Just tried this game out for the first time. I ran a pretty unremarkable character with great physical attributes and the drunken master bonus. His only skills were weak melee melee skills. His name was Potbelly Pete. I headed north from the evac site and found what I assume was the wreck of a military helicopter. The road nearby was strewn with the bodies of some sort of scientists. There's probably some sort of story there, but I was more concerned with equipping himself to survive.
I cut myself up retrieving gear from the wreckage, but it was worth it as I managed to obtain a military rucksack, an assault rifle, a helmet, a utility vest, and the black box of the vehicle. Hey, that last one could be interesting, and I'd drop it if I need to carry actually useful gear.
From there on I headed to town and attempted to scavenge through stores at the edge of town without getting into any big fights. First I hit up a bar, then I went around to the other side of town and took everything from a pharmacy. I beat a few zombies to death on the way with little injuries, and for my trouble got enough food, clean water, and medicine to survive in the short term, but no practical weapon. I headed to a nearby furniture store to get a frying pan or something.
The front door was locked. This turned to be not an issue, as the door exploded outwards and what I found myself facing down a "brute zombie", which I'm going to assume is the Tank from Left 4 Dead until someone stops me. As I was lacking in 3 heavily armed survivor buddies I ran for my life. It caught up with me a short distance out of town and I pulled out my assault rifle, preparing to spray and pray at point blank... except I had never test fired it. Turned out it wasn't loaded. I grabbed the best bludgeon available and hoped for the best.
And that is how I died: attempting to beat the Tank to death with a military black box.