It’s hard to say exactly at what point Battle: Los Angeles got the better of your fearless leader, but I do know the following for sure:
The adrenaline was pumping even before a very brave @BeachBetty1 of our North Carolina brigade agreed to accompany me to the theater (and hopefully prevent me from having a heart attack). Loyal ZSC warrior that she is, BeachBetty1 was terribly kind about the popcorn I threw all over her lap …repeatedly. I screamed, all-but-shredded the popcorn container with just one hand and even swore once or twice.
It all started when Neil agreed his training to prep for Battle: Los Angeles had some valuable lessons for the ZSC. To further support the ZSC troops and promote preparedness he agreed to lead a combat mission (errr, contest). I loaned him my crossbow, and Command has been delighted with the results he’s achieved.
Early reports from the field had me worried. I was late to the mission because of a recruiting operation at Monster Mania so intense my field report had to be broken into two parts (part one here, and two, here). Orange Brigade Commander RC Murphy penned this initial report on Battle: Los Angeles.
By the time the credits rolled on Battle: Los Angeles (and no, we’re still not going to spill the details for those of you who have not seen it yet) Command was pretty determined to keep the contest prize to ourselves as payment for the extensive emotional distress caused by the film. Fortunately for our winner, LK, RC and Jinxie talked some sense into your fearless leader.
The ZSC cadres showed great love and devotion to Neil with some truly amusing, and quite a few lovely, entries into the contest. It’s almost painful that only one of you will receive_________ from Neil.
Yep, you read it right – we’re not revealing the prize. Only the winner.
We’ll reveal the prize once she actually receives it. (We’re kinda evil that way folks.)
Oh! And there’s a bunch of other ZSC loyalists who are due for bumper stickers for being among the first 10 entries! Look for a DM or email from Command so that we can send you your swag!
A massive thank you and ZSC salute to Neil and everyone who entered!
What would happen if an alien force invaded Earth? If Battle: Los Angeles is even 75% correct, put me out of my misery before they get further than the beach.
As far as film openings go, typically war footage gets some yawns and expectant foot tapping. However, given the conflicts and recent disasters the audience was rapt. Silent. Dare I even say, thoughtful? This film comes about at a very strange time in the world’s history and hands us a look at war on the home front.
Right away, we’re driven to like the platoon of marines. They are funny, and I’m not saying this because ZSC’s own Neil Brown Jr. delivered some of the most amusing lines. The cast they put together for the film is astounding. Their performances make Battle: Los Angeles work. Without an emotional connection to the characters it’s just another alien shoot-em-up movie.
The most difficult parts of the film aren’t scenes where they show civilian casualties, though they are striking. No, what caught me was moments where, alongside the marines, we see the full scope of the damage to the city unfold. It became a macabre beauty of sorts painted in fire and smoke. Landscapes most city dwellers take for granted are leveled in no time at all.
During combat scenes the audience is put in the middle of the action. They’re “grab you by the gonads” intense, but a little confusing. The pacing of the movie hits hard then backs off to allow us to regroup and figure out what the heck just happened. It literally became an edge of your seat watch for us.
Battle: Los Angeles works hard to show how combat can mess with a person’s head. There are moments when we forgot the aliens outside because the marines dive so deep into their own issues. Only once did I feel the attention to their mental plight took from the movie itself. However, with the way the film is shot the audience gets a really good grasp of what happens to people during war. It’s not all physical damage out on the battlefield.
Holy S#!% moments that ZSC members should look out for in order to learn new battle techniques? How to quickly discover the enemy’s weakness. A unique way to dispatch a rather large enemy combatant. (A technique this commander will utilize should I ever be surrounded by zombies) Oh and what happens when a tough as nails female is injured.
The Zombie Survival Crew is all about supporting our fellow members. First Lieutenant Neil Brown Jr. has been waving the ZSC flag with pride since being brought on to the crew. And wouldn’t you know it, our katana-wielding friend has a new movie coming out on 3-11-2011.
From Sony Pictures:
For years, there have been documented cases of UFO sightings around the world – Buenos Aires, Seoul, France, Germany, China. But in 2011, what were once just sightings will become a terrifying reality when Earth is attacked by unknown forces. As people everywhere watch the world’s great cities fall, Los Angeles becomes the last stand for mankind in a battle no one expected. It’s up to a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and his new platoon to draw a line in the sand as they take on an enemy unlike any they’ve ever encountered before.
.
To celebrate the release of Battle: Los Angeles,
we’re offering ZSC members a way to not only show support for one of ours, but win a little swag as well.
