a locked door, they quickly descend into a state of murderous aggression. If they spot prey when stimulated, they can pursue them ceaselessly, showing ravenous hunger. They are not hunters, however, and take no concern in alerting their victims or trying to hunt them with intelligence, always seeming to roar, grunt, and growl whenever they are stimulated. Walkers much like other infected seem to be drawn to noise, presumably because they attribute the source of the noise to be caused by potential victims. Walkers also tend to form groups and stick together, and mimic the actions of other zombies, giving them a mob mentality.
Runner: Runners are one of the bigger threats to survivors. Runners, obviously, have the ability to run, which is a horrifying aspect to those that are being pursued. These zombies are a primary target and should never be overlooked when fighting hordes. They will gain ground on survivors and bring them down. A survivor should never try to outrun the Runners, since they do not tire like Humans do. The only way to stop them from running is to disable their legs through severing large muscle groups or completely severing their legs. Other than that, the only other way is to outright eliminate them.
They also appear to possess a form of hightened intelligence, most likely because a runner is typically a fresher corpse that hasn't suffered from decay as much as their counterparts. A Runner will climb over obstacles more rapidly but can't achieve what a Human can in terms of climbing and jumping. Runners are however more prone to say, attempt to turn a doorknob rather then just bash at the door or to use an object like a brick to smash a window or door. If however for example, turning the door knob does not work they are quick to fall back into murderous aggression to achieve their goals.
Day 1 - Facilities of the American military accidently send out multiple strains of a biological weapon to different labratories across the United States and to various bases in other countries across the world.
Day 2 - The United States government recognises its mistake and moves to quarantine all the labratories that received the virus. All personnel present at the facilities are also put under quarantine, with the exception of a few stragglers that came in contact with the virus the day prior but were not present during quarantine procedures.
- All but one of the scientists not present during quarantine procedures are tracked down and succesfully quarantined by sunset.
Day 3 - The United States government announces pubically that it accidently send strains of the Antrax virus to various military bases across the country, but reassures the public that everything is under control. Successfully hiding the real nature of the preceding events.
Day 4 - Records show that the missing scientist is named, Cave Johnson. Witnesses report that the man left work early after calling in sick, the man showed symptoms normally found in the common cold.
- Cave Johnon's car is located in a ditch near a forest road, close to the town of Evergreen. Search efforts are started in the surrounding area, including the nearby village.
Day 5 - A small outbreak of the virus occures in Evergreen. Local police forces shoot the infected before they can be examined, amongst the turned individuals is Cave Johnson.
- Evergeen is quarantined immidiately. Cave Johnson is named patient zero. Corpses of the infected and the people that came in contact with the infected, are taken away by the military to an unknown location.
Day 6 - The Government has successfully quarantined the entire town. Media coverage on the situation is none existent. Government efforts succeed in containing the event and the outbreak. Evergreen remains under quarantine.
Day 8 - None of the scientists that came in contact with the virus show signs of infection and are released back into the public, various interviews take place to support the previous Antrax claim.
Day 11 - Dozens of civillians in Evergreen that were previously diagnosed with the common cold suddenly die from the disease.
- Later that same day, military doctors examining the death are attacked whilst preforming a dissection. The corpse awoke during the procedure and managed to seriously injury one of the scientists before being killed. The others corpses begin to turn as well over the course of the day.
Day 15 - Outbreaks start to occur all over America, faster then the government is able to contain them. Attempts to keep the public at ease by controlling the media succeeds, but rumours run rampant.
Day 17 - A Dutch scientist working for the American military discoveres that the virus lies dormant in its host but virtually destroys the immune system to the point that most diseases, even if proven non fatal before, can kill.
- Virus has proven to be airborn and appears to spread rapidly, hunderds of thousands are already infected with the disease, unknownst to them. Should they die from whatever cause, the virus will reanimate the corpse.
Day 18 - With social order breaking down and the public outraged at the government, the military steps in and takes over by appointing the highest general as the head of state and forcing the president and ministers to resign.
- Martial law is declared and the new government attempts to mobilise all its reserves.
Day 20 - Government attempts at guiding civillian escape and controlling the streets are ineffective, panic and chaos are taking over, people killing eachother either by accident or on purpose significantly increases the growth of infected.
Day 25 - The Government mostly abandones its plans to guide civillian escape and chooses instead to set up large safe zones all over the country. Radio messages are send out over radio and television to point people in the right direction.
Day 31 - Safe zones prove to be successfull, many civillians are evacuated to safer areas in the country.
Day 33 - Safe zones in the large cities are quickly filled far past the maxium allowed amount of people, evacuation proves difficult and supplying that many people with food, water and medicine also proves to be a chore.
