"Grey Dawn" zombie apocalypse setting

"Grey Dawn" zombie apocalypse setting

History:

Earth fell to a standard zombie apocalypse scenario thanks to [cause unknown], population severely decimated, aggressive undead patrolling ghostly streets. ~3 years have passed since downfall, not long enough for urban decay etc. to really set in but long enough for previous infrastructure to very much collapse.

Undead:

Zombies in this setting are grey-fleshed, white-eyed, watery-blooded reanimated/infected corpses of humans. They aren't soft and rotting, but tough and wizened in texture, like bog mummies, with leathery (sometimes slimy) skin and flesh, though those that have been underwater for a while are significantly squishier and grosser. "Decay" does happen over time via zombies oozing, withering, and shedding bits of themselves, but it isn't caused by rot organisms such as bacteria. This "decay" is goopy and black; when completely dry it crumbles off, but it usually clings to the zombie like mud. It washes off and dissolves completely in water, giving contaminated water a characteristic foggy grey look. Zombies are fast and strong but much stupider than your average animal and usually don't utilise this strength competently. Zombies instinctively attack humans, though they may briefly attack things that attract their attention, such as animals or machinery that makes noise/movement, before stopping. A zombie will "eat" a human's brain if they get the chance, though what exactly they gain from this is unclear.

Zombie flesh is inedible and toxic; the more zombies in an area the less likely you are to find plants and animals, especially when waterways become polluted. Despite being unable to swim, zombies seem strangely drawn to fresh water and often fall into lakes and rivers, creating much larger contaminated areas. Fortunately the contamination isn't carried by evaporation, and toxic rain only happens in areas where high zombie density creates contaminated dust in the atmosphere.

Zombies seem even more stupid and disoriented in sunlight and will often hide away during the day in any dark space, such as inside houses or tunnels, often in small groups. Where the density of zombies is high enough (often in places they fall into and get trapped in large numbers) "stuckies" or "big boys" can form. Stuckies are two or more zombies that have started fusing together, creating a grotesque multi-limbed creature with more body mass than a single zombie. Stuckies are harder to dispatch but are usually less of a threat due to struggling to move on all their misplaced limbs. Big boys are stuckies that have started mutating additional, non-human features. They can be anything from a disgusting but harmless ball of flesh, to a fully functional monstrosity. Big boys form almost exclusively underwater, where zombies that have fallen into a body of water accumulate in piles. Big boys and stuckies would be quite easy to artificially create by simply pressing together a lot of zombies for a while in a damp environment, but why would you want to do that?

Zombies do not heal, but wounds don't affect them except mechanically. As long as a zombie still has a head, bones, and some connected tendons they will keep moving. The only way to kill a zombie is to destroy the brain's connection to the body, or destroy the brain entirely. This makes stuckies and big boys harder to kill because they have multiple brains, and finding and disabling them all can be tricky. Being exposed to sunlight and being immersed in water both make zombies stupider and more lethargic, meaning aquatic big boys only become a significant problem if they manage to get out of the water. Being in salt water disables zombies entirely and doesn't allow them to fuse in any way, though they will reanimate if taken out of it and stuckies washed into the ocean will not un-fuse.

Infection:

A human can become "infected" by any significant contact with zombies on the mucous membranes or intravenously (getting zombie gunk/juice in eyes, mouth, or a wound are the most common ways). The black zombie "decay" is the most infectious, making highly decayed zombies more risky to fight, despite usually being weaker. "Turning" is a fast process and it takes anywhere from a few hours to just 10 minutes for a human to lose themselves and start to attack their friends. Leading up to that, their flesh and blood gradually become greyer and their body seems to "desiccate"; losing fat and muscle tone and some hair. There is no known cure or prevention, so far.

The polluted water and occasional toxic rain caused by the zombies cannot "turn" a human, but will make them very sick (vomiting, fever, intestinal distress) and may result in death if the exposure is severe enough. If a person dies during or because of these symptoms, they will then become a zombie within a few hours.

Animal zombies are rare, with the infection becoming less likely to take hold of a creature the more genetically distant it is from a human (mammals being by far the most likely to become zombies).

Humanity:

The wider scope of human survival in the Grey Dawn setting is unknown, but around the area that James and co. live there are two main hubs of human activity: The Burrow, and Bastion City. The area between is a vast stretch of desolate buildings that used to be a major city and its suburbs, with an adjacent coastline in the shape of a bay. The buildings are 99.9% empty, with only the occasional brave, heavily barricaded survivor community or individual holding out.

-The Burrow-

The Burrow is a small but growing community centered around a hotel building next to a canal. The high-walled canal has drawn so many undead to it over the last 3 years that the surrounding suburbia is relatively empty of them, making it a somewhat safe place for survivors to gather. The Burrow values community and peace, striving to accept anyone and integrate them to a lifestyle that allows a less selfish way of thinking. Its community leaders are the two founders, and its military leader is the mysterious non-human creature known as The Captain.

In its early days, once it was stable and surviving well, the Burrow started an initiative to clear the canal of undead (knowing full well this was a work that would probably take decades) after they found a fully functional fishing boat. The Canal Crew were formed: a team of physically adept people willing to risk their lives to try to make a difference. The crew travels down the canal and uses long metal pikes to fish zombies out of the water, and then clubs to dispatch them while they're restrained on the ends of the pikes. The pikemen AKA Lancers are usually physically powerful, able to haul a wet zombie up over the edge of a boat, and the clubbers AKA Finishers are more agile, blocking and dodging to avoid a zombie's swipes and bash in its skull.

The Burrow eventually grew large enough to also turn its attention to the ruined suburbia beyond its barricades, and now sends out teams to kill zombies, gather resources, map the area, and offer safe haven to any scavengers or survivors they encounter. These land crews are known as the Whistlers, as they communicate over distance using sports whistles (which attract zombies less than human voices).

-Bastion City-

Bastion City is the largest human settlement in the area by far. Within the walled off remains of the city's business/commerce district, civilisation and technology from before the zombie apocalypse are somewhat preserved. Unfortunately this has been achieved through strict militant enforcement and harsh border control. Bastion City is several high-rise buildings and a few smaller constructs surrounded by a massive steel wall, patrolled by men with guns and warded by artillery. The wall opens only at the harbour, which is similarly guarded by a small gunship that is low on resources but otherwise fully functional. Bastion City has electricity and its own supply of clean water and their militant leadership sees no reason why they should share it, or indeed tackle the disaster outside their walls in any way. The Burrow is considered a local liability that will simply fall and turn into a troublesome nest of zombies eventually. Ideally, Bastion City would like to invade the Burrow and force all its people to relocate inside its walls, but the Burrow is far enough away that such an invasion would be a huge endeavour, so instead the two settlements remain in a very uneasy state of truce.