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Somewhere in Westpoint Kentucky, A man roughly in his thirties staggers down a road littered in corpses and trash. He's addled in bites, his face and chest covered in blood and his right arm hung by a thread. His hair was dark brown and short, and clean shaven. He wore a blue sweater over a white dress shirt, black slacks, and dress shoes. He shuffled idly along his way before turning to a man on a nearby roof that caught his eye, holding a camera. The cameraman stared wide-eyed in pure terror as the bloodied man raised his good arm as if to wave and approached. The cameraman tried his best to keep from shaking as he tried to take a picture. The slip ejected from the port on the bottom and he took it out and set it aside, taking the time to snap a few more for good measure. Once the cameraman was sure he had a clear photo in the assortment he took, he quickly headed off before the looming threat drew too close. For Ross Barkley of Osawatomie Kansas, it started before the beginning. A typical Sunday morning on June 20th, 1993, he was startled awake by an alarm he set the day prior for 4AM. He looked around to find himself in his bed by the time he turned it off. Afterward, Ross laid back, staring at the ceiling and taking a moment to breathe before quickly realizing all it was doing was lulling him back to sleep. Ross sat up and wiped the tired feeling from his eyes before making his way to the bathroom. He began brushing his teeth before shaving and trimming his Auburn red beard. After peering at himself in the mirror, he proceeded to shower and get dressed. Once dried off and clothed, he rounded up his luggage and left his house. He began putting everything away in the trunk before climbing into the driver's seat. With the key in the ignition and the truck roaring to a start, he quickly made his way to Chalmer’s for breakfast. "Hi, welcome to Chalmers, what can I get you?" A woman's voice echos through the intercom in a chipper tone. "Yeah, uh... Lemme get one of your breakfast hams, one loaded breakfast burrito and a large coffee." Ross asks after taking a moment to look over the menu. "That you, Ross?" The voice asked after a brief pause, recognising her regular customer. "Yup. Heading outta town, wanted to get breakfast." Ross said with a chuckle and a slight nod. "Alrighty then, that'll be Three seventy-six at the window." The voice replied. Ross pulled up and a plump young woman with dark hair and brown eyes opened the window with a smile. "Hey Donna." He said. "Hey!" The woman replied, taking Ross' cash and handing over his change, “So where ya headed?" "Kentucky,” he starts, “visitin' my brother and his family this year for the Fourth." "Oh yeah?" Donna asked, her grin becoming wider, "Sounds like a lot of fun!" "Want me to bring you something?" Ross asked. "Sure, surprise me!" Donna says, "here's your meal now, you drive safe!" She added before handing Ross a bag containing his meal and waving goodbye to him. "I will, See ya 'round!" Ross said before driving off toward the main road, eventually merging onto it until his next eventual exit. Ross followed along the highway for a few hours, watching the hills and trees roll by, cattle grazing in their fields, along with acres of wheat and corn. As he went between cities, the landscape changed to a more dense woodland. Along the way, he even spotted a doe crossing the street with its fawn. As he drew closer to Kansas City, the scenery changed to a more urban setting. The cars became more frequent, and he began to see more and more houses with smaller plots of land. The towers came into view with the bridge, lit brightly over the dim morning sky. He exited the highway and drove to the airport. After parking, he made his way in to find boarding. The building bustled with people coming in and out of town, their loved ones, and even a few soldiers changing station. Since he had multiple bags, he had to stop to drop his luggage off before going through TSA. The process was swift, all things considered and he went to his terminal where he waited for boarding. As he did so, he walked over to a payphone and put in a quarter before punching in a number. "Yello?" A man's voice chimed on the other side of the line. "Hey Randall, it's Ross." Ross answered as he leaned against a nearby wall. "Hey! Make it to the airport okay?" Randall asked over the phone. "Yeah, waiting for boarding now. Gonna be about an hour." Ross replied, looking at his gate and then to his watch. "What time should I be there to pick you up?" Russel then asked. "About an hour and forty minute flight, and give out take an hour bus ride, so maybe about... One thirty, maybe two your time? give or take." Ross replied, giving his best estimate. "Alright, I'll see ya then!" His brother said finally. Ross and Russel hung up almost simultaneously, and after the call Ross made his way toward his gate, sitting on one of the many chairs in the terminal. Once seated, Ross put his carry-on beneath his chair after pulling out a cassette player, a pair of earbuds, and a GameLad Color. He put in a yellow cartridge flicked the device on. The title card for Pocket Pets: Thundermouse Edition, and Ross pressed start to begin playing his last save. After setting his game up and making sure the volume was down, Ross put his earbuds in and turned his music on and began listening to his rock/metal mix as he began to play his game. He looked up occasionally to look at the time and the other people to make sure he would board on time. The flight began boarding at eight, and was expected to take off at eight-thirty. Being a veteran, Ross was allowed to board before everyone else, along with the disabled and elderly. Once he got on and looked out the window of his seat, he saw the left wing of the aircraft right next to him. Underneath, he saw a man tossing luggage into cargo, making a game out of finding his bags in the mess. Afterward, he put his earbuds back in and began to lay back, waiting for the rest of the passengers to board. Afterwards, they taxied to the runway and Ross was pushed back into his seat slightly by the acceleration as the plane sped down the runway, feeling almost as if in free fall when the landing gear left the ground. And with that, Ross was on his way to Ohio, where he'd take a bus to cross the river over to Rosewood. He sat next to an older man with graying hair who was reading a book. He looked over to Ross and chuckled, "You look pretty excited." He said. Ross looked over to the man, and then down to his hands, only just realizing he was air drumming. He stopped and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Yeah, going to Kentucky to visit some family and friends there for a couple weeks. Figured I'd take time off with the fourth comin'." He said. "Yeah? Where ya work?" The man asked. "Nothing of particular note, just dollar store retail." Ross said. "Nothing of particular note." The man said with a laugh, "Son, you're a working man giving a service to your community. Your store provides a lot that people can't do without." He said, "I take it you get verbally abused by some of the customers?" "It happens from time to time, yeah. But my boss has my back. She's one of a kind." "That's good. It's rare for a man to find a worthwhile employer." The man said, "Doesn't always have to be big work, sometimes the support n' loyalty's what wins the good ones." He added. "I couldn't agree more." Ross chuckled. "So did ya do anything before that?" The man asked. "Been a few jobs here and there, but I was in the army for a few years." Ross answered. "Oh yeah? What was your MOS?" The man asked "11 Bravo, 35th infantry." "That so? Fort Leavenworth?" "Yeah! How'd ya know?" Ross asked, lighting up at the fact someone recognized his station. "I retired there about nine, ten years ago." "No kidding? That's when I was stationed there!" The man laughed again, "That a fact? Colonel Micheal Stratford." "I remember you now!" Ross said with a snap of his fingers as the memory of his old CO came back to him. "I thought I recognized you. What was your name again?" The old man asked. "Ross Barkley, sir." Ross said. "Nah, I don't think you have to call me that anymore son." Micheal chuckled, "How about a drink on me?" He asked. "No thank you, si- Mike... Alcohol doesn't sit well on my palate." Ross said. "I can respect that." Micheal said with a warm hearted nod, "How about a bourbon for me and a can of cola for you?" He said. "Actually, that sounds pretty good. Thank you." Ross said. As the stewardess passed to ask if they wanted drinks, Micheal was on top of it, giving Ross the can that was complementary of the flight and paying for his own drink. The conversation continued throughout the flight, gradually dwindling to small talk, often initiated by Micheal. Landing in Ohio, they said their goodbyes and parted ways. "You seem to be a good man, I trust you'll be writing the next chapter of your life here. You take care now." Micheal