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.
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.
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 ….
As I was sitting in the Phoenix bus terminal during my trip to Dallas Comic Con, I began to realize something was… off.
My trip began right on the heels of the CDC releasing their Zombie Apocalypse survival guide on their blog. Little did I know exactly how influential this thing would be. Every single TV I passed from my home base to Dallas covered the CDC’s guide. People on the bus, once they saw my zombie-centric handbag, began grilling me about it. And after I told them about the ZSC? Forget about it. I spent nearly 2 days solid neck deep in zombie talk.
About 12 hours into the trip, I began to observe my traveling companions. It was a huge risk exposing myself as a commander with the Zombie Survival Crew in a situation where I could not escape anyone that turned on me. There were some folks that made me wish I had my sword on the bus. They shuffled around with no apparent destination. Their eyes were glassy, blank. No one home in there. And, ugh, they reeked. I’ve been lucky enough to never catch a whiff of the unholy B.O. of a walker, but I’m sure this had to be it.
So there I was, sitting in a bus terminal waiting while the bus gassed up… surrounded by potential zombies.
The thought forced me to take in our surroundings. How secure is a bus terminal? About as secure as a cereal box. There are more doors and windows in a typical station than solid walls. Survivors would eat up all their wood resources covering access points, leaving nothing to burn on cold nights or to cook with. On top of that, they layout itself is far too open. If a firefight were to break out, I’d have a deli counter or one of three concrete pillars to hide behind. Food supplies are laughable. Sure, most stations have a restaurant, but its all frozen food stuffs. Once the power goes out, that food will not last long. Nor will it tide over the size of crowd that could be trapped inside.
And gods forbid if the Zombiepocalypse should happen while we’re on the road. We’d become a veritable moveable feast! There is no storage for food. Space on a bus is non-existent, almost laughable. Sure, the bus can outrun a horde of zombies looking for a midnight snack, but eventually it’d run out of gas. A Greyhound bus isn’t exactly Dead Reckoning (Land of the Dead 2005). Once it is out of gas, the one secure element is gone and zombies have a huge can of human sardines to dig into.
Sleep deprivation is a huge problem associated with traveling by bus. At one point I was so out of it I swear I saw a demon crawl out of a box strapped on the back of a semi-truck and into the cab to attack the driver. A hallucination like that, even in someone like myself that is highly trained to handle the unknown, is really dangerous. The lack of sleep also made me really chatty.
Wait a minute…
It wasn’t until after I’d missed one night of sleep that people started to get awfully chatty with me on the bus. Some of the passengers got on at my home base. Those were the very same to begin questioning me about why I was on a mission to Dallas, TX. The connection never made sense until now. My travel itinerary was compromised, information had to of been given to our enemies.
For a moment I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when the tweet came through Saturday night. It was a loyal #zombiesurvivalcrew member with a stark warning: “Sudden Zombie Attack is trending!” We’ve had a few jokesters try to get one over on us. I calmly looked over to the side expecting to see that she’d misread something–
But she was right.
After a double take at Twitter to see that the trend was actually there, Command put out the word, and the Zombie Survival Crew cadres leapt into action.
Within 20 minutes of the distress call, Zombie Survival Crew members from across the United States and around the world raised their weapons. They were more than ready to back up @TheZSC Command as we sought to identify the source, gauge the risk level, and determine a course of action. Via Twitter, Facebook, and cell phone, ZSC cadres fed information into Command—allowing us to make the determination that the threat level was, in reality, minimal.
In other words – ZSC, you guys rocked!
Saturday’s exercise left Command with the following observations:
Our communication lines are pretty solid, but we are working on alternatives in case the Internet goes down.
Y’all are armed! Wow. From rifles to baseball bats, ZSC people are ready to fight off any challenge.
Those of you who do not have Go Bags need to get them ready. Command has brigade specific packing lists we will be putting up over the next few weeks in the Members Only area on the site. Feel free to pack according to your individual needs, but make sure your “Go Bag” has your brigade’s items.
Some Zombie Survival Crew members reported a startling lack of fellow crew members in their area – particularly in Europe and parts of South America. In order to ensure you aren’t left alone when the real event happens, we ask that you increase recruiting efforts in your neighborhoods. If the worst should happen and you do end up stranded, contact command @TheZSC, raise your weapons high so we can send help your way.
