Journal:BackBraker
Malton Incident Journal
Anthony "BackBreaker" Dawson
Identification Number: 000335276649
Assignment: IU 116 (Squad Codenamed "Override 3"), ECOC
Operation: Caregiver
December 29, 2007 - 08:50
I'm not entirely certain where to begin this latest entry.
For a time... over the past few weeks in fact... I thought that my previous entry would be my last.
"I am become death."
It seemed like such a relevant quote that I really wasn't sure I wanted to continue this fight. I remembered everything.
Suddenly, Malton was full of so much more. Such horrors. So many more fears. So much new danger. And I brought it with me.
The patient.
I have heard rumors that might indicate the patient has been used in a reduced power mode. But thank goodness it hasn't been fired in full if those rumors are true.
It would be a nightmare unlike any other. The walking dead would be mutated into new and terrible creatures that could never be restored. And the populace as we know it would cease to exist.
If the spires themselves were raised and fired... who knows what monstorous outcome might arise.
When I wrote my previous entry, I was thinking of this and nothing more. And I sank into a depression. It was frightfully unprofessional of me, but I allowed such grotesque indulgence for nearly two weeks.
But now I have new resolve. The mission isn't over yet.
It's hard to believe I've been in Malton since March. It's been a long road.
I guess the peek of my self-pity came on December 23rd. I sat on an old bench dragged into the Fort Creedy gatehouse. There, I waited. We've been waiting since August.
Waiting for the inevitable zed counter-offensive. But it hasn't come.
LUE weakened and broke into smaller hordes. Other tours have started and failed early. There is, in fact, a new horde nicknamed "The Second Big Bash". But it is very slow moving.
But, we at the CC discussed our options and decided to stay and wait. To defend a beacon of hope for Malton. Yet, nothing has happened.
We've been waiting and watching. And our members have started moving off to hunt or explore other areas. We're dwindling in numbers at the Fort.
I would have probably moved on as well... even our allies of the VGCSU had been moving on... but I was busy feeling sorry for myself.
Never again.
In any event, I was dozing in the gatehouse along with more then ninety other people. The murderers slipped in amidst the people and began attacking quietly. Me, I didn't even notice them at first. They were well across the gatehouse court and easily concealed by the other survivors.
When I awoke, I found myself at a local revive center. I remember fragments of the attacks in detail.
Several murder gangs and zed worshiping cults are allied in what they call the PKA. That night they conducted what they called the "Silent Night Slaughter".
I remember very little. But I remember the faces of my attackers, all three of them. One only took pot shots at me. A bit inexperienced I'd say.
The other two though...
My first desire was to race out into the night, track them, and bleed them slowly. I even started scouring near-by buildings for trails. Picked one up too.
But I remembered the policies of the Citizens... Policies I helped to develop. And I regained my composure and professionalism slowly.
I did track down one of my attackers. He called himself the Brigande. I found him hiding in a junkyard filled with survivors... an anti-murderer cult traveling from the west side of Malton was among them no less.
He was quietly curled inside an old rubbish bin, sleeping. I could have killed him. Could have hurt him and all... but that isn't our way.
He didn't deliver the final blow on the night of the 23rd. Another... Bruha, a zombie worshiper, was the one that left me for dead.
What really vexed me with this Brigande was his nature. He belongs to a gang that calls themselves the Philosophe Knights. After Bruha delivered the final blow, this Brigande fellow said something about how he would have killed me but was too tired and low on ammo. He then "deemed" me to be "ignorant" and called on volunteers to kill me.
It wasn't until I sat on a hospital bed receiving treatment for my wounds... that was when I realized that his declaration had no merit on my death that night. He was trying to find volunteers to kill me a second time.
Standing over him in the junkyard, I returned the favor ever so subtly. I sprayed a bright yellow message on an old rusted car door above his dumpster.
"**Look at The Brigande**"
Then I left him to the masses.
As for the other guy... Bruha... well... I'm entitled to that kill.
But if I see him again, it will be purely by chance.
