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Health and Medical

Injuries happen. If a zombie breaks your skin, you risk contracting the Knox Infection. This guide explains how to treat wounds and manage your character's health.

The Knox Infection​

The Knox Infection is a death sentence. There is no cure. The game's user interface will never explicitly tell you that you have the Knox Infection. A generic "Infected" tag on the health panel only indicates a standard bacterial infection, which can be cured.

The true Knox virus is telegraphed internally. If you contract it, you will gradually develop the "Queasy" and "Anxious" moodles unprompted. Your temperature will rise, and your health will slowly drain until you die and reanimate within 72 to 96 hours.

Different zombie attacks have different infection chances based on a single flat roll at the exact millisecond you sustain damage:

  • Scratch: 7% chance of infection.
  • Laceration: 25% chance of infection.
  • Bite: 100% chance of infection. (The myth of a 4% survival rate is from a legacy bug that is completely extinct).

If you are bitten, your current run is over. Go out in a blaze of glory or drink bleach to speed up the process.

Treating Wounds​

If you suffer a non-zombie injury, or survive a scratch without catching the virus, you need to treat the wound immediately.

  1. Disinfect: Apply disinfectant, alcohol wipes, or bourbon to the wound to prevent regular bacterial infection.
  2. Bandage: Apply an adhesive bandage, ripped sheet, or actual bandage. Sterilize ripped sheets in boiling water first to reduce infection risk.
  3. Change Bandages: Bandages get dirty over time. A dirty bandage increases the chance of bacterial infection. Remove it, disinfect the wound again, and apply a clean bandage.

Specific Injuries​

Different wounds require different treatments.

  • Deep Wounds: Caused by broken glass or severe attacks. You must stitch these closed with a suture needle (or a regular needle and thread) before bandaging.
  • Fractures: Falling from a second-story window or crashing a car breaks bones. You need a splint made from a straight piece of wood and ripped sheets. Fractures take weeks of in-game time to heal.
  • Lodged Glass: If you climb through a broken window without removing the glass first, shards get stuck in your skin. Use tweezers to pull the glass out, then stitch and bandage the deep wound.
warning

Never sleep in a car with the engine running and the heater on inside a closed garage. Carbon monoxide poisoning will kill you silently in your sleep.