I last spoke to my wife about 2 weeks ago when the first reports of a pandemic in the populated regions of the world were reported but like anything we all thought it was another round of the bird flu and countries with thriving medical care would be OK. I haven't been able to get a phone call to go through and the military has shut down access to their satellite up links that we were able to use when our links to the home office went down. Anyway I have some free time now so I thought I would at least write all this down from my perspective now that things are settling down here in Chernarus.
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My Journal and experiences in the times after what we now call DAYZ.

DayZ +1

We got the call to begin evacuation procedures and to proceed to Balota airfield for helicopter extraction. As my small group of contractors assembled from all over the Chernarus region we began to see all kinds of weird activity. The fighting was over between the Russians, Chernans and US troops. They were all working together and patrolling the streets together. We constantly heard a lot of shooting and the Russian military security forces wouldn’t let those of us who were PMC groups to leave the airfield. Helos were constantly in and out but with the limited numbers of helos it was reminiscent of what my Dad mentioned to me once about the fall of Saigon. Somehow I knew deep down inside that my family wasn’t going to see me again. When the helos would come in after the first couple of days all the flight crews were suited up in biohazard gear.

DayZ +5

It all got confirmed one night about 3am when the helos stopped coming in. The group I was in on the southeastern end of the Balota field had held onto our rangefinders, NODs, binoculars and some weapons (these were personal) so we were about to take a look at the coastal area and watch the ships of the MEU steam back and forth about 10 miles out. Well they started easing further away from the coast but we didn’t know why since we had zero communication with them. I don’t know where they went or if they even made it. We weren’t the only US citizens and troops left in Chernarus so the southeastern end of the field started becoming the US end with the Russians and Chernans holding the other end. At least they didn’t have to go anywhere…which ultimately didn’t matter at all.

DayZ +6

The next morning around 9am local the field commanders which were a loose confederation of Russian, Chernan and the sole remaining ranking US commander who happened to be a Marine Brigadier General all came around and were asking everyone (even the military folks) to help secure the food, perimeter, weapons, etc… I thought that was strange until I said sure and they sent me and a few other guys to the northwest end of the field and we could see Balota itself. The Marine officer explained that we all had been placed under the operational command of the Russian military and that they would effect a rescue and return of us as soon as possible to get all US citizens and military personnel back to the United States or a US military installation. I got to thinking about that last part and the closest US bases were down in Iraq, England or over in Libya now that Europe had finally decided they didn't need/want US troops on their soil and realized we were up the creek without so much as a boat to even use that paddle.

There were bodies everywhere on the road. Some had been shot but most had been partially eaten or gored by some animal which I didn’t think existed until one popped its head up out of a car not 10 meters away. Out of instinct I threw my custom built marksman rifle to my shoulder and blew its head off. This brought a Russian captain sprinting my way. He was yelling at me in Russian which I barely understand but he stopped when I pointed and then he started yelling into the radio and about 30 seconds later a group of Spetznaz arrived on scene and took up positions around the gate. As we waited we heard this growling and groaning sound what sounded like a stampede. Then we saw them round the last house before the gate…about 10 humans sprinting at Olympic speed without regard for their life…but these weren’t humans anymore. They were zombies…The Russian captain made me hold my fire and for good reason. All the Spetznaz troops opened up and it sounded like steel wool being pushed through a tube and zombies started dropping where they stood. When it was over one of the Spetznaz troops who had worked with some US SF troops down in Afghanistan a few years back came over to explain to me that the zombies or zeds as they call them don’t react to suppressed weapons and they don’t react to unsuppressed weapons as long as you shoot at them from over 200 meters which is why they all had to come shoot at the gate to keep the hundreds of other zombies from being aggravated or aggroed as it has come to be known and charging towards the sound of the gunfire. As he talked he explained that his group had been out west and northwest looking for any US personnel or anyone that wasn’t infected. They had found a small child wandering around near what was probably its family home but the parents had died due to either fevers or starvation. After they got close enough to effect the extraction of the child the saw that the child was already infected with what everyone is calling a virus and they shot it and then placed it on the bed between the parents before setting fire to the house.