I stayed in the Fort Creedy area for a day or so after that and considered the other memories of that night.
We've waited so long for the attack of a zed horde. And the Big Bash is coming. But... I don't believe we can win. I don't even think we can put up a decent fight.
When the PKA attacked, our numbers fell by nearly thirty people. Not victims of the murderers. They just ran away. There were more then 300 people in the Fort's Armory when I strolled by one last time.
But none of them rushed to defend the gatehouse. Very few of them ever will... They'll stay in the armory until they die.
Most of the CC and VGCSU have already moved on to other areas, if an attack came, we'd have to recall them just to keep a few trustworthy people in the gatehouse.
And we'd never have enough fighters to match a horde as large as the Big Bash... not even with the few bands of survivors dedicated to defending the Fort.
Creedy will fall quickly.
Meanwhile, I had been in communication with one of our council members via text messages. Black Mesa has agreed to ally with us. That means we now have allies in Black Mesa and HECU.
And I considered how little progress we've made since we've been waiting at Fort Creedy. I decided that we were overdue for a new course of action.
I issued a set of new proposals to our members and I left the Fort behind. I'm calling on the team to regroup and have ordered the CLAW to do so now. We're going to visit our new friends and begin scouting for a new strategic HQ. We're also going to scout out a few safe houses and prepare for a new series of offensives.
We've waited long enough.
I received an unusual message via radio the other day. As I am traveling to the regroup point, I listen to my radios for friendly chatter. There was a distress call from someone on the CC band. It was a call from Pimbank.
I stopped by to help, but found only a band of random survivors and a radio transmitter tuned to our frequency. No sign of any of our allies.
Oh well. I'm now on my journey yet again.
December 03, 2007 - 04:19
I remember everything.
August 23, 2007 - 12:11
Damn, we have had a full schedual as of late. Our little band of citizens has engaged in three missions since the last entry. Operation Antlion saw our squad move from Dowdney Mall over to Pescodside. There, my strike team maintained a base and our main team joined our allies.
But that branch of our unit scattered fairly early on and some of the allies actually never left the Dowdney area. So when a horde moved into the neighborhood my strike team had occupied, we were basically on our own.
We held the zeds at bay during the first attacks. But they soon breached the doors while most of the team was resting. I fought off as many as I could, but the base was lost.
After each of us awoke in near-by hospitals, we returned and resecured the base. But by then, a much larger horde... known commonly as the LUE... had devistated Dowdney Mall.
About that same time, the contract for our allies was cancelled. So, we secured our base and moved back toward Dowdney.
Project Black Mesa East was the new operation. It was a rousing success as we established a forward operations base and launched coordinated attacks on the mall. The LUE actually decided to move on to a new target and we were able to join local resistance in a quick and almost painless recapture of the mall. It is now back in full operation.
Unfortunately, word from our allies was less optimistic. Apparently, they chose a poor regroup point in a prime target for zed activity... a building with a phone mast. They were overrun on the first night of our operation.
After resuppling in Dowdney, we are now moving forward into a new operation. I had drawn up the plans for "Operation Ravenholm" months ago, but we became side tracked by other battles. Well, not anymore. We have already completed phase one. Here's hoping we find more successes.
July 13, 2007 - 05:00
Although much has changed with our situation in life. My unit is still waiting patiently for the next order.
Our allies are planning a recruitment campaign and an effort to aid a larger organization near-by. Their hope is to gain a new ally.
We are talking about joining their efforts, but I've been suggesting some more detailed mission plans as of late. They're probably getting tired of the advice, but our previous missions haven't been very organized.
The results of which have been less then stellar.
Anyway, I am now considered the squad's ambassador. It's a long story, but after exchanging communications with the SARG group of murderers, my team felt that I had delivered a verbal trouncing and that I should be Ambassador.
So here I am.
We've recieved word that this location may be attacked soon. We're planning to pull out before then. But this new group of zeds is enormous and organized. Much smarter then the normal kind. Several malls have fallen in only a few days.