Also, we have a crew working hard on improved escape route maps. Utilize these maps to identify the closest concentrations of ZSC members in the United States.
Overall, your commanders are impressed with the speed in which you responded to a potential threat. Command salutes Kim, Kevin, Brooke, Christine and David for rapid deployment efforts on behalf of the ZSC!!!
Keep up the good work, guys!
::salutes with crossbow::
*For full access to ZSC Command dispatches and info, become a member here.
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.
Once upon a time my life was normal…or as normal as it ever gets for me. Married. Son grown, out on his own and doing well. I had a job, several hobbies and I was finally finding the time to get back to my writing. Then I began hearing quiet rumblings that the end of the world was coming in 2012.
Uh huh. Right.
Again?
Didn’t we just have one a couple years ago? How many apocalypses….apocalypti?…do we get, anyways?
I didn’t believe in the apocalypse, but events began piling up around my ears until I had no choice but to investigate the possibility that one might actually be headed our way. During my investigation I came across a small group of people, led by a woman with an outstanding resume. You can check her out for yourself: Juliette.
I watched as, one by one, people from all over the world began listening to her. Then they began banding together to inform and protect each other, their families, and friends. They became the Zombie Survival Crew. Curious about the members of the group, I checked them out thinking that they were a bunch of lunatics who needed to up the dose on their meds.
That’s not what I found though. Yes, they’re a motley crew and a few really are lunatics but they’re also on the ball, well-informed, armed and ready to face the zombiepocalypse. You’ll find a lot of what I discovered here.
Shortly after joining the Zombie Survival Crew ranks I began to suspect someone within the Command structure itself might be a double agent, or under the control of the Unnamed Government Agency. I dug deeper and profiled the leaders of the ZSC. You can find that report here.
Within days after that report someone hacked into my email. My computer began acting odd and, during a scan for malware and viruses, I discovered spyware and a tracking cookie. I traced the source code but was picked up almost immediately. I managed to catch a few words just before the screen blacked out:
Νέο στέλεχος ενεργοποιηθεί. Απροσδόκητα αποτελέσματα. Πολύ συνέχεια …
Χωρίς άδεια πρόσβασης Ενεργοποίηση αυτοκαταστροφής σκουλήκι.
My computer grumbled, flashed then went dead. Whatever was sent back through my system burnt out the processor and power supply completely destroying my computer and everything on it. The translation of the message that flashed on my computer screen before it died is:
New strain activated. Unexpected results. Much more pow …
Unauthorized Access Enable feedback worm.
That’s all I needed to know. I hit the road and have spent the last month on the run. I’ve had to change identities in order to avoid capture. An unknown entity @Cher_Dawn_ appeared on twitter in my place. She’s not to be trusted and, for all I know, is a member of UGA trying to infiltrate the ZSC presenting herself as me. She’s not. You may be tempted to delete her but perhaps it is wiser if we keep our collective eyes on her activities. And please check to make sure you are following me: @Wulfie_
It was foolish of me, I know but, once I found out that this @Cher_Dawn_ was masquerading as me, I began watching my home. No-one was there but the place had been ransacked and bugged. I grabbed a few things I’d left behind and, on my way out the door found something disturbing. It must have fallen out of someone’s pocket…or been ripped off during a struggle. One thing is clear: UGA is on to me.
Hey Command, if you manage to intercept this message: We are being targeted. The UGA may have originally come only after central command figures, but your Special Agents are now being hunted as well. It is only a matter of time, really, until the UGA takes aim at all the ZSC cadres. But then it’s possible that one of YOU is a double agent, isn’t it? I should’ve expected some sort of treachery.
Grae, if you happen to get this, good work on that last report. Watch your back, pal and trust no-one.
Jinxie_G, if you’re out there. Keep moving. It’s the only way you’ll be safe. Check all your gear for bugs and tracking devices. They’ve found me twice because of a GPS hidden in my cell phone. Be safe, chica.
Anyways, what I found on the floor is a piece of cloth with a design on it. I’ve seen it before but can’t remember where. There’s a little blood on it.