said with a shake of Ross' hand before they parted ways. Ross waved goodbye as Micheal went off to his layover before leaving to the bus stop outside and waiting. Once the Bus arrived, Ross stood up and collected his things once more, putting them in the storage compartment of the bus before getting on. Ross handed his ticket to the driver and made his way to his seat. He put his earbuds back in and laid back in his seat, closing his eyes to let them rest as Jet lag began to catch up with him. He snoozed through a majority of the long bus ride, occasionally waking up when he felt it slowing down for the other stops. Once he made it to Rosewood Bus Station, he got off, noticing Russel standing by his car. "Hey man!" The younger brother said as he reached out to shake Ross' hand and pull him in for a brotherly hug, "Lemme help ya with your stuff." He said after, grabbing a couple bags and taking them to the trunk of his Chevalier Primani. "So how've ya been?" Russel asked as he walked. "Doing alright. Looking forward to the fourth." Ross replied, following his brother around the car. "Same here. Got some good ones I wanna try out." Russel said with an eager chuckle. Russel set the bags he was holding down and unlocked the trunk, opening it and then helping is brother put his bags in. After shutting and locking the trunk to get his keys back, Russel made his way toward the driver's side to get in and turn the ignition. His brother going into the front passenger seat. "You can pick whatever CD you want." Russel said, lowering Ross' sun visor to show a disc protector attached with a variety of CDs in the pockets. Ross waved his fingers over the selection as he considered his options, picking an album by a metal band named Day of Reckoning and put it into the tray. He pressed play and turned the volume up to a proper level. After being picked up at the bus stop, Russel and Ross had an easy and short drive ahead of them. As Russel began to roll over to the gas station, Ross looked at a squirrel with a quaint fur pattern that began running up a tree with a walnut in its mouth. "Woah! What kinda squirrel was that???" Ross asked, looking back to see it as long as possible. "You never seen a fox squirrel?" Russel replied. "I..." Russel stopped, realizing how silly he sounded, "I never saw one that looked like that. It was white all over except the head and tail." "Oh, yeah man. They come in all kinds of fur patterns. Grey's just the most common, I think." "We might." Russel said, "Though I gotta stop by Fossoil. Runnin' down to a quarter tank." He added before he turned right into the parking lot and finding a vacant pump. "You wanna get us something to snack on while I gas up?" Russel asked, handing his brother some cash. "Sure thing." Ross said, going inside and looking around before finding where the Hurt Brothers' Pizza was before taking in the savory aroma of the assortment. He picked out a Pepperoni for himself and a supreme for his brother before going to the fountains and getting a drink for him and his brother, a Cracka Cola and Dr. Paprika respectively, then went register. "Hey, find everything alright?" The young lady at the register asked. Her name tag read that her name was Hazel. "Yeah, thank ya." Ross said with a nod, he thought she was rather pretty, but didn't want to be awkward. He took note of her blonde, wavy hair which seemed to go down to her upper back, for work; she kept it in a pony tail. "Alright, two fountain drinks and slices of pizza, that everything?" "Yeah, your hair looks fantastic, by the way." Ross said. Hazel smiled a little bashfully and looked at him, a little surprised, "Well, thank you." She said as she smiled, "That'll be four twenty-six." Ross took the ten his brother gave him and handed it to Hazel, who then asked, "So you from outta town?" she asked. "Yeah, how'd you know?" "You don't look like you're from here. It was just a guess." Hazel replied with a laugh. "Oh? You've got real good Intuition." He replied, taking his change from Hazel. "Alright, you have a good one!" She said. "You too." Ross said before heading out with his and his brothers snacks. He went to the car just as his brother was putting the nozzle on the fuel pump away and gave Russel his pizza slice and soda. "Thanks, you can keep the change." Russel said with a nod, taking it and getting into the car. Ross slipped the change into his pocket and grabbed his food before getting in, taking a bite and buckling in as he began chewing. After the engine turned, the song resumed where it was earlier. People living in a border camp to the north are attempting to migrate across the bridge into Ohio. Many are scared, angry, some are even eager to be so close to safety. The sound of an engine roared overhead, and a B2 ripped through the open skies, dropping something above the bridge. People watched in horror as it fell, and many on the bridge tried to either race back into Kentucky or commit to Ohio. Screams filled the air, growing louder as the object quickly fell to the ground. A loud blast sounded, rattling the earth and sending those within range flying in all directions. None made it across the bridge, and survivors lashed out on military personnel with wrathful outrage. Russel put the car into gear and made his way back onto the road, turning left to go north and continuing home. A few more turns and they arrived to a charming, small house at the end of their street. After pulling into the drive and putting on the parking brake, Russel turned off the car and made his way to the trunk to get Ross' belongings. "We've got a recliner in the living room you can sleep in at night. And we'll be going to Mollie's for a potluck with some friends I'd like ya to meet." Russel said, him and Ross heading to the front door and opening it. "Daddy!" A young lass the youth of five said as she ran up excitedly and hugged her father. "Hey Millie." Russel said with a chuckle as he picked his daughter up and hugged her. "Hey dad." A boy said as the sound of a videogame he was playing stopped. He shortly stepped in and saw Ross enter, "Hey Uncle Ross." "Hi Uncle Ross." Millie said, waving to Ross. "Hey guys." Ross said with a wave. "Hey sport. Russel said as he set Millie back down onto her feet so she could run off and play with her toys. "Want any help with that?" The boy asked, pointing to Ross' luggage. "Actually, yeah, if you wouldn't mind taking this to the bathroom, this is his toiletries." Russel said as he handed a Fanny pack filled with a toothbrush, a travel size tube of toothpaste, mouth rinse, and floss. There were also pens and a small notepad with it. "Got it." The boy said, "I'll hang it on the door hook." "Thanks Lincoln." Russel said before making his way to the room. "We can put your clothes in the wardrobe, we got space. All I ask is ya knock before ya enter." He said. "Understood!" Ross replied with a nod, after putting the fanny pack in the bathroom, Lincoln came out and went back to his game. Ross went into the bedroom with his brother and began putting his things in the vacant drawer. "By the way, got you a late birthday present you can take back to the Airport. I brought the idea up with Kate and she helped chip in for it." Russel said as he helped pack Ross' things. "Really? I'll have to thank her later for that, then. Thanks for thinkin' of me." Ross said, rather touched. Since he left for the Army, he didn't have his birthday celebrated much, to him it was just another day. After finishing, they made their way to the kitchen where Kate was making something of a Sheppard's pie with a recipe that was of her mom's creation. "Hey babe." Russle said with a warm tone, walking behind his wife to give her a kiss and a hug. "Hey angel." She said in reply. "Russel tells me you helped chip in for a gift he wanted to get me for my birthday. Wanted to come and thank you." He said. "Don't mention it. Russel wanted to get you something special, I wanted to help out. Plus I'm total putty for it too." She said. Shortly after there was scratching at the bedroom door followed by Millie giggling. "Go ahead and let her out now, Millie." Her father said. The door opened and out came a tortoise shell calico with a prance, flicking her tail as she scanned the room with her gilded eyes. Upon noticing Kate, Russel and Ross, she let out a trill and made her way over, brushing herself against Kate's leg. "There she is!" Kate said as she picked the cat up and scratched her ear gently, the cat purring an pressing her head against Kate's hand before Kate handed the cat over to her husband, "Your idea, you give her to him." She said. "Happy birthday, Ross." Russel said, rubbing the calico's ears as she began to knead his arm. Ross gasped as his eyes lit up and he took the cat, nuzzling her soft fur and scratching her chin and cheek. "Dude, no way!" He said excitedly as he began to pet the feline. "Shelter calls her Marble." Russle says, "Know how much you like cats and figured you could use someone to keep you