Diaries From Day Z: Day Four

When I logged back in for my fourth day in Day Z, it was dark. Another pitch black night that had me awkwardly juggling a flashlight and a Lee Enfield rifle, unable to use them both at the same time. I was stoked about the Lee Enfield, but it doesn't do much good when you can't see what you're shooting at. Either way, I had enough firepower for self-defense, but was still in need of other supplies, so I set my sights on some nearby factory buildings. Inside, I found a bunch of machinery and equipment for repairing cars -- completely useless to me.

I went up the stairs onto the upper-level catwalks and found a hunting knife, good for cutting up meat from animals. If only I had some matches to start a fire, I might be set. Feeling fairly content with that find, I headed back for ground level and stepped outside, ready to search the next building. There were still a lot of zombies around, so I had to be careful; the darkness would make it easier for me to sneak past them, but it would be much harder to defend myself if one saw me. With my flashlight drawn (zombies don't seem to notice the light), I slowly crept to the next building, holding my breath as unseen zombies moaned and snarled alarmingly close to me. And then I heard the sounds of a helicopter approaching.

I started looking around, surprised that I was even hearing a helicopter at all -- I'd never seen one before and didn't even know they were part of the game. The stars were out so I could see the sky pretty well, and as I looked around, the helicopter continued to grow louder and louder. Before long, I saw it approaching from behind me and watched as it flew directly overhead. It kept going for a few seconds, and then dropped a series of bombs on the nearby coast. The explosions reached high in the sky, and suddenly I realized I had my flashlight on the whole time -- maybe the helicopter had seen my light and would be coming back around to get me.

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I looked around with the light long enough to find a small tool shed, then turned it off and moved as quickly and as silently as I could for cover. I got inside, closed the door, equipped my Lee Enfield, and sat in the corner, listening. There was the usual shuffle and occasional moan of nearby zombies, but everything was dark to me. I could see the treeline against the night sky out of one window, but both doors to the shed were completely enshrouded in darkness, and I couldn't even see my own rifle. That's when I heard the soft, growling, distorted voice call out to me: "I see you."

Immediately I spun in place, frantically searching the darkness, wondering if there was something inside the shed with me. It sounded like it could've been a zombie, but I had never heard zombies speak before and wondered if maybe it was a nearby bandit trying to scare me. I couldn't see anything, and could only hear the usual shuffling noises outside. Then I heard it again: "I see you." Assuming it was outside, I tried to aim my rifle at the doors, having no idea exactly where they were, hoping maybe I could shoot whatever it was if it tried to enter. For a brief second I considered turning my light on, but then I worried about giving away position through the windows. In a confused panic, heart racing uncontrollably, I logged out.

When I came back a few hours later, I picked a different server and saw it was daylight. Time to move out from these industrial buildings in search of some houses. I headed up the road, keeping to the woods and out of sight. As I approached the next outpost, I noticed my hunger gauge was turning red; food was now my top priority for this place. After searching a few houses, I only managed to find ammunition and soda. I followed a road leading out from the village heading north, hoping to find a farm; ten minutes later I came upon a derelict power station crawling with zombies, my hunger gauge blinking red, steadily losing blood from my hunger.

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Desperate, I started killing every zombie in sight, hoping one of them was carrying some canned goods. I ran out of ammo for my rifle and had to switch to my Makarov pistol, taking damage from zombies in the process. A dozen kills later, I bandaged my wounds and started looting the corpses -- not one can of beans, pasta, or sardines. I ran up the road in search of the next outpost, occasionally collapsing from exhaustion, and soon fell over dead.

I respawned on the coast near Elektro, one of the two main cities. I'd never been into a large city before -- I'd only ever looted the outskirts -- because I'd heard you were more likely to encounter bandits inside the cities, hoping to kill people seeking rare supplies in the hospitals and supermarkets. Seeing as I had just spawned and had nothing to lose, I figured I may as well go and investigate. I went into a large building and came away with quite a good haul -- a watch, a map, two water canteens, a much larger backpack, matches, binoculars, various types of ammo, and a M1911 pistol with three clips.

This is the most survival gear I've ever had at one time, so I'm now feeling an intense desire to get out of the city alive. I went downstairs, planning to leave the way I came in, and spotted a tent set up in the hallway -- something that wasn't there when I came in. Someone else was in the building. I toggled the ironsights on my pistol and started slowly creeping back up the stairs onto the first landing. As I turned to look up the stairway, I saw a crouched survivor run by. I kept my gun pointed up the stairs; he came back around the corner, looking right at me -- I don't know what weapon he was carrying, but he was armed.

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I held my fire, intending to announce myself as friendly, waiting to see what he would do. We stared at each other for three or four seconds, and then he shot me. My screen flashed, all the color drained from view, and everything went blurry -- I was very close to death. Instinctively, I squeezed off a half-dozen shots aimed right at the guy's face and he fell to the floor dead. I then collapsed from the sudden blood loss, immobilized for 20 seconds while I continued bleeding to death. Once I regained control, I bandaged my wounds, now at less than 10% total health, and went to loot the other guy's corpse, taking all of his food, water, ammunition, bandages, and his weapon.

While I was digging through the dead guy's loot, another survivor came around the corner at the top of the stairs and shot me dead, before I could even close the inventory screen. So much for my sweet haul.