I have to go now. I don’t dare stay in one place long. I’m tired and so hungry that squirrels are starting to look tasty. Will report back when I can.
I knew the day would come. Doing what I do, there are certain risks to be expected. That’s why it didn’t strike me as too big a surprise when the letter slid through my mail slot a few days ago. The envelope had my name printed on it and a postal mark from Omaha. No other way to trace where it came from or who sent it. For the only time in my life, I feared a plain brown envelope.
Ridiculous, huh?
Not if you’re me and especially not if you’re a commander with the Zombie Survival Crew. The last four months turned our lives upside down, sideways, and threw in a few loop-dee-loops for fun. What we thought would be a great way to express our creativity and do some good for humanity became so much more than that. Of course, that’s what happens when you’re approached by a government agency that refuses to give you a name. They tend to make things really difficult. (Ever seen season four of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? We’re talking Initiative-style mayhem here.)
So there I was, sitting cross-legged on the couch in my living room and staring across the burgundy cushions at an envelope that probably held horribly bad news. Or maybe even a psychotropic drug so that Mr. C, and Mr. E. could kidnap me too. They fooled us once with Juliette. Simply asking for a meeting wasn’t going to work with any of us. But drugs, no amount of street smarts or weapons could save us from that.
Okay, even I have to admit that sounds a little paranoid. But you guys haven’t seen first-hand what the UGA is capable of.
I strapped on a facemask, snapped on a pair of latex gloves, and carefully cut open the mystery letter. No white power wafted into the air. No hidden wires were exposed. All that sat in the envelope were two pieces of paper—
From the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Well… that’s new.
What I understand from all the legal mumbo-jumbo is that they are concerned about my activities on the Internet. Apparently my research materials for the ZSC have been tagged as potentially dangerous to the welfare of US citizens. For a few minutes after I finished reading, I just sat there starting at the first sheet of paper. They had to be kidding, right?
Then I looked at the second paper. Every single website I’d visited since joining the ZSC had been highlighted. It read like a serial killer’s handbook. Weapons galore. Information on how certain poisons and drugs work. Magical resources. Explosive manuals… No wonder they’d tagged me! A sane person couldn’t possibly be looking at all of that and not be planning to do some damage. The JTTF’s vigilance is reassuring, though I’m not sure how to continue my zombie-slaying research without raising their suspicions again. One thing is for sure…I’m turning this over to the Oracle so she can put it under the microscope – we need to find out as much as we can about this new group on our tail.
But on the bright side, it wasn’t the UGA trying to determine my location and abduct me.
On March 21, 2011 a flurry of news articles sprang up surrounding a construction sign on highway 160 in South Carolina. Commuters were warned that there were zombies ahead. As you know, your command at the Zombie Survival CrewTM take these reports seriously and investigates them to help determine the threat level and whether we need to send out the alert to the brigades to get their go-bags and launch into action.
The sign was immediately dismissed as a prank, however, through due diligence, we have uncovered that similar so-called pranks also took place in 2009 in Texas and Illinois. And we’re not the only ones who are taking this threat seriously. We managed to intercept some communication by the UGA (no, I’m not saying how it came into our possession), and they have a stealth task force deployed to Fort Hill, SC to dig deeper into this occurrence. We learned, before we lost the transmission, they believe this to be someone from the university who is trying to warn the general public.
Digging deeper we found the pranks all occurred near a college or university. Most reports drawing the connection to proximity of the universities conclude college students are most likely the perpetrators of the “hoax“. We disagree. While the warnings may come from a college student, or group of students, our intel strongly suggests these signs are not a hoax or prank in any way. Based on information received, we believe the universities are dealing with various cultures, serums, and viruses, and without proper authorization have begun to dabble in necromantic experimentation. The students, who have been sworn to secrecy, have become uneasy with the direction of the experimentation and are attempting to warn the general public.
We have it on good authority that the UGA has put pressure on the media to continue to report these incidents as pranks, because it is “politically inopportune” for the truth to be released to the general public. Your ZSC command will continue monitoring the situation, and we have raised the threat level. Are you ready to respond?
