Members Only Monday and The Red Brigade

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but things have been a little hectic around command lately. What with commander RC Murphy being tracked on her recent mission to Dallas, or her recent discovery of the potential Ground Zero for the Zombiepocalypse, and the continual movement of our fearless leader, Juliette Terzieff, as she is traveling around the United States interviewing new recruits and bringing on board new commanders… not to mention her recent encounter with Texas State Law enforcement.. and those are just the tip of the ice berg. Commander Jinxie G has been on the run for months, and has only recently been able to re-establish more regular communications with command. With commanders Norman Reedus, IronE Singleton, and Anthony Guajardo on special missions for the command, that has left the command center a little sparse, and hellaciously busy as we try to capture the various reports flooding into command center so we can make sense of them.

BUT we have also been working on compiling information necessary for the brigades. We are shoring up our security, tightening our defenses against attack, and want to start cluing you, the Zombie Survival Crew faithful, in on some of the more classified information. So command has made a decision to use Monday’s to provide the necessary classified information to the the crew. If you have not registered as a member of the site, you will not have access to the information, which means, come the Zombiepocalypse you will be without vital information necessary for your survival (hint hint).

Red Brigade

You can find the registration link in the sidebar toward the top. Also, if you are not logged in you will not be able to see the classified reports. The login link is also in the sidebar toward the top of the page.

We’re going to kick Members Only Monday off with information about the Red Brigade. What YOU need to know about being a member of the Red Brigade. What makes them tick, what should be in your Go Bag, essentials for survival. To check out the Red Brigade, make sure you’re registered and logged in, and then click the link. Find out why your fearless leader spends a great deal of time running in circles screaming her head off. There is actually a method to the seeming madness.

And while you’re headed over to our newly established Brigade Central, you might want to take a look at how crew members are showing their loyalty by checking out how the Brigades Represent.

Now I have to get back to collating some of the data that is coming in. Remember, constant vigilance is essential.

~ The Oracle


Brigade Loyalists Represent

As you know, our fearless leader, Juliette, has been on the move of late. She’s been trying to stay one step ahead of the UGA, so they can’t slow down the progress of the Zombie Survival CrewTM. Covering ground as she zigzags across the United States, searching for new recruits for the crew, our leader is traveling stocked with ZSC gear and that stock is depleting with each mile.

Then a curious thing happened on Twitter. We sussed out a hashtag of #RedBrigade, where loyalist @Infernal_Racket was showing her brigade pride by posting pictures of herself wearing Zombie Survival CrewTM gear. What fabulous representation of our crew!!! So, we decided we should give EVERY crew member a chance to show how they represent….

Under our newly established Brigade Central, where soon you will find brigade specific information, you’ll see a sub-menu of Brigades Represent and a section for each of the Brigades to house YOU showing your brigade pride. So get your ZSC gear, have pictures taken of you in it, and send it to command [at ] zombiesurvivalcrew ( dot ) com along with a statement that you are giving us permission to post it or post it on Twitter under the #zombiesurvivalcrew hash, and state your brigade with pride. (Oh and if you come to a convention to see us, the boss lady may just take a snap or two… #justsayin) Which brigade will be the best at showing their Zombie Survival CrewTM pride? That’s up to you!!

Special thanks to @Infernal_Racket for showing her pride and posting the pics.

***Crossbow Salute***


Spooky Empire – Mission Completed

Saturday

Saturday morning found ZSC Command members gathered round the resort’s Starbucks in search of coffee cups big enough to hold the amount of caffeine we all needed before the Con doors flew open.

And when the doors opened – it sparked a 10-hour onslaught of zombies, demons, bloody priests and people with chainsaws where their hands should have been.

The Walking Dead and Boondock Saints casts were in front of us, Night of the Living Dead to our right, with Bruce Campbell, Ted Raimi and Anthony Michael Hall behind us.

