Oh thank goodness, we can finally clue you all in to one of the exciting things Command has been working on behind the scenes without fear of the boss lady duct taping one of us to the desk chair. Well, what has your commanders so thrilled?
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The ZSC is happy to announce that we are working with Sideshow Collectibles to bring you the chance to win your very own zombie. Okay, not a REAL zombie, because that would be bad.
Starting today, 5-5-2011 and going until 5-20-2011, you all can enter to win Sideshow Collectibles original creation the Undying Carcass. He may be only 16 inches tall, but holy cow is there a lot of detail on this guy, right down to the blood splatter on his hospital gown and the bones protruding from his gnarled fingertips.
From Sideshow Collectibles: “Some call it a virus, others a genetic experiment gone awry. Whatever it is, the hospitals and triage clinics were overtaken weeks ago. Infected have escaped the makeshift quarantine barricades in droves, and survivor strongholds are beginning to falter as desperation sets in. The end is near…Be Ready.”
Scary, right?
How do you enter? Click the banner below and follow the directions on their site. A winner will be picked at random from the entries collected before May 20th. This is too cool of a prize to miss. Please pass it on so everyone has a chance to not only see how rockin’ Sideshow Collectibles work is, but gets a chance to enter to win the Undying Carcass.
There was brief moment when I entered the Gates of Fire this past weekend where I seriously considered bolting. I’d like to say it had nothing to do with the orcs and elves and dudes with swords traipsing past me –but actually it was a conversation that I suppose was in English that involved units, realms, Urk Kuldar and something called a Dragonhood that really freaked me out.
But the Zombie Survival Crew commander-in-chief is no chicken.
Since we discovered the Unnamed Government Agency is not the ally we once thought it was, Zombie Survival Crew Command is actively recruiting fighters for the Zombiepocalypse. And where better to find true warriors than a Dagorhir event?
As the weekend unfolded in a haze of campfire smoke, exotic foods, even more exotic drinks and a mystery “skunk” that walked past the tent led by a ‘being’ called Dante, I learned some valuable lessons about the Dagorhirim and their world (and picked up a posse of protectors). There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that not only are these gentlemen and ladies perfect recruits for the ZSC, but engagement with them will enhance any ZSC member’s combat readiness. They’re experts in hand-to-hand combat, have survival gear by the truckload and can make a fire (and a meal) out of just about anything.
In order to save both sides from any potential friendly fire incidents, I suggest the following as reasons and rules of engagement for Zombie Survival Crew cadres and the Dagorhirim:
Rule #1 – Smile and nod. Zombie Survival Crew brigade members are unlikely to understand half of what the Dagorhirim say anyway, so just smile.and.nod
Rule #2 – Top recruitment target units are Sparta and Rome. These units are among the most cohesive and organized. And, hell, just look at this Spartan, Lith, striking out with his sword.
Rule #3 – Beware of Merkwood off the field of battle They are a lively, uber-friendly bunch but you are quite likely to find yourself in a “dare, double-dare” kind of situation with these guys that you can’t quite get out of without injuring yourself.
Rule #4 – Top individual recruits are Dagorhirim along the lines of Ogre, Mac, Viccer, Vors and Cancer. These guys are either tall or big, or both, and excellent to hide behind. I’ve already staked claim to the space behind Viccer during battle –the guy’s sword is as tall as I am, so I’m calling that a win.
Rule #5 – Do not accept anything to consume from the Apollyon leader Blackhawk –especially after dark when it is harder to see what he’s handing you. Just trust me on this one.
Rule #6- When you find yourself in battle with the Dagorhirim, you *may* find it a little confusing at first. At one point, I couldn’t tell if I was coming or going and then I got clocked by an arrow in the head so it really didn’t matter. However, Zombie Survival Crew Command recommends brigade members consider attending Dagorhir events and participating in the melee fights to prepare for urban-setting fighting during the Zombiepocalypse.
Rule #7 – It is probably wisest to avoid those who appear to be speaking in tongues. While they’re not zombies, and thus should not be put down, attempting to carry on a conversation with these individuals will give you a headache. Please, just trust the chief on this one.
Rule #8 – It might seem natural to focus recruitment efforts towards the males of Dagorhir. This is a mistake. The female fighters –like Fyxe, Havok, and Arzus– are tough, trained and worth a dozen men.
Rule #9 – Beside combat and basic survival skills, the Dagorhirim have among them talented seamstresses and tailors, like Kevat, who should be considered high value recruits. When the Zombiepocalypse hits it’s going to be hell on the wardrobe, and when the inevitable rips and tears occur you won’t be able to just wander into a Wal-mart for quick replacements.
Rule #10 – Don’t let the pallor of their skin fool you. Unlike Tolkien’s Orcs, the Orcs of Dagorhir –like Gix, Vors and Surg– are actually quite friendly. They’re also quick on their feet and loyal.
