Journal:Garrob

This journal chronicles the trials and tribulations of Garrob living (or not, as circumstances might have it) in the cursed quarantined city of Malton. Life is harsh in Malton, and it's not easy being dead either...

Contents

• 25/07/2013 - Graagh. Graaaagh! ARRRRH!!! ... Nah brabram.
• 26/07/2013 - Knock, knock, knock... Knock! KNOCK! KNOCK!!!
• 27/07/2013 - Ahhh... I haven't felt so good in such a long time...
• 28/07/2013 - Now what? I can't get in malls or police stations...
• 29/07/2013 - Looking for my safehouse...
• 30/07/2013 - The search for a bandaid and a little bit of cream.
• 31/07/2013 - Making a difference in this un-world.
• 01/08/2013 - Journey to the promised land.
• 02/08/2013 - First day of class at MCM.
• 03/08/2013 - Rude wakeup in the dorms.
• 04/08/2013 - Bang-bang Mah Bra!nz... Banazhm!n. Hangra mah zambah.
• 05/08/2013 - The Mall and Medical City!
• 06/08/2013 - Back to School.
• 10/08/2013 - In the bloody trenches

25/07/2013 - Graagh. Graaaagh! ARRRRH!!! ... Nah brabram.

I woke up (?) or maybe I didn't -- I wasn't sure. I can see, but why I'm laying in this vacant lot I don't know. I try too hard to get up and end up face down in the mud. It is raining. Hard. Mrh? I don't even know what that means! I try again and struggle to my feet, but they feel funny. Armah manz! Huh? I see a soldier leaning up against a burnt tree and start to go over to talk to him. As I get closer I get this incredible hunger pain that just won't stop. Hey! I shout, but he doesn't wake up. As I get closer to him my vision got fuzzy and I couldn't think of anything else except this incredible hunger pain... Before I even knew what I was doing I just attacked the poor sleeping guy. I kept hitting him and hitting him, and biting him, and finally... the pain started to subside. Startled, I ran out of that vacant lot. Pushing past a rusty gate that said, Norvell Crescent. I ran, and I ran, and I ran, until I couldn't run any further. I finally fell down in some soft grass in the middle of a cemetery exhausted. I slept. Restlessly...

A few hours later I woke up, feeling super refreshed! Got up, felt nimble... I could speak clearly... Wow! I lost my Vigour Mortis... Huh? That mysterious hunger pain totally gone. What the... a frickin syringe is dangling from my neck!? The label on it is hard to read, but it says, NecroTech. Combat Revived. Nah brabram... now I get to see what is inside those buildings.... hahahaha... maybe find me a flak jacket or map out where those bra!ns are hiding! Yeah... I can always find a building to jump off later. This is gonna be fun. Thank you, anonymous Revivalist!

26/07/2013 - Knock, knock, knock... Knock! KNOCK! KNOCK!!!

Wow, I know there are people inside, but every building I check is barricaded so strongly that I cannot even get in the door. I found a barricade guide for this suburb, but obviously it is old and useless. Every building I check which should be blocked enough to keep out zombies but open enough to let in young folks like myself, is blocked up solid. I finally stumbled upon a sleeping zombie and thought I could at least gain a little sparring practice with him, after all its not like I'd hurt anything if I killed him, so I doubled up my bare knuckles and let him have it. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Nothing. My human hands are nothing like the zombie claws I woke up with yesterday. I was a whole day's worth of energy trying to gain a little experience boxing before I finally give up. At the last moment I stumbled into St. Boniface's Hospital and fall asleep exhausted from a full day on the run.

After what seemed like sleeping forever, I awoke after a really only 30 minute nap. I found myself surrounded by humans! Someone had bandaged my wounds from fighting in the street and I felt like new! This hospital seemed like a nice place to hang out for a bit while I try to figure out what to do. I decide to explore around a little and behind an upturned nurses desk I found a first-aid kit. I stuff it in my pack thinking that it might be useful later. As I returned to the group to sit down and listen to the others discussing things, I quickly dozed off with a sense of security that I had not previously felt.

