On surviving, I usually throw rocks. like 2-5 at a time depending on however much volume I can have. Usually for a single zombie it takes many runs around, picking up new rocks to kill it. Gradually I kill them, until I can access a house. The house will usually have the necessary drinks, and maybe clothes (now zombies drop clothes so a hoodie and a second pair of jeans are useful until you can get storage bags).
I probably scum the point system a bit, I pick a LOT of negative traits (12 points worth AND smoker, though I get ugly and the other which are a bit degenerate) and start with high stats, no skills.
Butcher every corpse you see, preferably with a steak knife you find in a house. After you get backpacks (two preferably), you can start unwearing clothes. Then I start sewing a bit, kill and butcher things, until I can find enough bottles for water (like 5-6) and start being a little self-sufficient (heavy sticks from smashing windows or two-by-fours from furniture can be cut with a knife to produce 12 skewers, usually good for 2-4 meats/waters).
A sling can help a lot for ranged attacks. I usually have like 4+ throwing by the time I switch from rocks to pebbles, but you can start earlier to get it earlier (rocks have 100% chance to survive being thrown though, pebbles 0, so rocks have a strong advantage at higher levels, depending on the circumstances and patience).
Much of my early game is spent levelling up survival, throwing, archery (and firearms which is kinda overpowered) by these methods. I found arrows were useful since guns are usually further in, and I feel like using bullets on rabbits, squirrels etc is a bit of a waste, but I progress through the game slowly (most things recommend rushing a gun shop and going berzerk).
To purify water you need a pot or pan. If you’re unfortunate to find one, you can usually survive long enough to get survival to I think 3 which is when you can make a stone pot.
On vehicles, you just eventually look for a garage or parking lot which is likely to have a working vehicle, or you take a lot of patience checking all the vehicles for a working engine/tank (I was lucky enough to find an electric vehicle) and then swap wheels, if you’re lucky, with another car. I recommend an electric car if possible, they recharge on their own and if you can slap them with enough panels/batteries they last longer and charge faster than you ever need to worry about waiting. Be sure to check ALL car parts, if the controls are smashed, you’ll need a welder, which may not be findable if there’s no garages nearby.
If you find a car which can be salvaged and has a trunk, I recommend saving all flashlights, radios, etc, since they have batteries for welding (very expensive battery wise, but you use it to beef up the car) and raising the electronics skill by dissembling them. If you can, don’t use flashlights or batteries, glowsticks can be used to read at night if your character doesn’t want to sleep (reading is NECESSARY to raise skills at a good pace). A lightstrip can be used instead of nightvision, can be made from ripping apart enough radios and flashlights.
Once you get going, you’ll find many resources can be skipped because you’ll find them commonly enough or in big piles (only one set of tools, save batteries but not wires from ripping stuff apart).
If you can, leave shocker zombie corpses until you have a good survival level. They sometimes have CBMs which can greatly enhance your character.
Most drugs take up 0 space and 0 weight, so stock up, and if you need to, drink some soda, take some meth, RUN RUN RUN. Under most circumstances, don’t engage in melee, and if you’re damaged, treat bleeding and cauterize wounds. Take notice of messages and wait for drugs to kick in, it will keep you from making bad mistakes.
