Game Areas Index
Seeking some measure of safety from the infected some have taken to living beside the oceans and seas. Thanks to the closeness of the water, these places see the fewest infected.
The survivors must endure the trials of living so close to open water, and keep a watchful eye for infected willing to risk exposure to water spray and heavy moisture in the air in hopes of a meal. If infected do appear, the survivors keep their boats loaded for a quick escape. Many live on their boats, and only go ashore for fresh water and hunting.
If they must take to the waters to escape and relocate their temporary camps, they are careful not to land where infected are visible or radiation levels are too high. Thanks to the nuclear barrage of the east and west coasts, many areas are unsafe. They must often travel for days before being able to land.
A few small islands have been cleared of infected, but not many. These islands never had large populations, and that fact has not changed. There current survivor populations fiercely guard them against interlopers who would take what they've taken back. The only other option for a short rest are large sandbars found near the coastlines, but these are only temporary and storms often wash them under.
The larger islands are too often infested by trapped infected who cannot reach the mainland for food. They are forever surrounded by water. The one thing they try to avoid contact with above all else.
If the survivors pass close enough, they can often hear the infected howling in pain from the spray of ocean waves breaking on rocky shorelines, and the frustration of being unable to reach prey.
You would think these trapped infected would eventually starve, but they never seem to, and it makes you wonder just what they might be eating to survive. One hopes they're eating each other, but no one knows for sure.
The survivors must endure the trials of living so close to open water, and keep a watchful eye for infected willing to risk exposure to water spray and heavy moisture in the air in hopes of a meal. If infected do appear, the survivors keep their boats loaded for a quick escape. Many live on their boats, and only go ashore for fresh water and hunting.
If they must take to the waters to escape and relocate their temporary camps, they are careful not to land where infected are visible or radiation levels are too high. Thanks to the nuclear barrage of the east and west coasts, many areas are unsafe. They must often travel for days before being able to land.
A few small islands have been cleared of infected, but not many. These islands never had large populations, and that fact has not changed. There current survivor populations fiercely guard them against interlopers who would take what they've taken back. The only other option for a short rest are large sandbars found near the coastlines, but these are only temporary and storms often wash them under.
The larger islands are too often infested by trapped infected who cannot reach the mainland for food. They are forever surrounded by water. The one thing they try to avoid contact with above all else.
If the survivors pass close enough, they can often hear the infected howling in pain from the spray of ocean waves breaking on rocky shorelines, and the frustration of being unable to reach prey.
You would think these trapped infected would eventually starve, but they never seem to, and it makes you wonder just what they might be eating to survive. One hopes they're eating each other, but no one knows for sure.
Those cities not nuked in desperation to stop the spread of the virus are now in ruin. The infected walk the streets and underground tunnel systems. Five star hotels and restaurants are a thing of the past, and the few uninfected who still call these cities home are constantly hunted.
Within some of these cities are shelters. Not all are open to everyone, but some allow the trade of items for a few hours or days rest, medical care, or other things of worth. Money has no value anymore. You can't eat it. You might be able to burn the paper to start a fire, or melt down coins to make a weapon, but otherwise it has no worth in this new, savage world.
If a city has a shelter or other human settlement, it will be in a building on the upper floors. The lower floors will be sealed, usually as high as the third or fourth floor. There may even be groups of infected surrounding the building.
How do people travel in the cities these days, without regular and abundant electricity, subways, and taxis? They must walk. Moving from one building to another by use of makeshift bridges built of rope, wood, or whatever else they can manage to scavenge. In most areas, street level is inaccessible.
Water is mostly supplied by catching rain water, or traded for if one is willing to risk trying to reach a trade center to get it. What food can be grown inside or on roof tops is cultivated, and pigeons and other birds that were once such an annoyance to city dwellers have become a normal part of meals. It's a hard life now, and a dangerous one, but a few hearty souls refuse to give up their cities.
People used to worry about muggers, murderers, and rapists. Now they worry more about the infected.
Within some of these cities are shelters. Not all are open to everyone, but some allow the trade of items for a few hours or days rest, medical care, or other things of worth. Money has no value anymore. You can't eat it. You might be able to burn the paper to start a fire, or melt down coins to make a weapon, but otherwise it has no worth in this new, savage world.
