If your GM is running you through a zombie one shot (aim for the head) this Halloween or you are that GM and want to inspire your players, here are some ideas about why a zombie hunter might spend so much time slaying zombies.
Any monster hunter has a dark past, and a zombie slayer is no exception. However, some slayers still live in a relatively normal world and monsters tend to be hiding in the shadows. Most zombie hunters live in a world completely overrun by the undead and so their outlook is hard and their prospects bleak. But still, they keep hunting. Why?
I don’t talk about that night. To anyone. But I keep everyone at arm’s length: no emotional attachments anymore. We can slay together and even live together. But I won’t give my friendship or my heart to anyone ever again. It doesn’t stop the nightmares of that night returning though. And it doesn’t bring back my loved one. Or erase what I did to survive."
Everyone needs to have a flashlight and extra batteries. Two flashlights if you can. I hate the dark. That is the worst part of the loss of civilization: the dark and what it hides."
I don’t drink no more. You shouldn’t either. If you get drunk, I might leave you. Or if you put me in danger I might just do something worse. Not like I haven’t done terrible things before."
When I realized the water was no longer running, I decided to fight my way out. Rolled out with a mattress in one hand and the baton I took from the guard before he came back to unlife too. The other prisoners were screaming and pleading for me to let them out. But there were so many undead. I had to get out.
Locked doors make me break out in a sweat, but I know I have to lock myself in sometimes. So I can try to sleep. That’s when I still hear the other prisoners screaming and pleading. When I try to sleep."
Your Turn: What did you do to survive your first zombie? If you can bring yourself to talk about it.
Any monster hunter has a dark past, and a zombie slayer is no exception. However, some slayers still live in a relatively normal world and monsters tend to be hiding in the shadows. Most zombie hunters live in a world completely overrun by the undead and so their outlook is hard and their prospects bleak. But still, they keep hunting. Why?
Hug Gone Wrong
"I woke up in the night. My loved one was approaching the bed, and their footsteps woke me up. Their arms were out. I thought they wanted to hug me. They tried to eat and kill me instead.I don’t talk about that night. To anyone. But I keep everyone at arm’s length: no emotional attachments anymore. We can slay together and even live together. But I won’t give my friendship or my heart to anyone ever again. It doesn’t stop the nightmares of that night returning though. And it doesn’t bring back my loved one. Or erase what I did to survive."
Woke up in the Morgue
"You ever been sick? Really sick and out of it or unconscious? I thought being sick like that was bad. Until I work up cold and naked in a body bag in the morgue. I clawed my way out into pitch blackness. And something else was down there, like me, that should be dead but wasn’t. Well, maybe it was dead but it was moving. And coming for me. I found a scalpel in the dark and fought for my life. I won. That time.Everyone needs to have a flashlight and extra batteries. Two flashlights if you can. I hate the dark. That is the worst part of the loss of civilization: the dark and what it hides."
Black Out Drunk
"I used to drink too much. I passed out at my favorite bar. The screams woke me up. Even over the loud music, those screams were so loud. I came to and saw the undead tearing everyone in the bar to pieces. All those people I’d spent so many nights with, drinking. I left ‘em. I ran out the back. I’m still running.I don’t drink no more. You shouldn’t either. If you get drunk, I might leave you. Or if you put me in danger I might just do something worse. Not like I haven’t done terrible things before."
Paroled
"I was in jail when the screaming started. Didn’t realize I was lucky to be in the first holding cell until a guard came in, fumbling to let me and the other prisoners out. He had just unlocked the door when the undead took him from behind and tore him to pieces right in front of me. The undead couldn’t get to us. But we couldn’t get out.When I realized the water was no longer running, I decided to fight my way out. Rolled out with a mattress in one hand and the baton I took from the guard before he came back to unlife too. The other prisoners were screaming and pleading for me to let them out. But there were so many undead. I had to get out.
Locked doors make me break out in a sweat, but I know I have to lock myself in sometimes. So I can try to sleep. That’s when I still hear the other prisoners screaming and pleading. When I try to sleep."
Zombieland Recap
Use these backgrounds to up your roleplaying in a world overrun by undead. Sometimes, day to day survival in a world overrun by the undead is easier to deal with then the haunting memories and the nightmares of who you used to be. Before you did what you had to do to become what you are now. A survivor. A zombie hunter.Your Turn: What did you do to survive your first zombie? If you can bring yourself to talk about it.
bustin' makes me feel good!