Happy Monday!!! We’re excited to present the Zombie Survival CrewTM anthology: Undead Is Not An Option!!! The anthology contributors are: IronE Singleton, Juliette Terzieff, Kelene Toups, Anthony Guajardo, Jim Bronyaur, RC Murphy, Maria Kelly, Sonya May, Chris Philbrook, Neil Brown, Jr., Austin Wulf, Tasmin Bowerman, Jessica Capelle, Natalie Cutrufello, Wendy Sparrow, Andrew Jack, Gary James, EC, and LK Gardner-Griffie. Enjoy!!!!!
You’ve been a good crewmember, done all of the necessary prep work. Your go bag is packed and next to the front door. A map with various escape routes and possible safe havens is sitting nearby. Your trusty shotgun is cleaned, loaded, and standing by. Heck, you’ve even taken up jogging to make sure you can outrun the zombies when the time comes. But I fear even some of your die-hard and supremely prepared ZSC commanders have forgotten a key component to survival in the Zombiepocalypse…
Vehicles.
All the jogging in the world will not sustain you in the long run after the zombies take over. Feet can only get you so far. What if you find yourself trapped in a large city when the disease begins to spread throughout the population? Within days the undead to living ratio will be completely skewed, and not in the survivor’s favor. At that point the only option is to flee heavily populated areas for rural outposts.
Choosing a vehicle is much like choosing what items to include in your go bag or what weapon to use an extension of your arm. It is important to keep in mind personal comfort as well as utility. Obviously a family isn’t going to be able to travel and pack enough supplies into a Volkswagen Bug. Likewise, single people would make a huge target of themselves by traveling in a motor home, or something that massive in scale.
We should take a moment to note that if you do plan to relocate during the Zombiepocalypse, you need to do so within the first weeks. Gas supplies will likely run out quickly and it is doubtful that fuel tankers will be making a trip to your local station to top off the tanks while walkers are trying to gnaw on their arms. You can give yourself a buffer of sorts by storing gasoline in a safe place, but only by days, maybe. There are simply too many variables at play during times of crisis. Even the best-laid plans can go awry. Plan on traveling as early into the crisis as possible to ensure you have enough gas to get to your destination, with enough left in the tank to move in case of an emergency.
Back to vehicle choices… Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) are ideal for our purposes. Generally SUVs have plenty of storage space and adequate seating for a family. A small family could even sleep inside, however we do not encourage making this arrangement permanent. There is enough sound dampening inside an SUV (or any car, really) to rob you of the ability to hear the undead closing in. Sleeping inside your vehicle should only be done in an emergency and in an area you’ve scouted and found free of zombies.
Mini vans, despite their bad rep as an ego killer, offer a little more space to sit in. They are tight on storage space, though. We do not recommend tying anything to the roof of your vehicle to make up for this lack of space. It is too easy dragged off if you find yourself surrounded by walkers. You are also left vulnerable while awkwardly balanced on the tire of your car and rooting around to get what you need. Make sure everything you plan to take fits inside with you.
Pickup trucks, while seemingly perfect for survival, are actually a huge liability. The cab space will only accommodate maybe three people comfortably and all of your supplies are out of reach. In order to get to anything you have to step outside of the safety of your vehicle. Not ideal unless you are traveling a short distance and have a safe haven to store all of your stuff in as soon as you get there. We suggest avoiding trucks if possible.
Is there a perfect vehicle for surviving the Zombiepocalypse as a nomad? You bet your Aunt Fanny! Unfortunately, it only exists on film. Dead Reckoning (as seen in Romero’s Land of the Dead) was made to barrel through zombie hoards. She’s equipped with enough guns to make even us jealous, is fully armored, and comes with a system to shoot off fireworks. Fireworks? In Romero’s films the zombies are so simple-minded that fireworks keep them completely distracted and unaware of what was driving past. A big vehicle like Dead Reckoning can sneak by without so much as a snarl. It became very useful when time came to head out to collect supplies.
Would it be great to have a vehicle like Reckoning? Totally. Reasonable? Only slightly. If there were a large city to help maintain, then the answer would easily be yes. But you become sitting ducks gathering together in one place. The sounds, smells, and lights from the people in the city would draw the attention of the undead eventually. It is better to be alone or in a small group than stuck in a large population of people who are a zombie horde waiting to happen.
So take a moment while you are planning your escape routes and decide on a vehicle that will best suit your purposes. Once you’ve decided, head over to GetFanged.com. The ZSC has started a discussion over there about which car you think would be key to surviving the Zombiepocalypse.
This is a little something we cooked up today to enhance our site… we’re so happy with how it turned out, that we had to share. Now… where was I… Oh yes… the Zombie Survival CrewTM Anthology, Undead Is Not An Option. I need to finish telling everyone what you will find inside.