Requirements:
A picture of yourself with a Battle: Los Angeles ticket stub in hand at your local movie theater.
Entries must be submitted by 11:59 PM PST on 3-25-2011.
Images containing nudity, obscene gestures, or illegal activity will be disqualified.
When submitting entries, you give the Zombie Survival Crew permission to post your image on zombiesurvivalcrew.com and it’s associated social media outlets.
Winners will be notified via the email address given with entry photo.
To whet your appetite for the movie, take a look at the trailer below:
You’ve had your time to plot and scheme; now we act. Zombie Survival Crew, grab your go bags! It’s time to rescue our missing captains.
The winner of the Escape Plan contest is Wulfie_. Hearty congratulations to you. You will be on point to lead a squad of your picking into the secret government facility. (Oh and you get some neat ZSC gear too. I’m jealous!)
We have included the winning plan below. Crew members, pay attention. This is the important part. We must find Juliette and Anthony!
Scouting:
One of ours could pose as someone trying to get a job in the power plant. Surely someone in our group can pass as someone qualified enough to get work in a power plant, so as to avoid suspicion.
Some of the civilians are wary and suspicious of what’s really going on in the place. We get a few of these to give us some intel. Plant workers tend to hang out at bars after shifts and on weekends. Alcohol loosens tongues, you know. People talk and we’ll pick up some info just hanging around, during a round of drinks or a nice game of darts or pool. People love to bitch about work, right? We may be able to get one to help us during the attack, but that plan isn’t totally reliable. I imagine disgruntled workers are being watched. Best to be suspicious of everyone.
The Attack:
We can’t just bomb the shack or the power plant because that will put the underground on lock down. The place has to have ventilation shafts if it’s that far down. We’ve scoped those out and on the day/night of our rescue attempt we place groups of 3 at these shafts (Team C), armed with weapons and gas grenades to be dropped down the shafts. In the event of a gas or toxic air readout, the plant’s automatic emergency generators should kick off. Beta Team will hit the areas with the most civilians. The civilians have to be evacuated and will be freaking out while soldiers/security try to get them out in an orderly fashion. Lights and power should shift to emergency generator power. There’ll be half light, blinking lights, and alarms going off everywhere.
Alpha Team will target Glasses because he, evidently, can get the furthest into the place with his ID and thumb prints. Scouts revealed that he’s married. His family knows nothing about what he really does for a living. We have a small team kidnap his wife and kids right after he leaves for work in the morning. The second half of Alpha Team waits at the coffee shop. One of ours hides in his car while he’s distracted getting coffee. (This will require someone capable of breaking into his vehicle without setting off the car alarm OR someone to fake illness when he’s returning to his car. After he unlocks it, they use a gun to get him into the car.) At this point, a cell phone call to prove to him that we have his family and he’d better cooperate or we’ll kill them (we won’t, but he doesn’t know that). The scheduling will be tight on this. How long is his coffee break, for instance? Quickly obtain intel from him as he drives to the shack. From that, we place teams around the plant and the spokes. We put the best armed of our crew by the SW spoke (Team C), because there’s ingress and egress available there.
Using Glasses and his ID, Alpha Team will gain access to the facility and Anthony’s holding cell, taking out whoever gets in our way. If Glasses decides not to cooperate, remind him that his ID badge and the fingerprint detector will work whether he’s alive or dead. Just sayin’.
Getting out will be harder than getting in. Go figure. By the time we get to Anthony the entire place will be pretty crazy. Beta Team will have been detected. This will shift the emergency evacuation to lockdown and defense mode. This is when we drop our next surprise on them. Team C will deploy more gas grenades, but this gas knocks people out cold. That’ll drop a lot of them. Lightweight masks will be given to the Alpha Team, Beta Team, Anthony, and Glasses so we can recover Juliette. Glasses, by this time should be pretty freaked out. Anthony will have to be carried out or, if he’s not too hurt, should be pretty ticked off. Set him loose on Glasses to make him lead us to Juliette. Once she’s located, feel free to take Glasses’s mask off or knock him out. Have at him Anthony!
Alpha Team escorts Anthony and Juliette out through the SW spoke. Beta Team will be inside and outside that area to cover them. Team C, at the shafts, will evacuate but not before planting C-4 explosives that can be remotely detonated. Once they’re clear, we give the signal to trigger the explosives.
We must be prepared to lose people. We’ll send in well-trained members who are willing to die for the cause. Beta Team must be our special forces. They will be on their own through much of the rescue, distracting the security forces and keeping them busy while the Alpha Team does the rescue. They should have weapons and plenty of ammo, and at least six or seven grenades of their own. They can cause as much havoc as needed before ordered to retreat. Beta Team will be encouraged to swap clothes with the security forces in order to sneak past opposing forces.
