Quests in the game involve many characters and pushes you to explore every zone. Quests objectives are marked on the right side of your screen, and an arrow under your feet will point towards the next objective.
Note: If you are rewarded with an item that has a learnable recipe when salvaging, you will also be awarded the recipe (unless you already have it).
During various quests you will be asked to collect items. Some important things to note:
Quality does not matter for items you collect for a quest
Unless a specific location is specified, most items you are told to collect can be found by searching the map or as a drop. While you need an item for a quest, the odds of you finding it increase, especially for infected drops.
If an infected drops an item you need for a quest, it will appear in a lootbag with a green highlight.
This chapter of the main quest line sets up the background of the world; during this chapter you have a hidden resilience of 100%, meaning you cannot die (the less hp you have, the less damage will be done to you until near 0). Both zones in this chapter (Intro and Lost Pine Campground) cannot be returned to.
Intro
After choosing a character, you end up alongside a broken car with 2 friends. You must click through the dialog, and then head to the top right cabin; any collected items will be removed, no need to collect anything. After trying to use the telephone, you will hear a cry for help and must rush back to the car. After the scene, you must kill the zombie and then click the car to flee.
Around six months later...
You find yourself 6 months into the future, and must head towards the south east.
In the building, you have to grab some food and water.
Reward: 5000
After that, you must continue south east to the fire place; click it and eat the food / water you collected.
After you exit the fire, pickup the fishing rod. Heat south east to the peer. Fish. *Afterwards, zombies will come out of the forest; approach them. After you attack them, Chloe Thorn will save you and introduce herself.
Another smaller wave of zombies will appear, which Chloe will take care of. You will unlock a new area, Sacramento Suburbs.
Reward: 5000
Both of you must go west to the bike to continue to next area.
This chapter of the main quest line you meet all the main characters in Lakeview and unlock / explore all the urban zones.
A new start
At start of the next area, you must find some bandages to help Chloe. The quickest way to do this is probably to fight zombies; however, you can also find a med kit to search by going north west along the road until you reach the second building on the left, with the med kit in the last room (blue square on the map). Deliver it to Chloe.
Reward: 5000
Next you must gather evidence on who shot the flare (numbered on the map 1-3).
From Chloe, follow the road north east until you reach a T intersection, and inspect the gun on the north corner.
Follow the road east and then south until you find a crashed bloddy car; inspect it.
Continue following the road south until it turns east and inspect the body near the broken fence.
Head back to Chloe (from the body, head west through the broken fence and around the house).
Go to blueprint table and build the stove you just unlocked (click the resource icons until both say 0, and then click the area again). Place it anywhere.
Talk to Mei Lee (go in building to north, and exit out east door).
You will unlock a new area, Bodega Bay. Go there now.
You must explore the following areas:
Convenience Store - go north-east until you hit the road, then head south and it will be on your right.
Beach - To get to the beach, follow the road south and then west; once the road west hits a parking lot, head south and then west until you find the mini campsite.
Carpentry Workshop - From the spawn head west until you reach the entrance of the building; don't go inside and instead head north through the path and then north west (around the building). When you see the beach avoid it and go north until you see a picnic area. Cross over the river and through the building and head north west and then enter the building.
Playground - From the spawn, head north east again to the road. This time, follow the road all the way north east until a truck blocks your path. The playground will be the first thing to the north west.
Head back to campfire and take the bike to Lakeview and talk to Mei again.
Reward: 3750
Karen Jade
Talk with Chloe again.
Head back to Bodega Bay
Find Karen Jade by heading back towards the carpentry workshop; about half way there, she'll be on the left side in a little beach.
Go to the dock, which can be found west of the parking lot you crossed through going to the beach campsite. Take the left path on the dock to the end of the pier to find the bell.
Now go to the gated compound in the North-east (if you've passed the pond, you've gone to far), and make your way to the north most room. Click the screen to get a Loaded USB Drive.
Follow Chloe into Wallace Abboth's room in the main building in the south west area of camp.
Talk to Chloe in the room just east of Wallace.
The safe room
Talk to Murphy Lane in the main building in Lakeview.
Talk to Lynn Durand in the north west most building. You will unlock a new area, Downtown Santa Rosa.
Go to Santa Rosa.
Go north into the parking lot, and continue north until you hit the road. Follow the road east until it turns, and inspect the signpost.
Next you have to find 3 Aspirin, 2 Morphine, and 1 Ritalin. From the sign post, go north until a gap opens up in the wall to the east. Go through the gap and go south east until a path opens to a small parking lot. You may see Sylvia Bluth who is part of an optional side quest; she can be ignored. Keep heading east until you see a building to your south. Search inside the building and/or kill medical infecteds (such as nurses and doctors) in the area to find medicine.
