How Marina Cook Died

[Erkinwine]

What Ever Happened to Marina Cook

I grew incredibly anxious awaiting the release of Build 41 – Anims. Every Thursday, I read the weekly Thursdoid, hoping that there would be some announcement of the pending release of the much-anticipated Build 41. And each week there was more news to make me even more eager, but no news of that release. Finally, I could take it no more. I turned on the IWBUMS, waited patiently while the game updated and finally, I was playing Build 41 – even if it wasn’t ready for release, yet, I could get the feel for what would, in essence, be a whole new game. I wanted to play Project Zomboid 2.0.

 

Since it would be my first playthrough in this build, I thought it might be fun to do an After Action Report (AAR) and perhaps keep a diary of how things went. That’s what What Ever Happened to Marina Cook is all about.

 

Game Notes

This play-through takes place in Muldraugh, Ky, using Survival mode with no Mods installed. Marina is an unemployed individual. She is Resilient and has Thick Skin. She is also Short Sighted and is a Slow Reader. Because I like to make it a little more difficult on a starting character – I have no reason why – Marina begins with no clothing; not even shoes.

 

Background

Marina is not from Muldraugh, she was visiting her friends, Bill and Ted, when the Knox Event occurred. Things happened so quickly, before she knew it, there was no chance for her to go home. But Bill was a firefighter and Ted a sheriff’s deputy, so she felt fairly safe with them.

 

About a week after the Knox Event, she was playing poker with Ted and Bill’s wife Laura. Bill was out trying to see what he could scavenge from the neighborhood that might make their lives a little simpler. When he came home, Bill didn’t look well. He said he had been scratched and was a bit anxious about a near-death experience, but that he would be okay after he got some rest. Laura gave him some beta blockers and something for the pain and stayed him a while as he finally fell asleep. She then returned to the poker game with Ted and Marina.

 

They didn’t hear Bill get up. In fact, Ted was the first to see him and then just as he was taking a bite out of Laura’s neck. She let out a horrible scream of terror mixed with pain. He must have gotten the artery, because blood sprayed everywhere; it got all over Marina. Ted acted as quickly as he could, pushing Marina back, so that he was between her and Bill. He was obviously worried about Laura and his friend Bill, who was obviously now a zombie. He didn’t have his pistol or anything that could rightly be called a weapon, but he did his best to keep Bill at bay. He landed several good blows, which rocked the zombie, but it took them and kept coming back. Finally, it was able to grab Ted and pull him to the ground. Ted tried to push him off and get back to his feet, but it was clear he had lost the battle. Marina let out a shrill shriek and then fled out the rear exit of their safehouse. It wasn’t safe anymore.

 

That was the last thing she remembered. Whatever happened after that was a mystery to her. It must have been the shock.

 

July 9

Marina awoke in an unfamiliar home. She was on the floor in a bedroom under the window. Rising to her feet, she noticed that she was naked, except for her bra and panties. She must have shed her cloths because of Laura’s blood. She had to remind herself that such fits of hysterics would likely get her killed. She had to keep her cool. There was something uncomfortable in her left cup. Checking, she found it to be a keyring with a single key. She assumed that somehow, she had gotten a key to this house.

 

She found a few things in the house that she could use, a hiking bag, a pair of socks, a cleaver, some books and a bit of food, but the house has apparently already been picked over pretty good. When she was satisfied, she had all the good stuff from this little house, she went next door to a two-story house. There she found a club hammer and more books. She also found three trade magazines, which she took the time to read. One was The Hunter Magazine vol 3. She learned how to Make Trap Box and Make Cage Trap. Two skills that might come in handy later. The second was The Metalwork Magazine vol 3. From it, she learned to Make Metal Fences. She wasn’t sure when she could put that skill to use but was still happy to have learned it. The third magazine was Laines Auto Manual – Performance Models. This magazine taught her how to work on performance automobiles. After reading, she left the magazines behind as she had no further use for them.

 

To her surprise, she found a fully cooked, but cold porkchop on the stove. She took it and ate it later when she became hungry.

 

This house, too, was fairly picked over, but she found a bit more food and she found an alarm clock. Without a watch, it would have to do for telling time. She also found a couple pairs of pants, one of which she put on. She was starting to feel drafty. She did find a saw and some nails as well as a nice club hammer. These would certainly come in handy in her future.

 

Having collected everything she felt was of value in this house, she headed out to try her luck elsewhere. By now, it was 2:30 in the afternoon and was sure she should start looking for a safe place to make her home for the evening.

 

[She went outside and was walking across the street when the game froze up. I was expecting it to crash again, like it already had four times at this point. Instead, while I stared at the blurred out, frozen screen with the (Not Responding) notice at the top, I heard the distinct sound of zombies ripping at flesh. Sure enough, once the game finally finished crashing and I rebooted it, Marina was surrounded by zombies and was already nearly dead.]

 

That is how Marina Cook died. Sad, sad story.