Happy HoliDayZ DUG!

As 2022 comes to a close we wanted to take a last look at December and see all the great posts that will wrap things up for the new year!

Video: Ekho’s Memoriam

Video by Rampage_TTV

A memorial for Ekho, one who will live in the hearts and minds of those he touched, and a celebration of his family, the Renegades. R.I.P. Ekho the Burned Man.

Character Story: Dave & Kelso on a Wild Ride

This story is considered to be taken OOC (Out-Of-Character)!

Dave woke up about a quarter mile from the Church, somewhat South-West of it, in the direction of Mogilevka. There was a discussion amongst some sheep that Kelso was going to be making the rounds today in the area, and up until this point, Dave and Kelso really had only met briefly. Today, he had a goal; not only help Kelso with whatever was planned, but ask him about whatever he knew of the Fireflies.

Earlier the previous day, on a regular patrol route, Dave discovered a note in a cabin west of the Church that he frequented that reminded him of past memories; a lodge just south of a Summer Camp, which was just south of Novy Sobor. In the note, it was said that someone remembered the Waveside Network, remembered Dave’s previous group leader, Travis, and furthermore…they seemed to have an idea of who Erik was. Finally, after weeks searching post the Storm, Dave had an actual path to follow.

Getting the back together and checking his rifle took longer than anticipated; Dave’s rifle was a relatively sleek find nearby; a CR-527, in relatively good condition. Reliable, he remembered favoring the gun in the past. Getting it and his trusty Shotgun together, he set out for the Church, looking to find Kelso and stop burning daylight remembering the good times.

The Church finally was beginning to get walls; not only that, but protection. The group had moved on from Guglovo for the time being; there was a massive amount of incentive to do so; there was increased Bandit activity in the region, making Guglovo incredibly unsafe. Dave had heard of it; DAM at the water pump, Bagheads being difficult in the region (experience Dave had first hand), and other unfortunate accidents. The group decided the Church would prove to be a better position for the time being, so they moved on.

As the sun shined down on Dave (somewhat getting in his eyes, forcing him to move his signature Slouch Hat to block the rays), he walked along the edge of the church, examining it’s almost ancient brick and mortar; how long had this place been here in the before times? What exactly happened to get this church into this shape. The remnants outside show signs of a once thriving, albeit small town; how many died here and why? Erik may have gotten a better understanding of how the world got this way, but Dave was born into it; it was the only world he had ever known.

Upon walking inside, a man with a flat cap and blue shemagh greeted him; it took Dave a few moments to realize it was Kelso.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again Kelso; I dropped by to lend a hand today” said Dave, hoping Kelso wouldn’t be too upset that he wanted to tag along.

“I’m down for it; I could always use the company with people in the area. Plus, Bobs and the others have been speaking highly of you; I suppose it’s finally about time we had an adventure” returned Kelso, in a rather kind and pleasant manner. Despite not being particularly close, Kelso’s charisma and politeness was an improvement from the other random wanderers he had met. The Sheep were quite cordial and he appreciated how they worked.

Kelso explained he needed to run off and get the car; it was already prepped and loaded as to save time. The goal was pretty basic and he explained the plan as he brought the car up to the church and they began to load it with back-ups of car parts and other essentials, making sure to leave optimal space for things they would find out and about on their scavenging run.

As Dave got in the car, and they began to make some small talk, they discussed somewhat avidly, of their own personal affairs; Kelso was actively trying to find repair tools to build up the church and it was his primary focus, pushing him to search and patrol the region on any spare time he had available when not directly helping other Sheep. As Dave explained his situation to Kelso, much of which he had heard from Bobs, Louie, and the others, he gave Dave a reassuring thing to keep in mind.

“You know, it isn’t all that overwhelming like you make it out to be. I’m sure you feel somewhat nervous about who you are, but you’ll figure it out, right? Honestly, I wouldn’t concern yourself much with it. Not a huge deal.”