Fortunately, the tactics used are particularly new or inventive. And they're very predictable. If we keep level heads, I feel we will be fine.
Perhaps the most important new change is the development of a so-called "strike team". I and several other members of this squad are now members of a sub-squad called "The CLAW". We got the name from an accidental find in our safe-house recently.
It's a device called a zero-point energy field manipulator, but this Frohman guy calls it a CLAW. Why we listen to him I'll never know.
I believe that Rencho, one of our squad mates is off trying to exact some kind of revenge on the leader even now. In any event, both are MIA for the time being.
Anyway, this device is remarkable. Each member of the squad was issued one of these gizmos. Apparently it acts as a sort of gravity manipulation device. You can use its beam to drag smaller objects toward you. Pick up heavy objects. Even slam a smaller car over on its side.
Very nice. I and three other men now carry these devices and will soon be launching missions as a coordinated unit.
We have high hopes that this change will be a positive one.
June 15, 2007 - 12:43
Still no new orders from the higher ups.
As I sit and sip from a fresh if not melty shake, I think about this entire mess. The patient is here somewhere. But I fear it may well be on the other side of Malton.
Even so, I have no proof. But I have heard reports that Captain Rogers is working the western suburbs.
Since my last entry, I've made a few revive runs to area suburbs, picked off a few more zeds, and revived some of my lost training. I feel I've nearly regained most of those long lost skills.
I must admit, I made a rare choice for an ECOC member. I traded in my combat knife. While at one of the local fire houses, I traded up to a fire axe. Still not proficient in such bladed combat... but I'm sure I'll remember the training with time.
During a few of my out of pocket runs, I've started picking up some intel regarding zeds and death cultists. I feel certain that such info will be useful to the squad in the future.
Our leader has also been bringing in similar intel. And he's calling for volunteers to scout around for our next safe house. I have not yet decided to accept such a mission, but I may.
Our allies are scattered right now... torn between plans to attack Fort Creedy, restock at Dowdney, and/or defend Blackmore. There's even been talk of other malls.
In any event, for now we wait.
In the mean time, I've heard stories from the south. Stories of something worse then the zeds. I don't know if any of the reports are true, but if so... Then some kind of new zed has been moving around and one in particular is slowly becoming more dangerous.
It reportedly wields an axe.
May 31, 2007 - 01:49
The situation has not improved. I realize that I haven't updated this journal much recently, but that is because so little has changed.
We continued to make this effort to aid the community of Raines Hills, but it soon became obvious that we were not needed. Simply put, the area was sparsely populated with zeds and should have already been designated a green zone.
Sure, we had the odd issue with zed spies and the occasional psycho that wanted to attack our generator or radio. But those were easily dealt with.
Simply put, we were not needed here. So, our allies at the VGCSU drew up a fresh plan. A plan to retake one of Malton's two forts. It would have been an ambitious undertaking, but worth while.
Some of our number made it all the way to the fort, but I was only about half way there when we received word.
A new group, radical murderers calling themselves the Royal Guard or something like that. They set up shop one block north of our old safe house and started attacking some of our allies. They killed at least two of the VGCSU that had yet to leave the old safe house.
Then, we learned that they claimed to have been at war with our own squad. They claimed to have attacked us. They were posting notices declaring us their most hated enemies.
They also attacked several other groups that were totally uninvolved.
With their declaration of war, we delayed our fort mission and turned back to Raines Hills. The new mission, to punish.
But alas, the so-called Royal Guard had made many enemies. Two other squads from groups we know little about beat us to the attack and devastated the fledgling murderers. There was little left to punish.
Just a few members with injured pride. Everyone else was either dead or zed.
So now, we are left at another decision. We can regroup with the VGCSU here in Raines Hills and dig in for a protracted battle with a large zed force that has since invaded. Or we can resume our planed assault on the fort.
For now, we wait. Our squad leader, DanoAcharn has yet to issue new orders. We're right back where we started the last entry.