27/07/2013 - Ahhh... I haven't felt so good in such a long time...

After a full-night's rest I awoke ready to give it a go again. While discussing things with the other survivors in the hospital, someone mentioned that there was still loads of useful stuff that had not been ransacked to be found in a nearby mall, Woodroffe Mall. It seems that surviving as a human is going to require some equipment. I thank everyone for all the good advice and then peep my head out from behind the hospital barricade. The street is empty. I head on out.

I come across one lone zombie outside the mall. After wasting 3 practice swings at his head, I decide it is better to explore so I leave him shambling behind and check out the mall. Blocked. Blocked. Blocked, and more blocked. The whole mall is locked tight -- I can't get in. So while I'm up that way I decide to check out the fire stations to see if I can find an axe or something that will at least give me something better than my fists to fight with. Conolly Row Fire Station was barricaded so much I couldn't even see the door, but much to my surprise Wimbridge Boulevard Fire Station had a barricade but it was low enough for me to scramble in. Inside I saw 2 folks sleeping so I decided to scavenge... After searching 6 or 7 rooms I found an axe. I strap it on my back so maybe now I can have some luck fighting it out with the zeds... I decide to rest up a bit so I can be in top-notch form when I have a chance to test my axe.

After a few hours I wake up when one of the others hiding in the fire station sees 2 flares go up about 10 blocks away. Everyone is silent and nobody wants to go outside to see what the flares were about. We assume that some humans were under attack... Several survivors in the fire station are muttering about how unfair it is that we cannot get into the mall to get badly needed supplies. One of the military men is organizing a group to start lowering the barricades. I'm tempted to join them, but I figure it is better that I try to fine a flak jacket first before I get caught up in further fighting, so I take a quick note of where nearby police stations are on the fire station's grand map, and then I head off to find one.

On the way, I spot 2 zeds swaying back and forth and I jump on them swinging my axe! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! I swing wildly and with all my force, but never once do I manage to land a blow. I quite wasting energy on fighting and run off towards the police stations with my main goal in mind: get a flak jacket. Finally after checking 5 or 6 police stations and finding every one of the heavily barricaded, I'm starting to run out of steam. Luckily I spot a burned out railway station with a minimal barricade so I enter there to spend the night. As I start to doze off I hear some far off screams and I quickly find myself dreaming about eating brains...

28/07/2013 - Now what? I can't get in malls or police stations...

I wake up tired after an uneasy night. Gun shots in the distance and the occasional scream keeps me from ever sleeping soundly. It has been several days since I've had any success in a fight and that was before I got revived. It seems like I'm just spinning my wheels looking for an open door and everything is locked tight... I start wandering towards a different mall with little hope that things will be different. Every building I check is barricaded to the hilt and I start to wonder if it will end this way... me just wandering the streets like a stray dog until finally some hungry zombie decides to eat my brain. I take a few useless swings at one sleeping zombie, but I don't even inflict any damage so I quit wasting my strength and just continue on. When I run out of steam I rest up a bit in an abandoned lot, not even too worried about what might happen if a zombie wanders by. Maybe that is how I can end this useless existence. Provide a zombie lunch and wake back up undead. At least then I was eating well and I didn't seem to need a bunch of equipment I can't get just to survive. While musing such a fate, I remembered seeing some tall buildings uptown. All I've got to do is find one of those open and I can quickly get back to advancing in this world as the powerful zombie I started out as. One last view of this city from an upper story window and I can take one step back to getting on with my unlife so to speak. It would be so easy to simply leap out the window and wake back up undead. I decide that is the thing to do... So I alter my route to explore a few high-rise neighborhoods, checking every door I pass. Now even the high-rises are against me. One after another they too are heavily barricaded and I cannot find even one that I can enter.