As Kelso said that, it rang in Dave’s mind for a bit; it really was that simple. On paper, there was nothing to worry about. The survival instincts and lessons came back; he was getting more skilled hunting and tracking, he was actively farming and scouting, and was remembering bits and pieces of the region. Truly, Dave was capable at this point. There wasn’t much of a reason to worry. Bobs made a good point about this too in a previous excursion together, that worrying too much about it could lead Dave into some dark and rough places. Asking the wrong people about sensitive information from the past could pose a danger. There was a lot to lose; not much more than a name and some details to gain.

Before heading anywhere, the car simply headed north up the road to Guglovo; Kelso had mentioned that Dimebag was around, and he wanted to check in with him before heading out of the territory. As the reached Guglovo, they found Dime fighting with some Infected; he quickly dispatched them before they could even get out of the car.

Hurriedly, Kelso popped his seat belt and was springing into action, whipping open the car door. Dime took a massive puff of something, Dave had assumed a cigarette, but the smell was somewhat unfamiliar. “Relax, I got ’em. Nothing big.” Dime proceeded to snub out his “cigarette” to save for later, retrieving his weapon from the corpse of the deceased, giving it a wipe off on their clothing, and proceeded to the water pump in the center of town. “Walk with me, got some notes to check out”. Dave and Kelso followed closely.

In the center of town at the time were two lonely improvised shelters, next to a lonely water pump. While there wasn’t a lot going on nearby, people were starting to put up notes on the fencing in town; while some were downright creepy and concerning, some were notes from passerby wondering if the Sheep were okay, considering they hadn’t seen building going on in town since the Storm. Dime looked over papers, and Kelso checked the tents thoroughly and left some food behind for travelers passing by. Dave took a second to fill his canteen.

Not more than a few moments later, two strangers rolled up into Guglovo. As the group of Sheep and Dave went to greet them, they had just finished dispatching an Infected of their own. As Dime goes to ask their names, they give relatively basic information; one’s name is Sparrow, the other’s name is Ace. They don’t say much, and explain they don’t know any groups or anything particular, they are just travelers passing through. They are armed, seemingly out of ammo, and are just asking for aid. Considering their polite attitudes, and all the chaos in the region, Dime, Kelso, and Dave decide to hand them off some ammunition and set them on their way towards Novy Sobor, as they mention they intended to move towards the North West Airfield.

After saying good-bye to them, and then good-bye to Dime about 10 minutes later, the Kelso and Dave finally make a run. They head to several areas circling the Airfield; Kabinino, Novaya Petrovka, Sinystok, Lopatino, Pustoshka, and several other towns. Outside finding a few hiding holes of bases and other survivors, they find little; a couple of boxes of nails make the journey worth it, but not exactly anything to write home about. After discussing the quickest routes home, they landed on doubling back through Kabanino; while it was going to take them through Stary/Novy Sobor, it was worth the risk with the sun setting. They had been out all day and it was worth it to get home.

Upon getting out and back onto the road, there was more discussion time, namely, about the Fireflies. Kelso only had old information to go off of, that they were once in Pusta and owned the area actively. He suggested Dave look there first before anything else, and even offered to travel with him to take a note, in hopes they would recieve it; Dave declined, wanting to do the personal journey himself.

Entering Kabanino was a relatively smooth experience, the sun dwindling relatively quickly; before the group knew it, they were fired upon; while unable to get a solid glance, they appeared from a small building right on the edge of town; from the east. There was roughly 2, possibly three of them; they had armbands of a Red and White color scheme, which were only visible by their gunshots and the light emitted from them.

Dave, unfortunately, had blacked out. As he awoke, he had a half-failed airbag popped on him. He saw a church in the distance, a night sky hanging above him. Kelso was shouting wildly at him to stay awake and to not drift off. He recognized the clinic building behind him, Dave half-hanging out of the car. As he drifted off, feeling a rapid pounding on his chest, a memory replayed in his mind.

