Brief Timeline
This is included in case you'd like to learn more about the story, but it's not required to play.
Chapter 1: 1993-1995
December 25th, 1993
An illness begins to spread throughout the Louisville metro area. Symptoms are simple, flu-like in nature. A broadcast mentioning the possibility of a parasite spreading through the city's water systems is aired.
January 1st, 1994
As the pathogen spreads throughout Louisville, a 30-day mandatory quarantine is swiftly enacted on the area. The city is walled off by airlifted pre-prepared walls, and patrolled by military personnel to prevent anyone from leaving. Louisville is referred to as the Louisville Exclusionary Zone, or the LVEZ. No information gets in or out of the Zone past this point, and the city becomes a radio dead zone. Not a soul is aware of what occurs within. At this time, a secondary precautionary Zone is created, known as the Knox County Community Zone, or the KCCZ.
Mid January, 1994
In Louisville, a group of mercenaries and soldiers who were abandoned by the walling off of the Zone creates a group known as the Vultures. They begin to smuggle people into the LVEZ for cash or favors.
A group of civilians within the LVEZ led by Doctor Porter establishes a group in Central Park. The area is swiftly walled off by shipping containers with assistance of the Vultures, and is known from then on as Container Town. As the first month goes on, relations between the two groups erode, resulting in the expulsion of the Vultures from Container Town.
February 1st, 1994
The first day of Chapter 1
The 30-day quarantine's end date comes and goes. The quarantine is not lifted.
Summer, 1994
The Kentucky Liberation Front (KLF) forms: a resistance movement dedicated to freeing the civilians trapped within the LVEZ and KCCZ exclusionary zone and government control. The group is blamed for several violent incidents, including a plane crash into the Zone. Amid the ensuing political chaos, General Claude -who is in command of the military forces in the area and who had voiced sympathy for the KLF- gets blamed for the incidents and is arrested.
August, 1994
Tropical Storm Beryl hits the LVEZ and KCCZ, causing extreme and widespread crop devastation through torrential rain and a tornado outbreak. This storm floods multiple areas of both Zones. Due to their isolated nature, these flooded areas become a part of the local ecosystem, becoming swampland over the course of the next few years. The KLF uses the opportunity to float balloons into the Zone with care packages and letters from loved ones for those trapped inside.
December, 1994
Rumors of an outbreak within the KCCZ begin to surface alongside grainy footage of infected individuals snuck out of the Zone by brave survivors to agents of the KLF. Many see the images as proof that the US government has failed to contain the outbreak and had concealed the severity of the situation. Protests and more violent action ensue from the KLF. Despite promises, no evacuation comes for the people living in the KCCZ. The military retreats from the walls around Louisville and takes up new positions outside the expanded community zone.
December 31st, 1994
The KLF broadcasts warnings through scattered notes and emergency radio messages, claiming the military is preparing a nuclear strike. In the final hours of the year, desperate survivors rush to finish a tunnel that had been quietly dug for months. Nearly complete, the passage offers a narrow window of escape beneath the LVEZ wall. As the final section collapses away, a small group slips through while others hold off a military squad closing in fast.
KLF fighters launch coordinated assaults on vulnerable sections of the perimeter, creating chaos to mask the escapes. Some make it to a helicopter hoping to put enough distance between them and the city before the end. A group of Vultures and those who managed to pay their way out of the Zone take off in a helicopter as well, but both are quickly targeted and brought down by anti-air defenses. They crash near the southern LVEZ wall, leaving plumes of smoke and fire.
In Louisville's harbor, a large cargo ship comes to life after grueling repair efforts by a group known as the Red Eyes and some of their associates. Only a few dozen survivors are allowed aboard. As the vessel moves south along the Ohio River, it is hit by airstrikes. The ship is irreparably damaged and breaks apart upon reaching the shore near West Point.
In a coordinated effort, lone survivors alongside members of the Birdwatchers, the Guardian Grove and the Gearheads spearheaded an assault on the walls. Explosives were used and a firefight against the undead and the US army broke out. The Kentucky Liberation Front assisted with the second layer, allowing people to escape into the KCCZ.