Not everyone will make it. This is a high-risk rescue.
Note:
There may be experiments going on in the Labs. There is a risk of these being released into the air, infecting even to those with breathing masks. If this is true, even the facility’s security forces will be making a B-line to escape. This could be what triggers the Zombie Virus. However, if we can blow the place to smithereens we might avert it. The facility is a mile down and only has that one point of entrance at the SW spoke, which we will blow up to prevent anything from getting loose. But we must be prepared on the off chance that somewhere in the depths of this evil place, there is a zombie or two who escape.
In effect, our rescue attempt may be the very thing that triggers the Zombie Apocalypse.
Nicely done, Wulfie! We will contact you soon for details on your ZSC gear.
We were very impressed with the plans the crew members came up with and it was a tough decision. We look forward to seeing what you can do with future challenges! You all did a great job! Thank you!
Time is running out. The contest to have YOUR story/article/artwork featured in the first Zombie Survival Crew Anthology will close to submissions tomorrow 1/11/11 @ 11:59 PM. Don’t miss out on your chance for inclusion in the anthology.
What is the contest? It is three-fold.
A writing contest for short stories and articles to include in our Zombie Survival Crew Anthology – Undead’s Not An Option
An artwork contest (high quality black & white only) for inclusion in the anthology
A cover design contest to design the hottest cover for Zombie Survival Crew – Undead’s Not An Option
How it works:
Before midnight 1/11/11 write/draw/design something Zombie/Survival related and send to ZombieSurvivalCrew@gmail.com
All submissions must have ZSC Anthology Contest in the subject line in addition to the submission type indicator as outlined below.
All written submissions must be between greater than 1,000 words, but no greater than 10,000 words of original material written by you.
All written submissions must be in word doc or RTF standard submission format.
Non-fiction articles about survival, weaponry, escape route planning, etc. should state Article in the subject line.
Short Stories should state Fiction in the subject line.
All written submissions must include a pitch statement (cover letter/summary) of up to 300 words.
Artwork submissions must be an original work of art created by you and must be high quality black & white – no color artwork will be considered.
Black and white artwork submissions should state Art in the subject line.
Cover design submissions must be an original work of art created by you in full CMYK color.
Cover design submissions should state Cover in the subject line.
All entries will be reviewed by the co-captains and first round acceptance determinations will be made and communicated 1/21/11 in our Members only area. All entries which have made it into the second round will have the opportunity to make revisions based on feedback from the judges for resubmission no later than 2/5/11. The final determinations for inclusion in the anthology will be conducted at that time.
The prize is inclusion in the anthology and we request both first print and first e-rights for the work to be exclusive for a period of 90 days, but non-exclusive thereafter. The work will remain in print and ebook format for as long as the anthology is being made available to the public, but after 90 days, the work may be in print in other publications or displayed online or in ebook form.
There is no cash prize for this contest and all proceeds for the anthology’s sale will go to the Zombie Survival Crew.
Since you must be a member to participate in the contest, please ensure you have registered on this site as all entries will be validated against Zombie Survival Crew membership.
We have received the following from R.C., who has located the detention facility where Anthony and Juliette are being held.
Command needs help from the Zombie Survival Crew brigades to craft a successful escape plan.
Take your best shot, get creative, get nasty . . . and post your escape strategy in the comment section or email it to Command at zombiesurvivalcrew (at) gmail (dot) com. You have until January 7.
Command will pick the best plan to execute, and its creator will get official ZSC gear (being unveiled publicly mid-January) as a prize!!
***************
Field Report: R.C. Murphy
You want something with a high level of difficulty? Try finding a living soul in the middle of a desert. No, tumbleweeds don’t count. Though by the end of my second day in New Mexico I sure wished they did.
The signal from Juliette’s GPS came from somewhere between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. I traced it to one of two locations. A run-down shack sitting all on its lonesome in the desert, or the hydroelectric power plant two miles away. Neither looked like a secret government agency’s stronghold, but as with most things looks can be deceiving.
I targeted two men to gather info. The first had been in and out of the shack frequently. The second worked at the power plant. On both I planted a small button camera. They should have been more careful with their coats while having a cup of joe.
The first, I’ll call him Glasses, drove to the shack after his caffeine fix. Inside wasn’t much, a typical storage shed. He headed for a red cabinet on the back wall. The doors opened and two armed soldiers greeted him. They stepped aside to expose two sets of elevators doors. Another single door sat to the side of those, marked “stairs.”
