The sound came first. The unmistakable thrum of a small outboard engine rattling somewhere in the mist coming nearer, nearer, droning steadily louder long before any other sign of the craft. Finally a small open boat appeared out of the swirling sea mist and throttling back, putts up to the beach. Out jumps a strange figure, a grey man on a grey day. Battered leather hat, grey woollen cloak flapping around his leg, sturdy staff in hand, short braided beard and eyepatch; he seemed reminiscent of an old Viking god, an image that contrasted strongly with the hunting rifle he cradled in his arm. Yet, strange or not, everything about him seemed somehow practical and sensible, suited to the weather.

“Hello!” he says, grinning toothily with an enthusiastic sparkle in his eye. “We’ve been surviving on a rig for the past several months. What’s the news?”

NAME:     Zac Bruce
AGE:      33
HEIGHT:   5’10
WEIGHT:   74 kg

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
One of that lean, tough mountain breed, Zac is of medium height and a slender but wiry build. He has short brown hair and blue eyes, though he often wears an eye patch like a pirate.

STRENGTH:      5
AGILITY:       6
ENDURANCE:     5
INTELLIGENCE:  7
PERCEPTION:    3
CHARISMA:      4

CARRY WEIGHT: (strength + endurance ×5)   50
ARMOR RATING: (0-5 depending on type)      3
ATTACK:  MELEE (Strength+weapon skill)     6
         RANGED (Agility+weapon skill)    11 Rifle, 7 Bow

Skills

1  animal handling
1  animal husbandry
1  animal training
1  archery
1  armorer
1  autopsy
3  blacksmith
2  carpentry
3  dodge
1  drive (Automobiles, MotorCycles, Heavy Equipment, Military Vehicles)
1  engineering, general
1  engineering, mining
1  explosives
3  farming
5  firearms rifles
1  Firearms shotgun
2  first aid
1  Geology
1  gunsmith
1  heavy weapons melee  language
1  leatherworking
1  melee weapon
1  metallurgy
5  mining
3  move silently
1  navigation
1  physics
1  survival
1  swimming
1  tracking
1  woodworking

Linen shirt
*Baggy drawstring linen trousers
*Woollen jersey
*Felted wool cap
*black oilskin raincoat.
*Historic WW1 British bandolier
*hiking backpack
*15 Reinforced leather & lamellar armour (effective against melee etc not  bullets)

10 Hunting Rifle (five round mag, bolt action .270)
10 Longbow
 5 Box of rifle ammo (20 18)
 3 Large knife
 3 Canteen
 1 Small knife
 1 chisels
 1 wood drill + bits
 1 flint & steel
Woollen cloak


Zac Bruce came from a farming family in Staveley, New Zealand, a small one-shop town where the plains ended and the foothills began. It was a small family sheep & beef farm, with good hunting, a popular national park and a seasonal outdoor ice rink right on the doorstep. Zac was born into a highly intelligent and argumentative family, his sister went on to become a doctor, while his brother stayed with the family property as a part time farmer who also makes guns and sets for Weta Workshop, the movie workshop that became famous with Lord of the Rings. Guns and explosives were part of the family; the family were the proud owners of a machine gun they had captured in WW2. Likewise, engineering and mechanics was a community hobby and source of pride. One of his neighbours, an engineer turned beeper, invented and constructed honey extraction and processing machinery that was sold throughout the country, while another restored old steam tractors and traction engines, and yet another had a small airfield on his farm and a rebuilt deHavilland Tiger Moth in his garage.

Zac earned a degree in Geology at the university, where he also spent a lot of time in a medieval group called the SCA. He made a set of armour and had a bit of a bash, and did archery, but the bulk of his focus was on learning and practising medieval crafts: smelting, forging, blacksmithing, making furniture and yurts and so on. After university he went to Australia where he worked for the mining industry for a while, then back to university to get his Masters degree. On completion of that he was made aware of and successfully obtained PhD funding from the USGS for researching the relationship between fracking and seismic activity at Tulane University, New Orleans.

When the zombie outbreak happened, he promptly got supplies together, loaded up a boat, and headed out to a nearby oilrig where one of his University mates was working, and he stayed there until they had almost run out of food.

Several months later, he has returned to the mainland to take stock of the situation, and theoretically, to get more supplies. However Zac has discovered in the past few months that he doesn’t like water, has grown to detest fish, and is sick to death of confined isolation. He doesn’t want to go back to the rig.