The chaos continues well into the early morning hours of the new year.
Chapter 1.5: 1995-1997
January 1st, 1995
The first day of Chapter 1.5
New Year's day arrives and, in the early hours of the day, survivors find themselves either crashed into the KCCZ via the ship or the helicopter, or emerging from the tunnel.
From here, sirens sound out in the KCCZ, LVEZ, and the surrounding areas. A plane can be seen overhead before a large object falls from the rear of the plane. Louisville is hit by a nuclear warhead and is considered uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.
The KCCZ is slammed by ash, heat, and radiation. This is the first time a nuclear device has been detonated in an act of violence of any kind on American soil. The country outside of the Zone is shaken by the impact, and the KLF launches numerous campaigns and protests as a result of this action.
The LVEZ survivors enter the KCCZ, and the infection spreads rapidly. By the end of the day, the entire county is no longer a contained zone of quarantined civilians, but an area of sparse survivors.
Early 1995
A widely distributed VHS tape attributed to the KLF shows grainy but graphic footage of the atrocities of the Quarantine Zone. This sparks increased public unrest. In response, a joint operation is formed between the CIA, FBI, and military intelligence branches. Initially framed as a temporary task force meant to suppress leaks and neutralize threats to national stability, this coalition quickly expands in scope. They begin systematically targeting individuals, underground networks, and media sites linked to whistleblowers and activist groups.
July 4th, 1995
The Task Force places the sitting president under house arrest and General Darling assumes executive authority.
Fall, 1995
The UN denounces the military takeover and expels the United States. The US economy crashes.
January 21st, 1996
The KLF enters the Zone with a force to occupy Cedar Hill. In response, the U.S. Military deploys hired freelancers called HOUND to maintain order.
January 27th, 1996
The military detonates a low-yield nuclear weapon on Cedar Hill, claiming the KLF troops were infected and had to be neutralized.
Early 1997
President Lautner is sworn in, who declares a national emergency and hands executive control to the Task Force. Intelligence agencies crack down on dissent, while the military secures strategic bases across the country.
July 4th, 1997
The KLF, loyalist U.S. forces, and armed civilians rise in open rebellion against the Task Force-led government.
August, 1997
A KLF plane is shot down over the KCCZ. Inside are documents revealing weak points along the Zone’s borders.
September – October, 1997
The KLF frees General Claude from prison. He rallies loyalist forces under a single banner and begins a campaign to liberate the KCCZ and destroy the undead.
November, 1997
Claude’s troops attack Highway 60 from outside the Zone, while KLF forces strike from within. The gate falls. Claude then redirects a massive undead horde into Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina to destabilize Task Force control.
Widespread fighting erupts across Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. The Task Force, operating from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, launches devastating airstrikes on Washington, D.C.
⏳ The Intervening Years: 1997 to 2017
November 8th, 1997
In retaliation, Claude’s loyalists launch cruise missiles at Task Force strongholds in Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina. The Task Force responds by bombing civilian centers across the Great Plains, justifying it as a final act to halt the infection. The heartland burns from Texas to the Canadian Shield.
December, 1997
The firestorms ignited by the nuclear exchange devastate the United States. Fires rage unchecked throughout December. Though the flames eventually die out, the suffering has only just begun -ash and dust blanket the atmosphere, blocking sunlight around the globe, and temperatures plummet just as the cold season begins, which causes a long and brutal freeze later remembered as "the Long Dark". Crops fail, and a wave of famine spreads worldwide.
With infrastructure destroyed and supply lines severed, millions freeze and starve. Weakened, they stand no chance against the undead now roaming the former United States. In the cold, the undead become slower, but they do not rot. They endure. Cities and towns that survived the initial fires are quickly overrun.
Merchant Island, a secluded enclave on Lake Superior, is spared from radiation due to its isolated climate. The island takes in early refugees and thrives.
January, 1998
Independent West America breaks away from the remnants of the US government, who they hadn't heard from in months.
Summer, 1998
Summer brings no relief: dust and ash still choke the skies. The Long Dark continues.