When I cannot walk any further, I sit down in the middle of a park right next to a sleeping zombie. I figure he'll wake up soon and can put me out of my misery. I doze off in this miserable state... but when I wake up I'm still alive. The zombie is still sleeping and even after I take a couple of swings at him with my worthless axe, he continues to sleep. I keep looking for my tall building and finally find Philpotts Towers barricaded, but not too much for me to scramble on in. It is dark, but I manage to climb up some busted stairs to an upper floor. I find an open window and stare out over the city while I wait to regain my strength -- if I'm gonna wake up undead I want to do it with gusto!

For 4 hours I stare out over the city and I'm thinking this is about good enough. Soon I'll be able to hit the ground (literally!) running and continue on with my unlife. Then I hear a few squawks on the walkie-talkie I forgot I had stashed in my pack. It is another civilian that I met a few days ago. He too is getting frustrated at not being able to do anything. The poor guy is a shopping specialist and yet cannot even get into a single mall. We commiserate a bit and then like a flash from above, it dawns on me that we can help each other! He doesn't know how to fight, I'm not having any luck with it either, but we can start practicing with each other. Maybe we can both get better by sparring with each other, and of course if we need to we've got first-aid kits we can use to patch ourselves back up again. We can both gain experience that way and then perhaps we'll become powerful enough to finally break in to a mall or police station so we can loot all the good things that will make our lives so much easier! Wow! So close to jumping and now I've got a new plan! I explain to my long-lost friend how to get to the hospital I stayed at where I found my first-aid kit, and we make plans to meet there in the morning. We both need to rest up before making such a long journey. Tomorrow will be interesting if nothing else. I put a big 'X' on my map where this open tall building is in case I need to look for it again, and then I settle into a big comfy office chair to get some shut-eye.

29/07/2013 - Looking for my safehouse...

I wake early to the sound of gunshots off in the distance, more rested than I've been in days. I quickly calculate I can make it back to St. Boniface's Hospital in less than 3 hours if I don't encounter trouble in the streets. I've got just enough rations on me to get down there and scramble inside before I'll have to recharge so I send a quick message off to my new partner that I'm heading down and off I go...

I spy some zombies lurking around the edges of Woodroffe Mall as I get closer, but I know enough now to leave them alone and quickly sneak by without making any noise. They don't notice me. As I approach the hospital, I see someone I met in the streets earlier lying dead outside the hospital. Poor guy, he was not much different than I -- just a poor working stiff that got thrust into this without much training and no weapons to speak of. Dead. I wondered if I'd have to face him later as a zombie... As I got to the front steps of the hospital I saw why the poor dead guy died in the street -- someone barricaded up the hospital such that nobody can get in! In a flash of panic, I realize that I'm almost too tired to go on. Where can I find a safe place to rest? How can I tell my new buddy not to waste his precious energy trying to get to the hospital only to find it locked up tight?

I start running back up the street pounding on doors, but nobody hears me. Office building - closed! Library - locked tight! Another hospital - barricaded to the 2nd floor windows... Finally as I'm about to fall down from shear exhaustion, with all my remaining strength and a stark memory of the poor dead guy in the street, I heave against the door of the Conolly Row Fire Station... and it opens! I come stumbling in and see a shivering huddle of scared humans in the corner. It looks like everyone is tired and weak and haven't had a good night's sleep in forever. Nobody speaks as I go over to an empty corner and collapse. Before dozing off I send a quick warning to my almost partner telling him that the agreed upon hospital meeting place was no longer an option, to instead try to find me in the fire station. Then I crashed... Later in the day my new partner showed up at the fire-station. I tried not to show my surprise that he had survived the streets during the long journey... We discussed a plan of action and I told him while he got caught up on sleep in the morning I'd scout out some nearby hospitals I'd heard about. By night-time there were 12 or 15 scared and lonely survivors that found their way to our little fire-station beacon in the night. I tried not to think about what a good feast we would make to a bunch of hungry zombies as I dozed off...

30/07/2013 - The search for a bandaid and a little bit of cream.

