Knox Event
| Knox Event | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Lore |
| Type | Lore |
| Setting | Knox Country |
| Also Called | The Knox Outbreak |
The Knox Event is the name given to the zombie outbreak behind every story in Project Zomboid. It begins in the summer of 1993 in Knox Country, Kentucky. The first towns hit are Muldraugh and West Point. The outbreak is said to start around the Fourth of July, 1993. Within days the military seals off the area as the Exclusion Zone.
Every run starts inside this sealed zone after the evacuation. The world on the first morning shows the event already under way. Some shops are looted and some buildings are barricaded. Other places still look like ordinary life stopped in mid step. Radio and television broadcasts carry the story forward day by day. They tell of the blockade, the sickness and the failing response outside the fence. The Knox Event explains why help never comes. It also explains why power, water and order slowly fade away.
Knox Event History
The trouble starts weeks before the game begins. Residents of Knox Country notice a foul smell in the air. The smell lingers through the whole outbreak. On July 1, 1993, Knox Telecommunications takes the phone lines down for maintenance. The outage drags on for days. Mobile and car phones fail as well.
On July 3, a military truck carrying a hazardous substance crashes north of March Ridge. Soldiers seal the site and turn away reporters. The next day an army colonel urges calm. Officials refuse to name the substance. On July 5, the sheriff warns residents to leash their dogs after a run of dog attacks. The local news blames the smell on algae in the Ohio River.
On July 6, local papers report a mystery illness in Muldraugh. The sick show flu-like symptoms, and many have bite wounds. One doctor suspects rabies. The military opens its medical centres in March Ridge and Fort Knox to the sick. That morning soldiers block the roads into Knox Country. Muldraugh, West Point, Brandenburg and Fort Knox fall inside the blockade. Fences and checkpoints go up by midday. Residents are turned away at gunpoint. Crews in hazmat suits move through the zone. This is the Knox Evacuation, and the main camp stands south of Louisville.
On July 7, the governor says he knows no more than anyone else. Fort Knox cancels leave for its soldiers. On July 8, reports of a mild sickness spread inside the zone. More troops arrive and a no-fly zone covers Knox. The game begins on July 9, 1993, three days after the evacuation. That day the zone commander, General John McGrew, appeals for calm. Gunshots echo near the fence. The President states faith in the military to contain the Knox Virus.
Knox Event Gameplay
The Knox Event shapes the world from the first minute. The map starts as a sealed zone full of the dead. Radios and televisions carry news broadcasts that follow the event as days pass. Listening to them reveals how the outbreak spreads beyond the fence.
The Knox Infection is the disease at the heart of the event. A bite from a zombie always passes it on. Scratches and lacerations can pass it on as well. Every infected death rises again as a zombie.
The services of Knox Country fail as the event goes on. After some days the electricity and the running water shut off for good. The Emergency Broadcast System on the radio warns of the shutoff in advance. Sandbox settings can move the shutoff later.
Early in a run a helicopter flies over the zone. Its noise draws large crowds of zombies after it.
Notes
- The Knox Event begins around July 4, 1993, in Muldraugh and West Point.
- The military seals Knox Country on July 6, 1993.
- The game starts on July 9, 1993, three days after the evacuation.
- Radio and television broadcasts tell the story as days pass.
- Power and water shut off after some days, with a radio warning first.
- A helicopter passes overhead early on and drags zombies with it.
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