May 11, 2007 - 14:14
It's been a while since my last entry. I've spent most of that time traveling on foot.
When we learned of a new recruit that had been killed during his journey to our most recent safe house, I set out alone. I made the trip fairly quickly and carried a couple of NecroTech Syringes and med paks... just in case.
With a little luck and some help from the locals, I caught up with the zombie of our recruit in Shackleville. I revived him and pointed him to a safe house.
You see, a zed attacked me while I was saving our squad member. I managed to fight it off, but was forced to use my med kits to heal my own infections.
I pointed our injured and infected recruit to a safe house and made my way to the nearest mall. I picked up some extra first aid kits and returned to treat the recruit's wounds.
He decided to stay behind for a while... after all, he was looking at some serious issues from which to recover. However, I received news that our squad was advancing into a new suburb along with our allies. I quickly followed, running most of the distance and resting when I found a safe building.
It was a hard effort, but I caught up with the squad before they began their latest mission, to reclaim Raines Hills.
I rested while the VGCSU leader drew up a simple strategy. Then I started making a few ventures into the field. I caught a different type of zombie inside our safe house entry. What the locals call a zombie spy.
Then I stumbled out and picked up some fresh syringes and revived one of the area residents.
Then, today, I stepped out in search of a known ally in need. I didn't find him, but found evidence that he has already been aided by someone on his squad. But I also stumbled upon a church with one zombie and one human outside along with three bodies.
With a quick examination of the young woman and a DNA sample of the zed, I was ready to offer a little more help in the name of goodwill. I revived the zombie and treated the young woman's injuries and infection.
Unfortunately, I'm now truly feeling my journey. Fatigue is overtaking me. I'm too tired to return to the safe house. For now, I'm resting on the front steps of the church. Later, if I survive long enough, I'll try to reach the entry point.
May 1, 2007 - 03:11
I finally find a chance to update this journal. It's been a busy couple of weeks.
My squad assisted in defending a Mall and its neighboring NecroTech building. The process worked fairly well and by the time we left, the survivors outnumbered the zeds four to one.
Our squad has now moved on to an empty NecroTech building in Huntley Heights. We are planning to regroup here and the VGCSU is joining us there.
Since my last entry we elected a leader for our squad. We also elected a leadership council. Now, maybe we'll get some organized operations under way.
We're fighting off zeds no matter where we go and I have had little success in locating my fellow ECOC members. Nor have I received any useful leads from the locals. I need to conduct some actual operations so I will be able to explore other avenues.
On some truly sad news, Captain Rogers (769488), the man that recruited me to the Concerned Citizens in the first place, is a traitor. He has aligned himself with a gang of murderers and has started sending threatening messages to our squad.
No one knows why he made such a drastic change of heart. My guess is he was never really interested in following the Concerned Citizens. Since he targeted me for recruitment, I am beginning to believe he knows more about the patient then he has ever let on.
I'll be sure to ask him some day... with extreme prejudice.
April 21st, 2007 - 06:17
I haven't kept up with my Journal as well as I should, but the last couple of weeks has been relatively uneventful. I've killed more zombies and learned a few more tricks from the locals.
My new squad has largely regrouped along with our allies, the VGCSU. Further, we moved from their strike team's safe house to the Dowdney Mall in Santlerville. At the time, the VGCSU wanted to make an effort to help secure the suburb. But plans change.
Earlier today (technically yesterday) we learned that remnants of the Mall Tour are turning back toward us. Everyone here is digging in for a long fight. Thankfully, I now know how to build fresh barricades, revive my team, and possibly treat wounds... but I'm not counting on that last one much.
I started a vote among our squad. Since we seem terribly disorganized and reckless, I proposed a vote for some form of leadership organization. We decided on a governmental leadership.
There will be a council of representatives and one leader. The leader will make decisions for the unit and the council will have the power to veto.
Now we are voting for these positions.
It's quiet now. Most have gone to bed. Some still walk around, standing guard. As for me... well... I'm used to being up and about at this time of night. It's my job.