In the morning I felt good! I was charged up (at least half-way!) and while I was waiting for my partner to get caught up on rest I studied my map. There were about 6 or 7 hospitals over in Crowbank and Edgecombe I could probably reach before dark and one of them was rumored to be minimally barricaded. I took off. After a week of living on the streets, I now take mental note of every abandoned building or burned out church that I might be able to duck into to rest up if I can't make it back to my fire-station by dark. The 1st hospital I got to was locked up tight, so was the 2nd and the 3rd which turned out to be the one that I'd heard was open. A little disappointed, I took measure of my rations and calculated I could still make it to the rest of the hospitals on my list before needing to rest. The 4th one didn't have any lights on, but I noticed the barricades were knocked down a little near a side window. That's the best sign I'd seen all day so I start crawling over the rubble and to my great surprise I find I can squeeze my way in!

I explore around a little in the darkened passage-ways and find enough stuff to put together a first-aid kit. This will work, I thought to myself. I get a quick message off to my partner explaining how to find the hospital I'm in and then I start exploring in earnest. Another first-aid kit! I'm feeling rich in bandages about now and am thinking that our plan might actually work! As I start to open a door labeled SUPPLIES I bump into a girl coming out, arms loaded with bandages. We both jump back a little and then laugh... She's a medical student with striking shoulder length red hair, greenish eyes and ghostly pale skin and from the pistols she's packing it is obvious that she's been around for awhile. We start to talk...

She confirms that our plan of healing to gain experience is a good one. It may be our ONLY hope... My new partner is a Consumer Specialist -- he was a Buyer for a large chain of stores and his expertise is in Shopping. Until we develop enough skill on the streets to be able to make our way in to a Mall or some of the other buildings stocked with supplies, neither he nor I really have much choice besides helping take care of the sick and injured while we build up experience. However, this helpful angel from above, tells me about a much better location to gain our experience. There is a Medical School still in operation no more than 2 days journey from here. There she tells me we can receive training and guidance while we develop our skills. There is also protection in numbers there provided by those with much more experience that we have. It sounds like a downright paradise compared to the ruined slums we've been trying to survive in. I take down detailed notes on which neighborhoods we need to travel through and where we can find this Medical School of Greenwood.

Now we have a plan -- a good plan I think and the future is looking up! Thank you so much, dear medical student with shoulder length red hair, green eyes and ghostly pale skin. I hope to survive long enough in this cursed city to one day pay it forward to others wandering in the dark. After a bit more stocking up on supplies, we both sit down to rest up a little knowing that outside everyone needs all the energy they can get.

31/07/2013 - Making a difference in this un-world.

Ready for a full day, I got up with the sun. I immediately headed to the far back-side of the hospital to start searching in earnest for the life-preserving First-aid Kit. Before mid-day I had gathered enough stuff to make 4 First-aid Kits and I returned to the group up front to share my good luck. They were looking out a window over-seeing the street at a groaning man in the street about a block over. He didn't look like a zombie, but he was definitely hurt. I headed out with my bandages to give him a hand and before it was all done, I had used up 3 First-aid Kits healing this poor man. I headed back in the hospital feeling a little more pumped up. I think this new plan might work out after all... I rest up a bit before continuing my search for bandages. I can tell I'm gonna need a lot of 'em.

01/08/2013 - Journey to the promised land.

My Shopper bud and I both rested up so we could stock up on First-aid Kits and be in much better shape for our long journey to Malton College of Medicine in Greentown. Things seemed to be going swell... then boom! Out of nowhere an infected civi walked in and promptly died. He lept back up as a zombie and immediately trashed our genset before anyone could do anything. This seemed too much of a coincidence -- surely this was all part of an evil trick. Just as quickly as the zombie appeared he ran out (okay, he shambled out at a fast pace...) We all sat there in the dark for a bit trying to think about where we could find a new genset. I think the med student with shoulder length red hair, green eyes and ghostly pale skin, must have some made a call to her connections, because in pretty short order some helpful fellow ran in with a genset, fueled it up, and then without a word he left. I made a note to myself to try to find one of those DSS Satellite Phones. So in our well-lit hospital we started to search for First-aid kits and then boom... again! That pesky zed walked in again as an infected human on his last HP and then died inside right next to our genset. He popped right back up and destroyed the genset... We rested up in the dark and made plans to head over to the nearest hospital that was rumored to have lights on and be open to newbies...