November, 1998
The Pan-Atlantic Union formally signs a compact establishing its capital as Vancouver and setting down military support quotas from its member countries.
April, 1999
Detroit unifies Milwaukee, Green Bay, Cleveland, and Chicago under the banner of the Steel Syndicate, calling on ties of union brotherhood to form a shared industrial alliance. Drawing on their manpower and machinery, they use their strength to fortify their cities, aiming to protect workers, preserve industry, and ensure survival through collective effort.
Fall, 1999
Rising political tensions on Merchant Island are fueled by a narrowly contained outbreak involving a bitten refugee and mounting pressure on food and housing resources. In response, the City Council moves to close the island’s borders to immigrants and visitors.
Late 1999 - Early 2000
Roughly two years after the Long Dark begins, the skies begin to clear. Sunlight returns, though faint and inconsistent. Winters remain long and punishing, and summers bring little warmth. Mass starvation continues.
Sometime in the year 2000
A mercantile town in the Deadlands appears, somehow surviving amidst the deadly fallout and zombie hordes. Its name is Shelter.
2001 – 2007
Each year brings a little more sunlight. Seasons become unpredictable under the unstable atmosphere. Slowly, growing and harvesting crops becomes more feasible, though the ecosystem remains badly damaged.
September, 2008
To streamline trade and assert regional stability, the Independent West issues its own currency, the Dollar, backed by textiles and agriculture. Its quick adoption cements the West’s economic leadership.
December, 2008
In response to the new Dollar, the Steel Syndicate introduces Crow Coins, forged from salvaged metals, as a bold declaration of financial independence and industrial pride.
February, 2009 - March, 2010
Border markets begin rejecting rival currencies, sparking tariffs, smuggling operations, and growing distrust between merchants on both sides.
April, 2010
After months of escalating economic tension, delegates from the Independent West and the Steel Syndicate meet at the neutral border town of Stone River to sign a historic trade agreement recognizing both the Dollar and Crow Coin as valid tender within defined trade zones. Currency conversion rates are set.
June, 2012
As the weather warms, hordes start roaming from the Deadlands to attack occupied areas. The Pan-Atlantic Union spearheads the response with assistance from the Independent West and the Steel Syndicate.
March, 2017
The City Council of Merchant Island, confident in its ability to contain the undead threat, begins to relax its long-standing refugee policy. For the first time in years, an open invitation for people to come to the island is issued.
April 9th, 2017
A group known as the Runic Sigil (or Runics) launches a devastating attack on Merchant Island. Once a fringe cult, the Runics have grown into a powerful quasi-religious sect. To breach the island’s defenses, they send a group of children to the main gate under the guise of seeking refuge. Unbeknownst to the defenders, a massive horde has been lured nearby, just out of sight.
While the guards scramble to assist the children, the horde surges forward. At the same time, Runic infiltrators cross the lake and strike from within. The defenders, caught between chaos at the gates and sabotage inside the walls, are quickly overwhelmed. The coordinated assault leads to the fall of the island.
Chapter 2: 2017 - 2022
2017
April 10th, 2017
Day One of Chapter Two
April, 2017 (Start of Chapter 2)
Solomon Grey, a chancellor of the island prior to the fall, announces the formation of MILI (Merchant Island Liberation Initiative).
May, 2017
The threat of the Runic cult spreads through the north of Long Point and the island of Santvoort.
July, 2017
A struggle for control between MILI and the Runic Sigil breaks out. The Runics achieve victory in robbing the island of its electricity by taking the powerplant.
August, 2017
Punks push the Runics from the stadium, making themselves known by hosting a party and inviting survivors to celebrate their victory. A few weeks later, another battle between the factions ensues with a fight for control over the center of the city. Survivors and punks alike band together to thwart the Runic expansion southward.
September, 2017
A non-hostile but powerful faction known as the Keepers reveals itself to be based at Merchant Island's University, organizing a trade event to break the ice with the island's residents.
November, 2017
The Punks and Runics fight for control once more as the punks are ambushed at the LP stadium. Many lives are lost and the stadium becomes a no-man's land.