company." He added. "I love her!" Ross said happily before setting Marble down and stroked her a few times before standing back up, "Thank you guys." "Don't mention it man. Happy birthday." Russel said. Marble continued to purr as Millie then approached to pick her up. "Come on Marble, let's go play!" She said happily as she scooped the cat up, her hind legs dangling and her forelegs extended, now looking around wide eyed, but still purring. "Wow, she's so great with Millie. I might have to keep her!" Kate teased. Ross looked at her surprisedly before he playfully glared, "I'ma cut you" Kate laughed at the feigned threat, "You think I won't get ya first?" She replied before laughing. Russel laughed and chimed in. "Let's be real here, she'd totally kick your ass." He said. "Oh, no doubt about it!" Ross said. "In any case, food's almost ready. We'll be getting ready to go soon." She said, "Baby, could you help Millie get ready?" She asked. "Absolutely." Russel said before giving Kate a gentle kiss on her temple. "Thanks, I love you." Kate said. "I love you too." Russel replied. The family got ready and began getting everything in the car. Marble was left home to allow her to get used to the home, and the family took off to the potluck. Chapter I A man has fallen deathly ill. His fever and aches being treated by his sister as best as she could. He heaved into a bucket, his condition seeming to rapidly grow worse by the minute. He gets up and begins going to the shower, despite his sister's protests. He steps into the shower, turns on the cold water, and lets out a breath of relief as it trickled down his face. Suddenly, his knees gave out and he fell to the floor, hitting his head quite a few times. His sister tried to catch him, but couldn't react in time. She noticed he wasn't moving and moved in to check on him, noticing he was dead. She began to mourn her brother, and within a few minutes, he begins breathing again. She looks in surprise, turning to check on him again. He turned his head, his eyes glazed over and his sister tried to give him a hug only to be bitten on the jugular. As she fell to the ground writhing, clutching her wound and gurgling, her brother hunched over and began eating her alive. Ross and his family arrived with plenty of time to set up their portions. Russel parked among the other cars in the driveway, and another guest pulled up to parallel park on the road. The Barkleys got out, gathered their things made their way to the door. "Mollie's a sweet lady. You'll like her." Russel said as he helped Kate get the Americanized Sheppard's Pie and the dessert he made; a red velvet cake with buttercream frosting. "God damn that looks good man." Ross said. "Just wait til ya have some." Russel said with a chuckle before nodding to the tailgate, signaling for Ross to close it for him. Ross did so and made his way up to the door with the others. "Hi, ya made it!" An older lady in her seventies said, she opened the door more and allowed her guests to enter, leaving the door open for the others making their way up now. "There's a couple more on the way. Go ahead and put that on the counter in the kitchen, I'll give your brother the tour." She said, leading Ross off, "He's told me quite a lot about you." She said, opening a door to show a pair of bookshelves, "Here's the study. I don't have a computer here, but the boys have their Katari." She said. "36?" Ross asked. "That's the one!" The lady replied, "Oh, where are my manners. I'm Mollie." "Ross, pleasure to meet you." "Bedroom's here." Mollie said, pointing at the door next to the study, here's the bathroom if ya need, and that there's the kitchen." She said, pointing to the door behind her and the doorway on the other side of the wall, respectively. "We keep a garden out back, Harold always loved to talk to his plants." She reminisced. "I'm sorry for the loss." Ross said. "It's quite alright dear, the boys and their dad keep me company." "Mom not in the picture?" Ross asked. Mollie shook her head, checking to see that the boys weren't in the room, "She wanted a career, she said... Not a family, then she left for a doctor." "Good lord, I'm so sorry." Ross said, looking to Mollie with a saddened expression. "It ain't your fault, Hun. She showed who she really was. All that matters now is I make sure the boys get a good childhood, and my son can recover." "I'm not always the best with this kinda thing, but if ya need any help, you or yours, you can reach out to me." Ross said, gently patting Mollie on the shoulder. "Thank you, dear." She said. Just then, an older man came in, bearing a resemblance to Benjamin Franklin. He brought a pot of venison stew. "Hello, Mollie, Russ, Kate. Kids." He said, greeting everyone in the room as he saw them before looking to Ross. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm John Franklin." He introduced, "Most people call me by my middle name 'cause I look like Ben Franklin." He said with a laughter. "Well, I'm pleased to meet you, Doctor Franklin." Ross said as he shook John's hand with a nod. "Well, I hope you like Venison. Brought stew!" John said, raising his pot in presentation. "Oh, I LOVE venison!" Ross said eagerly. "By the by, We've got a new chair and a sofa coming, but I've gotta work when it gets here. You mind signing for it and putting it together?" Russel asked, coming in from the kitchen after helping his wife put the food in order. "Yeah, not a problem!" Ross replied. The Taylors were the last to arrive. The mother Beth, her husband Franklin, and their daughter Cindy. Along with them, they opted to bring a dessert; a shoofly pie. Over dinner, Russel's friends took the time to get to know Ross, and show a little about themselves. John went to Pennsylvania University's Perelman school of medicine and works at the clinic in town. Beth sews in her free time, and her husband works at Spiffo's as a caterer. Russel got a new job in construction and spoke about his best friend Bill, who was unable to attend because his mother in Muldraugh fell ill. The merry band of new friends had their night of debauchery over the selection of fine home-made foods. As well as a few drinks for John, Franklin, and Mollie. Little did they know, this would be the last semblance of normalcy they would have. Only a day after arriving, Ross and the others noticed an acrid, putrescent smell flooded the Knox county area. A week later, the phones were cut. Ross needed to call Kate at work for instructions on how to prepare a meal for Millie. He picked up the phone, putting it to his ear before reaching the pad to dial the number, and nothing. No tone, no message, nothing. He pressed the buttons, hearing the dial presses in the receiver, but no ring. "What the... Hell...?" He pondered, hanging up the phone and giving it another try with the same results. He went to the living room where he found Lincoln playing his video games, "Hey, Link? You mind watching Millie? I'm gonna head next door, phone isn't working." "Yeah, I gotcha." Lincoln said before pausing his game. Ross immediately went next door after heading out the front door, approaching the neighbors house and knocking. John answered the door. "Oh, hello Ross!" He said, "How can I help ya?" "You mind if I use your phone? Russ' isn't working and I gotta ask Kate how to fix Millie's lunch." "Not a trouble, come on in." John said, moving aside to let Ross in, "It's in the kitchen, next to the fridge." Ross approached the phone and picked it up off the wall, it was a cordless, and the numbers were on the receiver, so he punched in the number and held it to his ear. Yet again, nothing. "Uh... John? Are phone outages common here?" Ross asked. "Not normally, why?" "There's nothing here, either." Ross said as he handed the phone to John. The doctor took it and held it to his ear and seemed surprised. "Hm." He pondered, "I'll ask 'round for a phone for ya. You head on back and handle the kiddos." "Alright, thank you." Ross said, turning to head to the door. "And if anything, I'll head up and find her for ya, where she at?" John asked. "She's at the store picking up groceries. She's got her cell." Ross said before making his way back. John searched around and yielded no results, letting Ross know that all the neighbors were experiencing the same thing. This, obviously didn't sit well with Ross, and he had a gut feeling something bad was going down. But had no way of telling what. He went in and winged Millie's lunch as best he could, figuring Kate would understand. After making sure the kids ate, Kate returned home with some bags of groceries in hand. "Ross, you mind helping me unload? I got you some root beers, couldn't call to ask what you wanted." "Yeah, phones are apparently down. All over the neighborhood." "Wait, all over?" Kate asked, "The clerk at the store couldn't get the phones to work either..." She added in realization. "So it's all over town?" Ross asked. "Probably..." Kate said, taking a breath to calm her nerves, realizing that an emergency