Day 37 - Outbreak of disease in the crowded safezones creates panic and unrest amongst the civillians, the military attempts to control the situation by force, but in some cases the civillians succeed in taking over or the station is overrun.
Day 38 - Recent news of disease outbreaks and their effects forces the military to deny people entrance to safe zones if there is no real space. Rumours of the military abandoning the people significantly demoralises the civillian population.
Day 43 - To show people they have not been abandoned, supply drops are organised to areas that still contain a significant amount of the living.
- The crates mostly contain medicine, food, water and means to purify water. Some also include weapons all though those are more rare. The contents of military crates designed for the safe zones or isolated pockets are unknown, high grade weapons and ammunition is thought to be most likely.
Day 51 - Goverment has lost control over most water purification centers and electricity plants, all the major cities have lost power, gas and clean water and as a result lives becomes more difficult for the people left alive.
- Lack of maintaince to pipes and installations in cities contributes to the shutdown of gas, electricity and power. The internet has also stopped working by now.
Day 55 - Several safe zones in the major cities are uncapable of keeping out the infected and slowly fall one by one, despite being overrun isolated holdouts by the military remain in some sectors.
Day 60 - Special forces start appearing in major cities, their objectives or motives are unknown.
Day 63 - Government run radio messages and television broadcasts stop for an unknown reason, both signals are now dead and provide no more information on current events or safe zones.
Day 67 - More and more safe zones are falling throughout the country. Rumours vary and the real reason can only be speculated about. High tempratures, difficulty to supply, overcrowding and disease seem like the most logical reason.
Day 71 - Summer tempratures sky rocket, making life more and more difficult for survivors. The western states of America appear to be taking the major blow.
- Government loses ground in the desert regions of the west, whether this is a result of weather conditions or something else is unknown.
Day 75 - Hope is dwindling, survivors still in the midst of a hot summer fear the worst for the winter to come.
- Our starting point in Atlanta, Georgia.
In this roleplay I aim for us all to be part of one group, I am open minded to whether we start together or start seperate. But I feel as though that starting seperate may be most interesting. Our starting location will most likely be a large city, and our goal would be to reach Alaska or some other supposed safe places we have heard rumours about. Yet whether they are true or not, we do not know. (I am aware the timeline is unfinished, I will finish it soon. I just wanted to post this before I had to head off, so that most timezones will be able to get a look.)
I'm aware a character sheet is lacking, this is because we're still in the interest check stage and I hope to spare the time of people who may out of excitement create a character only for it to not come to use duo to lack of interest.
1. I have been thinking about including random events, which will be announced through posts of my own. They can vary from being big to small, and may even uncover details about the infection or the rumoured safe zones. Any one individual can go after it of course, but if it's something large that others could have seen as well, trouble can be expected.
2. To keep things interesting for the group or the indvidual, I thought about sending private messages revealing things your character might have seen. The details mostly leading to loot, information or the encounter of other survivors. I may send the same thing to two people, and messages can include more then one thing you may have seen or heard about. Whether they are true, false or still there when you travel there will be pre-determined by dice. So you could have succesfully convinced the group to spend time going after your thing, only for it to turn out bad. This will ensure that loot is not always high, things do not always succeed and the we actually have tension in the group. If someone led you to waste your time and possibly get injured, are you going to go after his thing a second time? That is for you to decide. (Tried to keep it short to avoid rambeling, but this should cover the basic idea.)
3. Different infected types rather then having only the simple walkers roaming around. I aim to include fast infected that are capable of sprint and limited climbing capabilities. And possibly some other ''special'' infected.
It's been a while since I saw an apocalypse role play fleshed out this much right off the bat. I like the sound of it so I'm just going to toos my interest in for what it's worth.
I do have to say though, that it's really cool that you've thought about PM'ing individual players to talk to them about things they may have seen pr what they find so that not everyone has to know. It keeps things mysterious and fun ;)
Really fleshed out and well made, count me as interested.
Edit: Also, if this is a zombie rp, what would be the degree of the strength of them?
I will include the behaviour of the infected and overall sturdiness soon. But it's something like this:
Newer zombies may rarely use primitive tools, such as using a heavy brick to smash a window, but none have any high-level abilities to use items in their environment. Zombies are not shown to be able to "communicate" with others by any means, though zombies will frequently copy the actions they witness other zombies perform, such as bashing on a door or moving in a group.
A zombie's body will decay over time, a freshly reanimated corpse is much more sturdy and capable of taking multiple blows to the head then a zombie that is several years old. A zombie also uses the full potential of the Human muscles, capable of ripping open a Human's chest and at short range they will overpower the average individual. Their primary instinct would be to bite but they can also throw a punch first.
