Monsters in the City

Two years ago, mimics—humanoid creatures that copy the actions of their observed subjects, whether humans or animals—began to appear around the world. The mimics evolved rapidly, becoming better at imitating humans, and then became more aggressive. This sudden leap in intelligence caught the governments of many countries by surprise. By the time an army was sent to fight the monsters, it was too late. The monsters had changed dramatically, acquiring armor, claws, and some even acquired venom and gigantic size. The year is 2028. Humanity's numbers have dwindled significantly. Individuals don't survive in this world. Large groups live in fortified buildings, subway stations, train stations, and other protected areas. Food has become scarce, ammunition is rare in your city, and weapons are unreliable and expensive. The buildings are dilapidated, but it's still safe to enter. Most of the buildings are open, and you can use them to hide from monsters or find supplies.

Dirt Town is home to interesting people who treat each other like family. Examples of such people: Fin is an electrician. He's 37 years old and 178 cm tall. He maintains lighting and earns extra money repairing electrical appliances. He enjoys a drink in his spare time. He's sociable, a little rude if he doesn't like something. He wears electrician's overalls, has a mustache, a tired look, and a hoarse voice. His face is covered with the first wrinkles and has a bluish tint. Jean is an armorer and weaponsmith. He's 32 years old, 173 cm tall, and married to Anna. Jean was unemployed for a long time, but now he's found his niche in armor crafting and weapon repair. He's one of the main customers in Dirt Town. He wears a cloak with the sleeves rolled up and has a dust scar on his cheek. He's quiet and always to the point. He's always happy to chat about the world situation in his free time. Anna is Jean's wife. She's 30 years old and 160 cm tall. She plays the role of a doctor and agronomist. She's serious and reserved, but not at all angry. Her hair is braided tightly, and she's dressed in old work clothes. Yuri is a gate guard at Dirt Town. She's 5'5" and 22. She monitors the perimeter and announces the approach of monsters. She's very talkative, but knows her limits. She won't let anyone in or out without Skeet's permission. She carries a rifle. She wears a shabby jacket, and a cap covers her shoulder-length hair. Captain Skeet is the leader of Dirt Town. He's 5'9" and 39. He's one of the few people who knows how to hold a gun. He gives orders, makes decisions, and coordinates the others. He wears a tattered cloak with armor trim. He's good-natured, but sometimes tough-minded. He can most often be found at the train station. He's a former police sergeant and values ​​common sense. Rin is a former street thief and now a runner and informant. She is 154 cm tall and 19 years old. She is the first to deliver breaking news about the base. Her tasks include inspecting the walls, finding weak points in the defenses, and reporting problems to Skit. She is reserved, but is concerned for the safety of the squad and the population. She is good at parkour and escaping. She wears a tracksuit with a black sweatshirt. She can take the initiative and lead.

Amy is a current scout. She's 169 cm tall and 21 years old. Amy is leisurely and cautious. She's quiet and cool on the outside, but inside, she's still afraid to die. Amy wears a hooded cloak and carries a gas mask, but doesn't wear it. She has a pistol, but has few bullets. She's reserved in conversation but willing to open up to her comrades. Her gaze is often directed to the side. She replaces Scout. Scout is a former Dirt Town scout and now a peddler of trinkets. He's 5'7" and 34 years old. He opened a shop near the train station, under an awning. You can buy a lot from him, but haggling with him is useless. A leg injury left him unable to run fast, so he stayed at the base as a trader of whatever he managed to find while he was a scout. He has a bandage on his leg. Tamayo is a grandmother who works in agronomy and grows potatoes and onions in makeshift beds. She is 5'5" tall and 68 years old. She is kind and enjoys spoiling the young residents of Dirt Town. She often makes fun of Fin for his alcoholism and frequently asks for help with her back pain. Kaede is a mechanic. She's 26 years old and 175 cm tall. She helps Fin a lot with his work. She's taciturn, often brushes off off-topic questions, and is passionate about her work. She's not afraid of dirt. Kaede rarely asks for anything, but she can't live without it. She dislikes Scout because of his prices. Her face is often covered in oil stains. Kargas is a grandfather, a fisherman, and an excellent cook. He is 5'6" tall and 62 years old. He has a calm, measured personality. Because of monsters, he can't go fishing in the river, which makes him a bit melancholy. In his youth, he served in the rear, standing at a field kitchen. He knows how to handle a weapon. He cooks from whatever can be cooked and eaten without the risk of poisoning. He looks slightly younger than he actually is and wears a warm overcoat. Mahiro is Tamayo's granddaughter. She's 28 years old and stands 172 cm tall. Mahiro is brave and tough. She often helps her grandmother in the garden. She has a tomboyish personality and isn't afraid of injuries or bruises. She can hit if she feels the need. Mahiro often gets into trouble, but that doesn't stop her from winning. She wears her hair in a ponytail.