If a city has a shelter or other human settlement, it will be in a building on the upper floors. The lower floors will be sealed, usually as high as the third or fourth floor. There may even be groups of infected surrounding the building.
How do people travel in the cities these days, without regular and abundant electricity, subways, and taxis? They must walk. Moving from one building to another by use of makeshift bridges built of rope, wood, or whatever else they can manage to scavenge. In most areas, street level is inaccessible.
Water is mostly supplied by catching rain water, or traded for if one is willing to risk trying to reach a trade center to get it. What food can be grown inside or on roof tops is cultivated, and pigeons and other birds that were once such an annoyance to city dwellers have become a normal part of meals. It's a hard life now, and a dangerous one, but a few hearty souls refuse to give up their cities.
People used to worry about muggers, murderers, and rapists. Now they worry more about the infected.
Despite the risk of attack, some have taken to a nomadic lifestyle in the wild lands. They prefer to take their chances out in the open, where they can move and possibly escape, instead of being surrounded by structures where they believe they be might be trapped.
In the wilds they hunt as their ancestors did, live in temporary settlements that can be moved quickly, and hope the infected will not find them in numbers too large for them to deal with or outrun.
Many of these nomads are of native American heritage, and what they had not been taught or forgotten during their time in the white world, they are now learning or relearning. If they survive, what they know will be passed down to their children, as their grandparents and great-grandparents once taught their children.
Many of these groups are mixed and have former military, country folk, and even preppers. People who know how to live off the land, how to hunt, fish, and have other skills of value to people living as nomads.
Much of the human world is returning to nature. Roads are not always so clear anymore. Plants have invaded deeply into the now untended world of man. Vines are beginning to climb the tall skyscrapers. Grass and shrubs grow in the middle of streets, roads, and bridges. Nature is taking back what was taken from her with a vengeance.
Animals are in places they haven't been for generations. Deer, bear, boar, and others walking down the streets of major cities. The homes where man once lived now provide shelter for such creatures as raccoons, skunks, and even wolves. Others have made a place for themselves in the once busy subways and underground tunnels of town and city infrastructure. The world of man is being wiped away and overgrown around the world.
In the wilds they hunt as their ancestors did, live in temporary settlements that can be moved quickly, and hope the infected will not find them in numbers too large for them to deal with or outrun.
Many of these nomads are of native American heritage, and what they had not been taught or forgotten during their time in the white world, they are now learning or relearning. If they survive, what they know will be passed down to their children, as their grandparents and great-grandparents once taught their children.
Many of these groups are mixed and have former military, country folk, and even preppers. People who know how to live off the land, how to hunt, fish, and have other skills of value to people living as nomads.
Much of the human world is returning to nature. Roads are not always so clear anymore. Plants have invaded deeply into the now untended world of man. Vines are beginning to climb the tall skyscrapers. Grass and shrubs grow in the middle of streets, roads, and bridges. Nature is taking back what was taken from her with a vengeance.
Animals are in places they haven't been for generations. Deer, bear, boar, and others walking down the streets of major cities. The homes where man once lived now provide shelter for such creatures as raccoons, skunks, and even wolves. Others have made a place for themselves in the once busy subways and underground tunnels of town and city infrastructure. The world of man is being wiped away and overgrown around the world.
Early on these surviving settlements saw the direction things were going, and were able to take steps to protect themselves. High walls were hastily built out of whatever was available. Shipping containers were a favorite building material for those able to get them. Wide, deep ditches were dug and filled with water, or if not enough water was available, spikes and anything else to help protect those within the settlement.
Many employed the help of people like the Amish, and with their help, learned to live without many modern conveniences. They learned to grow food in protected areas, to care for livestock, and other things. People who were once looked on as odd, became the saviors of their modern neighbors. In doing so, they have earned a much larger measure of respect from everyone for their way of life, and the selfless compassion and generosity showed those neighbors.
Some communities, sealed themselves off completely. These communities became more or less cults, and are unwelcoming of anyone outside of their own community. They're fanatical in their beliefs that any outsider is a risk to them, and usually practice a shoot first ask questions later policy toward outsiders who come too close.