That is another thing…smoke hangs everywhere around this region. I noticed that in my first few days here in Balota. It is unlike anything I have ever seen; I don’t know if it is from Chernogorsk or what but in the mornings we can hardly breathe and the smoke clings to you like it is a wet blanket. Anyway…

DayZ +9

Several of us have been asked to go out on patrol in what we are all calling the badlands now. We have lost a few of our contractor group to high fevers that started suddenly and then about 24 hours later they were just gone. Some of us haven't felt good but it passed in a couple of days. The medical staff on base here is reporting all of this to the WHO and they are supposed to be sending in a team to take blood and tissue samples from those of us who have had the fever and lived. We did have to shoot one Russian Spetznaz trooper who started showing signs of the virus affecting him. His body has since been disposed of in the trash pile that gets burned daily; man that is a nasty ass job to have to go out and collect the dead bodies and burn them in the diesel fuel pyre.

Oh well I leave on patrol with what is left of a Force Recon unit that needs a couple of long range shooters to supplement their firepower. We are headed out towards Berezino since command has heard that there are several large ships moving into the port there. We would take a helo but the last one is down for maintenance and the Humvees’ are getting used up for spare parts now as well. We should be back in 4-5 days.

DayZ +14

Well some of us made it back from that cluster $%^@ of a recon mission. We lost contact with 4 guys that went down into Berezino to check out the ships we saw at the docks. One of the ships looked like it has just floated into the pier and the other was at anchor and had smoke coming out of the engine stacks. Other than that we only saw zeds (as we are all saying thanks to the Russians) roaming the streets.

We slipped into visual range of Berezino from the northwest after a long hump all night to get up past Gorka. Intel had picked up chatter about a gang of Chernans operating with Hilux's and Urals roaming around looking for other survivors but not to save them. When we got into view of Berezino the sun was coming up over the ocean and we spotted two ships right off the bat. We established a base camp on the eastern side of Klen Mountain overlooking the small village of Khelm. The patrol leader decided to send in 4 guys to check the ships and the lumber yard while 4 more went down to check the southwestern part of Berezino around the hospital. I was sent with the hospital group as over watch and security since I was toting the DMR and had picked off a few zeds out around 600 meters on our hike up the previous evening.

We maintained radio contact with the LT back at the base camp as he had two other guys on AS50's providing over watch on the group going to Berezino proper. Occasionally we would hear those big mothers open up after the patrol got close to town and needed some help from “GOD” as they called that sniper team. After about 2 hours on the move my group got to the hospital and tried to make contact with anyone that might be able to head back to Balota with us. Our recon element found no survivors and the zeds were getting increasingly agitated with our presence. So the three scouts started back out across the field at slow pace with as much medical gear as they could haul. I was providing security for them when a Hilux came roaring into the southwestern side of Berezino and had 4 guys in the back and two in the front. I called out on the radio for the scouts to go to ground in the field and hope that the gang in the truck wouldn’t see them. The problem with that was the zeds were following the scouts out of town and were near an abandoned security post that we now call “deer stands”. The scouts had to move or they would be jumped by the zeds and I couldn’t give away my position with the DMR. So I called “GOD” on the patrol net and they answered immediately that they were observing the Hilux which was now stopping and guys were pointing at the zeds in the field. I gave the signal to take the shot and two red blobs appeared on the back windows of the Hilux. Then I was clear to open up since they were less than 400 meters from my position up on a ridge. I got one more for sure and probably hit another but those AS50’s smoked two more guys before I had a chance to reengage. The scouts got up and cleared their six with me and “GOD” providing additional cover and they proceeded back to our laager before we returned to the over watch position with the LT at base camp.