could have happened at any moment and there would have been no way to let her know, "I-I need to go tell Russel." "Let's get the groceries in first. I'll put 'em away so they don't go bad. You can tell him in the meantime." After getting everything in, Ross began putting the food away with Lincoln and Millie's help, as they knew better where the food went. Kate let Russel know about the phone situation, and under Ross' suggestion, prepared for a coming storm. As time went on, Ross, Russel, Kate and John all asked around if there was any kind of talk. Some coming from Muldraugh, said that helicopters were flying suspiciously low over the city when they were leaving. Bill was one of those people, so Ross went over to question him with Russel coming along for the introduction. "Hey Grunt!" Russel said with a chipper tone. A large, ox of a man turned around to see his friend and Ross approaching, bearing a large grin. "Howdy, fellas." He said. "Bill, want you to meet my brother Ross. Ross, this is Bill." Russel said. The two shook hands, and Ross had to shake the feeling back into his after feeling the hearty grip Bill had. "Yeah, Though people call me Grunt cause I do the heavy liftin'." Bill replied. "Pleasure to meet you, big guy." Ross said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small notebook and pen, "So talk of the town's that choppers went over Muldraugh. You were there, right?" "I was, an' I remember seein' them choppers flyin' over the highway. Was already on my way back." "How many did you see?" "Bout three. Didn't look like they came over from Rosewood." "That explains why we didn't see them..." Ross said before thinking a moment, "Did you notice anything strange while you were there? Or with the choppers?" "Not much other than they were flyin' purty low." Bill said, "Didn't look like no trainin' exercise, they were goin' quick. Like they needed ta be somewhere." "So then they must have been landing in the Knox area..." Ross said, thinking out loud, "Did they have one rotor or two?" "The ones I saw had two." "CH-47s." Ross said. "What?" Bill asked cluelessly. "They're Chinooks, they were flying personnel or cargo." "What the hell would they be staging here? Are we being attacked?" Russel asked. "If that was the case they would have been escorted." Ross pondered, "Plus we'd be seeing a lot more military presence right now, not just a story of three choppers... That and the news isn't saying anything about it. We would have heard something by now." "What do you s'pose I do?" Bill asked. "Keep close contact with us, let us know anything strange you notice. Other than that, supply yourself with plenty of food, medicine and anything you need." Ross said, "I feel like this is just the start of a MAJOR shit storm..." July 6, 1993 It was two days after the fourth, Ross was on the porch drinking some lemonade. He was taking a break constructing the furniture and was listening to HitzFM on the radio, basking in the warmth of the summer sun. He noticed something in the corner of his eye, a pale, sickly looking man who was slowly shuffling, staggering over his steps. Assuming it was drugs or alcohol, he called out. "Hey, buddy! You have a good time?" He asked with a chuckle. The man stopped and turned to him, giving a soft gurgle as he reached his hand out. No verbal response, just advancing. Despite his hairs standing on end by the Gastly appearance, he tried to play the friendly facade. "You good? Bit of a hangover?" He asked, "Got just the thing for that." He said, tipping his lemonade in the direction of the man, "Want some? Got plenty." The man drew closer, and now Ross could hear the snarls the man let off, fight or flight instinct forced him to jump up, dropping his glass which shattered on the deck. "Hey, I'm sorry I offended you man. But please don't come any closer, I'll view it as a threat." Ross warned. But the man ignored his advice, tripping over the curb and standing back up, continuing his approach, "LAST CHANCE ASSHOLE! STEP OFF!" Ross cried out to no avail. The man got within arms reach, and Ross was completely in survival mode. He reared a fist as hard as he could, throwing a hook into the man's jaw, sending him falling back with a spin. When the punch made contract, Ross felt something shift and he heard a noticeable crack. The man however got up and began to advance again. Millie and no idea what was going on in her room, playing with Marble, and Lincoln pauses his game, hearing the warning and coming out to see the man going down. "Ross? W-what's going on?" Lincoln asked timidly. "Go to your room with Millie! It's not safe!" Ross called out. Lincoln stood there for a moment as if to say something or try to do something to help, but he nodded after a moment and rushed to his room. The man stood back up, now rushing at Ross who grabbed the man by the throat, uppercutting the man in the stomach, only to realize he was unresponsive to the pain. Realizing the man was trying to bite him, Ross raised a foot up and push kicked as hard as he could to knock the man back, giving him enough time to rush in and grab the first thing he had available; being a hammer that was laying just next to the toolbox. Ross was grabbed on the back, rearing back to shove the man off as the force of the lunge caused him to tumble over the couch. A lamp was knocked over in the process, crashing on the floor as Ross desperately struggled to overpower his opponent. After managing to roll on top, he pinned the man down by the throat, giving three mighty cleaves to cave in the man's skull. After realizing what he had done, Ross dropped the hammer and jumped back, hyperventilating as the shock of the realization of what he's done coupled with flashbacks of his tour in Cambodia. Lincoln and Millie heard the struggle, and the girl cried out in shock as she heard the sound of glass shattering which caused the cat to jump out of her arms, inadvertently scratching her in the process. "Millie! Shhh! It's okay! It's okay!" Lincoln sharply whispered, desperately trying to calm his sister down as he reached out to hold her, noticing the scratch on her arm and reached to grab a nearby sheet to press onto it. He began singing her favorite lullaby, which soothed her crying in the time it took Ross to deal with the man. Kate came home from visiting a friend and cried out in shock when she saw the scene. "OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED???" She yelled in panic. The kids heard her and came racing out to hug their mother. Ross was still trying to process what just transpired himself. "Th-this guy came up and was scaring Ross, he warned him to back off and he kept coming. He told me to wait in the bedroom with Millie, I-I think he was trying to bite Ross, mom!" Lincoln stuttered, trying to explain the situation to his mom. "Is that true?" Kate asked, looking to Ross who was still trembling on the floor, "Ross?" Ross nodded and looked up to her, "Yeah, And we can't call the cops... Phones are down. I-I need a minute to process this..." He said. "Okay, okay. I'll go to the police station and talk to them. Then I'll go to the construction site and get Russ, we'll come back here and figure out what to do. Are you okay enough to watch over the kids?" Kate asked, kneeling next to Ross and explaining her plan. Ross nodded again and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. In the meantime, his mind began to wander. He was aware of a new flu that was spreading across the state, tears welled in his eyes as his racing thoughts continued to relentlessly attack him. Was this just drugs? Or was there something more to it? The thoughts of the choppers Bill mentioned, coupled with that god awful smell, and the news of said flu all rushed through his mind, as if connecting dots he didn't want to be there. He looked at the blood stained hammer on the floor before looking at the corpse, sitting up and reaching into his pockets to see if there was anything to identify him. After turning the ignition in her car, Kate drove off and began heading to the police station. The dead man's wallet contained an ID, his social security card, and fifteen dollars worth of cash and loose change. His name was Jack Smith. This would come in handy for the police. He set it down and stood up to go to the porch to stand guard. "Kids, go back to your room. Lincoln, take anything you can and block the door." He panted, "I-I need to keep watch. If something happens, run out and come to me immediately." The kids did exactly that, rushing back into their room and closing the door behind them. The sound of furniture scooting across the floor was heard shortly after and Ross went back and forth the house, keeping a watchful eye for anything odd. Minutes later, Russel and Kate returned, and Russel came running in. "Are the kids alright? Are you alright?" Russel asked his brother. "Yeah, kids are safe, I had them barricade the door to their room and wait for you guys to get back." Ross said with a nod, "I'm good now."

