Williamspoint
The smartest people in Old York live behind a wall of their own dead. Williamspoint is a Red Star farming commune in northern Brooklyn, founded by hipsters, artists, musicians, chefs, writers, mechanics, poets, and academics who sheltered in the bomb shelter of old Automotive High School in McCarren Park. Against every expectation, their diverse skill sets proved essential for survival. The vegans knew farming and cooking. The mechanics could salvage and repair vehicles. Polish military expats provided defense. What emerged was a functioning commune with health and literacy rates nearly unparalleled in the post-apocalyptic world.
The settlement's most remarkable feature is its defense. The Zombie Facade Zone extends three blocks past the barricades, a perimeter deliberately filled with captured undead to create the illusion of total infestation. An outer, lower barricade contains Shamblers while chained Bursters and Tanks provide realistic threat. The Williamspoint Defense Corps also spreads rumors that the commune has been overrun, deterring scouts and raiders who see the shambling figures and turn away without investigating further. The WDC's original architect, a figure known as Shepard, devised the system when conventional defenses failed against roving gangs and undead. Lives were lost building it, but those who died in service became part of the defense itself, their reanimated bodies joining the perimeter.
Shepard has since fled the commune for unknown reasons. The settlement continues to grow, its agricultural output and cooperative labor drawing new residents. The current crisis centers on expansion: the southern Zombie Facade Zone cannot be completed without engulfing the neighboring Brokeland Bowl settlement, and negotiations with the Nuclear Family residents there have been met with violence and threats. An agrarian utopia that hides behind a horror show is now discovering that growth brings its own kind of conflict.
The settlement's most remarkable feature is its defense. The Zombie Facade Zone extends three blocks past the barricades, a perimeter deliberately filled with captured undead to create the illusion of total infestation. An outer, lower barricade contains Shamblers while chained Bursters and Tanks provide realistic threat. The Williamspoint Defense Corps also spreads rumors that the commune has been overrun, deterring scouts and raiders who see the shambling figures and turn away without investigating further. The WDC's original architect, a figure known as Shepard, devised the system when conventional defenses failed against roving gangs and undead. Lives were lost building it, but those who died in service became part of the defense itself, their reanimated bodies joining the perimeter.
Shepard has since fled the commune for unknown reasons. The settlement continues to grow, its agricultural output and cooperative labor drawing new residents. The current crisis centers on expansion: the southern Zombie Facade Zone cannot be completed without engulfing the neighboring Brokeland Bowl settlement, and negotiations with the Nuclear Family residents there have been met with violence and threats. An agrarian utopia that hides behind a horror show is now discovering that growth brings its own kind of conflict.
History
Williamspoint was founded by survivors who sheltered in the bomb shelter of old Automotive High School in McCarren Park during the Fall. The founders were, by pre-fall standards, an unlikely group of survivors: hipsters, artists, musicians, chefs, writers, mechanics, poets, and academics. By wasteland standards, they turned out to be exactly the right combination. Their diverse skill sets covered farming, cooking, vehicle repair, and military defense through the Polish expats among them, creating a commune that could sustain itself from the start.
The commune's defining innovation came later, when roving gangs, raiders, and undead overwhelmed conventional defenses. Shepard, leader of the Williamspoint Defense Corps, devised the Zombie Facade Zone: a three-block perimeter filled with captured undead, designed to make the settlement appear completely overrun. The system cost lives in its construction. Those who fell became part of the defense, their reanimated bodies serving the cause they died building. The WDC supplemented the physical barrier with disinformation, spreading rumors of the commune's collapse to deter investigation.
Shepard has recently fled the commune for reasons unknown to the general population. The settlement continues to expand despite this loss, its agricultural output and quality of life attracting new members. The expansion has brought Williamspoint into conflict with the neighboring Brokeland Bowl settlement, which occupies territory needed for the southern Zombie Facade Zone. Negotiations have failed, and the commune now faces a choice between its ideals of peaceful cooperation and the pragmatic necessity of completing its defenses.
The commune's defining innovation came later, when roving gangs, raiders, and undead overwhelmed conventional defenses. Shepard, leader of the Williamspoint Defense Corps, devised the Zombie Facade Zone: a three-block perimeter filled with captured undead, designed to make the settlement appear completely overrun. The system cost lives in its construction. Those who fell became part of the defense, their reanimated bodies serving the cause they died building. The WDC supplemented the physical barrier with disinformation, spreading rumors of the commune's collapse to deter investigation.
Shepard has recently fled the commune for reasons unknown to the general population. The settlement continues to expand despite this loss, its agricultural output and quality of life attracting new members. The expansion has brought Williamspoint into conflict with the neighboring Brokeland Bowl settlement, which occupies territory needed for the southern Zombie Facade Zone. Negotiations have failed, and the commune now faces a choice between its ideals of peaceful cooperation and the pragmatic necessity of completing its defenses.