Rocco came over to work the Zombie Survival Crew table and lend some extra Command support. Rocco’s move brought Blue Brigade Commander Norman over for a bit. Norman jumped right in and completed a few ZSC Command missions, and got so enthusiastic about it we had to physically stop him at one point.

The Command support of his two Boondock Saints cohorts drew Sean’s attention as well – though it later became apparent Sean has a different take on what ZSC Command structure should ultimately look like. It’s a disconnect I thought we had settled out after the Albuquerque Comicon – but he and I are trying to work it out. Or rather, I’m running from, hoping Sean won’t go jujitsu on me!

Norman, Greg Nicotero, Jon, Steve, Anthony and the rest of The Walking Dead took off mid-afternoon for their panel which many fans later picked as one of the highlights of the weekend. Nicotero thrilled the fans with information about effects and the magic he and his team work on The Walking Dead zombies.

While the gang was gone Lisa and I took the opportunity to scarf down the chicken ZSC loyalist Leigh-Anne procured for lunch, and found ourselves embroiled in impromptu Command strategy sessions with Anthony Michael Hall, Ted Raimi and Michael Kenworthy.

Within an hour all three gentlemen convinced me they were valuable assets to ZSC Command – and I enthusiastically issued rank assignments on the spot.

As the sun began to set, the Con wound down and the after events ramped up. Leigh-Anne volunteered to act as scout and went ahead to scope the VIP party crowd for potential UGA attackers. She immediately felt the eyes of surveillance upon her, but communicated the belief it was safe for Command to enter – as long as we were careful to avoid predator drone attacks.

Norman, Sean, Rocco and Anthony held their own, and ultimately it was Leigh-Anne – our brave volunteer – who suffered the first real loss of the evening when a UGA agent managed to procure her room key. As volunteer keeper of the Communication network she would be repeatedly targeted throughout the evening. We have yet to discern the “why” behind these assaults but can only assume it is an attempt by the UGA to remove Command’s support systems.

We bobbed, weaved and shimmied – and unlike the previous night it was because of the rockin’ music at the poolside party. We even managed to eat at a relatively decent hour. I just wish I could report we actually went to bed at a decent hour. Oh, don’t worry. We all paid the price…

 

.

Sunday

My alarm might as well have had laryngitis for all the good its squeaking did in terms of waking up the living dead (me) that occupied my room Sunday morning. A text message on the other hand seems to have miraculous regenerative powers. Just sayin’.

The call to Anthony and Lisa – to see if they were still among the living – turned into an exchange of moans and groans any zombie would envy. Pretty sure none of us understood what any of the others were saying.

I didn’t quite realize how bad things were until I turned on the light in the bathroom. And I’ll be honest. I screamed. Puffy swollen eyes. Blotchy skin. A general green tone to the skin. For a few heart-pounding moments I feared the UGA had somehow unleashed another assault and infected me. But no. I was thinking, so I couldn’t be a zombie. I think, therefore I am, right?

Phew. Disaster avoided.

Sort of.

Sunday was a blur of monster assaults and UGA probes that seemed to be occurring within a live-action role play of a Marx Brothers routine.

As I attempted to decode an early morning email from Anthony Michael Hall, and Lisa helped Anthony try out a coffin, Leigh-Anne volunteered for a desert mission under extreme conditions. I couldn’t quite believe she still had enough left in the tank to take on a mission of mercy to resupply ZSC command – but she did, and reported back with biscuit sandwiches and coffee.

It was around this time that I ended up with Anthony Michael Hall’s bank card. The scenario that led me to be guarding the card reminded me of an old Danny Kaye movie scene from The Court Jester where he’s trying to remember this tongue-twister: The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true… What? Oh forget it, don’t ask.

On a mission to get something from the ZSC Command vehicle, I opened loading docks doors only to find myself nearly tackled by one Jon Bernthal, who had apparently managed to get stuck outside under the burning Florida sun for some time. Jon did better than Norman, Rocco and I when we all ended up in the Sahara ourselves a little while later.