Glasses swiped an ID card over a black box on the wall. The elevator doors opened and he began the very long ride down. When the doors opened again, they showed three sets of double doors. Through the small windows I saw more soldiers.
The right door bore a sign reading “Administration”. The left, “Power plant”. Center, “Laboratory”.
He took the center doors. More men in white lab coats milled around. Like camouflage sprinkles in whipped cream were a few armed soldiers, stationed just far enough apart to not look too threatening despite the semi-autos hanging from their shoulders.
Glasses walked past rooms filled with medical equipment. A large steel door slipped by, “Cold Storage” the sign said. He went on to the end of the hall. There the doors were shut. His thumb slid over a fingerprint scanner and the window on the door opened.
Jesus, it was Anthony.
The footage after that was useless. Something blocked the camera’s eye. In desperation I pulled up the footage from the second man’s button cam. I named him Suspenders.
Suspenders approached the large steel door of the power plant and tapped a card against a small black panel identical to the elevator locks inside the shack. The door eased open; he gave a wave to one of the cameras keeping watch over the entrance.
A stairwell door and a pair of elevator doors waited. Suspenders took the elevator, his ride down just as long as Glasses’. When the doors opened I half expected to see the dreary circular room from before, but no. He was let out right smack dab in the midst of a bustling power plant.
Large machinery took up most of the space. What wasn’t filled with machines was taken over by people. Amongst them, some shrewd looking security officers. Their eyes took in everything, I mean everything.
One approached Suspenders, saying something I couldn’t read on his lips. My target followed him down the row of machines, passing more security and a few wary workers. At the end of the hall sat a double set of doors and a black ID scanner like the elevator locks. The guard opened the doors with his ID. Beyond was the circular room.
They took the door reading “Administration”. As soon as Suspenders hit the hallway a shadowy hand covered the button cam. Dangit!
The only other information I managed to find were blueprints for the power plant. It’s made of solid steel and enough concrete to fill in half an ocean. The other wings of the facility? It’s as though they don’t exist.
We have to get Juliette and Anthony out of there. This is where I need your help.
***************
This is the only photo R.C. was able to get to us. They’re locked down tight, folks.
If you’re not up for this challenge, have no fear. A variety of other contests are around the corner!
To mark the going live of the Zombie Survival Crew site, we’re having a contest open to all Zombie Survival Crew members. What is the contest? It is three-fold.
A writing contest for short stories and articles to include in our Zombie Survival Crew Anthology – Undead’s Not An Option
An artwork contest (high quality black & white only) for inclusion in the anthology
A cover design contest to design the hottest cover for Zombie Survival Crew – Undead’s Not An Option
All submissions must have ZSC Anthology Contest in the subject line in addition to the submission type indicator as outlined below.
All written submissions must be between greater than 1,000 words, but no greater than 10,000 words of original material written by you.
All written submissions must be in word doc or RTF standard submission format.
Non-fiction articles about survival, weaponry, escape route planning, etc. should state Article in the subject line.
Short Stories should state Fiction in the subject line.
All written submissions must include a pitch statement (cover letter/summary) of up to 300 words.
Artwork submissions must be an original work of art created by you and must be high quality black & white – no color artwork will be considered.
Black and white artwork submissions should state Art in the subject line.
Cover design submissions must be an original work of art created by you in full CMYK color.
Cover design submissions should state Cover in the subject line.
All entries will be reviewed by the co-captains and first round acceptance determinations will be made and communicated 1/21/11 in our Members only area. All entries which have made it into the second round will have the opportunity to make revisions based on feedback from the judges for resubmission no later than 2/5/11. The final determinations for inclusion in the anthology will be conducted at that time.
The prize is inclusion in the anthology and we request both first print and first e-rights for the work to be exclusive for a period of 90 days, but non-exclusive thereafter. The work will remain in print and ebook format for as long as the anthology is being made available to the public, but after 90 days, the work may be in print in other publications or displayed online or in ebook form.
There is no cash prize for this contest and all proceeds for the anthology’s sale will go to the Zombie Survival Crew.
Since you must be a member to participate in the contest, please ensure you have registered on this site as all entries will be validated against Zombie Survival Crew membership.
Early reports from the field had me worried. I was late to the mission because of a recruiting operation at Monster Mania so intense my field report had to be broken into two parts (part one here, and two, here). Orange Brigade Commander RC Murphy penned this initial report on Battle: Los Angeles.
To mark the going live of the Zombie Survival Crew site, we’re having a contest open to all Zombie Survival Crew members. What is the contest? It is three-fold.