When we got back the LT asked if we had heard from the other recon team or had seen them as we egressed from the area. We all responded in the negative and he said he was giving them 36 hours to return before we had to pull out and get back to Balota. We were going out another way down towards Polana because the LT wanted to check out Dubina Mountain. The LT ran a patrol the next morning down into the northern part of “Berry” as we are now calling it to look for his people and to gain some intel and find friendlies if possible his group came back in the late afternoon with low ammo and no information other than one of the ships was headed out to sea and one was still up next to the pier. We could see the other one headed out to sea but didn’t see anything else and never heard anything on the radio.

So that night we redistributed gear to spread out ammo and medical supplies in case we got ambushed and we set off for Dubina Mountain. About 3 hours later we were humping up Dolina and one of the snipers said that he thought on a clear day you could see all the way to the north end of the railroad in Berry. As I know now he was correct. The LT called a halt to the group on top of Dolina to call in a sitrep and give the base and ETA on our group and to hope for some type of extraction. From Dolina Mountain our next stop was Malinovka Mountain and then we got lucky and picked up a Hilux that we found just north of Staroye in a field. We drove that damn truck in the ground on the way back to Balota. I am sure it belonged to that gang we shot up earlier. The problem with doing that is now they knew that someone else was in the area and was willing to play ball. I am sure they knew we were there all along but I don’t think they knew we were willing to fight to live; just like they were doing.

As I close this journal entry for the day I just wanted to say that I wish I could get some information on what happened back home with my wife and kids.

DayZ +16

Man they gave us a full 24 hours to sleep after that patrol. The LT just came by to wake me up along with a couple of other guys to see if we wanted to be sworn into the US Marines for the duration of the deployment they were on. I asked him just what they were doing and he said that the General wanted to get all of us PMC guys sworn into the Marines since we could hold up pretty well if it came down to a fight. So almost all of us said that we would until he said that the Russians said the only way US citizens were getting out of Chernarus were if we were military personnel. Well that sealed the deal and all of us men and women are now Marines. It still sucks though because we haven’t gotten any uniforms and we all stick out like sore thumbs since most of us were wearing the PMC gear that we were required to wear to make us look like those idiots in the TSA back home. So now I am attached to an augmented Force Recon team that used to be called Razor. The LT and the Gunny are pretty tight and easy to get along with and have made me feel like part of the team.

DayZ +17

Another mission is up for the recon section; the LT briefed us that we were going to cut across inland to get to Kamyshovo. The commo section here in Balota had a brief contact with some USSOCOM personnel that were said to have been left on the coast there and they had moved offshore to protect themselves from the zeds on shore. We had a pretty tight fix on their location and the LT said it may be a 2-3 day mission. We are loading up on medical supplies and ammo since we are pretty confident that we can live off the land now. Oh and one other thing before I go to the range to check zero on the weapon. The Russians want us to drop by and check on a Spetznaz training area up on Rog Mountain. There is supposed to be a helo there! Maybe we get lucky and it’s a Mi-17 or Mi-24! That would be a sweet find; or a good place to hole up and send out our contact group to meet up with these USSOCOM guys that are offshore at Kamyshovo. Anyway I gotta close up quick here. I know I have said it before but I miss my family and wish I was home with them.

DayZ +19

Field update…don’t have time for much writing here; we spent the better part of 36 hours crawling and running for our lives since we left Balota. The LT wanted to go in close to Chernogorsk (Cherno) and Elektrozavodsk (Elektro) just to see if the towns and hospitals were looking better than Balota. We got lucky this time and we didn’t lose anyone in the quick run through Cherno but we did have to leave a couple of guys northwest of Elektro near the peak of Vysoky Kamen since we had a seriously wounded trooper from the recon of Elektro. If I have time later I will fill in there but that place is worse than any hell hole I have seen in a third world country by far.

Good news is we are supposed to hook up with the SOCOM group at first light and then go recon Rog Mountain. I don’t know for sure but I thought I heard the LT let it slip that these guys we are meeting up with are what is left of a SEAL platoon and a US Army ODA detachment that were way up north of Berry. They were deep recon for the missions that the Marines and Army were planning to launch before the outbreak. Got to run since it is time to pull my shift on security from our over watch position here northwest of Kamyshovo.