41.64 Multiplayer Host No. Reproduction steps: Go into passanger seat of car Start reading book you shouldn't be able to take any actions opening map cancels reading mode This has happened to me about two times ( I didn't really wanna risk trying it more), but when you start reading a book while being a passenger in a car, the game will not allow you to exit the reading mode in any way and you are unable to take any actions. I can't really remember how I got out of it but I somehow pressed a lot of buttons and it let me out.

Hello there, I checked but didn't find this issue in bugs. So I'll describe it. I set in car on passenger seat and start reading book that are higher than my skills. The character says that nothing is clear, and he cannot get anything useful from it. And I can't do anything, move, change seats, get out of the car, throw out the book or stop reading it. Even the zombie who came and slowly ate me, could not distract me from reading the book. The same problem without a car, I can't do anything with the book, only run with it, then he stops reading it. Hope it will be fixed one day, thanks.

Hello, I've only been playing for about a week, but I have logged over 100 hours of game play thanks to our Shelter In Place order. During that time I have noticed that there are a few naming conventions that are mixed and make sorting items a bit annoying. I understand these are small changes, but making them would add polish: -Have all books titled either Beginner's Mechanics, Intermediate's Mechanics (etc.) or Mechanics for Intermediates, Mechanics for Advanced (etc.) -Have seed packets named "Seed Packet (Strawberries)" "Seed Packet (Carrots)", etc. for sorting purposes. -Change "Dirty Rag"/"Ripped Sheet" to "Ripped Sheet (Dirty)"/"Ripped Sheet" or OR "Rag (Dirty)"/"Rag" -Change "Dirty Bandage" to "Bandage (Dirty)" -Change "Sanitized Bandage" to "Bandage (Sanitized)" -Sugar, rice, powdered milk and some other foods are categorized as "Items" instead of "Food" -When foraging, the window that pops up currently says "Scavenge". Change that to "Forage" -Change the map names to the format: "Map of Rosewood" instead of "Rosewood Map" I'm sure there are more little continuity issues, but those are the few that strike me most often. Happy surviving! -Maleficus