02/08/2013 - First day of class at MCM.

In the morning we planned our journey to travel to Alphege General Hospital about 1/2 day's journal through these cursed streets. It is rumored to be well lit and be open to newbies. We figure that is our best chance to find First-aid Kits which are so vital to our survival. After carefully calculating our rations to include just enough to get there and maybe a little extra in case we take a wrong turn, we head out. In each block we take note of what is open, what is closed - we should be in good shape if we need to make a hasty retreat. Late in the day we make it to Alphege General... but it is tightly barricaded. We can hear people inside but they don't hear our shouting... I'm am out of energy, but my partner thinks he can go on a bit further, so I give him directions to the School of Medicine and he goes on to scout out how it looks. I tell him I'll rest up enough to get there and then I'll follow.

Later that afternoon I got up feeling a little refreshed -- I think I can make it as far as the medical school. I go for it. As I get closer to the main campus I can see that lights are on in the main hospital building. Skeptical, I walk up to the front door and... I'm in! Wow! There is a crowd of people there, but I'm exhausted from the journey to get there and simply find a quiet corner to rest up after finding my Shopper buddy. At one point someone mentioned there was an injured person outside, so I got up and used 2 of my First-aid Kits patching them up -- I invited them to join us in St. George's Hospital where it would be much safer and then returned to the safety of the hospital, where I fell asleep dreaming about my new career as a healer.

Sometime in the middle of the night I'm startled by a noise and wake up to find my Shopper buddy... dead. There is a bloody zombie standing over his lifeless body. We've been breached! I swing my axe at the undead bastard and connect! He doesn't move, but he doesn't seem to be able to fight any more either. I quickly survey the room and don't see any more zombies. Everyone seems to be sleeping and unaware of what has just happened. Then one by one I see more zombies coming in the front door! I'm not very good at fighting yet, so I start searching for First-aid kits. I've got a feeling we're going to need a lot of them. When I get back with 2 FAKs, I see that some of the stronger folks with weapons have started "killing" zombies with knife attacks and pistols. I heal a couple of wounded and run off to find more FAKs. When I got back there were more zombies (maybe 8 or 9?) and one of the doctors was dead on the floor. I use up the bandages I found on some of the wounded -- several were infected already. Soon there were 15 zombies inside and they were scrambling in faster than we could rebuild barricades... Boom! Someone with a shotgun killed another, and finally one of the more experienced scientists hollers, "Abandon Ship!". I was bleeding from a zombie bite and it felt infected. I scramble back to the supply closet to rustle up one more FAK before fleeing along with the rest of the survivors and use one on myself to get rid of the infection. Eventually I find my way to the dorms for the Malton School of Medicine and get inside. I see most of the survivors from the earlier battle are already there so I slump into a corner to rest up, horrified by the night's events.

03/08/2013 - Rude wakeup in the dorms.

I don't know how long I slept, but I woke up to someone screaming, "He's a spy! He's a spy!" What!? Some ex-military type obviously hyped-up on drugs is pointing a shotgun at my head. I see a name-tag on his tattered Monkey Cap that says something like... BOOM! He shoots me in the gut. I can only gasp, but my eyes are fixed on his name... Pos... jelly? Positively Jelly? Posi-lube? Posijam!? Is that French for errand-boy? BOOM! I can hardly believe that I survived an all night battle with zombies in the hospital to be killed by some idiot with a gun... BOOM! Poooossssiiii-luuuuuuubbbbbe... you bastardddd... BOOM! I don't even feel any pain. Surely this hurts like hell... <BOOM!>

04/08/2013 - Bang-bang Mah Bra!nz... Banazhm!n. Hangra mah zambah.