2018
January, 2018
The Keepers return a few months later, offering the people of Merchant Island a wide variety of goods, from weapons to vehicles, at their second trade event.
March, 2018
Professor Elwood, a scientist associated with the Keepers, instructs the people on the island to retrieve the Crowbexillium sample in the Finnegan Lab and to extract James Kurian.
April, 2018
Professor Elwood tests with the retrieved sample and finds that Crowbexillium pollen can bind to parasites within the host and slow the undead until they're fully dead. He employs groups of survivors to install pollinators to spread this pollen. Over the next few weeks, undead numbers dwindle, then surge. Survivors start encountering mutated infected soon after.
May, 2018
The Keepers establish the East Sedgwick Ecological Disaster Zone around the town where the pollinators are installed, aiming to prevent the infected from entering the town at any cost and ensuring that pollen didn't leave the town. Professor Elwood goes missing.
December, 2018
Leyden is assaulted by a large runic and undead force, which is held off by the survivors with aid from the Keepers.
2019
April, 2019
Group by group, the islanders begin their journeys into the Deadlands in search of supplies, answers, and adventures.
End of August, 2019
A trip into the Deadlands holds a dastardly motive, as some of the islanders release a nuclear warhead into the USA. Its destination is offset by unknown forces and sent into Chicago. The aftermath results in radiation storms and drastic weather changes across the island along with the destruction of a major city and its people.
2020
February, 2020
Wallace Reeves makes his presence known on the island and hires some of the islanders to aid him. He identifies himself as a important figure within MILI's ranks.
March, 2020
Survivors explore and find a nest of Special Infected in the Crossroads Mall, reporting the find to the Keepers. They begin small excursions into the mall to slowly clear the premises.
June, 2020
With the help of survivors, the Keepers recover satellite data that unveils a safe path through the Deadlands.
Early July, 2020
Wallace Reeves and MILI recruit survivors to fight against Runics for a chance to recover the power plant in hopes to restore power to the island in the future. MILI and the survivors are successful in removing Runic forces.
End of July, 2020
After months of testing, a group of scientifically-inclined survivors create the first iteration of a cure: it delays zombification under weekly injections with a 70% success rate. However, it's highly resource-intensive and the materials to create it are rare.
Early October, 2020
The Keepers recruit groups of survivors to put an end to the Special Infected nest in the Crossroads Mall. The final push results in an explosion within the nest and the death of the Keeper who was assisting the survivors.
November, 2020
Wallace Reeves and MILI recruit Survivors to assist in attacking the Runic's main prison in the Long Point Park. After a strenuous battle, they fail, but Reeves swears another attempt will occur.
December, 2020
Laniaris starts kidnapping survivors off of Merchant Island, torturing and crucifying them.
End of December, 2020
Before the island fell, scientist scouts discovered a long abandoned CIA research complex named "Steel Yard" in documents, but some on site researchers that viewed the structure seemed to recognize it as "The Duga".
The Keepers send survivors to turn off the machine, as the effects of The Duga were hallucinations.
2021
February, 2021
A runic leader named Laniaris starts sending hordes on communal areas across Merchant Island.
Early March, 2021
Wallace Reeves and MILI recruit survivors to assist in attacking the Long Point park once more, this time during a heavy rainstorm overnight. Survivors are successful after many injuries, the park becoming liberated of Runic forces.
End of March, 2021
Wallace Reeves recruits a team to infiltrate a runic village in east Sedgewick, where he was found burning and executing runics living there. This causes some survivors to turn on him, shooting him before he is evacuated and quickly arrested.
May, 2021
After his arrest, Wallace Reeves was sent to trial, where he was found guilty of kidnapping and torture, but not war crimes due to survivors' testimonies.
End of July, 2021
MILI recruits survivors to help them take down the Punks once and for all. Survivors are sent to the Punk's home turf, their boat, but they are unsuccessful and leave with a multitude of injuries while the Punks take their boat elsewhere.