Love is in the air… Zombie-style and yes, Undead Is Not An Option has its share of love stories. Sadie is a normal girl living with her mother, well, as normal as a girl who collects zombies can be. She didn’t start out to collect zombies, it just sort of happened…. Zombie Girl by Tasmin Bowerman weaves a tender tale of a girl who doesn’t have the heart to turn the zombies away and the town-folk who don’t understand. Jessica Capelle gives us a different twist with her story, But I Do Love Your For Your Brain. Erik and Jaimy have a relationship that’s filled with love and commitment. There’s just one problem… she wants to eat him. Will Jaimy’s love save him or will she embrace her true nature and destroy him?
Wendy Sparrow follows with Love Me Dead Or Alive which is the touching… nay… poignant story of Mindy who is attempting to come to grips with her own mortality as her undead boyfriend pressures her to join him so they can be together forever. Titus has more to fear than just his girlfriend’s ticking mortal clock, though; an old school buddy is trying to force Titus’s hand in doing a little doctoring the dead. With Dead Man’s Shoes by Andrew Jack we take a turn into the macabre. Dead Man’s Shoes follows a young man named Carlo when he wakes on the autopsy slab at his local hospital to find that the world has ended and zombies have taken the place of almost every human on the planet….Almost.
Gary James pens a chilling tale with his Never Say Die. A gentleman’s club becomes a refuge for the well-to-do when the dead rise, through one member has a dark secret hanging over his head which threatens all who discover it. One by one the group’s number dwindles, until there is nothing left to do but the unthinkable. This alternate history zombie tale recounts the final days in the life of one of the survivors, as his time – and the 1930s – draws to a dark close. And the finale of the book is We Take Care Of Our Own by EC. We Take Care of Our Own is about a tight-knit family dealing with survival admidst the Zombie Apocalypse in a small Midwestern town and was inspired by the The Walking Dead. The treatment of both the graphic novel and the TV series inspired this tale because it’s brilliantly complex, poignant, and shockingly real. We Take Care Of Our Own examines the human reaction in the shadow of the Zombie Apocalypse.
And there you have it… a little snippet of the wonderful stories you will find between the covers of Undead Is Not An Option which is available for preorder at our special introductory price of $10 now on our Merchandise page
I know we’re talking a lot about the Zombie Survival CrewTM Anthology Undead Is Not An Option lately, but it is soooo freakin’ exciting. I’m honored to be the one to put together this post, because this time I get to do a little more than tease…well, it’ll still be a tease, but I can share a little more… like the who!! and a little of the what.
Your command has come through big time and this volume has been a joint command effort. I thought I’d have to peel Juliette off the ceiling when she told me who she got to co-write the forward with her… our own IronE Singleton and while I’m not going to share what IronE wrote, I can tell you it is thought provoking and tugs at the heartstrings. And yes, he did take the time away from his busy schedule to put his own words into this very special collection of Zombie fiction and guide information. And on top of IronE’s contribution, Anthony Guajardo came through with some photos about things he would miss in a Zombiepocalypse. We have some tips on what to stow in your Go Bag from 1st Lieutenant, Neil Brown, Jr. and let me tell you, this guy knows what he’s talking about! And we have some knowledge-building articles from our beloved RC Murphy.
So cut to the chase already? What are the stories in the book? Kelene Toups starts us off with a Classified Message warning of the deteriorating situation as well as the involvement by the Unnamed Government Agency (UGA) and their recruitment of the ZSC. This is followed by a tale by Jim Bronyaur: What would you do if you were stuck in a tree house, with a complete stranger who is somewhat annoying but a bona fide optimist, a chest full of rocks, and a horde of zombies waiting below? Find out in The Changing.
Crunch Time by Maria Kelly brings you into the world of RPG and twitter, something near and dear to the Zombie Survival Crew’s heart, and takes you through the chilling choices which have to be made during a zombie attack. And we’re especially pleased to have the talent’s of Chris Philbrook the author of webisode Adrian’s Undead Diary. Adrian Ring is our intrepid hero here, having just barely survived a world consuming apocalypse of the undead. Adrian’s Diary chronicles his battles with the zombie hordes and his ongoing struggle with survival. Bitten by Austin Wulf follows the final moments in the life of a woman, Emily, after she is bitten by a zombie. Her husband, Zach, pulls her into an alley, attempting to hide from the horde of zombies out on the street.
There’s more… and I’ll share the rest with you tomorrow. There’s so much packed into this book, I just can’t fit it into one post!!! Make sure you stop by our store and pre-order your copy of Undead Is Not An Option NOW!!
