This is required reading to make a character. Infected lore is different this season.
The world is suffering under an outbreak of a “zoonotic infectious disease” that made sporadic appearances in the early months of the year and hit critical levels by early March.
Rumors swirl about what is causing this illness, and how it spreads. Many theories are put forth by huddled, scared people— Pharmaceutical companies? Food contamination? Airborne viruses? Governmental experiments?—but one thing is for certain: It affects the entire world, it has overtaken the majority of the population, and there is currently no cure.
Animals and people suffering from this mysterious illness experience erratic and aggressive behavior as the disease takes root in them over the course of multiple weeks. Affected people grow more paranoid and aggressive until they deteriorate to such a level that they “snap” and never regain their senses again.
These are no zombies. They are living people, though they are (in most cases) slow, non-verbal, and incredibly aggressive. They aim to tear people apart with their hands as much as their teeth; they aren’t seeking brains or flesh, but to destroy the perceived threat in their warped minds.
They can bleed out and die from any injury that would kill a standard human, and they are not rotting: They look as human as ever, because they ARE human. Can they be saved someday? If you kill them, are you depriving them of that chance?
World governments struggled to halt the flow of the illness, shutting down borders, grounding flights, halting transportation, issuing stay-at-home orders. Braddock Island was no different, and though the island has largely fallen into chaos in the past few months, with small pockets of survivors holding out against the ever-growing mass of uncontrollable infected, Braddock can still seem like a tempting destination for refugees from the mainland due to its small size and remote location. Still trying to maintain some kind of order, a military presence patrols the waters around Braddock to keep folks from leaving… but people can still make it in.
Braddock Island isn't special. It isn't a place people are speaking about across the country, or a place that's said to be safer in any way (beyond being an island, which might afford some safety on its own). It's just another destination, and your character just so happens to be there.
When you create your character, think of these things:
Where are they from, and how did they get to Braddock? Your character can be from somewhere else, or they can have been on Braddock Island this whole time, laying low.
How do they feel about potentially killing a person who is sick? There is no honor in killing these infected; this is no arcade game where you mow down snarling, rotted corpses. These people are aggressive and cannot be reasoned with, but are they really gone?
It has now been over a year since the outbreak. What has your character been doing in that time? Look at the bottom of the page here to see the current date in-game.