After a semi-hostile takeover bid, and nearly being run down, you would think your Zombie Survival Crew Commander-in-Chief would know better than to ask Yellow Brigade First Lieutenant Sean Patrick Flanery for battle technique sessions.
Well, he is an expert in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu so it should hardly be any surprise that this PSA from Sean almost knocked me down.
We thought it might be fun to post some excerpts from our very first anthology, Undead Is Not An Option. We had a lot of fun putting this together and want to share a teaser from time to time to whet your appetite. We are proud of the number of commanders who we were able to arm wrestle into willingly contributed to the cause. The foreword was co-written by our Fearless Leader and Red Brigade commander, Juliette Terzieff, and IronE Singleton, Green Brigade commander.
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Foreword
by Juliette Terzieff and IronE Singleton
We are our own worst enemy. For no logical reason we—our collective human family—continue down a long and winding road toward annihilation. Better weapons. Less trust. More fear. Panic. Selfishness. Lack of preparation. Ignorance. All of these belong buried in a landfill, but sadly remain firmly secured in our collective arsenal.
And now as wars unfold in every corner of the world, each addition to the body count increases the fear, and advances notions of the end of the world. It convinces us—even if we are too afraid to admit it in public—that we will be the source of our ultimate earthly destruction.
The fear is hardly new. In fact, it has been taking solid form for decades. Creeping like a ghoul from the grave with every advance in defense technology, with every master of hate to climb the pulpit. And now the walking dead have exploded around us—eclipsing the resurgence of romantic monsters of the past couple decades. Lestat, Edward, and their vampire brethren prowl around the edges, but the shambling hordes control the streets. They are us, and we are them. We cannot escape the truths they reveal.
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In the aftermath of World War II and throughout the Cold War years, writers and filmmakers crafted some of the most disturbing post-apocalyptic scenarios ever put to paper or film. The social commentary stung, but rang true. Was there anything beyond the bounds of human cruelty? Given the evidence of places like Dachau and Hiroshima, really, what limits could possibly remain? Through art these visionaries asked people to see beyond the face-level horror to the real monsters in their stories.
Take British author John Wyndham’s book The Chrysalids (1955) set in an über-conservative post-nuclear society where any hint of physical or mental abnormality is considered blasphemy. Those unfortunate enough to display any genetic variance are forced to undergo sterilization, banishment or are killed outright. Family members turn each other in out of fear. Fathers battle sons. Mothers are forced to give up their children.
Out of the question? Hardly.
Or the stunning black-and-white Last Man on Earth (1964) based on Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend in which an increasingly disturbed Vincent Price battles loneliness and sorrow in a Quixotic quest to maintain sanity in a world overrun by vampiric former humans infected by a plague. Desperate to protect his humanity though there is apparently none left in the world. Searching for a reason, a cure, some way to regain a measure of his former life—with no real hope that any sort of happy ending can be possible. Just driven to keep going.
Again is this scenario so far-fetched? No. Not nearly far enough.
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To read more, including the compelling words of IronE Singleton, check out Undead Is Not An Option.
We’ve been talking about the three day zombie extravaganza called the 2011 Halloween Zombie Event and how you can participate in person. If you missed the video teaser about it, check it out here. The command of the Zombie Survival Crew is excited about the opportunity to test our brigades strengths in a mock zombiepocalypse and look forward to fielding all of the reports during the event to keep all our members up to date with how everyone is faring. But when Joseph Tremblay first approached us about partnering with him to support the event, the Oracle (Purple Brigade Commander, LK Gardner-Griffie) posed the question: “But what about those who don’t have enough people close by to play in person or those who are unable to do so? Do we deny them the opportunity to participate?” She then followed it with the suggestion of going back to the ZSC roots and hosting an online portion of the event. And we’re finally ready to reveal what Orange Brigade Commander, RC Murphy has cooked up. So, take it away RC!!!
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This is the moment we have been preparing for. The undead have vacated their graves and are on the hunt… for us. They will not stop. Very little can destroy them. You are the last line of defense for mankind. Now is not the time to realize you aren’t ready for the Zombie Apocalypse.
On October 29th through October 31st, the world as you know it will come to an end. Your city, Grizzly City, is under attack by hordes of hungry, newly-risen zombies. Survivors must band together to fight them off and escape to safety outside of the infested city.
