I don’t post very often, but I wanted to share the story of my latest character.
His name is Trevor the Survival Man.
Before the Cataclysm, Trevor was an ugly hobo. Now, Trevor is a hobo who hides his ugliness behind a gas mask and also yells a lot.
Started in an evac shelter, with two towns a short distance away and a small city within striking distance to the north. Nestled in a clearing between the city and some woods to the east was a public works. Perfect spot for a long-term base, I thought. There’s a pool about a five-minute walk away… yeah, that’s good. Actually, I later found an anthill not too far to the west, which I was so happy about. Ant meat is on the menu.
Before checking that out, I decided to check out yet another point of interest: a refugee center. I set out with my NPC follower in tow. I was lucky to have her. She had a shotgun. I had a crowbar. We raided a small town on the way. One of the first things I found was a hip flask. Perfect. Now I won’t have to carry around this bottle of whiskey.
I made it to the refugee center and chatted with the Old Guard representative. He asked me to hunt down a bandit. The bandit’s location glitched (perhaps fortunately) and he spawned in the room with us. My follower dispatched him. The representative who contracted me did not help. I guess he didn’t really want him dead that bad. I took the bandit’s peashooter: a .32 revolver, along with ammo and a fitting kevlar vest. A little cheesy, perhaps, but I took the loot.
Then it was time to head north and take the public works. I walked confidently into the city in broad daylight. My goal was to liberate most of the southern part of the city, so looting and passing between the public works and the southern road would be easier, and to train my meager combat skills. My follower and I fought together. We fought a small mob and looted a few houses. I hit an antique store and found a cutlass. Awesome. My character was now totally set up for success. That’s what made it especially devastating when I decided to check the pool on our way, and found an absolute disaster. There were at least 8 swimmers, and exactly 2 snappers. I knew we couldn’t win this fight, so I high-tailed it out. My follower wasn’t quite as smart and stayed behind to get chewed on. I ran into a house. My follower’s shotgun blasts turned the pool party into an entire-neighborhood party. Great. Looks like it’s time to use a tried and true survival tactic: burn down the house and escape out the other side.
And, with that, the battle of South Horriston (I name cities and towns for ~role-playing~ purposes) was over. Follower was KIA. I didn’t find her shotgun, so I assume she died in the fire. I don’t remember her name, but I wouldn’t have made it without her. I sauntered over to the public works, took out a few zombies, and set up shop. The garage was a treasure trove: a mounted rig, welder, acetylene torch, goggles, scissor jack. Basically everything but a hacksaw. I also found a solar panel, a metal tank, an engine, and a minifridge. 
Since I took the place I’ve named it the Happy Survival Garage & Plantation. One of the first things I did in my new base was kick the alcohol addiction. It was almost fun with the hip flask, though. I would like to do a blood filter + alcoholism game, but I just can’t stand the constant hallucinations, man. During withdrawal I boarded windows and tilled soil. Afterwards I got mechanics up to 4 by reading and working on an old van I found outside the base. Next project was building a water tank, purifier, and getting the fridge set up. I started raiding and found something interesting: a TON of homes in Horriston have grow-ops in the basement! Was there some sort of drug ring in this town before the Cataclysm? Also, where are all the smoker zombies? So now I have a big old pot farm.
It’s now summer. Found some nice implants, including my favorite, joint-torsion. I installed a kitchen unit. I’m collecting food, working on the van, reading, and wondering what I did right to get the coolest start to a game of Cataclysm I’ve ever had. I’m also wondering how much marijuana goes for over at the refugee center.
