I washed ashore in a small cove in the dark of the night, somewhere in the vicinity of Kamenka (019 131). A cursory scan of the horizon revealed nothing but dark, swaying grass all around and a distant hill straight ahead when my back was to the ocean. A sudden metallic clanging noise set my heart racing, but it turned out to be just a part of the soundtrack. Now decidedly on edge, I made my way towards the hill, heading for higher ground, glancing around often and crouching all the while. I soon found myself at the top of a grassy ridge where a railway line ran. I consulted my map and found the railway running the length of the coast around Kamenka, so that didn't help pinpoint my location. Shortly thereafter, however, I spotted a bridge just to my left. I figured that put my spawn point at the 'X' on the map below.
I crossed the railway line and turned right, due north-east. Having heard a bit about the game beforehand, and having played some of Bohemia's earlier military sim games, I knew to be very cautious. I went prone in the grass and crawled the rest of the way to the road. I knew there would be zombies at some point, but I was more wary of other players in the game, who would undoubtedly kill me on sight for whatever inventory I might be carrying. I scrabbled across the road, briefly stopping the middle to scan in each direction: no movement. On the other side of the road, I found more grass and continued due east. I soon ran into the edge of a forest and so allowed myself to stand up and run for a while. It was still dark and there seemed to be no one around, so I used the opportunity to test my flashlight in the woods. Neat.
Just as I reached the end of the forest, still going parallel to the road, it started to rain. Heavily. I crouched down again and from here could see a town slightly below my level. I scanned it for hidden snipers or players moving around, but what I saw was much worse. Through the rain, shambling slowly towards the forest was my first zombie (1). Just as I caught sight of him, I saw another one a little further way, wandering down the main road in the town ahead. I was officially terrified. In a bit of a panic, I turned south and darted across the road, out of the path of the oncoming zombie. Suddenly, every swaying blade of grass, every drop of rain was a zombie coming to get me. Nervously, I followed the road again toward the town and found a road sign: Kamenka, which confirmed my whereabouts. But at the same time, something else happened. The memory is a bit of a blur because it all happened so fast, and the route above is just my best guess at where I ran.
The first thing I remember is the sound: a very angry, yet totally inhuman growling, yammering noise. I spun around and there it was in the flesh, a soldier of the legion of undead! A zombie! I bolted in whichever direction I was facing, which happened to be south, and found myself across the railway line again. I turned, still running, to follow the rail east, then eventually darted back across the line (2) towards a building I spied, hoping to gain entry and lay low. It was at this point I discovered that not all buildings are enterable, however. I seemed to have lost my zombie tail, but my sudden presence in the town immediately attracted another follower (possibly two). Possibly crying at this point, I legged it south again, barely able to spot zombies through the torrential rain, and found another building (3), praying to the Creator (of the game) that this one would shelter me.
No such luck. I ran through hordes of zombies getting there and could hear their terrible anguished moaning behind me, so I didn't stop to count them. I circled the building and headed north again towards the town, almost coming back to the first building again. I saw more zombies that way, so ran north over the road again and tried a few more doors. It seems like the whole town was in lockdown! I kept running, past the remaining buildings with at least one angry zombie on my ass. I abandoned hope of hiding out here, so I just pegged it down the main street until I was pretty much clear of the town. I managed to glance at my map whilst running and decided to cut north into the woods, hoping to lose the zombie (4).
At some point during the chase, the rain had ceased. I only realised this when it started again. Ahead I could see another town, which I knew had to be Pavlovo. Coming now from the south east, I approached the church (3) at full speed, figuring that if there was anyone in the town, maybe they'd take pity on me and kill my pursuer. I found the church doors unopenable but I realised I had finally lost the zombie who had chased me all the way from Kamenka! I immediately dropped to the ground and crawled into the shadows. This town had its own zombie population and I was in no state to deal with them. Staying low and sticking to the shadows, I zig-zagged through the town, trying every door and avoiding zombies. Thankfully the rain had gone off again. None of the other buildings here were enterable either, but I took this chance to observe the zombies. I concluded that the ones that sort of shuffle along on their hands and feet, then get up and screech like a banshee when they see you are the most terrifying.
I eventually gave up on finding any kind of shelter or resources here and decided to move on. Just as I reached the north end of town (4) however, I was spotted by zombies again. So I fucking legged it again, along the side of the road and into a forest. Glancing back, I counted four of the fuckers this time! Tired of running, I took a chance: I delved into the darkest part of the woods I could see and dropped to the ground. I remained still for a few seconds and could hear the zombies groaning somewhere behind me. How close they were, I couldn't tell, but I dared not move until I was sure I was safe. Eventually, they seemed to drift away, so I started crawling back to the edge of the forest. Looking back down the road, I could see all four of them shuffling back towards Pavlovo. Victory!
Up I got and crossed the road, heading uphill and over a small building I could see ahead in the road. I scanned the area below and when I saw it was clear, I climbed down the hill again and finally found my first openable door (1). It was nothing but an empty shack, but it was somewhere I could lie down and hide while I checked my map and made some kind of plan. After gathering the courage to carry on, I crossed the road once again and headed downhill and north toward a cluster of fenced in buildings in the distance (2). When I reached the huge fence lying across my path, I found zombies at either end. Unsure of which way to go, I stopped for a while to examine the fence and realised one section had a missing board at the bottom. I was able to crawl under the fence and into the compound, which I guess was some kind of farm or something.
There were a couple of buildings here that I entered, but found nothing. The next phase of my plan was to continue north-east toward Zelenogorsk, but just as I was leaving the farm compound, a zombie burst out of a door and started chasing me. A short Benny Hill sequence later, I'd managed to double back on the zombie and into the door front whence he came. Closing it behind me, I found my first loot. Unfortunately, it was just a couple of empty cans and an empty bottle. Leaving it behind, since I figured that stuff was useless, I headed for Zelenogorsk. I stopped midway, crouching in the grass, between the farm and the town (3), just to get my bearings and plan my approach. One, two, three gunshots ripped through me and it's here that I met my untimely demise.
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