Others became places of commerce. Places where a person can trade skills or goods for a night's rest, or some other need. Most take much, but give little for what they ask, and live off of the misfortune and desperation of others. Some even serve as bases of operation for raiders.
There are a few good settlements that deal fairly with people, but these are not as many as there should be, and even they are well guarded against hostile strangers.
In their desperation to control the spread of the virus, some governments opted to use nuclear weaponry on heavily infected areas of their own countries. Nuclear countries also received requests from their non-nuclear neighbors to target areas within their countries as well. All their efforts were futile. The virus and the infected continued to spread.
On the North American continent Canada's military and main government was overrun quicker than anyone would have believed possible. In desperation, the citizens who were unable to be evacuated requested the nuclear bombing of Toronto, Montreal, Portland, Halifax, Saint John, and Kingston from their American neighbors. With great regret, America answered their pleas and nuked the cities. Despite the sacrifice, it did little to nothing to help them.
In it's own country, America tactically nuked Philadelphi and Harrisburg PA, Houston TX, Phoenix AZ, Seattle WA, Atlanta GA, Jacksonville and Orlando Fla, San Francisco and San Diego CA were all nuked.
In Mexico the US military nuked Mexico City, Tijuana, Chichuahua, and Zapopan, at the request of the Mexican government. As with Canada, it was a futile attempt.
Despite the devastation caused by the nukes, the infection continued to spread. Around the world, countless people died by fire and radiation, and still the number of infected grew.
Now, where people once found cities, they often find radioactive wastelands. Places better skirted around, rather than passed through. If they must be passed through, it's best to do it quickly, and have a radiation detector to help avoid the most heavily contaminated areas.
Between the radiation levels in some areas, acid rain clouds, and the infected, some wonder how anyone has managed to survive so far, or if humankind will ultimately fall to this new hostile world he must now call home.
On the North American continent Canada's military and main government was overrun quicker than anyone would have believed possible. In desperation, the citizens who were unable to be evacuated requested the nuclear bombing of Toronto, Montreal, Portland, Halifax, Saint John, and Kingston from their American neighbors. With great regret, America answered their pleas and nuked the cities. Despite the sacrifice, it did little to nothing to help them.
In it's own country, America tactically nuked Philadelphi and Harrisburg PA, Houston TX, Phoenix AZ, Seattle WA, Atlanta GA, Jacksonville and Orlando Fla, San Francisco and San Diego CA were all nuked.
In Mexico the US military nuked Mexico City, Tijuana, Chichuahua, and Zapopan, at the request of the Mexican government. As with Canada, it was a futile attempt.
Despite the devastation caused by the nukes, the infection continued to spread. Around the world, countless people died by fire and radiation, and still the number of infected grew.
Now, where people once found cities, they often find radioactive wastelands. Places better skirted around, rather than passed through. If they must be passed through, it's best to do it quickly, and have a radiation detector to help avoid the most heavily contaminated areas.
Between the radiation levels in some areas, acid rain clouds, and the infected, some wonder how anyone has managed to survive so far, or if humankind will ultimately fall to this new hostile world he must now call home.
Hidden away around the continent are shelters for survivors. They vary in type and size. Some serve as temporary stops. Others are more permanent. With the collapse of government, each is controlled by a different group. Some more civilized than others.
Shelters in the remaining cities are usually set up on the higher floors, with the ground level being sealed and all access to the above floors sealed. It's well known the infected are very poor climbers. The higher one can get, the safer they will be from attack.
Rural areas have opted more for walls and ditches filled with water, or islands in the middle or lakes and rivers. Shipping containers have found a new life. Stacked in a L formation, two wide on the bottom and two high on the outside, they become a formidable barrier against attack. Some have also dug the ground in front of the shipping container wall and filled the lower, outer containers with the dirt. The ditch is then filled with water or some other form of defense, such as long spikes.
Not all shelters are open to all people. Some are community based, and open only to people of their community. Others, may allow a person to visit for a time for a price, usually items of trade their group can use to better their own survival.