Exit the saferoom and head back to a bike and return to Lakeview.
Talk with Wallace in his office in the main building. Talk to Jay and then Wallace again when prompted.
Talk with Sekou Iwume (building just east of the main building).
Talk with Henry in the main office; he will give you a whiskey bottle (quest item).
Talk with Chloe, now near the bike. You will unlock a new zone, Mazon College.
Whispers of hope
Go to Mazon College.
Go north west to the cafeteria. Then go to the western most room, and exit out the north window.
Go the the box to the south west; you will place your whiskey bottle onto the box.
Head south past the cafeteria and then east to the American football field entrance and keep going in that direction onto the grass (don't follow the road / go into the field (if it's open)) and click the radio to get the radio set.
Go back towards the football entrance, and then enter the building to your south (entrance is on the north east side) and find the speakers on the right side of the building in the middle rooms; search them for a speakers' set.
Go to the south west most room in the current building and search the desk for CD: German for dummies.
Head back to the cafeteria and click the indicated table in the center.
Go to the kitchen and search everything (and/or kill infecteds in the area) for 2 small gas canisters.
In the kitchen click the glowing area to setup the bottles.
Head read back into the cafeteria and hit the speakers.
Hold off the infecteds! There are 2 waves to hold off; the first wave has 20, and the second has 8. Note: the ones that respawn don't count, focus on the other ones!
The front entrance is surrounded by American football zombies! Go to the kitchen, out the window, and throw the bottle of fiery doom.
Reward: 5000
Head back to spawn / campfire. Go to the building directly north, go up to the roof, and then go to the north side of the roof and up the ladder and to the indicated area.
Talk to Jay and watch the cutscene! Talk to Jay again after.
Click antenna. Talk to Chloe. This will unlock the zone Sunset Mall.
The rescue
You start out where the last quest finished, on the top of the roof. Go to the bike which will automatically take you to the new zone after you "Act" on it for awhile.
You can talk to Jay and Chloe near the spawn for a little extra dialog.
Talk to Chloe at the Sunset Mall. Do not follow them; instead, head north and then west into the parking lot, and continue west to totalled Outrunner.
Kill 6 infecteds anywhere in the parking lot.
Go back and click the Outrunner. The head back east into the mall, head north, and at the first intersection head east again to a bloody bench.
Head south east to a fence with a puddle between it.
Now head south then take the path north into an office, continue north into the kindergarden, and then south past the playground to the scaffold.
Head south out onto the grass. Continue south / south east to a tree with blood underneath.
Head south past the building, and then east through the hole in the wall. Head into the casino.
Kill 7 infecteds.
Go north to the indicated area, where Chloe and Jay will appear and a cutscene will commence.
You will be teleported back to Lakeview in Wallace's office. Talk to Wallace, Karen, Karen, and then Wallace.
Talk to Murphy; everyone is now in the main building, but she is just north of her usual location.
Jared Crane
Talk to Manuel just east of her. Follow him to the Jail, just east of his normal location (south east most area of the map). Talk with Jared Crane.
Go to Santa Rosa. Go north east through the parking lot, and then towards the building to the north east. Fetch the lighter in the garage, and 2 planks from in front of the building.
Head back to the spawn and then go east past the lake. Enter the house, go to the south most room, and then exit the east door. Kill the indicated infected. Kill her. Build a pyre and then light it. Click it again to gather her ashes. You will obtain Ashes of Anna and Anna's pendant.
Go back to spawn and head through the parking lot. Go north west up the road, and then through the forest. Go north west again until the road ends, and then south west onto the beach. Scatter the ashes into the water.
Head back to the Outrunner (head north to the parking lot and then west).
Kill 2 waves off infecteds; first 23, and then 8. Note: only infecteds initially approaching Jared / the Outrunner count; don't attack infecteds minding their own business!
Head back to spawn (if Jared stops moving, you can safely ignore him). Talk with Jared when you arrive (He'll teleport if not nearby).
Talk with Henry just a little bit to the south west.
Go back to Sunset Mall. Head south along the edge of the park, and head east once the park ends to find the helicopter; click on it. Enter the park (entrance just above) and then head east to a crater. Click on it to get a Helicopter's black box.
Exit the garden, and head west into the waiting room for the pool / sauna. Go into the pool and search the cabinet by the door to find Chlorine tablets.
Head outside of the bookstore and make your way just north of it. Enter the eastern passage, and continue east into and through the movie theater. Head a long way east until you find the music store. Click the box next to the juke box and take the Trending CD.
Next head back to the bike; the quickest way there is to head north west until you hit the garden, then head north east. enter as soon as you can and then head straight north until you exit the gardens. Then follow the outside of the garden wall north and then west to the spawn.