Hello everyone. First of all, I would like to apologize for my English, is not my native language, so maybe there are parts of the post in which there is something slightly misspelled. Sorry for this. I spent several hours just to write this post, divided into several days due to my lack of time, due to the creation of all lists of items, especially the list of the 500 most famous books, because I preferred sort this list alphabetically, so you can more easily consult this list. I hope my efforts have achieved a good result. - Literature mod (a short history) - Literature mod explained: Literature Mod eliminates the already mentioned objects of the game, and substitutes them by others. This version of the mod adds 1199 new items to the game. These are the new items created: - Books: 1140 new books. All these books are books of the real world, that have been carefully chosen during weeks of investigation. I have tried to ensure me that the books selected have been published in english (99.99% of the list), or that in his defect, are books tremendously renowned, and that thus it was possible that a student of literature, a student of languages or simply an immigrant residing in the country, could possess this book. Also it has given to each book an approximate weight to the reality, based in his number of pages, and the type of edition of the book (hardcover or paperback). So each book almost has a realistic weight. For all purposes, the books act like normal books. You can use them as fuel for a campfire and you can also take the pages to use as improvised rolling paper, if you use my Marijuana mod. And of course, the books do not disappear once they have been read. The same can be applied to magazines and newspapers, except that they cannot be used as improvised smoking paper. - What has been the method used to create the list of books?: - Newspapers: 18 new newspapers. It has not been easy select the newspapers that the mod would add, because I live in Spain, and I do not know the newspapers of United States (except the most known), especially the newspapers of Kentucky, and especially those distributed in the area of Meade and Hardin counties, where develops the game. However, I think that the list of newspapers chosen after a lot of investigation, should be very approximate to the local, state and nationals newspapers distributed in the area. - Magazines: 41 new magazines. Select the magazines for the mod has been a bit easier that select the newspapers, since they have chosen especially magazines of national distribution. But also they have added several magazines that only are distributed in Kentucky area, and some that only distribute in the counties of Meade and Hardin. - As it works the distribution of these items? And at last, here they are the lists of the items: - Booklists: - Book Collections: - J.R.R. Tolkien book collection (31 books): We could not miss this list in the mod. I am a fan of Tolkien for more than 20 years ago, and I've read all his books (and also I played the RPG based on these books during more of a decade). Also, the recent Peter Jackson movies have attracted a new legion of fans of Tolkien. It is true that many of these books have been edited and published by his son Christopher, but even so are works that can not miss in the house of a Tolkien fan. Due to all his merits, and because I want that is in this way, the list of Tolkien is the first of all, so unsheathe your elven sword, takes a swig of miruvor and prepare for the long trip that means finding all the books of this collection. - George R. R. Martin book collection (32 books): As in the previous case, the TV series has generated countless number of fans to the books of this great writer, mostly concentrated in the A Song of Ice and Fire saga. I read every book in this saga in particular, and I look forward the next book. However, this author has other books not related to this series, and all are included in this collection. As you'll see in the list, I added also the unfinished books of A Song of Ice and Fire saga. I've done this because if maybe my character is eaten by a zombie, at least he can die after to know if Tyrion Lannister is marrying with a female Ice Giant. Seriously, all of this of zombie apocalypse happened right after the books were published, and that's it. - H.P. Lovecraft book collection (101 books): I am a role player of the old school for over 20 years, and so the RPG Call of Cthulhu brought to my life many hours of fun for years. The novels and short stories by Lovecraft are small masterpieces written with an almost lost literary style, and although times have changed, remains a point of reference for its genre. I read long ago all the stories of Lovecraft translated into Spanish, but during creating this mod, I have read all the short stories in English that I could never find in my language, some of only 3 or 4 pages, and remain very good despite of the years. All of Lovecraft's stories have been published many times over time, and even though most can be found on websites like Amazon or Goodreads, now due to new technologies other short stories can only be purchased in digital version. Almost all these short stories, can be found on various pages dedicated to this author in the network totally free. As a side note, have been included in this list not only stories written directly by HP Lovecraft, but also collaborations with other authors and books written under several pseudonyms by Lovecraft and his works as ghostwriter. Nor could miss, in my view, the contributions of the writer August Derleth, Lovecraft's friend and collaborator, who after the death of Lovecraft, gave more life to cthulhu universe in itself, being August Derleth largely the creator of the term "Cthulhu Mythos", and thanks his work, I will could play the great RPG that much later was published. Also have added several compilation books with all of Lovecraft's works, including his poems. And you never forget this sentence: "In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming"... - Jules Verne book collection (63 books): Another author that I think everyone knows. Most of us have read some (or many) of the books by Jules Verne. Even people who have not read one of his books have certainly seen a movie based on one of his books. It is one of the major influences in the genre of science fiction and a incredible visionary ahead of his time, since he imagined many inventions before anyone else, that would later appear in the real world. Long before anyone else, he imagined weapons of mass destruction, helicopters, elevators, internet, submarines and much more. Have been avoided literary works published later by his son, Michel Verne, because although supposedly are based on his father's work, they are actually very manipulated by Michel, sometimes intensely altered. However, many of these original works never published by Jules Verne, was published without any alteration of Michel years later, and these have been included in this list. Without further ado, here is the list of his works. - J.K. Rowling book collection (13 books): Despite not having read personally any of these books, although I've seen all the movies, is undeniable the impact that the saga of "muggle" Harry Potter has had on the world of cinema and literature. In fact, the books in this series have sold as many copies, who have made of J.K. Rowling the first and thus far only billionaire author. Therefore, to avoid that the Dementors get angry and come to my house or who J.K. Rowling hits me with a big wad of cash, let's start with the list of books by J.K. Rowling. - Suzanne Collins book collection (11 books): As in the previous case of J.K. Rowling, Suzanne Collins, despite being a well-known TV writer and screenwriter, is best known for his trilogy The Hunger Games, and to a lesser extent but not least, by his other saga, The Underland Chronicles. The books of the The Hunger Games series, were the best sellers in the US during months, only behind of the Harry Potter books, and the movies based on his novels also have achieved great popularity. So here you have all the books in the collection of Suzanne Collins: - C.S. Lewis Fiction book collection (18 books): This fantastic British writer, a close friend of J.R.R. Tolkien, is known worldwide and his work is very extensive. However, his best known works are his books of fiction, and therefore, only include that kind of books in the list . His best known works are The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Space Trilogy, as well as other books of Christian apologetics not mentioned in this list. Also very popular is the series of films based on his books of The Chronicles of Narnia, where a wardrobe can be much more than it seems. So with the permission of Aslan, here have the collection of books of C.S. Lewis. - Stephen King book collection (76 books): Stephen King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy famous all around the world, with hundreds of millions of books sold, and many literary prizes. Furthermore, based on many of his books, have created numerous television series and films. Carrie, It, Misery, and his great (and my favorite) work, The Dark Tower series, are just some of the many books of this prolific writer. Therefore, I think this marvelous writer deserves a own collection in this mod. Thus, under the watchful eye of the man in black, here you have the list of his works: - Stephenie Meyer book collection (8 books): Stephenie Meyer, as in some cases already mentioned, has reached popularity with a single saga, the Twilight saga. But that popularity achieved in a very short time has been tremendous. The books in this series have served as the basis for several movies, which are also extremely popular and have many fans. I personally have not read or will read this saga, because although I have seen the movies, and the final battle was pretty good, would have preferred a movie based on the adventures of a Nosferatu, a Gangrel, a Brujah and a Tzimisce in an universe based in the RPG Vampire: the Masquerade, prior to a love story full of vampires decaffeinated. But hey, it's all a matter of taste, so here you have the books by Stephenie Meyer. - Dragonlance book collection (174 books): Yes, you've read it correctly. This collection has 174 books. It is the largest collection of the mod. And the most geek collection of the mod too, with the possible exception of the collection of books about zombies. Although I like more the world of Dark Sun, in the past I read a lot of Dragonlance novels, and I've also been a player in this RPG many years ago. As a collection of Dark Sun is rather small, and as the history of Dragonlance universe is very attractive, I have decided to include this collection of books in the mod. A notice, I've discarded by simple purism, the young adult readers novels created in the last years for this universe. So before Tasslehoff Burrfoot "find" (because the kenders not steal, make it clear) some of these books and these disappears from the list, here you have the vast collection of books of Dragonlance. - Jean M. Auel book collection (6 books): Jean M. Auel just has written six books in a saga, and these books are known worldwide. The first book in this collection is the most famous, The Clan of the Cave Bear, and also is wherein has received more awards. This collection has been added to the mod for two reasons. First, it is a collection that I really like, and second, that too many others have read these books, as evidenced by the nearly 50 million books sold. Here you have the list of books by Jean M. Auel. - Zombies book collection (83 books): And here my most dearest collection, the jewel of the crown, with permission from Tolkien. I've been reading many books and comics about zombies since long before the zombie fashion are catapulted to the stars thanks to the comics and the TV series The Walking Dead. Logically, thanks to this trend have been published very many more books of this genre, and I love this large amount of books, even though the level of many of them is very low. Some of these books are about infected or possessed, not about the classic Romero zombie, but are classified as zombie literature. I have read 90% of the books of this list, and many others that have been published in my native language but not in English, but here are only included books that have been published in English. There are more books published about zombies, but I think the list is already quite long and includes many of the best, and maybe this list will be increased in future updates. No need to explain about why this list is included in the mod. It fits perfectly with the game, and is a booming fashion. Also, reading these books maybe helps to survive our characters... So lock the windows with barricades, have a hammer in the hand, and read every book on this list. - Cookbooks collection (54 books): This is the strangest collection of mod. Or maybe the most normal. As I mentioned before, it occurred to me to include this collection in the mod after seeing my girlfriend reading cooking recipes online. This solved one of the dumbest problems in this mod, see appear a book of Tolkien or The Art of War on the shelf of a kitchen. Not much more to explain about it. Here you have a long and varied list of cookbooks. Surely no one wants to read the books from this list, however, I suggest as minimum read the titles of the first three books. This books are real cookbooks, and really worth reading their titles, because they are very curious. Bon appétit. - The best books of all time (468 books): Behold, the last and longest list of books based on the remains of the main list of the 500 greatest books of all time. Surely many think that a important book is missing in this list, and that another book should not be in the list, but as always, it's impossible to make everyone happy. I added two books at the end of this list. The first is The Art of War by Sun Tzu, because of its great importance and the ease of application of the teachings of this book in many areas, including a post-apocalyptic world filled with zombies. The second is The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana, a book known around the world, and is also a very "special" book. The list have not the original order of the list, because I have changed the order of the books belonging to the same author or saga to be together, so is easier for users of this mod, find books on the list. Here you have the list of the most influential books of the story: - Newspapers list: - Magazines list: - In the near future: - Compatibility: - Known Bugs: - Multiplayer: - Download link: http://bit.ly/1BDQiIS Enjoy the mod!