DayZ +20

I gotta write this down…my son was in this group! How in the hell did he get over here so fast? I don’t have time to talk with him as we are getting ready to roll to Rog Mountain now. These guys have held Kamyshovo for a while now all alone and were almost out of ammo and medical supplies. Between the SEALs and the ODA team hey lost 5 guys to the fever and had 3 more start showing zombie symptoms. The problem is one of the guys they lost to the fever was the ODA medical guy…damn shame since those guys are trained like surgeons and ER Trauma docs all in one package. According to the ODA team leader that was leading the group there is a big gang driving all over the eastern coastline. It is possible they are the same guys we ran up against in Berry. Will finish this up when I get back to Balota…DAMN I can’t believe my son is with me now; words just aren’t enough.

Day Z +21

Yesterday I was alone without any of my family members…today I am happy to say that my oldest son has joined me. So here is a little backstory; we hadn’t seen each other in a while since I had been working over here in Chernarus other than me getting to go home for his graduation from college. I had letters and phone calls occasionally back home to see how things were there with him but nothing direct since he went on to his courses in the Navy.


It was a strange reunion. My oldest son had joined the Navy and was finishing up training but couldn’t tell me a whole lot in the letters, emails and phone calls so I figured he was going through BUDs or EOD School. Turns out I was partially correct on all accounts. The way he got over here is the Navy needed bodies on rescue and recovery operations and to check up on lost teams so they pulled all the recent graduates from BUD/s into operation units from their probationary status.

Anyway I digress from the reason for today's post. After joining up with these guys north of Kamyshovo on the hillside we hear trucks running on the highway at high speed. The sniper team that the LT put out about 500 meters up the highway on the Krutoy Cap area reported in that there were three trucks coming down fast. One was what we termed a Technical and the others were the bug ass URAL's and they were loaded with about 20-25 gang members in the three rides. The Technical was just passing the sniper team and the other two trucks were about 100 meters behind them. The LT gave out the regroup coordinates and the race was on to get the hell out of dodge. Every one was supposed to regroup at 118/109 which is a peak between Rog Mountain and Tulga village. About two hours later the sniper team drags in a captive from the gang that they happened to catch as they were moving back to get some water before moving up the mountain to our location. This guy gave us intel on and said they had killed the other recon group up in Berry a few days earlier. For that the LT decided to leave the bad guy tied up right outside of Tulga but stripped of his clothes, shoes and underwear as a message.

So now we move out to Rog Mountain to check on the Spetznaz camp...that was a waste of time. We found a helo but it is in worse shape than the ones at Balota. The Mi-24 we found was gutted by fire and basically a melted hunk of aluminum and wire. It looked like the ammo and weapons on it were touched off to start the fire. We did find some sign of people using the ruins up there for shelter and we cleared a few zeds that wandered into the ruins. We spent about an hour there checking for people and looking for anything the Spetznaz troops might have left when they pulled out of the area but it was picked over already.

The LT called a little pow wow of the team leaders and they laid out our route which took us up over Vysoky Kamen and south of Nadezhdino before turning southwest to come into Balota Airfield from the north. We made that ass kicker of a march in a little over 8 hours but it was worth it to get back to the relative comfort of the airfield. When we got back we reported in and were told to stand down for rest and resupply. I spent the next several hours just sitting there talking with my son and getting to know him again. It was amazing to meet up with him and have him by my side.

I did tell him that if we couldn't get out of the region and get home that I knew of a good spot to hole up for as long as it took if he was interested. There had been several more people come down with the fever and the zombie attitude in the camp. So things weren't looking good. We just were going to have to stay out of the Chernans thought processes up there but if we were careful it might just work.

Time to turn in and get some rest. More to follow as I have time.

Harrowing Ztuff...

Nice write up, I like how you worked your son's appearance in