Zombies (Treyarch)/Story

This is the Zombies story. The Zombies Timeline can be used to view exactly when these events occurred. Please note that this story is ever-changing based on information introduced in each new map.

Mob of The Dead
During 1930's, prohibition-era America, mob boss Salvatore DeLuca built up a large empire from gambling, prostitution and the distribution of alcohol. Sal was eventually arrested by the police, along with fellow mobsters Billy Handsome, Michael "Finn" O'Leary and Albert "The Weasel" Arlington. All of the mobsters were imprisoned at Alcatraz Island, where they would serve hefty sentences.

Arlington, however, devised a plan to escape the island on a makeshift aircraft designed by himself. He somehow convinced Sal, Billy and Finn to participate in the escape plan, but soon enough the joint effort between them descended into quarrels and fighting, and, after numerous complications, the three mobsters became bitter towards Arlington. The plan was quickly abandoned, and the plane was never constructed, much to the frustration of the mobsters.

Still angry at Arlington for the failure of the plan, Sal, Billy and Finn constructed makeshift weapons and lured Arlington onto the roof of the prison, where they attacked him and left him to bleed to death, on the night of December 31st, 1933.

For the murder of Arlington, the three were sentenced to death by electric chair. Their execution came on the morning of January 19th, 1934.

After their death sentence, the group is sent back in time on the night of December 31st, 1933, in an alternate iteration of Alcatraz Prison which is inhabited entirely by zombies and a lone guard by the name of Brutus. With no memory of Arlington's murder or the failure of the escape plan, they set out to build Arlington's plane. The mobsters build the plane that Arlington designed and attempt to escape. Their escape is foiled after they crash on the Golden Gate bridge. This happens every time they try, making escape impossible.

With no escape, the mobsters attempt something else. They learn that, in reality, they were all dead, and their escape plan never came to be. Remembering everything, the mobsters once again set out to kill Arlington.

At this point, the outcome happens two different ways. Sal, Billy and Finn either kill Arlington, to which "the cycle continues", or Arlington kills Sal, Billy and Finn, to which "the cycle has been broken". If "the cycle continues," the "cycle" starts all over again with the mobsters dying and coming back to life, Arlington being the only one who remembers what happen where the "cycle" starts again. However in any case "the cycle has been is broken," the three other mobsters die leaving Arlington left. What happens after that point is unknown.

Main Story
During World War I, a band of unlikely soldiers - Tank Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masaki and Edward Richtofen - were forced to fight against the undead and a "1000-foot tall robot abomination" in the French trenches.

Dr. Ludvig Maxis, the leader of a German organization Group 935, and Group 935 itself, was tasked with creating an army of super soldiers and new technology for the German government in the late 30s/early 40s. In his experiments, Maxis used Element 115 supplied from a meteorite in the Pacific to make more of the zombies. The zombies, however, couldn't be controlled, would feel no pain, and would always be killed when they went berserk.

While this was going on, Maxis' senior assistant Dr. Edward Richtofen was testing Element 115 on living test subjects to create his super soldiers at a Siberian facility. In his experiments, Richtofen used Takeo Masaki, Nikolai Belinski, and an unknown Mexican. When Richtofen accidentally killed the Mexican, he replaced him with Tank Dempsey. Dempsey was the leader of a Marine Recon team, that was sent in to to rescue Dr. Peter McCain, an OSS spy sent to infiltrate Group 935. The recon team had to traverse from a German airfield and find McCain in the Wittenau Sanatorium, in Berlin. The team was killed by zombies, and Dempsey was the only survivor of the mission. He was then captured and tested upon by Richtofen as a replacement for the Mexican. After Dempsey's attempted infiltration, Peter McCain and all other American members of Group 935 were killed to avoid any chance of spies. The testing affected each of the subjects' minds, making Dempsey extremely aggressive, quieting Takeo into only reciting Japanese proverbs, and making Nikolai functionless without vodka. It also had the side effect of erasing their recent memories, making them forget how Richtofen captured them and what he did to them.