Dave began walking up a hill. It was rather large and steadily sloped, and despite it being something he had seen before, it felt different. It was the DUGout’s location; he recognized the surroundings. He looked behind him; it was Severograd. As he looked down, and at his hands and arms, he didn’t recognize the clothing he wore; he had a Black Radar Cap on, some military boots, and some hunting pants on; a raincoat, a drybag, and a rather nice Mosin Nagant strapped to his back. As he made his way up to the DUGout’s gate, he saw a familiar face in the distance; a man that seemed oddly familiar. Peculiarly familiar.

“Travis?”

Dave looks to his left and immediately sees a body spring up from the grass; a bandit in unmarked clothing; a pink armband, an assault rifle pointed directly at him. As Dave goes to try and dodge out of the way, the oddly similar man tackles the assailant; as Dave tumbles onto the ground, rounds randomly firing off from the assault rifle having its trigger pulled haphazardly, Dave is struck in the side multiple times…yet no pain lingers. Dave looks up, sees the hand of the familiar man looking towards him and calmly speaks to him.

“Erik…jesus, you are gonna die on me, huh?” says the familiar figure.

“I’m what? I’m Erik?” Dave asked, confused and concerned.

“Erik…you are gonna fucking die on me! Erik, wake the fuck up. Wake up!”

As Dave’s eyes go wide, he awakens, in a fervor of cold sweat and panic. He’s patched up with several rolls of gauze around his wounds from the ambush at Kabanino. Kelso’s parked by the Church with some of the Sheep sorting goods, getting water and food and supplies tucked away. As Dave goes to slip out of the car, he has difficulty standing; he was hit hard by the attack, and clearly needed some time to recover.

After making his way over to Kelso, who was sitting in the church and cleaning his rifle, he looked over to Dave. “Not gonna lie, I honestly thought you weren’t gonna pull through. Glad you proved me wrong. You were pretty much straight up having the mixture of a seizure and a panic attack.” Kelso adjusted his flat cap up a bit, revealing more of his eyes; there was worry. Real concern.

“I think I’m just fucking lost, honestly. I remembered some horrible stuff. Just…memories coming and going. What happened to us in Kabanino?” Dave asks, curious and confused.

“I’m not sure that’s the question to be asking right now, honestly” Kelso replies. “I think the real question here is…what the fuck happened to you before the Storm, Dave?”

Dave sat beside him, a couple of feet away, pulling out a bag of nails he had stashed as a gift for them after their trip to bolster his spirits (and pay Bob’s Nail Tax for being a “Citizen of Kumlovo”).

“I fucking wish I knew.” murmured Dave, content with the moment, concerned for the future.

Video Series: The Company We Keep

Video by Legit-POP!

After another meeting with Forsaken Loyalists, The Overlook starts to reconsider their partnership in fighting the Cult. Be sure to check out the entire series so far here!

Character Short: Vadim

Video by THE COMMUNE

Meet Vadim: The Russian Trader, who’s more likely to drink with you than make you pay. You can catch him streaming live on Twitch here!

OOC: Greetings from Panama!

Image by Oz

While our community is primarily American/European, it looks as though our reach goes even wider than expected. Oz posted on our Discord while at the beach showing off their support for DUG! Let’s just hope they got all the sun they needed before diving back in for another intense session in-game…

Video: Minerva the Bow God

Video by trollofduty007

It was about time a true Robin Hood emerged. Check out this guy’s skills with a bow!

Artwork: Propaganda Poster

Artwork by Valdark

You may have seen these posted around town. They seem to be dated just before the outbreak, but no one seems to know for sure…

Here’s to 2023!

With 2022 finally coming to a close. We have for sure had up’s and down’s, but we believe we are finally back on track and the future is looking exciting to say the least! If you’re interested in staying up to date with us and our community be sure to join our Discord and apply to join our Whitelist and start viewing hundreds of stories, artwork and videos from our Community via our private Subreddit.