Head back across the bridge near the beginning, and then head south until you hit a road. Follow it south west. Once you see a red car with white stripes, go to the east building. Use the fuel pumps. Darn, out of gas!
Continue following the road south west; at the pileup head north to the bridge and the follow it north west until you find the gas station on the north side of the road. Use the fuel pump.
Head east until you hit the river, then follow it northward until you reach the 2nd bridge (same one from the beginning), and then once again head west to the building and talk to Jared.
Head east and halfway towards the bridge go south / south west. At the fence, circle around to the south west side of the building and enter the compound. Head to the east building, and examine the machine in the back (you can ignore Jenny Holden if she is there, she's part of a side quest). Examine the machine in the room to the north. Head back to south machine.
Head back to the bike just to the south (still inside the fenced area) to leave map.
The storm
Go to Arizona Jurassic Museum. Talk to Jared near spawn.
Head east towards the cactus; inspect the sticks.
Continue east following the arrow. Inspect the arm. Follow it and the following blood smears south. Inspect the sticks in the highlighted area. Go south east and then north east. Inspect the blood on the corner of the building. Continue north east until you see Jared. Talk with Jared.
Continue north east until you see Chloe; inspect the vent to talk with her. Talk with Jared.
You will be back in Lakeview. Talk to Wallace and then Karen. Go through the open door to the lake. Talk with Chloe, then Jared, and then Chloe again. You will unlock a new zone, Highway 99, South Fallon 6B exit.
While it can be ignored, Chloe and Madam Jade will have some dialog next to the bike, and you can also talk with various NPCs around the main office for some new dialog.
A jail's safe walls
Bob Wax
Go to Highway 99.
Go east and follow the path northward. As soon as possible follow the path north west until you reach a building and enter one of the doors on the north east corner.
Enter the west room and approach the vending machine, and then talk to Bob Wax.
Go back to the east room and exit out the east door back towards the direction you came from. Head east and follow the path north and then east until you find the main road (pilled up with cars). Head north until you find a restaurant; go to the south west corner on the outside.
Berkley Benett
Walk around the building on the west side, and then head east past the building (ignore the prison to the north), and keep heading east past both the main roads. You will find a campsite; talk to Berkley Benett. You will obtain a List of refugees' belongings.
The Refugee's remains are a bit trickier. You must first make your way to the front (south side) of the prison, and then enter the cells along the west side. The quickest way is (from where you entered in) to go north through the basketball court until you see a dark area with sandbags around it, head west, entered the door into a hallway to the south until you exit out the front (south) of the building, and then head west and then north into some cells; the remains are against the wall on the north west most cells in the room. You can also loop back around and enter the prison from the south opening in the fence, but this takes longer and isn't much safer.
Head back to the refugee camp; instead of going back through the prison, go south and exit out the south fence. From here you're back near the diner, and can head east to find the camp again.
Head back to the refugee camp and talk to Berkley.
Reward: 1650
Head back to the prison's east entrance; inspect the hole in the wall.
You now must inspect the infirmary, security center, and gates:
First head north through the basketball court again; keep going north / north east until you can enter the building to the west; work your way to the south most room.
Head back to the courtyard and then head west and the south down the small hallway towards the south entrance; along the way enter the room with multiple monitors and inspect the first table.
Continue down the hallway until you exit out the building. Go south west and inspect the large closed gates.
Head east and inspect the hole in the fence; right after kill 25 infected in the area.
Go back to lakeview; the arrow will tell you you have to go back to the reguee camp/spawn and take the bike there, but the bike to the north west of the diner also works (which is west of the hole in the fence).
Rob McCoy
Talk with Mei Lee (in the building to the north east).
Reward: 5000
Talk with Murphy in the main building. Then talk with Rob McCoy (right next to her).
Head to Santa Rosa.
Kill 100 infecteds
Go towards the mansion (where you met Jay); at the railroad tracks inspect the east most train car. Continue on to the mansion.
At the mansion, inspect the crates marked "danger" in red letters, and pick up 3 weapon crates. Note: one of the crates is in the safe room / bunker.
Head all the way to the east and interact with the elevator's console.
Enter the northern room and interact with the lift.
Go east past all the solar panels, and then follow the path south and then west and enter the building.
Kill 6 infecteds.
Enter the west room and work your way to the southern most room. Click the giant fan to descend.
Go all the way east and then south, take the east door, and go south until you reach an elevator.
As soon as you exit the elevator, head north east. As soon as you can head west through the room, across the hallways, and through another room, inspecting the corpse in the ruined hallway.
Head back to the elevator.
After you exit the elevator go west and follow the hallways to the end, entering the northern room. Inspect the fancy looking computer station.