Books are named in one of two ways, by skill first (cooking for beginners), or by level first (expert cooking). I'd like to suggest all books be skill first so they are sorted more conveniently in the inventory.

Lewd Literature Mod Renames all skill books and magazines with sexual innuendos and double entendres. I thought that the descriptions like "Fishing for Beginners" and "Intermediate Electricity" were very boring. So I renamed all the book titles to something more... interesting. This mod renames every skill book and skill magazine with a suggestive title, as well as renaming the newspaper, magazine, and comic book. All of the skill books, as well as the newspaper, magazine, and comic book have a mouseover text (tooltip) added as well (but not to skill magazines). Obvious warning for sexual content. Also objectification (of males and females, that's fine, right?) Please let me know if you find any mistakes, if you have suggestions for alternative titles / tooltip text, or if my mod becomes out of date with the latest version of Zomboid. If you have a mod that adds skill-books, I would also be happy to work with you to create a version of this mod that works with yours / incorporate this into your mod. (This is my first mod submitted here! Let me know if I've done things the right way) ---------------- Download Directly: LewdLiteratureMod.zip Download on PZ-Mods: Lewd Literature Link EDIT: New logo (this or something similar will probably be used as the logo in later versions of the mod):

Not sure exactly how to implement the following suggestion, but here's my beef. When baiting traps, I find myself relying on the wiki to figure out where I place my traps and what I place in them. It would be great to have an in-game item that could be used for reference (such as a "trapper's help guide" or something distinguishable from books and magazines), or to have the information revealed gradually through trapping experience. The goal being I can learn everything I need from the game, without breaking immersion. Similarly, treatment of wounds is something players need to know, but are never told explicitly. While it may be common sense for some that a deep wound requires stitches, common sense for others might not cover this information, especially if they don't know suture needles exist in the game- some sort of "first aid help guide" could be used to provide basic instruction on actions that are otherwise hidden without the correct wound and item combination. Stretching the idea further, I think the crafting interface could use some refinement or smoother integration into the game. Digging through the menus which sometimes contain an exorbitant amount of mundane recipes (I'm looking at you, Farming) feels tedious and is sometimes misleading due to the omission of many capabilities (world-object creation via carpentry/metalworking, treatments with first aid, etc). I'd ask you to entertain the idea of presenting all recipes through additional help guides, perhaps grouping "help guide editions" as they appear now in the crafting menu (carpentry, survival, fishing, etc) or by some other means ("Log Work," "Primitive Tool Making," etc). tldr; What if immersion were streamlined with literature documents in-game that provided "tips" information to players while having no mechanical function (no XP boost or stress reward)? Great idea from Dr_Cox1911 reads:

I think that recipes should be learned with skill books once you exceed a certain lvl say you don't have metalworking, if you get to lvl 4 and either re-read the first two books, or when you read the third you'll get some recipes, forge for example, and maybe when you reach lvl 7 you get cabinets and what not.