Maxis also invented 115-powered teleporters, but they would always destroy anything sent through them. All of these experiments were done with his assistant, Dr. Richtofen. Without Maxis, Richtofen and another Group 935 member Dr. Schuster would complete the first successful teleportation with a walnut using a very small amount of Element 115. When Maxis found out about this, he criticized Richtofen for not working on his project and sarcastically said that teleporting a walnut was not a big deal. Maxis then told Richtofen that he was going to make a deal with the Nazi party for funding and equipment in exchange for weapons. These new weapons Group 935 created were also powered by Element 115. Maxis promised to mass-produce the Wunderwaffe DG-2 that Richtofen had created to his superiors, but his growing infatuation with Sophia slowed his progress and infuriated Richtofen, who was secretly plotting to overthrow him and take control of Group 935. Richtofen continued his teleporter tests with Schuster behind Maxis' back. Richtofen was the first human test subject and was first sent to the M.P.D., on the Moon, which he believed to be of alien origin. When he touched it, he felt static and started hearing whispering. He was then teleported to a jungle. Dr. Schuster got worried and planned to scrap the teleporter when Richtofen had been gone for a few days, but he returned as Schuster was talking about it and told him that there was work to be done. Richtofen sounded much crazier and Schuster noticed this change.

Dr. Schuster and another Group 935 scientist, Dr. Groph, were stationed at the Moon on Griffin Station and were trying to figure out how to work the M.P.D.. When Schuster killed a rat, its soul was absorbed by a glass vial protruding from the machine. The pair then proceeded to kill many people until the device was filled with souls. The bodies were left on the Moon, leaving them exposed to zombification. When they finished, they contacted Richtofen who told them that he was finally going to get rid of the Maxis's indicating that the two scientists were aware of his scheme.

Unbeknownst to Maxis, Richtofen had already mastered teleportation while Maxis was still trying to master it. Maxis was getting frustrated that he could not send a subject to the mainframe and so used his daughter Samantha's dog, Fluffy, as a test subject but once again failed. The dog was teleported, but instead of being destroyed like past test subjects, she was zombified (the first Hellhound). When Samantha came running in and started questioning her father about what happened to her dog, Maxis tried to stop her and get out of the room. Richtofen then followed through with his previously-planned betrayal by locking Maxis and his daughter in the room with the Hellhound, he then activated the teleporter which he then thought killed Samantha and Maxis.

Little did Richtofen know that Maxis' teleporter actually worked and sent Samantha to the Moon base. In her fear, she ran into the M.P.D. and became the one to control the zombies. When Richtofen was informed of what had occurred he warned the pair of scientists about the Hellhound and then told them to find a way to get Maxis. When Maxis was found, they let him approach his daughter to calm her down. After apologizing for his actions, Maxis told Samantha to kill all of the Group 935 members for betraying him and was subsequently shot. Being near the M.P.D when killed allowed Maxis's soul to be captured by it and sent into the Aether. Samantha then proceeded to fulfill her father's request by unleashing the zombies.

Richtofen retreated with Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo to Shi No Numa to think things through. When the zombies attacked Richtofen he realized that Samantha will stop at nothing to seek revenge. Richtofen planned to recover all of the equipment to take control of the zombies. In a desperate attempt to retrieve the necessary equipement for his plan and to accomplish his wishes on mass-producing the DG-2, Richtofen then took the group to Der Riese, which had been abandoned since the zombie takeover. The group used the Wunderwaffe DG-2 to overcharge the teleporter, making it capable of time travel. Richtofen was apparently unaware of this possibility until he tried it. He seemed unconcerned that he and his partners have been teleported to an abandoned theater in Berlin, Germany, sometime in the 1960s. Richtofen knew about the theater as it was the place where he had presented his teleporter to his followers years before. Richtofen had apparently travelled there to retrieve a secret weapon, previously a Russian project, known as Project Thunder, that was stolen by the Germans: the Thundergun.

Sometime prior the characters' arrival at the Soviet Cosmodrome, an Ascension scientist Yuri Kravcheski was transferred to work on sending monkeys into space known as Project Mercury, much to his dismay. His transfer was caused by his superior, Gersch, who he holds a grudge against after the relieving of his duty from Project Thunder (the creation of the Thundergun). As the radio messages progress, Yuri notices the teddy bear and the Matryoshka Dolls and wonders how a child could be let into the station. The child Samantha then slowly drives Yuri insane. Yuri, in his state of insanity, finishes the Gersch Device and has Gersch activate it, letting in the zombies and trapping Gersch. Yuri soon realizes his mistake and is heard screaming at the end of the last recording.

