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Chapter 1 – The Beginning

When this story started, my life looked completely different from what it is now. I had been stuck in an amphetamine cycle for a few years, one I couldn’t escape anymore. Days blurred together—work, nights, loneliness. Everything felt like a smudged picture, and I no longer knew whether I still had any control or if I had lost it long ago.

It was around that time, almost by accident, that I came across Doomsday: Last Survivors. At first, it was supposed to be just a quick escape from reality—a small distraction, something to click on a few times, chat with a stranger, and then return to my thoughts. But it pulled me in far more than anyone would have expected.

The first hours I spent like every new player—trying to understand what was going on. Buildings, upgrades, troops, zombies, events… And above all, alliances. That’s where the real life of the game was. When I joined Dark Lords, I had no idea that they would become the beginning of something much bigger.

Dark Lords impressed me immediately. Strong, organized, active at every hour of the day. And I, in real life always scared of people, shy and closed off, suddenly got a chance to be someone else here. Someone braver. Someone who mattered. I started doing the things others didn’t want to—building, claiming villages, expanding the territory. I surprised myself with how excited it made me.

Within a few days, I was promoted to R4. Normally, that sort of thing was reserved for the most trusted members, but I was already doing more than many others. I built towers, expanded the map as if something more important depended on it than just pixel territory. And in a way… it did. The game gave me a sense of worth I rarely felt in real life.

Dark Lords was a powerful alliance, one of those you see on the map and think: “wow.” That impression stayed with me for a long time. But behind that strength, there was one weakness—the leader, who was absent, offline, and because of that everything became chaotic. We needed research to build more towers. We needed direction. We needed someone who would truly lead the alliance.

Over time, I began to see that if nothing changed, all the potential of Dark Lords would be wasted.

I didn’t know then that this frustration would become the first brick in the foundation of a completely new story—my own. I didn’t know that from these disappointments new friendships would grow, friendships that would eventually change my entire life. And I didn’t know that a simple game, the same as thousands of others, would become the beginning of a path that would lead me out of the place where I had been the most lost.

But back then, one thing mattered most: for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was moving somewhere.

It was then that I started reaching out to people within the Dark Lords alliance. I messaged many, but only a few replied. I wrote to EHHHSAN, who was almost as active as I was—something that surprised me, because I couldn’t understand such dedication without some kind of drug boost. Ricourne responded as well—later I would learn he was an older French player who didn’t speak English and relied on the game translator to communicate, yet he was always polite and respectful. Another person who replied was a girl from the USA, KitKatBaby, and then YourPapa—a young guy, a bit scatterbrained, but he was the first to follow me. GJMAN also joined us—later I would learn he was an American war veteran, father of a large family, a little eccentric but friendly. Others joined later.

The message I sent to everyone was simple: “We’re forming a new alliance. This one has no future. Are you with me?”

Together with YourPapa, we explored the map, constantly discussing and planning where our new home should be. Meanwhile, we brainstormed names for our alliance. Many ideas came and went, which I can’t remember now, but eventually we settled on a name I came up with myself: Zombie Hunters Squad—ZHSq.

After carefully scouting the available territory with YourPapa, we decided to claim the land around the Hill. There was plenty of space, far enough from other alliances, yet close enough to Dark Lords—our plan was that one day we would return and confront the leader. We built the fort first, then started placing watchtowers around the hill. I remember that night vividly—mainly just me and EHHHSAN, actively building tower after tower. Our territory grew huge, but we had only one problem… our alliance was just a handful of people, and even fewer were truly active...