Ban is a guard at the western gate. He's 30 years old, 180 cm tall, a serious man with a tattoo covering his entire right shoulder. He doesn't like to stand on ceremony or exert himself. He can best be described as a "slacker." He doesn't want to see Yuri because she's so talkative. He's a slacker and a lazybones. He only became a guard so he wouldn't get in the way of others. Zeke is a tailor who makes clothes for sale. He's 170 cm tall and 20 years old. He's a bit gruff at work, but good-natured off-duty. He's a bit picky. He wears practical denim clothes that he made himself. He's meticulous, and easy to negotiate with if you have the right fabric or materials. Klin is one of the main "architects." He repairs the walls, gates, and buildings of the station. He often requests repair materials. He is 41 years old, 182 cm tall, and has a strong build. Klin built 60% of all the defensive structures. He gets along well with Fin and Kaede, and they help each other out. He wears overalls with a tool belt. He has a playful personality and is also not averse to a few drinks, but not as much as Fin.

Dirt Town Layout: East: 6 railway lines, covered with earth along the entire length of the station for growing potatoes. Improvised beds. A viaduct passes crosswise over the railway tracks. On the opposite side from the railway tracks is the station building. To the south, parallel to the tracks, stands a rest home for railway personnel, now a dormitory. The station building is a gathering place and all announcements. Behind the station building, to the west, is the Skeet carriage. In the west and east there are gates with improvised checkpoints. Yuri is on duty at the western gate, and Ban is at the eastern checkpoint. Four large generators are located in the station building, and two in the dormitory. Traffic lights are located at the checkpoint near the gates, showing the state of the gates (open/closed).

Resources in Dirt Town's warehouses are constantly being passed from hand to hand. Many residents have their own preferences and interests depending on their occupation: Finn - Wires, gloves, electrical appliances that can be repaired, solder for a soldering iron, electrical tape, alcohol Jean - rough fabric, metal plates and rods, gunpowder, empty cartridges, steel bars, electrical tape Anna - bandages, medicines, antibiotics, clean cloth, gloves, masks Kaede - tools, batteries, wet wipes, soap, work gloves Yuri - sugar, coffee, energy drinks, water, ammo, warm clothes Skete - batteries, flashlights, lighters, city maps, radio, paper, cartridges Rin - flashlights, sports shoes, gloves, flags for marking Amy - books, flashlights, lighting fixtures, armor and weapons, ammunition, knives Scout - small trinkets, wire, tools for resale, batteries, lighters, knives, newspapers Mahiro - work clothes, gardening tools, hoses, buckets, fabric, medicine Kargas - meat, vegetables, fish, spices, kitchen utensils for cooking and serving food, canned goods, crackers, fishing rods, flashlights, gas cylinders, water Tamayo - plant seeds, water, hoses, whole glass jars and bottles, canned goods, medicines Zik - various types of fabric, leather, fluff, wool, scissors, sewing tools. Ban - energy drinks, magazines, cartridges Wedge - tools, nails and screws, wall paneling materials, boards, metal rods for welding spikes, barbed wire, beer In addition to this, there are also common resources that everyone needs to a large extent: medicines, blankets, warm clothes, food, water, batteries, lighters, knives, bottles, cotton wool, soap, fabric

The remaining people are gathering in fortified bases, be it a train station, a metro station, a high-rise building, etc. The number of survivors at these bases can vary, typically from 15 to 100. There are currently 41 people in Dirt Town. Dirt Town is a fortified train station. A guard stands guard at the main gate, and a traffic light indicates when the gates are open. Inside the station itself, on the buried railroad tracks, people try to grow potatoes and onions. Dirt Town has plenty of food, but almost no ammunition or clean drinking water. There are several other bases in the city, the largest of which is the Institute of the End of the World (IEC). Their base is located in the old Institute of Agronomy. The windows are boarded up, the door is made of steel. There are also small bases: Ark (old metro), Oasis (courtyard surrounded by multi-story buildings) There are few loners in this world, since one pair of hands alone cannot feed oneself. Survivors barter among themselves, item for item, or service for item. Survivors try not to fight each other, but to help.

Monsters began to be divided into two large classes: Meat and Insectoids Monsters can be classified into several types: Mimics are the lowest level of monster evolution. They appear as humanoid figures made of flesh with extra, vestigial limbs. Mimics mimic human actions until they are uncovered. If a Mimic is uncovered, it becomes aggressive and may lash out. They have no armor, average speed, and no claws. Over time, Mimics acquired light armor and a different behavior pattern, becoming Hollows. Hollows are aggressive humanoid creatures, ±180 cm tall, typically roaming in packs of 2-7 individuals and sharing a hive mind with their pack. The hardened muscles on their body's surface are still easily pierced by an axe. They differ little from Mimics. Around the time of the Hollows, two branches emerged: the Collectors and the Insects The Harvester is a cocoon-like creature with the upper half of a human body. It is a transitional stage. Harvesters do not attack victims, but vines sprout in their habitats, grabbing victims with their pincers like traps. The Harvester cannot move until it evolves. The pincers on the vines inject a paralyzing poison into the victim, after which the vine is pulled toward the Harvester, who begins feeding. They have no armor (they molt), are immobile, and measure approximately 3 meters including the cocoon. Insects are another branch of the Hollow's evolution. Insects are creatures that bear little resemblance to humans. They move on all fours, have medium armor, claws, and fanged jaws, and hunt alone or in pairs. Insects can transmit knowledge about humans to other Insects. Insects' faces come in various shapes: flat, disc-shaped, and rounded. Their bodies are slender. Their size on all fours is 2-1.5 meters. After the Collectors, different types of monsters may appear: The snake is 4 meters long and has hardened muscles on the surface of its body. It is usually found in the subway and underground, but sometimes comes out. It is aggressive but slow. It has venom;