Just finished putting together my first proper mod for Project Zomboid (The first one I made was just a minor edit to some vanilla code for some XP values). Trait Training Books http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=606059733 What does it do? Trait Training Books adds a series of books to the game that can be used to learn traits in a ladder like system of progress. Currently the mod is only in initial release so at the moment there are only books in the game to handle the reading line of traits. An example of how it works in game If your character has the "illiterate" trait, they have the option of trying to find the TTB book related to the Illiterate trait, in this case named "Burch and Friends - Let's Read Together!". If the character has the illiterate trait, when they right click the book in their inventory or another container they will see an option in the context menu for "Struggle to Read". When selected, the player will start reading through the pages of the book in the same way you would read any other skill book. When completed, the Illiterate trait is removed from your character and replaced with the Slow Reader trait. But how can you read if you're illiterate? The mod uses a custom class that is based off the ISReadABook class used to read books in order to specifically handle trait books through an action that is on the surface functionally identical to reading, making use of pages and starting and stopping reading as any other literature item in the game would do. This was to work around some of the restrictions surrounding reading timed actions that would typically fail read attempts with the native read class. Balancing I'm still pretty new to modding with PZ so I wasn't able to find a way to request the server value for DayLength which was originally the idea I was thinking of to try and make a variable timer for reading so that the same mod could be used on various server or SP configurations without becoming too impractical at either extreme of DayLengths, so that's something I may try to get in when I learn more about what's availiable to me in LUA and if I can get the DayLength from the server. Until then though, this mod is specifically balanced for use on Real-Time multiplayer servers or Real-Time SP games. Reason being I designed this primarily for use on my own MP server but it can still work in SP games or other MP games as long as you're aware of some balancing issues with the books being 25, 50 and 75 pages. The books are a rare find, with a loot distribution of 0.3, 0.2 and 0.1 in Shelves, 0.5, 0.3 and 0.1 in bookstores and then 1.0, 1.0 and 0.5 inside schoolbags for the basic, intermediate and advanced books respectively. (For comparison, books in Hydrocraft have a 1.0 loot distribution) So these should be pretty rare finds, combined with how they are consumed on use it should hopefully keep things fairly balanced. Future Plans I'm hoping to tinker around with the hobby traits over the next few days and get to grips with how the game handles them on characters, once I work things out there I'm going to start looking at getting in books that can be used to learn other positive traits or remove/lessen negative traits. I also want to look into seeing if it's possible to implement some usage of the leveling and skillpoint system in the game, so that reading a book may require you have a skill point available that would be consumed when learning or removing a trait with the book. Figure out a way to adapt the time taken to read pages of these books based on the DayLength setting for the server or SP game.Credits Robert Johnson for the original ISReadABook.lua class that was used as the basis for TTB's reading class.BryBry for help in finding a way to refresh the character's info window to display the updated trait window without requiring a relog.

Did anyone suggest books for other skills like foraging and first aid?

What if we could re-read books? Right now, books disappear when you read them. What if we could read a book again, but each time you read the book, your boredom moodle gets refilled less? It would still reduce stress, but at a certain point you don't get a boredom moodle boost. There's only so many times you can read Jurassic Park before it's really boring (but hey, then you just toss it in the fire to give you a few minutes of cooking or warmth!).

I found that Pravus's Additional Skill Book Mod was a bit out of date (last worked with Build 28), so I went and updated it for Build 32. Also added a few new books and took out some redundant ones. http://pz-mods.net/weapons-items/AdditionalSkillBooksMod2/ Anyway, first mod, first post, etc. I've been following this game since the very first release, and just got back into it and sort of obsessed recently. Hydrocraft inspired me to start updating some older mods that appear to be abandoned, and maybe try making a few of my own I played around with some more flavorful names on the foraging books, using this list instead of the normal beginner/intermediate/advanced/expert/master progression. Cub Scout Handbook Boy Scout Handbook Eagle Scout Handbook Survivalist's Guide Ranger Manual Open to any ideas for other more flavorful names. For some of the new books I changed the naming format to something like "First Aid: Expert" instead of "Expert First Aid". Easier to differentiate in a list of books when there are a half dozen that say Expert/Master etc. at the start of the name.

I was bored in my safehouse, and on the verge of depressed. I then read 4 books in about 1 minute, and my character was just fine. Maybe all books should have a set amount of pages, and it takes a much longer time to read them (like skill books), but instead of boosting your XP multiplier, it reduces your boredom and unhappiness. It would have a set amount of pages (i.e. Magazines have 30 pages, newspapers have 20, books have 200.) So for example you could have one book that you've been reading for awhile, but haven't had a chance to finish so you read it in your spare time instead of reading 4 books in one sit-down like in the current game. Just though this would add to the immersion factor a bit! Then maybe when you're done with a book it's benefits are cut in half for you because you've already read it, instead of just disappearing as if you burned it.

!! THIS MOD IS NO LONGER MAINTAINED/AVAILABLE !! Hello there, just wanted to show off the first mod I'm working on: The Bookshop Adds various books to PZ, some with learning skills. In the WIP version you can press "B" to spawn all books in your inventory. Available books: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy The Restaurant at the End of the Universe Life the Universe and Everything So Long and Thanks for All the Fish Mostly Harmless And Another Thing...Various: Programming in Lua Second Edition Brave New World Roadside Picnic Cunninghams Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs Gone With the Wind The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead The Great Gatsby 1984 The Catcher in the Rye For Whom the Bell Tolls A Clockwork Orange The Futurological Congress Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Lord of the Flies The Lord of the Rings A Brief History of Time Fahrenheit 451 Slaughterhouse-Five or The Childrens Crusade The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea The War of the Worlds Todo: Next step(s) will be to add spawn rates and some more books, some adjustments to weight and tweaking BoredomChange.!! THIS MOD IS NO LONGER MAINTAINED/AVAILABLE !!

Hello there, I hope this is the correct forum to post, if not, feel free to move it. I'm currently in the progress of writing a mod for PZ called "The Bookshop". Two things I noticed that have to do with the tooltip when hovering (skill)books: Grammer The tooltip currently says "The book give you a xp multiplier for the lvl2 skill". While I'm no native english speaking person, I think this should be something like "This book gives you an XP multiplier for the lvl2 skill" The tooltip should include the skill name This is ok for books called "Farming for Beginners", but in the case of a book called "Cunninghams Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs" (or any other) it would be nice to have the skill name inlcuded in the tooltip, like so: "This book gives you an XP multiplier for the lvl2 skill Cooking" or something like that. Thank you.

So, I really started to use the books recently. I mostly just used the ones for level 1 to get me started nicely and then only used books when my char was bored... Due to books and specific actions you can level cooking and crafting quite easily - in contrast to the other skills like running, sneaking and kicking ass with different weapons. So maybe there could be different types of magazines that give you short term xp-boosts. (and I mean short term!) for instance... you go into the fabulous enigma book store in WP and you find a magazine like runners world or a golf magazine, baseball magazine, etc. you can read it to cure boredom but you could also benefit from its information. like improve your swing (only with the golf club or the bat, depending on the magazine) or your running technique. Other magazines could be "Cuttlery afficionado" or "Gunnut Magazine". I hope you catch ma drift. Those benefits should only be temporal and not for the whole level. I do yet have to find an magazine or book that would help one learn to sneak or to be nimble ^^ Extra suggestion because you were so nice and read that. Right-click option for the ovens in the loot menu, as a workaround if the rightlick option for the oven directly is not showing or hard to find. and uhm. a raincoat or an umbrella would be much appreciated. I caught a hell of a cold on the way from Muldraugh to West Point EDIT: How about "cleaning your gun" as a task that makes your gun last longer and reduces boredom, needs information out of a magazine/book or at least gun-level 2 or something no one? okay, I'll just see myself out