It all starts in character creation - especially for short term survival, take relatively harmless negative traits (I like stuff like lactose intolerance, wool/grain/junkfood allergy, insomniac, heavy sleeper, poor hearing plus the freebie Ugly/Truth Teller if you don't mind taking advantage of free points) and max out physical stats (14ish Str and Dex). 10-11 perception and then "decent" Int for longer term is nice. The only positive traits worth the points are Night Vision and maybe Quick. (after a few games you'll learn to pick for your play style - but still most really aren't worth the points imo). If you have a point left put it in "dodge". Get a weapon with Parry or Block at first - even the lowly pipe. Don't make a lot of noise, don't break windows or shoot (unsilenced) guns. Grab a rock, break a locker, make a makeshift crowbar to pry open doors quietly (and it's a half decent melee weapon, but no Parry). Don't get swarmed - early on if you see a bunch of zombies go the other way. Find *some* protective clothing but don't get encumbered (1-2 points is OK at first if you have good physical stats, 3 after you get a few skill points in melee and dodge). Sleep on piles of clothes in basements at first.
And yea, archery is awesome. Throwing helps a lot too - weaken stuff coming at you by throwing stuff at it - early on I usually have a couple of rocks. Throw knives, hammers, rebar, spikes, whatever. Cry when something you liked gets melted by a spitter
If you have the capacity, a couple of pointy sticks and later javelins come in handy. Draw off one or 2 enemies, move back while throwing, draw it through a bush, kill it, go pick up your throwing weapons, rinse and repeat.
Over the first couple days, once you've gathered a bit of food and water, find a sewing kit/make a needle and repair then reinforce your clothing. Butcher every zombie/animal corpse, soon you'll start getting leather so you can repair those clothes if you have em. Keep looking for better clothing - less encumbrance, better protection, better carrying capacity.
If the shelter's not in a horrible place (too close to triffids or fungus or something, or too far from town) I haul stuff back to the shelter, build a fireplace in the basement, use the light from the terminal to read/craft.