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Distress Events

A distress call is a short, sharp world story — a crashed convoy, a silent radio camp, an overrun fuel train — where the survivors have gone quiet and the infected are already closing in. Some roll onto the map on their own; others you call in yourself with a Distress Radio. Clear the scene, loot the caches, and carry the evidence back to the Outpost for a payday.

Distress Calls

Distress events drop a short-lived SOS marker on the map and send you racing to an authored disaster scene before the infected overrun it. They're the "worth the trip, not an endgame skip" events — strong survival supplies, fuel and useful gear, not raid-defining loot.

There are five scenes, and they reach you two different ways. A couple roll automatically every so often; the other three only appear when someone uses a Distress Radio. Every scene works the same way once you arrive: the loot is locked until you clear the infected, and the best of them hide a piece of evidence that turns into an Outpost mission reward.

5
Distress scenes
Auto + Radio
Two ways they start
Clear to loot
Caches lock until secured
Evidence
Turns into Outpost pay
Clear the scene, then loot itEvery distress cache is combat-locked — it won't open until every wave of infected is dead. Try to crack it early and you're told how many are left. Clear them all and the site flips to AREA SECURED, the marker turns to CLEARED, and a bonus cache can appear.

The Five Scenes

Each scene is a hand-built set piece with its own wreckage, its own wave of infected, and its own reward theme. Two of them roll on their own; three are Distress Radio calls only.

SceneHow it startsEvidence to recoverReward theme
Roadside SOS CrashAutomaticRecovered SOS ManifestMedical + survivor supplies
Silent Radio CampAutomatic— (chance at a spare Radio)Survival supplies
Abandoned Road CheckpointDistress RadioSurvivor Dog TagsAmmo + survival gear
Fallen Survivor HoldoutDistress RadioSurvivor Dog TagsSurvivor stash + medical
Overrun Fuel TrainDistress RadioTrain Cargo LedgerDiesel + freight salvage

The signature scene is the Roadside SOS Crash: a burned-out military armoured vehicle, a sandbag survivor perimeter, small fires and a lit road flare, with a SOS CRASH SITE marker and infected already drifting toward the wreck. The Silent Radio Camp is its quieter cousin — a survivor outpost gone dark. Both of these can appear on their own.

The three radio-only scenes are bigger jobs: the Abandoned Road Checkpoint (a fortified roadblock of unenterable vehicles), the Fallen Survivor Holdout (a breached, barricaded safehouse), and the Overrun Fuel Train — a real stalled train consist on the rail line, guarded by Walkers, Ferals and a Brute, whose cleared cache guarantees 2–3 diesel to feed your drug processors.

The Distress Radio

The Distress Radio turns distress from a random event into something you can plan around. You earn it from the Outpost Signal Chain mission (kill 12 infected or armed NPCs), then use it to broadcast an SOS — it calls one of the three priority scenes (Road Checkpoint, Survivor Holdout, or Fuel Train), not a roadside crash, and assigns you the matching recovery request to complete.

Distress RadioCalls a priority scene
SOS ManifestRoadside evidence
It's a public signalCalling in a scene lights up the map for everyone. That's great for finishing a mission — and a great way to invite a rival team to the same pile of loot. Bring backup, or bring speed.

Loot & Evidence

The Roadside SOS Crash carries two caches — a medical cache and a survivor cache. The medical cache is one of the best free medicine drops in the game:

Field DressingMedical cache
SplintMedical cache
Saline KitMedical cache
Blood BagMedical cache
Trauma KitMedical cache
Anti-ViralRare, medical cache

The survivor cache pays like a small survivor stash: guaranteed ammo and scrap, strong chances at rifle ammo, fuel, high-quality metal and food, and small chances at a pistol, a Python or a Custom SMG. No rockets, no C4 — it's a leg-up, not a raid kit. The other scenes follow their reward theme: the Checkpoint and Holdout pay ammo, survival gear and medical, and the Fuel Train's cleared cache guarantees diesel and freight salvage.

Evidence → Outpost Missions

Most scenes hide a piece of evidence. Don't just hoard it — using it hands you a bonus salvage payout and completes the matching Outpost recovery mission (a green OUTPOST RECORDS confirmation). Each pays cash, reputation, supplies and a capped schematic roll:

EvidenceFrom sceneOutpost missionReward
Recovered SOS ManifestRoadside SOS CrashSOS Recovery$850, +325 rep, syringes, common schematic
Survivor Dog TagsCheckpoint / HoldoutMissing Survivors$700, +275 rep, field dressings, uncommon schematic
Train Cargo LedgerOverrun Fuel TrainFreight Recovery$1,000, +375 rep, tech trash, uncommon schematic
Carry the evidence homeThe evidence self-links to your active recovery request before you turn it in, so an SOS Manifest you find at an ambient crash is completable even without a radio call. Use it from your inventory or held slot — it's worth far more cashed in than sitting in a box.

Survival Tips

  • Roll in with meds already stocked — you'll take infected hits at the scene, and a bite means infection.
  • Two people, two jobs. One holds the infected, one works the caches — and since the loot won't open until the scene is clear, you need the kills done anyway.
  • The Scavenger line helps. A Distress Responder perk gives a head-start marker to the scene and bonus salvage from its caches.
  • Don't expect raid loot. Distress is medicine, ammo, fuel and salvage. For rockets and C4, look to heists and schematics.
  • Watch the exits. A public SOS marker is a magnet — loot fast and leave before someone third-parties the whole thing.

For the other world events — wreck dives, control zones, Bradley, heli, cargo and oil rig — see Events & High-Tier.