Your Daily McMaster: this is the end

Project Zomboid is a work-in-progress indie game based on the concept of impending doom. When you launch the game, it gives you the option of following a story or starting in sandbox mode. I’ll be playing in sandbox mode.

The character creation system is still early on in development, but has a few interesting bits. You can choose perks and drawbacks, as long as they balance out. You choose a profession. There are more professions coming, but for now you can pick from police, fireman, security guard and a handful of others.

After the jump, my name is Jason McMaster, I’m a security guard, and I’m about to die.

I awaken in my house. There’s no sound other than an occasional moan or shuffle from outside. The only thing I have is the clothes on my back. I search through the house, finding a shotgun and a baseball bat among other various usable items, and prepare to make a run for it. I pack a few pieces of food into my bag and rush out the front door. Across the street is a small market and I make a beeline towards it.

The first door I try is locked. Shit. There’s another entrance if I can make it, but it’s going to be a bit risky – the undead are zoning in on my position. Fortunately, for me at least, another survivor wanders by and they turn their attention on him. I use this break to chug around the side of the store and find an open door. I slam the door behind me.

There’s another guy in the store, but he grabs a few items and high tails it. Outside I hear the melee ensuing with the other, less fortunate survivor. The screaming eventually stops and I feel really terrible. No time, though, as the zombies are once again interested in my shenanigans. I throw a couple of cans of soup and some bread in my backpack and head back out.

Now I need somewhere to hole up. I notice a larger home that might be defensible. I should check it out. I run up to the front door and… locked. Oh shit, there’s a lot of zombies out here. I run around to the back and try the door. Fortunately it’s open.

I rush inside and close the door. I don’t have any wood for a barricade, so I just hope they can’t figure it out. It’s pretty quiet in here and the banging on the door ceases after a few minutes. I’m getting really tired, but the notion of a few inches of wood between me and mortality is disquieting.

The cabinets in this place are full of food, as is the fridge. I turn on the oven and throw in some chicken. This might take a while so it’s time to explore. I head for the second floor of the house. Quite a few bedrooms up here with connected baths. I search the medicine cabinets and find some pain killers and anxiety pills. Still nothing for the barricade.

There’s another large house next door. I quickly run outside and to the other house. Luckily, this one is unlocked. I make it halfway up the stairs before I realize the other house is on fire. This is why you don’t leave the oven on unattended.

No real use in going back over there, so I return to my ransacking. I’m pretty exhausted at this point and need to rest. Putting as many locked doors between me and the outside world as possible, I sleep. I awake some hours later and it’s dark. I hear the gentle cacophony of rain on the roof. I’m pretty hungry.

Heading down to the kitchen, I find a pot, a can of soup and a can opener – all the ingredients I need for a delicious breakfast. This time I decide to prepare myself a bit more food for later, so I turn on the oven and begin to cook some chicken and steak. The oven requires some watching as all of my food finishes cooking at different times. Listening to the rain hit the roof is nice and I almost doze off.

As to not die in a fire during the zombie apocalypse, I fight off the urge to snooze and check on my food. A few pieces of meat are crispy, but all are edible. I’m afraid that all the activity in this house has attracted the walking dead. It will soon be time to leave.

In preparation of moving on, I search the house from top to bottom. Not much here – some more pain killers and anti-anxiety meds as well as a handful of nails and a hammer. Still no wood. I shut myself into the corner of the top floor of the house and fall asleep.

I awake to the sound of rain. The house fire I started next door has died down. A quick look at the neighboring property shows my destructive toll led to the a burned down kitchen. I would feel worse if this weren’t the end of human life.

It’s dark out now and the rain has ceased for the moment. I’m hoping the night will cover my movement as I try to find a new place to hole up. The front of the house is clear. I slip out the front door and move down to the street. I creep down the road, hearing the occasional moan of a zombie nearby, but not seeing one. It starts to rain again. I’m freezing.

I round a corner and am confronted by a horde of the undead. I run in the opposite direction and am greeted by another smaller group. This leaves one direction for me to run. I head southwest down the street and run into a multi-story apartment building. Luckily, the door is unlocked and I race upstairs. I make my way to the top of the building and slam the door. The apartment is thankfully empty and, other than the light patter of rain, completely silent.

I glance at the clock on my computer. It’s getting pretty late in the real world and I have to work the next morning. Project Zomboid doesn’t have a save feature at current, so this is where my adventure must end. I didn’t have a proper death like you’d expect. Instead, I like to pretend that my character died in his sleep from some unforeseen, yet painless, danger.

Project Zomboid is by The Indie Stone and is nearing the end of its Alpha phase. You can pre-purchase the game from their store and play the in-progress version of the game. Project Zomboid should be out later this year.