April 9, 2007 - 02:05
Well, a late happy Easter.
I've been resting and recovering for a few days now. I've visited the nearest PD a couple of time now, but that hasn't been as much help as I would hope. I'm still pretty low on ammo.
I've also picked up a couple of spare Syringes at the nearest NT building.
Yesterday, some cult hid eggs around the city. Nobody knows how they did it, but there was a city wide Easter Egg hunt. Sad to say, I didn't find any.
Last night, ran into another zombie and decided to use my flares. I had no real use for them and wanted to see what would happen. I fired all five at the zed and hit with two. The zed burst into flames. Bright yellow flames, like a camp fire.
I finished it off with my handguns. While resting at the VGCSU group's safe house, I learned how to big better barricades. Turns out an engineer was sheltering there at the same time as I. He was more then eager to explain the finer points of building a safe house.
For now, I'm still resting at the VGCSU safe house. I just... actually... let me add a bit of explanation.
While scouting the neighborhood, I stopped at the nearest PD and found nothing. That place is pretty well picked clean by now.
After that, I moved south of the safe house. I saw several zombies scattered around the area, but I encountered something new one block south of the safe house.
It was the biggest zed I've seen yet. The thing was huge and pulsing with muscle. It also wore body armor. I unloaded several rounds from my shotgun and emptied three of my pistols... including one of the .44-magnums. For something so big, it managed to avoid most of my shots.
I stopped the thing, but I'm worn out. And I need to re-supply again. I'll go looking for ammo tomorrow.
April 3, 2007 - 02:08
I sigh with great sorrow today. It has been a long and questionable couple of days.
I woke up in a square in another suburb I've never visited before. All I remember is some guy walking into the warehouse in which I was resting. He said something like, "Hi, people call me A plagebearer. It's been a long night." He then shot me point blank.
I'm incredibly frustrated with this fact. Since awaking in the square, I have no idea what has happened. But I do know, my team needed my help and I was taken out of the equation by some human.
I'm really beginning to loose patience with whatever evil is behind this mess. Someone had to point the zeds toward our safe house. They don't just choose a random building to lay siege too.
In any event, the battle of Malton seems to be escalating. I drug myself to my feet and staggered to the nearest hospital I could find. As I walked to the hospital, a bloody M1 Abrams nearly ran me down. It plowed through a horde of zombies further down the street an kept moving at top speed.
Once I reached the hospital, I had much difficulty in gaining entry. Once again, someone is not following the local barricade plan and is trapping survivors outside on the streets.
Once inside, I got much needed treatment for my infection and wounds. The staff was quite good at this hospital, and a bit aggravated that someone had over barricaded their entry.
After a thorough stay, I'm feeling much better. I left the hospital during the night and made a mad dash for the nearest Necro-Tech building. Fortunately, it was readily maintained. I had no trouble finding a DNA extractor and a couple of spare syringes.
From there, I began the walk back to my new squads former HQ. The building itself was a total loss. A few zombies were still lingering there as well. Strangely, I saw some of my former comrades fighting their fellow zombies.
It was strangely satisfying. I made a few "raids" and revived a couple of team mates. One of them moved on, but the other decided to try and fight the zombie horde. He was quickly mauled to death. I have no plans to revive him this time.
Not after I tried so hard to convince him to regroup.
I ducked into the Upton Towers for the rest of the night. Admittedly, I was filling pretty down and very fatigued.
While there, I received a radio dispatch from one of our "Concerned Citizens". He was giving instructions to regroup at a location to the west. The temporary HQ of another survivor group.
I also listened to reports of an air strike coming in on the radio. I'm not sure where this was, but it sounded like a brutal attack. I only hope I don't get caught in such a raid.
Earlier today, I learned that one of my former team may have been lumbering around a school a few blocks north. I rushed to that location and used my last syringe on him and then made my way to the regroup point. So far, there are only two of us.
Archived Entries
The journal was getting too long, so older entries will be removed from time to time and posted on an archive page.