Go east until you reach the hallway, then follow it north / west back to the fan and ascend.
Head all the way back east and take the lift down again, head south back to the elevator and then report back to Kleng.
-story end- as of V0.54, you will get a screen telling you the story is "to be continued". However there are a few missions left.
Talk with Rob.
Go to Walker River and kill 100 infected.
To find the oil derrick head along the west side of the river until you see a red truck dumping toxic waste (east of the motel). The derrick will be directly north. Inspect it.
Head west up the hill, and then down the hill to the south west. Inspect the derrick.
Head to the west gas station (west of current location). Inspect the derrick to the west of it.
Return to Rob in Lakeview.
Fetch water and whiskey (quality does not matter):
Whiskey - go to the mall and enter the north parking lot; enter the bar to the north west. There are 3 whiskey's (expired) along the north corner on the shelves / counter. See item page for other locations.
Drinking water bottles - Since you specifically need Drinking water bottles, the easy way to do this may just be to craft them / open your water tank and click the drinkable water icon when you have 5 or more (as of V0.54 this will give you a drinking water bottle in exchange for 5 water). See the item page for various locations.
Return to Rob in Lakeview.
Go to your camp and craft a Katana (you should have the recipe already from a previous quest reward or from earning it on your own). If you need help finding the materials, check the resources page.
Follow the dog west to a house. (If dog won't move, walk off screen to the right and walk back; or go by your own to the house. It's the one with the gym equipment)
Escort her to her house (if her / the dog won't move, just go to the locations)
Go west to the road, and then follow it south until you see a car in the middle of the road. Kill 15 infecteds in the surrounding area.
Go south until you see the bridge and cross it. Kill 24 infecteds in the nearby area.
Go inside the first house to the east of the bridge and talk to Sylvie.
Note: at this point you can start gaining renown with the dog, which will be required to acquire it (see here).
Return to Lakeview and talk to Mei.
Visit Sylvie in Sacramento, in the house you brought her to before.
Head to Bodega Bay. From spawn head east until you hit the road, then travel north and enter the first house to your left. Search the cabinet in the red floored room to retrieve a Blanket.
Return to Sylvie in Sacramento.
Head south to the library. Go into the east room and search the short shelf in the north corner.
Inspect the dog, and then fetch a Drinking water bottle (it may be quicker to grab one from another map; see item page for locations), and then fill the dog's bowl.
Follow the dog and kill nearby infecteds when it stops (ignore dog's health, it can't die). Do NOT leave the small area or the kill counter resets! Stops:
North east of building Chloe was trapped in (27 zombie, picnic tables in front of the restaurant where the bowl was filled with water).
South of the building Chloe was trapped in (35 zombies, keep going further from the picnic tables, there is a dirt pile).
West of the fast food restaurant dog was in (53 zombies, the metal gate just west of the fastfood restaurant where you filled the bowl).
Near the dinosaur statue in front of the museum (53 zombies).
Interact with dog, then follow it to the spawn and take the bike to 18th, Lakeview Lane.
5000
Beer
Kitchen stove
small fried vegetables.
Assembling table, 
Water tank
Spear
Food bags.
Skewer vegetables
Whiskey, 
Sushi fish
USB Drive.
Loaded USB Drive.
Drinking water bottle
Saw
Aspirin, 2 
Morphine, and 1 
Ritalin. From the sign post, go north until a gap opens up in the wall to the east. Go through the gap and go south east until a path opens to a small parking lot. You may see Sylvia Bluth who is part of an optional side quest; she can be ignored. Keep heading east until you see a building to your south. Search inside the building and/or kill medical infecteds (such as nurses and doctors) in the area to find medicine.
Taser
Canned peaches
radio set.
speakers' set.
CD: German for dummies.
small gas canisters.
Electric guitar, 
Energy drink
Violin
Ashes of Anna and 
Anna's pendant.
Fire extinguisher
Monkey wrench, 
Gas tank
Helicopter's black box.
Chlorine tablets.
Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge.
Trending CD.
Chocolate box, 
Wine bottle
Pipe
Screwdriver
Combat knife
Fireman axe
Pickaxe
List of refugees' belongings.
Infected meat, 
Small water bottle
Lost wallet / 
Dumbbell, 
Plastic flask
Steak
weapon crates. Note: one of the crates is in the safe room / bunker.
Magnum
Electrical Nightstick, 
Dart gun
Liquid Nitrogen handgun
Katana
Chicken sandwich
Fresh water filled Canteen
Energy bar
Blanket.
batteries (see page for locations, you can leave the map if needed). Inspect the radio again.
panda plush on the ground.
crowbar and inspect the door again.