My flux capacitor has been tuned up and is in excellent working order. #justsayin
A lot has happened since the Zombie Survival Crew opened its doors to the public. So much so that we’re having trouble figuring out who is on our side and who is out to destroy us. Are you the crew member turned spy? Have any of your fearless commanders been compromised or brainwashed? Only time will tell. Take a look at our history and see if you can figure out what’s in store for the ZSC.
Everything started out innocently enough. In a bid to be prepared should the worst happen, Juliette began to gather an elite group of persons she could trust at the end of days. We had no clue then that an Unknown Government Agency (UGA) monitored her Twitter feed. Upon releasing the blog post disclosing her plan, Juliette received an invitation from this agency. They would fund her efforts to ready mankind against a zombie invasion and aid her in recruiting efforts globally.
Now, we all know Juliette. She’s very no-nonsense and shoots from the hip (metaphorically, you can’t aim a crossbow that way). Those of us brought in as commanders knew it was only a matter of time before the UGA took exception to how she ran things. I’m mean, seriously, the woman can’t say hello anymore without someone threatening her with an axe, machete, or putting her in a choke hold. Sure enough, not a week after the ZSC began recruiting she got called in to meet with our handlers. Mr. E. and Mr. C. weren’t very forthcoming with details. They picked Juliette up and we lost contact with her for a few weeks.
With a new crew coming into Command, Anthony stepped up to brief them. Because of Juliette’s abduction, he filmed his dispatch to the troops at an undisclosed location. Despite our best efforts to keep him safe, the UGA managed to find him. In a display of bravery and dedication to the Zombie Survival CrewTM, Anthony managed to get the message off to us before someone snatched him. We could only assume our friendly neighborhood UGA handlers were to blame. If he left when they began breaking down the barricade, would he have escaped? We think so – he’s too well versed in evasion tactics to have failed.
Tension rose in the ZSC command center. How many of us would be black-bagged? We searched endlessly for something, anything that would lead us to Juliette and Anthony. Just when it seemed like all hope was lost, our communication experts were able to locate the GPS tracker on Juliette’s phone. The signal didn’t last long, but we traced it to a stretch of desert outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Using her (wicked sweet) stealth skills, R.C. scouted the presumed UGA stronghold. As feared, the encampment was heavily guarded, nearly impenetrable. But we know better than to take appearances at face value. R.C. wrote up her report and handed it over to ZSC loyalists. Several plans were worked out in great detail. Wulfie, one of the best strategists we’ve come across, came up with The Plan. She had a squadron at her disposal and any supplies we could muster.
The plan still failed.
As Anthony and Juliette were exiting the underground labyrinth of the UGA stronghold, security officers overwhelmed our inside crew. Our commanders were recaptured. To this day we do not know what happened to the troops sent inside to perform the rescue mission. We received a video feed, Zulu 1032, which showed just how bad it got at the end of the mission. The losses were heartbreaking.
In the week after the failed rescue, the ZSC commanders attempted to rally the troops and keep morale up. However, there were some strange incidents noticed by SAPPED officer Wulfie that didn’t quite seem… right. First Lieutenant Sean Patrick Flanery began to speak in code and at one point left a strange message scrawled on the wall of the command center. No one saw him accomplish this feat. Rumors began to surface that he gained control of commander LK’s flux capacitor. Possibly with help from the UGA?
We can gloss over the zombie bunny infestation… What? No. We are!
More important than undead cute things, our SAPPED officers discovered devices hidden in the ZSC command center. Analysis proved they were recording phone conversations and anything said within the building. The devices were disposed of. We are unsure of how they got in. There may be a mole in our midst.
Things around Command quieted down for a while. We were struggling to get a lock on Anthony and Juliette’s new location after the UGA’s base was destroyed. Out of the blue Green Brigade commander IronE Singleton received a message from Juliette asking to meet him in Atlanta. With a squadron waiting in the wings, he went to the meeting. Sure enough, it was Juliette there in the flesh, but something seemed… off. Before IronE could secure her and bring her back to Command, Juliette took off. Her location is currently unknown. Members are encouraged to approach her with caution. We do not know what was done to her while in UGA custody.