When Michael Kenworthy decided to don his new ZSC Command tshirt, he changed mid-room without thinking it through – and ended up with people throwing dollars at him. To say he blushed when he realized his mistake would be the understatement of the decade.

Steve played a quick game of ball with The Walking Dead cast mates Chandler Riggs, Adrian Kali Turner and Addy Miller that involved a ninja strike from Norman before he had to take off for his next mission.


Spooky Empire May-Hem ~ Friday

New ZSC Con procedures after Spooky Empire

Priority Status: High

As a result of events at Spooky Empire, Zombie Survival Crew, we now have a new standard operating procedure for all future Cons. ZSC cadres are requested to check in with Command as early as possible to set parameters for Command protection and integrity for the duration of the event.

Let me tell you why….

It was apparent pretty early on that Spooky Empire May-Hem was going to live up to its name.

My eventually successful attempt to retrieve Light Blue Brigade Commander Anthony Guajardo and his mother Lisa from the airport involved about 35 minutes of driving around in circles – which, I have to say is vastly less exhausting than running around in circles, but still kind of crazy. Shortly after we got to the resort, Lisa crashed in my room. Within minutes? Anthony crashed. Shortly thereafter yours truly was dreaming about sugar plum fairies.

When we awoke – now hopelessly late for set up and early meetings – we immediately discussed the possibility that the Unnamed Government Agency had somehow infiltrated the event and put us all out for reasons we probably wouldn’t want to guess.

Set up involved a crazy mad dash into the celebrity signing room where we would spend the weekend recruiting new members as personalities from The Walking Dead, Boondock Saints, Night of the Living Dead and Evil Dead thrilled the fans.

.

ZSC loyalist @buttrscotchboom (a.k.a. Leigh-Anne) showed up shortly after the event opened and adopted a defensive position to assist Command. And she got there just in time – as I was soon to fall victim to a gruesome attack by Bill Hinzman, better known as Zombie #1 from George Romero’s masterpiece Night of the Living Dead. I did manage to escape with an assist from Leigh-Anne and Lisa only to discover that Anthony was passed out on the ZSC table. We revived him – debriefed around the assault that left him incapacitated – and proceeded to scour the room for potential UGA moles.

Put simply? We knew we were in trouble.

Steve Yeun, Jon Bernthal and Chandler Riggs from The Walking Dead were kind enough to jump in and lend a hand on a quick ZSC mission with the Boondock Saints and ZSC First Lieutenant David Della Rocco – while we awaited reinforcements in the form of Blue Brigade Commander Norman Reedus and First Lieutenant Sean Patrick Flanery (both of whom were also waylaid by what we suspect was UGA-crafted roadblocks).

By the time Norman arrived on the scene we were in full defensive deployment mode. We – with our allies from the Dixon’s Vixens – informed Blue Brigade Commander of the multiple attempted attacks just as a predator drone strike took aim at Norman. He was able to escape but inadvertently left Rocco in the line of fire. We bobbed. We weaved. We even retreated at one point to try and regroup. The UGA was relentless. I left Rocco and Anthony with armed guards Leigh-Anne and Lisa and ventured – at 3 a.m. – to find us some food to keep up our strength.

The food resupply was just what we needed to help us strategize – we crafted code words, evac plans and communications to aid us in predator evasion and keeping Command intact for the weekend.

With that, we were ready to face the hordes. Or so we thought ….


SCIFI Mafia Interviews Juliette Terzieff

SCIFI Mafia interviews our fearless leader, Juliette Terzieff, at Dallas Comic Con.

From SCIFI Mafia: How do you survive a zombie apocalypse? Well, if you have the Zombie Survival Crew at your back, you stand a chance of survival! Join up with cast members of The Walking Dead and Boondock Saints and get yourself ready to survive zombies! I got the chance to talk with Juliette Terzieff of the Zombie Survival Crew, a fan organization that has global reach and may even save the world someday, at Dallas Comic-Con.