If you think you are up for the challenge, join us on Twitter for a 3-day Role-play scenario that puts you in the first 72 hours of the Zombie Apocalypse. To join you must first decide if you want to be a Survivor or a Zombie. Once you’ve decided, apply the appropriate Twibbon image to your avatar (we will be revealing the twibbons soon). With your designation in place all you have to do is use the official Halloween Zombie Apocalypse hashtag in your tweets, #HZA11. Follow the hashtag via Twitter’s search function to immerse yourself in the action.
Each day of play will last a full 24 hours. The action will unfold thusly in conjunction with the live events hosted by the 2011 Halloween Zombie Apocalypse site.
Day 1 – Zombie Outbreak: The first zombie sightings are reported in the city. In response, the Survivors begin to execute their escape plans, utilizing information broadcasted on TV.
Day 2 – Survival: The Survivors band together and establish safe zones within the city while the Zombies dog them at every turn. These attacks breed more undead, increasing the size of the attacking hordes.
Day 3 – Fight to the End: The city is overrun. Survivors are attacked more and more frequently. The only way to survive is to abandon the city. They flee or succumb to the zombies.
We understand that most participants will be unable to take part during all 72 hours of the #HZA11 Twitter event. Should you need to leave the role-play for any amount of time, switch out your Survivor or Zombie Twibbon image with the Idle image. This conveys to other participants that you are unable to interact or fight, but will return to play at some point.
The city, Grizzly City, has been divided into sectors. Participants may utilize these sectors while setting up their Safe Havens, planning raids for supplies, or arranging a location to battle a Zombie opponent. The hashtag for each sector will look like this – #HZA11S4.
Below is the map we will be using throughout the event. Study it well. Preparation may be your best defense when the zombies are on the hunt. More information on how to play is posted here. (Click the map to make it larger.)
Priority status: HIGH
Dispatcher: Jinxie G
When your Yellow Brigade commander went to Chicago last month, the last thing I expected was to have Michael Rooker ask about joining the Zombie Survival Crew! Well, he did, and holy crap, we now have The Walking Dead‘s Dixon brothers on the crew, folks. Are you excited? I know I am! *big grin* Can you see my excitement?
I also know Michael is very excited about his role in the ZSC, and boy, does this guy know his weapons! I certainly wouldn’t want to be a zombie with him around. He’s got backups for his backup!
Michael will be joining the Los Angeles crew with us crazies out here on the west coast, and he will be our first and definitely most able Special Forces commander.
Zombie Survival Crew, please give a nice warm welcome and weapons salute to Michael Rooker!
*twirls staff*
I told y’all the zombiepocalypse was coming soon! Now we have zombies living every day normal lives in music videos! *twitches*
My friend Jimmy Joyce and I have spent a few nights talking until sunrise because he’s cool like that, and it usually happens after a show I’ve gone to watch. We all know Jinxie is nocturnal, but hey, that’s when the zombies are active, people. Jimmy is in a few bands, and I mean like four or five…or I could just be thinking of Michael Mahoney’s multiple-band status, but whatever. The two of them are in Money Shot together, which is the cover band I tend to see.
Terrible People is one of Jimmy’s other bands, and I thought I’d share this awesome video with you. This is their song “Bill Murray” and it’s pretty damn good, if you ask me.
Warning: mature content
Please check out their Facebook page as well.
And for all you zombies out there? You even have your own Facebook-type site to mingle on, which you saw in the video. Zombiebook.org. Check it out. It’s run by Jay Zombie. Of course I’m a member. Someone has to keep an eye on the zombies over there!
Jinxie G
Commander
Yellow Brigade
As we mentioned earlier in the year, the Zombie Survival CrewTM has teamed up with the 2011 Halloween Zombie Event and Adrian’s Undead Diary to bring you the best Halloween of your life… or it could be of your death. You get to choose in this three day all out Zombie infested event whether your are a survivor or a zombie. Below is a video to to give you a glimpse of what you could be dealing with. In addition to that we, the Zombie Survival Crew command, have put our own twist on the event and we’ll be revealing it shortly, so stay tuned and be ready.
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Despite her busy schedule, what with running from the UGA, and recruiting new lieutenants left and right, our fearless leader, Juliette Terzieff, found the time to share information about the Zombie Survival Crew with Dark Media City.