We’re really excited about the upcoming release of the Zombie Survival CrewTM Anthology: Undead Is Not An Option (which is available for pre-order from our Merchandise page – just sayin), so much so that we decided to put together a teaser for the book trailer which is currently in the works. Now the actual trailer will be coming out soon, but since we’ve revealed the cover, putting it to music seemed like a good idea, along with the command who have been working to make this a unique collection. So without any further ado:
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So hop on over to the Merchandise page and pre-order your copy now! at our special introductory price of $10.
There is no denying the Zombie Survival Crew is onto something. For all the talk and preparations, various members of the hierarchy find themselves targeted in inconvenient ways, from the simple annoyances in daily routine, to the full pursuit of more than a couple of our strongest. Other posts here have discussed some of the issues we all have experienced since the founding of the Crew.
Recently, it was brought to light the difficulties our own Jinxie has had, and the need for her constant moving and limited contact due to that infamous UGA making a living hell out of her life. To the point of nearly faking her death, Jinxie has kept one step ahead for the last few months, dodging those black SUVs and silent helicopters. From the limited contact we have maintained, it is known that she is alive and well, still avoiding the black hats and keeping her head down. Quite recently, she sent out a distress call with the above photo, where she was stuck in this blue elevator. Local ZSC members were able to locate and extract her before the UGA could collect her.
After months on the run, though, it seems the pursuit has waned, with exception to this last recent attempt at capture. Pictures have surfaced which show a secure area, and dispatches from Jinxie indicate good news ahead. With a hardened location, and careful screening of those nearby, her command center is being reestablished. Word is she has secured her location and will soon have an untraceable connection for communications. Once again, proving the resourcefulness of our commanders in keeping at least one step ahead of the UGA.
The lessons we can learn from Jinxie’s plight are many, but the most important one is to make sure we remain vigilant and stay ahead of those anonymous agents who are watching, trying to keep the ZSC from enlightening the public of the dangers from their planned pandemic. The “powers that be” have only maintained that control by keeping the public in the dark, working from the shadows and stretching their influence quietly. In the short months since our founding though, the Crew has quickly entered their sights, but we will not back down from informing the public, and preparing to fight back the hordes which the UGA plan to unleash upon the otherwise unsuspecting masses.
This is a HUGE moment for those of us who have been working on the Zombie Survival CrewTM Anthology: Undead Is Not An Option for months. I know that Juliette chewed through a roll of duct tape in her excitement… no wait… that’s right, we duct taped her in her chair in the command center to keep her from leaking the news before its time. Boy was she mad when she finally chewed through the last of the tape. I had to whip out the flux capacitor and disappear for a day or so.
Anyway, back to our announcement…
PRE-ORDERS ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR UNDEAD IS NOT AN OPTION!!
Okay – you’ll just have to imagine the champagne cork popping and the confetti flying because it is in virtual land… you just can’t see it. AND not only can you pre-order Undead Is Not An Option we have a special introductory price of $10 for pre-orders and orders through May 20, 2011. This is our way of thanking you the members of the Zombie Survival Crew for being so fantastic. After May 20, 2011, the price will be $11.95. The orders will ship out on May 8th for the pre-ordered copies. Next week we’ll have more news about what the anthology contains, but I can tell you this… it had our fearless leader sleeping with a night light on for weeks after the first read through.
How do you pre-order your copy? Either click here or go the the Merchandise page and place your order now.
This past week was certainly… interesting. Some of my fellow Commanders decided it was necessary to duct tape me to a chair in command to keep me from publicly releasing the contents of the Zombie Survival Crew Anthology: Undead Is Not An Option.
I was more than a little peeved. I mean, come on, I managed to keep the exciting news private for months what made them think I couldn’t keep my yap shut for a few more days?
To make it worse, while I was busy gnawing through three layers of industrial strength duct tape so I could put out this little missive, Purple Brigade Commander LK went ahead and revealed the cover art!
Well now it’s finally my turn and I am honored to announce some of the talented contributors to Undead is Not an Option.
The following authors and artists have crafted some truly haunting material examining the many terrifying facets of a zombiepocalypse and what survival will ask of all of us:
Tasmin Bowerman, Jim Bronyaur, EC, Jessica Capelle, Natalie Cutrufello, Andrew Jack, Gary James, Maria Kelly, Samantha Lahue, Sonya May, RC Murphy, Chris Philbrook, Wendy Sparrow, Kelene Toups and Austin Wulf.
We are also absolutely thrilled to announce that cast members from AMC’s hit television show The Walking Dead have graciously agreed to increase Undead Is Not An Option’s creep factor with contributions of their own!! Huge thanks to IronE Singleton, Neil Brown Jr., Anthony Guajardo, and everyone else for their participation.
Make sure you leave space for Undead Is Not An Option in your go bags – because this is one guide you won’t want to be without!