Link: SCIFI Mafia


ZSC and Texas Law Enforcement – The Encounter

Priority Status: High

I’m going to say it was a sixth sense that led me to break ZSC Command protocol and answer the cell phone when the “BLOCKED” call came through.

“Is this the head of the company?” a gruff voice asked.

I almost hung up. But I’m no chicken. Yeah, yeah I am the head of the “company” so gotta keep it together.

It was the Texas Policemen and Sheriff’s Association.

He instructed me to pull off the side of the road.

“But I’m in Baton Rouge traffic and it says ‘shoulder closed’,” I told him. “This is totally illegal, dude, if a Louisiana cop shows up you’d better back me.”

He laughed long and hard, and I couldn’t stop chills from racing up my back and down my arms as I pulled the truck off to the side of the road. Considering it was about 94 degrees in the shade, that was saying something… but it’s not every day I get pulled over by a law enforcement official from a state away.

The Texas sheriff assured me if one of his Louisiana counterparts showed up I was to put the two of them on the phone and he would take care of it. “We need to talk now,” he told me.

As it turns out… the Association was looking for partners, and the ZSC has been chosen. I can’t divulge any details yet for strategic reasons. We’re due to have another conversation as soon as I stop shaking long enough to hold a phone again and I hope I can fill you all in.

And yes, this is a true story.


Dallas Comic Con ~ Sunday

Dispatchers: RC Murphy & Juliette Terzieff

Very early Sunday morning we had to say goodbye to head Vato, Neil Brown Jr, who had to high-tail it back to Hollywood for- ::muffled sentence::

What the heck Juliette!? I wasn’t going to actually tell them that he had to go to a meeting for- ::more muffled words::

Okay, okay! I’ll stop trying to say something I shouldn’t. Just put the friggen crossbow away. (By the way, she really does travel with a crossbow.) Anyways… we said our goodbyes to Neil, before going to bed REALLY early Sunday. Which was a good thing because both Juliette and myself managed to sleep through both of our alarms. How does one sleep through Judas Priest? Pure and utter exhaustion, my friends.

Neil –who left an adorable note under the door because that’s just how he rolls –later reported suffering giggle fits as he heard our alarms going off repeatedly while he prepared to leave.

When we did wake, Juliette stumbled downstairs for coffee and was promptly kidnapped. I remained in the room to get ready. It takes a while. Hello? This look takes a lot of work to accomplish in a way that looks natural. I didn’t realize how long Juliette had been gone until I get a strange text “Don’t freak. Getting food.” It seems our own Anthony Guajardo and his parents abducted the boss for breakfast. My worries over the matter were instantly settled when she returned… with bacon. Bacon makes EVERYTHING better.

Looking more like zombies than zombie slayers, our crew headed over to the convention center for the last day of Dallas Comic Con. We used the energy from the staff to perk up some before the gates to another dimension were flung open. Er, I mean they let the fans in the doors. (What? There were a lot of them and it was my first Comic Con, I’m allowed to be afraid of the crowds, dangit!)

Sunday was slightly less manic crowd-wise, which was both good and bad. Sure, talking to all of those people is draining, but seeing the happiness on a fan’s face when they made it in the room and realized who was there (the Vatos!) was kinda cool. At the same time most of our merry little band were hardly able to string two words together by noon, so the less intense crowd was a bit of a blessing.

Juliette had a fan girl moment with Carrie Fisher and a shock from the Joker. James ended up taking a cat-nap on the floor. At one point, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle showed up with Jason Voorhees. We even got a visit from the Walking Dead TV Podcast crew –they were awesome as always (especially considering the boss lady was speaking near-gibberish by the time they showed up).