Though zombies retain a physical resemblance to the living, cognitive similarities are almost non-existent beyond low-level functions, though there are examples of behavior that suggest zombies may retain small fragments of memory of their past lives. Zombies have enough intelligence to walk upright, to use their bodies to break objects, and to climb around or over somewhat small obstacles such as chain-link fences. Zombies can ascend and descend staircases, as well as climb ladders, but they do so very clumsily and slowly. They cannot operate doors or gates, and prefer bashing through obstacles rather than traversing them.
Mostly, zombies are void of any emotional expression and thought. When stimulated, whether by noise, sight of prey, or simply encountering a problem they cannot solve, such as being unable to open a locked door, they quickly descend into a state of murderous aggression. If they spot prey when stimulated, they can pursue them ceaselessly, showing ravenous hunger. They are not hunters, however, and take no concern in alerting their victims or trying to hunt them with intelligence, always seeming to roar, grunt, and growl whenever they are stimulated. Zombies seem to be drawn to noise, presumably because they attribute the source of the noise to be caused by potential victims. Zombies also tend to form groups and stick together, and mimic the actions of other zombies, giving them a mob mentality
Interesting take on the zombie trope, really interesting. Hm, but say if a zombie's blind, like blind when he got turned, will his hearing be more stronger than other normal zombies?
Interesting take on the zombie trope, really interesting. Hm, but say if a zombie's blind, like blind when he got turned, will his hearing be more stronger than other normal zombies?
Zombies have the ability to detect scents and differentiate between the living and the dead, and prefer to feed on living flesh. They can also use sight to distinguish living from the dead, although they seem to have poor eyesight as their irises fade and decay, but they make up for it in very heightened senses of hearing and smell. Darkness seems to have little effect on zombies' senses at close ranges, and in areas devoid of light they can still find their way around as they would in the day.
So to answer your question, no it would not. The zombie would be weaker though because it lacks eyesight and has to rely fully on sound and smell.
Is this based around the actual video-game, Dying Light? If so, will we still be expected to role-play completely under the whelms of human realism?
By that, I mean that the character I plan on playing is a Pro Boxer, until Hell broke loose. Using his fists is what he does when there isn't a giant group, since loud noises and wasting ammo is detrimental to survival. I was wondering if I could keep this character, or are we going by The Walking Dead logic, where getting up close and personal is an instant death.
Edit: Of course, he would have protection on his hands, of course. Weaponized gloves or something.
Is this based around the actual video-game, Dying Light? If so, will we still be expected to role-play completely under the whelms of human realism?
By that, I mean that the character I plan on playing is a Pro Boxer, until Hell broke loose. Using his fists is what he does when there isn't a giant group, since loud noises and wasting ammo is detrimental to survival. I was wondering if I could keep this character, or are we going by The Walking Dead logic, where getting up close and personal is an instant death.
Edit: Of course, he would have protection on his hands, of course. Weaponized gloves or something.
I love realism, I would eat and sleep with realism if I could. That being said, I did use the Dying Light title as my own, knowing that as the most recent videogame on the infected as far as I know (And the best so far in my opinion) it would attract people.
Pro boxers or any other athlete train a lot and have to eat a lot to keep up their muscles, that being said. Your constant boxing training on infected, all though discouraged is possible. (I think it would be entertaining to watch you box one, keep in mind that hitting its head so hard that it flies off, is a no. You'd still have to break the skull to get to the brain.) You would however lose a lot of energy and require a constant flow of food to keep yourself active and fit. (I'm aware running and climbing takes its toll also, but you would be doing those two plus the boxing.) To make a long story short, you may proceed. But other survivors will look at you like you're crazy, and when you encounter (If we're encountering other zombies, I have decided to add runners myself) anything other then a walker, I'd advice to pick up a weapon. :)
Gotcha. I'll make it work. He'll have a melee weapon, of course, but will use his fists whenever he finds it necessary [In-Between weapons, if he's trapped, etc].
Besides replying to all the lovely people here, i've added some information on the infected. (I apologise for any bad grammar I may have overlooked, it's late here so my brain functions below its normal standard) It is 1 am here so completing the full ''polish'' is not possible. But not to worry! Once I wake up tomorrow i'll devote the time I have before work and after to completing it.
I already see enough people interested so the OOC can be expected to be up some time tomorrow. :)
Zombies eh? It's been a long time since I've seen a zombie roleplay worth actually expressing interest in. If you still have room I would like to join as well.
Also are the hazmat zombies and the brutish zombies from Dying Light in this aswell.( This will not cchange my desicion about joining.
I will not include the large brutes as a seperate entity, it is possible to encounter large infected though. And Hazmat zombies are not necessarily a seperate entity either, just like police or military infected. They would be seen at specific locations, Hazmat would probably be rare.