After the events of Kino der Toten, the main characters somehow reach the abandoned Soviet Cosmodrome. The characters then hear Gersch, who tells them that the mechanism must be repaired. He is referring to the Kassimir Mechanism, which must be repaired by completing different tasks. After all of the tasks are completed and the mechanism is repaired, Gersch is freed, leaving Samantha free to be ridden of in the Aether.

While the events of Ascension are occurring in Russia, the events of "Five" are also unfolding in the Pentagon. A piece of Intel reveals that all Wunderwaffe materials were to be moved to American-controlled installations. As a mainframe is visible behind one of the windows in "Five", it is apparent that it was moved there as per this order. While John F. Kennedy, Robert McNamara, Fidel Castro, and Richard Nixon are negotiating, zombies break into the Pentagon with only the four of them left to fight them. While fighting, they call Dempsey, Takeo, Nikolai, and Richtofen using three red telephones spread across the Pentagon. Their calls show that they're running out of ammo and will soon be defeated.

As they continue fighting, the three super-soldier test subjects slowly regain their memories. Takeo is the first to remember, and remarks to himself that some day when the group is finished fighting zombies, Richtofen will get what he deserves. He also shows his observations of the other two. He believes Nikolai drinks vodka because he wishes to forget the past and can't function when he remembers it, perhaps meaning Nikolai is beyond hope. Tank, on the other hand, is slowly making progress, as he remembers that he'd seen Richtofen before the fight at Shi No Numa. Takeo notes his shifting memories and believes Dempsey is finally remembering what Richtofen did to him.

Sometime in the present, possibly 2011, George A. Romero stumbled upon Group 935's research while making a WWII film. He and the cast took a ship out to an abandoned lab in Siberia. After he and the ship's crew were zombified, only the cast, made up of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Robert Englund, Danny Trejo, and Michael Rooker, remained. This set the stage for Call of the Dead. After the Kassimir Mechanism was completed in Ascension, it overloaded the teleporter and sent the original characters to a Group 935 facility in Siberia, where they were trapped behind a locked door. The celebrities then proceeded to help them escape to Paradise. Richtofen then asked the celebrities to help him obtain the Golden Rod, which they did. Richtofen thanks the group by giving them the Wunderwaffe DG-2 to help them fight the zombies. In reality, the group could've escaped after the security system was disabled. It is unknown what became of the celebrities after helping the group escape.

Shangri-La, however, does not live up to its name, as its inhabitants have all been zombified before the group's arrival. Richtofen now states that this was the last step to controlling the world before he is teleported there. The temple houses a mining facility filled with Element 115, explaining the inhabitants' zombification.

Prior to the group's arrival at Shangri-La, two explorers, Brock and Gary, went on an expedition to prove their theories on Agartha. Brock later figures out that the temple wasn't built by an ancient civilization, but by people in the modern era interpreting it. After investigating the temple, the pair accidentally activated the temple's time travel and died in the resulting zombie attack. The group travels back in time and helps the pair survive. The pair's changing fate is illustrated by the radio that changes message and location as the group helps them. When the group finally create the Focusing Stone, it lands on an altar with Richtofen's name on it, meaning the temple was in fact another Group 935 facility and explaining Richtofen's knowledge of its location. The two explorers are then sent back to the moment they discovered the temple, indicating that they're stuck in a never-ending loop.

Now in possession of both the Golden Rod and the Focusing Stone, Richtofen believes he can now control the zombies. The group then travels to Area 51 so they can get to the Moon via a teleporter to Griffin Station. When the group reaches Area 51, it is already overrun. Due to the Element 115 on the Moon, astronauts and scientists sent there have been zombified before the group's arrival. The people killed by Groph and Schuster contributed even more to the zombie horde.

Meanwhile, a group of radiation scientists investigate the ruins of a former nuclear test site in Nevada, where the undead begin to attack, forcing the surviving scientist, Marlton Johnson, to send a distress flare signal intercepted at Hangar 18 before locking himself in a bomb shelter. CIA and CDC agents were then dispatched into the site in a rescue attempt, resulting in a struggle with the zombie population located there as Richtofen enacts his grand scheme on the Moon.