After all of the fans were out of the building, our own Anthony Guajardo was called on to do a quick interview for a local news station. James Gonzaba, who really looked like the undead by the end of the day, took off back home. We hope rest did him some good. Would hate to have to put our newest First Lieutenant down after his first convention!

Juliette and I bee-lined to the nearest Starbucks for much-needed caffeine. We then proceeded to scare other customers while sorting through the nearly 500 pictures taken over the weekend and cackling like the witches from Macbeth. The cackling continued during dinner, as well as many proclamations of, “We kicked some serious butt this weekend!”…or was that “We got our butts kicked this weekend?”

And we really did.

The opportunities we discovered this weekend for everyone were astounding. Not only did the fans respond to the Vatos, but they were eager to get to know the ZSC as well. I’d like to give a shout out to anyone that made it over to the site after Dallas Comic Con. Welcome to the Zombie Survival CrewTM. Grab your go bag and lets go kill some zombies!


Dallas Comic Con ~ Saturday

by R.C. Murphy & Juliette Terzieff

Oh. Wow.

Dallas Comic Con started with a bang. As soon as the doors opened, fans of The Walking Dead came pouring in. I threw my arms around Juliette and forced her to stow the crossbow beneath the table, and tossed a “stand down” glare at the boys. Yep, the Zombie Survival Crew was in kill, er, I mean meet-n-greet mode alright. Within a span of less than 20 seconds we couldn’t see the Vatos –Anthony Guajardo, Neil Brown Jr, and James Gonzaba –through the crowd. I released Juliette and that’s when it hit me.

It was hard to know how to react. (Shush, Juliette, running in circles saying “oh my gods” is a legitimate way to react to the situation!)

We dug in our heels and embraced the crowd. Well, and immediately eyed people we could tag for help, as much as they could. Huge, huge thanks to Veronica! Honestly, I have no clue how you managed to keep track of that system you set up. For all I knew you were doing it in hieroglyphics. (This may also be testament to how little sleep I’d had since Wednesday night. . .)

Lisa and Gilbert did wonderfully as ninja photographer and line wrangler, respectively. Seriously, we had to have a person to stand in food lines. They were THAT scary. Why didn’t anyone warn me of this? The rumbling in my tumbly was frightening!

Before I forget, we need to thank the DCC volunteers. Fred, you were a god with that velcro! James, we never went dry. You kept us very well watered. Rebekah, thank you for talking to keep me awake. Stephen and Craig, you rocked…and Tracy, we would not have survived without you!

Saturday had a lot of highlights, not the least of which was Neil leading us in a rather loud rendition of Day-O right after our lunch break. Everyone out in the hall stopped just outside our door and peered in like the bunch of us had lost our minds. . . which was true.

The crowds at DCC absolutely loved the Vatos. James, Neil, and Anthony were brilliant. They handled every twist and turn with a smile. Media folks came by to interview them and walked away astounded with how nice the Vatos are.

At the last minute Juliette got drafted into introducing The Walking Dead panel. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy watching her squirm when faced with the large crowd and the microphone. She got lucky and we think nobody but me saw her trip-step off the stage when she was done. Neil, Anthony and James fielded dozens of questions from the fans –Anthony was sweeter than sugar, James was articulate and Neil kept the crowd roaring with his antics. And, like Neil, we will repeat –we can neither confirm nor deny that the Vatos will be back for season 2 of The Walking Dead.

That night we all went out to dinner –after Juliette managed to have the strangest conversation ever with Thomas Jane as he took off his boots and socks in the hotel lobby. What? Yeah, you read that right. Let me tell you right now, it is impossible to eat with Neil and Anthony popping off jokes right and left. I almost had to call a time-out just to eat my salad without a tomato shooting out of my nose! (not quite the pickle mishap Juliette had in Jersey, but it was close.) Juliette had to get up and leave the table a couple of times. I’m thinking it was the really loud rendition of Rick Springfield’s Jesse’s Girl that first made her run…no, wait. She’s the one who started it. That, and Neil’s onion rings. Don’t ask.