August, 2021
A scientist by the name of Blunder, who previously worked with the Keepers, starts recruiting survivors to help with his experiments. These experiments, intended to address and reduce the infected presence on the island, ultimately fails. The survivors incidentally help create the first strain of the pathogen capable of spreading to animals.
Early December, 2021
The Punks vacate to an old oil rig just off the coast of Merchant Island and survivors pursue, slowly taking down their numbers and rescuing kidnapped survivors.
End of December, 2021
After the death of a well-loved survivor, a group hunts down the remaining Wallace Reeves loyalists, taking them down.
Blunder is kidnapped by the Runics and used to further experiment on the virus.
2022
January, 2022
MILI recruits survivors to help take down Caledonia island, a large Runic zone. Two teams are formed: a big group who would focus on securing the island and a strike team who would focus on taking down two Runic Leaders, Laniaris and the Harbinger. The island is secured but the strike team fails, leaving Laniaris and the Harbinger alive.
January 22nd, 2022
MILI continues to recruit survivors to end the Runics once and for all, dividing teams to storm a final stronghold with intentions to wipe out the Harbinger and Laniaris, and with hopes of recovering Blunder. These teams are successful, killing them both and saving Blunder, turning him into MILI custody.
January 26th, 2022
The end of Chapter 2
Laniaris and Harbinger are dead, Blunder is rescued and imprisoned by MILI, and his research and lab are destroyed. The infection spread to animals, but birds never got infected.
⌛ The Interlude Years: 2022-2042
2022
After defeating the Runics, Solomon Grey dissolves the Merchant Island Liberation Initiative and establishes and reinstalls a democracy on the island. He is elected by its inhabitants and rules for many years. With the Runic threat now removed from the island, they work on cleansing the island of infected and rebuilding its defenses. Under Solomon Grey's leadership, the island shifts towards an isolationist policy over the years, and the focus goes towards self-sufficiency and not meddling with the outside world.
Sometime in 2025
A mercantile oasis town in the Deadlands disappears, its name was Shelter.
January, 2026
Merchant Island is quarantined by the PAU at their request to stop a new strain of the virus from escaping. However, it was too late -the mutation had already escaped into the Deadlands. It causes the collapse of safe trade routes, villages, caravans, and more. It wreaks havoc on a substantial level.
March, 2026
Being in such close proximity to Merchant Island, the Steel Syndicate is the first hit by the new mutation. Green Bay and Cleveland fall by March.
Summer, 2026
By Summer, the entirety of the Steel Syndicate has fallen to the new mutation. Only some towns remain.
2027
The Steel Syndicate helps refugees flee to the PAU, many fleeing to it on their own too. Even in the face of the strengthened zombies, the PAU walls hold strong.
2028
A heatwave hits the Western PAU. Water and food shortages occur, among other catastrophes. Morale goes down and the West begins to struggle, the walls and defenses faltering, leading to its abandonment by the European PAU. The Western PAU begins to slowly fall through the year and fully collapses by September of 2028. It's quarantine on Merchant Island ending with it. Merchant Island withdraws into itself and reisolates.
Coordinating with the rest of the world, all countries including the European PAU, quarantine off the entirety of North America. No one in, no one out. It becomes a naval, airspace, and land blockade of unparalleled proportions that still stands today. Merchant Island isolates itself once again.
February, 2029
The IWA falls to hordes in February. Cities of the IWA, instead of working together to survive, pull inward to fortify themselves as city-states.
May, 2029
The city-states of the IWA form the Inter-City Contract (ICC).
August, 2031
With the fall of the IWA, the Dollar disappears. The world meets at a summit and all world leaders decide to collectively revert back to the Gold/Silver standard. A new universal currency named the IRU (International Reserve Unit) is created. Countries can still have their own currency, but the IRU is the most widely used.
June, 2034
South American countries near the Darién gap burn the forest away to create easier visibility. They also widen the Panama canal so nothing can cross and risky land patrols become less needed.
January, 2042
City-States of the ICC begin to send out some expeditions in search of resources to supply their dwindling storages.
January, 2042
Shelter is rediscovered by a group known as the Sentinels. They put out a message for help to rebuild it before the seasonal dust storms arrive.