Richtofen then has the group complete the M.P.D. When the device is completed, it opens up to reveal Samantha Maxis suspended in the air. As it turns out, the device acts like a prison and keeps her cryogenically frozen so she can be used to control the zombies. Richtofen goes to a terminal to power up the Golden Rod (or V Device) and the Focusing Stone, which he fuses together. However, he encounters Dr. Maxis inside the terminal, who tries to stop him. Richtofen switches souls with Samantha to gain control of the zombies. Richtofen finally thinks everything has gone his way, until Takeo, Dempsey, and Nikolai decide to stop him. Dr. Maxis, sensing Richtofen's betrayal, prepared a backup plan in case Richtofen got this far. The group then launches three missiles located on the Moon, one of which impacts the nuclear test site ruins, which destroys the Earth's ozone layer in the hopes that this will lessen the size of Richtofen's zombie army and leaving the group, along with Samantha, stuck on the moon.

The missile launch leaves the Earth a post-apocalyptic crumbling wasteland littered with undead hordes and civilization begins to collapse. As survivors begin to band together to form small human communities and shelters to protect themselves from the now global-undead threat, Maxis realizes the failure of his original plans due to hasty calculations and begins contacting survivors to help him with his "Plan B"; to activate global polarization devices and ultimately overpower Richtofen by opening a gateway to the Aether via "the Rift." Meanwhile, Marlton Johnson emerges as the sole survivor of the events in the nuclear test site and meets Abigail "Misty" Briarton at a farm in an abandoned town in Hanford where they find two more survivors, Russman and Samuel J. Stuhlinger, who have commandeered a robotic bus they have used for transport. There, the four survivors are contacted by Maxis, who reveals the town is a location of a polarization device required for his plans. At the same time, Richtofen contacts Samuel, who has previously eaten zombie flesh resulting in him being able to hear Edward in his head, instructing him to foil Maxis' plans by activating the tower in his favor, beginning a power struggle between the two. Depending on how the player has completed the Easter Eggs through the game, it will determine the course the story will take.

As the group are teleported by Richtofen to the crumbled city of Shanghai, China, they began realize that throughout the planet, very few survivors live in the ruins. In an abandoned building, the group is recontacted by Maxis, who intended to activate his second major polarization device via different steps and of their assistance. Meanwhile, on the other hand, Richtofen required the assistance of Samuel. As time flew, Samuel was gradually turning into a zombie, as revealed by his groans during the quest. Richtofen required the same goal as Maxis in his own manner and intended to protect it from him. Richtofen blackmails Samuel and threatens that if he does not obey, he will potentially tell the group about what he had done.

Once the second polarization device had been activated by either of the Germans, the group managed to escape the building they were trapped in. Eventually, Russman leads the group out of the crumbling city of Shanghai. A month later, the group arrives in Egypt where they are set to camp and rest for the night. The next day, they arrive at the "Rift" that they were supposed to mend. Once again they are contacted by Maxis, who once again required the assistance of the group to activate the last tower. Samuel, on the other hand, was given a third job by Richtofen; Samuel was told to prevent his allies from helping Maxis in a discrete manner, as the third tower appeared to be vital for his plans. Depending which side of the easter egg is completed, either Richtofen gains complete control over all the zombies and enters Samuel's body, rather than returning to his own. If Maxis's side is completed, on the other hand, the zombies will have orange eyes, with a few zombies keeping blue eyes as Richtofen struggles for control. What happens after this point is unknown.

Outcome 1=If the player decides to follow Maxis' Easter Eggs in all three maps and polarize the towers in his favor, a portal to the Aether will open and allow Maxis to become the controller of the zombies and the dimension's energies. He will then proceed with his plans to open Agartha (revealing himself to be just as evil as Richtofen, and announcing that in the process he will destroy the Earth and its surviving inhabitants) and reunite himself with his daughter, Samantha, after returning Richtofen to the physical world spawned as a blue-eyed zombie. Outcome 2= If the player decides to follow Richtofen's Easter Eggs in all three maps and polarize the towers in his favor, the Rift will be mended, eternally damning Samantha to Agartha and allowing Richtofen to retrieve full manipulation of the Aether's energies. With the Earth as his personal playground and Maxis to cease his very existence, Richtofen is now able to leave the Aether at will and uses the body of Samuel Stuhlinger as his physical host.