And because we are a bunch of lunatics, after dinner we went back to the hotel and… worked some more. We tackled a few important missions for the ZSC. Before you ask, no we can’t tell you what just yet. Patience is key. You will find out in time and believe us it will be worth the wait! After missions were confirmed completed (including the successful attempt to bring James on board with the ZSC) everyone loaded into the elevator and went down stairs to the party. Only we were still working!

The guys had an interview with Nerd Heard podcast. We met Kenneth and Chubtoad (Richard) Friday night and right away they blew us away with how cool they were. That coolness passed on to their professionalism. We made quite a sight out by the pool, business-like while the interview was going on. It drew a few positive comments on everyone’s level of commitment to success. Yeah, your commanders kick backside and take names. All for you, ZSC faithful!

After the interview we all hung out at the hotel during an impromptu party. We, uhm, may have been the last ones to leave. Did your commanders pay the price for late night shenanigans? Just wait until you read about Sunday’s adventures.


Dallas Comic Con ~ Friday

Dispatchers: RC Murphy & Juliette Terzieff

After the bus ordeal, which I will explain better in a later post, I finally arrived in Dallas. Let me tell you this, no amount of warning from friends and family prepared me properly for the humidity blanketing Texas. The second I stepped out of the bus station, it felt like I’d been dunked in a bucket of warm water. So gross!

As I was musing over how to survive the humidity, this tiny blur shot across the sidewalk and tackled me. While I didn’t get the rib-crushing hug that some of the boys would receive, Juliette made a very firm first impression. (I swear, there were dents in my sides after!)

Our hellos were cut short by a demonic growl. Neither of us had eaten yet. (This would be the theme of our weekend.) We grabbed lunch and then went over to check out the convention center. The Irving Convention Center is brand-spankin’-new… and HUGE. The impression it made when first seeing it stuck. That was before we even made it inside and realized exactly how big it was. I should have asked for a map. (I might have gotten lost trying to find the bathroom one day…)

Very quickly Juliette and I realized the scope of what we were being asked to do. Tracy led us upstairs. She pointed to various doors, all of which bore the name of celebrities. Oh Holy Cow. This was far bigger than anticipated. We played it off cool, but once we left, we both kinda, maybe, sorta, ran around in circles and screamed just a little.

Anthony Guajardo and his parents, Lisa and Gilbert, arrived shortly after in the midst of a thunder storm. Too be honest, I’d never witnessed a storm like this. Texas impressed me with the light show up in the clouds. And scared the heck out of me with thunder that shook the hotel room. My nerves were settled when Anthony began to goof off, hitting poses from Nacho Libre and doing his two-second break dancing routine. We were laughing too hard to get clear pictures.

Anthony wasted no time diving into Zombie Survival Crew missions. He signed, he sang, he videoed –and he put Juliette on the floor, literally, in laughing hysterics. It took us all about 10 minutes to get her back up. I swear we laughed so hard everyone in the room lost five pounds.

Neil Brown Jr. arrived with a bang. Literally. I was in the room talking to Lisa when suddenly we heard a loud banging for the other side of the connecting doors, almost as loud as the thunder earlier. Next thing we know, Neil burst into the room. That man is a ball of energy and set the tone for our insane weekend as soon as he got there. (Which may have included a 4 am Mac Donald’s run after some severe run-ins with a bunch of angry limes. Don’t ask.)

The last of our crew wouldn’t arrive until really late. James Gonzaba and Veronica met with us early Saturday, sometime shortly before the alleged McDonald’s trip. James was smart. He saw Neil –and Juliette and my shell-shocked faces –and ran for his room. There’s a reason we thought it wise to draft him into ZSC command. Just sayin’. James kept his head down until it was time for us all to get shuttled back to the convention center to begin the madness that was Dallas Comic Con 2011.