I woke with a dull hunger. Brrrg!ng HARRRRR!!!' Barggrh... I shambled upon a Harman and Hhan mah Habbanan grabz mah bra!nz so naturally Habgannah habbah Hangrah... I gained 10 XP before Mrh-manz g!bz maH zambah. G!zz-G!zz! Bah-bah, mah zambah brazzaz. Mah zambah am ganna ganna zzzz.

Crap! That hurts! <***THROB!***> I've got a freakin' migraine that won't stop. <***THROB!***> I could do nothing but lay down in the dirt for half a day waiting for it to pass just so I could see straight. That Pussy-lube idiot. When I get stronger he'd better watch out or I might just put an extra hole in that silly monkey-cap... When I could finally standup without getting dizzy I got my bearings and headed back towards the college to see what happened. Before I even got to the MCM dorms I saw bodies of friends littering the streets. The hospital was ruined. Folks that were selflessly healing the wounded just days before were now just rotting corpses feeding the maggots. Bye-bye MCM friends. Thank you for the kindness and short lessons in healing. I rested up a bit before deciding to head south. Perhaps I can find some First-aid Kits to heal the nasty gash I've got on mah arm. I need to find a safe place to sleep before it gets dark so I heave myself afoot and am off again...

05/08/2013 - The Mall and Medical City!

As I wander through west Greentown and South Blythville, I came across Marven Mall. This was the first mall I've encountered that was open and curiosity got the better of me. I found a way inside and was shocked at the mess. The place had been looted for what appeared to be ages. There were a bunch of survivors inside running from store to store with backpacks full of clothing and sporting goods. I even saw two guys carrying a big-screen TV. I spied an unopened bottle of Negra Modelo beer and packed it away. It was not the time nor the place. I was a bit nervous with so many crazed strangers running about, so I stick with my plan and quickly left the mall heading south.

In Dartside I find not just 1 or 2, but 7 hospitals! I finally settle down in St. Faustina's Hospital smack dab in the middle of Medical City right before dark. If this place works out, I think I'll stick around here and really load up on First-aid Kits. That seems to be my main ticket for gaining experience in this cursed city... I find a dark room without any windows, far away from the street and crouch in a corner to rest -- totally exhausted from the day's long journey. I want to be well rested so tomorrow I can spend the entire day searching for supplies. I doze off thinking of silly monkey caps and shotguns....

06/08/2013 - Back to School.

I spent the full day searching for First-aid Kits and loaded up my backpack with about 20 of them. I figured that should be enough to last me for awhile and by the time I used up all the bandages, I should know enough about healing folks to be able to be able to provide a more informed Diagnosis. At the very least that will make me a much more efficient healer. After taking one more long refreshing nap, I headed out, taking to the streets to try to find injured folks I could help. I encountered nothing but a few zombies swaying back and forth and eventually found my way back to the Malton College of Medicine. There I did find one fellow on a gurney in the hospital hallway about half-dead. I did what I could to help him before heading back to the dorms to see how my ex- almost alumni fared the ferocious zombie battle days earlier. I was happy to find almost everyone had been revived and life seemed back to "normal" (whatever that means these days!) I told everyone I had a bunch of medical supplies from down south and then settled in for a long overdue nap.

10/08/2013 - In the bloody trenches

I spent a few days just bandaging up the wounded that straggled in to the St. George's Hospital and pretty soon I could just look at someone and tell how badly injured they were. That really made a difference in my ability to wisely use my first-aid supplies. When not spending time working on the wounded, I practiced my fighting skills in the courtyard and actually started getting better with my axe. Now I can hit my target about 25% of the time -- much better than only 10% of the time! Things were motoring along pretty smoothly until some crazy guy in a police uniform snuck in to the MCM Dorms and started shooting the place up screaming incoherently about "Terrorists! Terrorists!". In the mayhem, I caught some bullets. Too many, I fear... I don't have enough bandages to stop the bleeding... Oh, now this does hurt. I think I need to lay down for a bit and when the hurt goes away I'll try to patch it up later...