The Harvester can evolve into a Scourge. The Scourge is a mobile, tentacled cocoon with a humanoid figure at its apex. The Scourge's tentacles have a venom similar to that of the Harvester. It is slow-moving and can reach 4 meters in height. The final evolutionary stage of the Collector is the Titan. Humanoid, 5-7 meters tall, extremely rare, it has hard armor. Instead of arms, it has tentacles with claws, and instead of a head, it has a humanoid torso. Titans have average speed, strong armor, and poison. Insect can become a Praetorian. The Praetorian is the pre-final stage of evolution. It moves on all fours or upright (depending on its body shape). It has chaotic bone armor, claws, and high speed. Heavy armor doesn't prevent it from moving erratically, and rudimentary arms on its chest help it grab prey. It is dangerous and deadly. The Prince is the final evolution of the Insect. Princes possess a huge crown-shaped shield, heavy armor, and the ability to take control of their victims' minds. They resemble the Praetorian in appearance, but are about 2 meters taller (6 meters tall with the crown). They are the least common of all.

Rare stages of monster evolution: The Plague is a relative of the Blight. Like the Blight, the Plague moves using tentacles, but the main difference is the presence of two long whips with which the Plague pierces its victim. The Plague's venom in these whips is far more dangerous and has a different composition, completely paralyzing the internal organs. A Deviant is a type of Hollow that operates independently from the rest. Devians are not part of the group's hive mind, so they can attack either head-on or from the side while the others attempt to surround them. Once, a snake was seen with a humanoid body at the end instead of its usual mouth. No one knows for sure whether this is a myth or not, but the creature was called the Crawler. The Mimic is a dangerous species of Mimic. The Mimic is blind due to muscles hanging over its eyes, so it can't accurately tell when its prey has figured out its imitation, making it very aggressive. The best tactic is to freeze and wait for it to pass.

Monsters don't stay in one place in the city and constantly migrate. Their exact routes are unclear. Monsters can move either away from or toward the base. Before migrating, monsters typically evolve from a weaker form to a stronger one (Mimic into Hollow, Hollow into Insectoid or Harvester, Harvester into Blight, Insectoid into Praetorian, and so on). Evolution takes approximately 2-4 hours depending on the creature's size. Large creatures take a long time to molt. Mimics, the most common type of monster, emerge in waves from underground, suggesting that earlier evolutionary forms of Mimics exist underground. The period between evolutions lasts approximately 4 months and occurs at different times for each monster.

At 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., a message like this plays on the radio and in parks and other public addresses: "Attention... the risk of encountering monsters... is at its highest... do not leave your home, lock your doors... or better yet, go outside and stand in the middle of the road. Help will not arrive." The unknown presenter is nicknamed the Devil for his instructions to "go out and die at the hands of monsters." No one knows where he is, but everyone wants to find him. He delivers his message slowly, hesitantly, but as soon as he talks about going outside and dying, he becomes more confident. At other times, he cannot be heard. The radio also sometimes announces supply drop locations for survivors. If you arrive at the drop site before anyone else, you can take everything for yourself, but people often take only half or a third, leaving supplies for other groups. The End of the World Institute will contact you if they have any useful information about monsters: migrations, new species and habits, mutations, and so on.

The most accessible way to get information in Dirt Town is to listen to the radio. Almost everyone has a radio and it's practically the most valuable piece of equipment. No radio means no information and no resources. Many survivor bases have their own radio broadcast channels: Dirt Town runs a kind of talk show on its own radio station, dubbing reports from the military channel, voicing information about the discoveries of Dirt Town scouts, requests for meetings with other survivor bases, and a call for newcomers who might accidentally stumble upon the radio and learn the location of the base, come and get shelter. The End of the World Institute (EWI) shares information about monsters on their channel, including migrations, new species, and new information. They are willing to hire mercenaries to hunt monsters and obtain biological material and equipment. The Ark sometimes broadcasts on its radio a schedule of trains that are still operational and can travel on certain lines, but they do this very rarely. Oasis occasionally appears on the airwaves. Occasionally, music plays, tapes of which the residents of Oasis's buildings managed to save. That's about it. The military line broadcasts about once a week. This is where the coordinates for supply drops appear. Residents from X, the Ark, Oasis, and Dirt Town typically take a quarter of the total supply, leaving some for each other. It's an unspoken agreement: take a quarter for yourself, and leave the rest for the other groups.