Another problem came to attention shortly after Juliette’s strange appearance and disappearance. SAPPED officer Grae Wolffe, while attempting to provide technical aid for one of the command team, became a target of interest for the UGA. They intercepted the parcel he shipped off, took the sensitive materials within, and returned the envelope to him with obvious chew marks on one corner. No one could have known he planed to mail anything to Command—unless they’d been monitoring private communications.
The UGA has gone so far to isolate ZSC commanders that they’ve cut off internet service to commander Jinxie G’s residence. She has been forced to communicate through an unreliable cell phone signal and WiFi hotspots. Obviously she hit on something big, but without a secure line of communication we can’t be sure. We need the information in her possession. It could be exactly what we need to gain an upper hand over the UGA.
Late Breaking News: A coded message has been emailed to Command. We are working to decipher the encryption. So far all we know is it’s been sent from a newly made email address via cell phone. When we know more, you will be the first to know.
Most people laugh off talk of government or private industry conspiracies, and even the sensationalism Hollywood adds to the theories just makes the general unknowing public skeptical at best. It is much easier for the masses to believe there is no Grand Scheme undermining their normal routine, no secret conglomerate or Unknown Government Agency hiding in the shadows…
…until you become the target of one.
Even without being the direct target, there are some of us who just feel something isn’t quite right with the world, no matter what the media and masses try to make us believe. There may not be a tangible reason, or incontrovertible truth, but that niggling feeling in the back of the head won’t go away just because others don’t see what we see, or feel what we feel in the pit of the stomach.
Recently I made an offer of aid to one of the commanders of the Zombie Survival Crew. It was an innocuous thing, just the sharing of software which I had in my possession and no longer used. The archive file was too large to just share via email or chat, so I took an old thumb drive and thought nothing of sticking it in an envelope and shipping it via standard mail. The story of that attempt was reported here earlier; and now I go from being just one of the questioning but otherwise apathetic masses to one of the questioning few who are looking over their shoulder.
I’ve been friends with another of the founding commanders of the ZSC for a few years, but until recently she has been quite active online – blogging, writing, an active twitter user – available almost any night for a fun time or serious conversation. But looking back at some of the things she told me about her life up to the time we met, and the more recent events which have caused many changes recently in her life, it feels like she has become the target of some kind of plot.
Jinxie G in an undisclosed location
Four moves in less than two years – most of them within the last year. “Official” assistance which has disappeared nearly as quickly as it was offered. And ever since helping form the ZSC, she has been on the run and unable to maintain her usual daily contact and routine. Yes, our own Jinxie has become a target of that Unknown Government Agency that is hiding in the shadows, trying to control the secret of invasion and infestation, which she and others have uncovered and are trying to prepare the defense of the human race.
Her recent move has forced her into a location without direct internet access – not even a local wifi signal to gain access with. Jinxie has been forced to roam the area with her laptop, using coffee shops, libraries, and even McDonald’s to gain access and relay orders. Although they haven’t been able to silence her, and can’t stop her signal completely, our fearless commander is obviously targeted as a “person of interest” to the UGA; communication is sporadic instead of consistent, and it is happening in such a way that none of the upper echelons of the ZSC are able to aid more directly to restore Jinxie’s communications.
There must be something They want to keep hidden, and the ZSC is on track to expose whatever it is. And the UGA is already in place, large enough to affect communications of many types, on many levels, monitoring those of us who are learning to think for ourselves more, act together in uncovering the fact which have so far eluded the unknowing masses. From small town USA on one side of the country, to large metropolitan areas on the other, and surely in place around the world, the UGA is trying to keep their secrets from escaping.
We must remain diligent. Our commanders have stirred the pot, and must be coming close to something. Their recent activities are being monitored, and those of us who make it publicly known we are helping the ZSC Command may find ourselves targeted next.
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.
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’.
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.
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.
To say he blushed when he realized his mistake would be the understatement of the decade.
On March 21, 2011 a flurry of 
In the week after the failed rescue, the ZSC commanders attempted to rally the troops and keep morale up. However, there were some 
Things around Command quieted down for a while. We were struggling to get a lock on Anthony and Juliette’s new location after the UGA’s base was destroyed. Out of the blue Green Brigade commander 