From Dark Media City: The Zombie Survival Crew
The government knows and won’t tell us. Scientists are plotting behind closed doors as we speak. The world sits around lost in our social media. We are unaware. But there are those out there were are preparing. They know. They will be ready. Will you? I sat down with Juliette Terzieff, head of the Zombie Survival Crew to ask the tough questions.
Link: Dark Media City: They’re coming…… RUN!!!!!!!
The Fearless Leader of the Zombie Survival CrewTM, Juliette Terzieff has been rambling around the country for almost a year recruiting for the cause. She has been working tirelessly on not enough sleep, not enough food, and waaaaay too much caffeine to make sure she is selecting the best for the crew. There are those of us in command who feel that she has, on occasion, come perilously close to being mistaken for a shambler herself. This crossbow twirling leader of the Red Brigade is building up all the brigades with the right match of commanders to lieutenants and all this while dodging the attentions of the Unnamed Government Agency (UGA) who have kidnapped her on one occasion and have basically been a pain in our side since standing up operations. But since she just successfully completed the mission of securing both first and second lieutenants for all of the brigades, before she collapsed in a heap, she asked that I share the information with the entire crew.
Red Brigade
As is only fitting, we’ll start things off with the Red Brigade itself. Capably led by Juliette Terzieff, the coffee-mainlining former war correspondent known as the chief or the boss lady around command center, this brigade is prepped and ready for action. While most consider the crossbow, her personal weapon choice, the most formidable weapon in her arsenal, those in command know better — the most feared weapon, which is deployed on a regular basis, is the tackle hug. Get caught by one of those babies, and you’ll be thankful to take a crossbow bolt any day of the week. This is how we knew first lieutenant Neil Brown, Jr. was the right man to be her right-hand man — he is trained in martial arts and can survive the tackle hug with ease.
Neil also is known as a leader who does what is needed to keep his people safe. A very important quality for the Red Brigade. On top of that, he is charming and has ably seconded the chief’s efforts at recruitment. Currently Neil is racketing about the country on various secret missions for command, but when the chief calls, he is there ready to take on more assignments. But when the tide turns and the walkers are coming, you want to make sure you stay clear of the swing of his katana.
To round out current Red Brigade command, we have one of the newest recruits, second lieutenant Viviana Chavez. While new to the crew, her enthusiasm and loyalties are clear. And she didn’t hesitate to call for the .44 Magnum as her weapon of choice. Which shows she means business and is ready to rumble to help support and save her crew.
Your Red Brigade Command
 Juliette Terzieff |
 Neil Brown, Jr. |
 Viviana Chavez |
Stay tuned in the coming week for more command announcements as well as further information on who makes up the leadership of YOUR brigade.
Upon returning from Chicago, Yellow Brigade Commander Jinxie G not only got stuck in Chicago’s O’Hare airport, but it seems that the UGA may have been behind it. After dodging, ducking, and turning corners to get away from them, she’s made it back to her hometown, but not without consequences.
Here, she’s checking in to let us know she’s okay, but it’s clear that the UGA is more present now than ever.
And just like Jinxie says, that means the zombiepocalypse is ever closer.
Yes, this is really real and I can’t believe we found it! A zombie-proof house. Oh, yeah!
Let’s check this place out because holy crap, we have pictures!
This house is called “The Safe House,” designed by KWK Promes. After the CDC released their zombie apocalypse post Preparedness 101, I’d say we really need to take a look at this.
There’s a fortified fence around this incredible home. All the better to keep zombies off your property, unless we’re dealing with those zombies from Resident Evil: Afterlife, and man, would that ever suck. But look at how locked up tight that baby is!
I’d say the fence should be a bit higher, but this house is pretty close to the fortress type house I spoke of in my Yellow Brigade post. I do not, however, see a moat.
This must be remedied. Also, it is paramount that fresh water be available and I certainly don’t see anything pertaining to it, but perhaps that’s just not showing up in the photos. If it had it’s own underground spring, that’d be awesome. I know of a place like that in Arizona, and you betcha, that’s where I’ll be heading first when all hell breaks loose.
Take a 360 look at this most awesome zombie-proof house. If you click on the photos, they should enlarge. Then just hit your browser’s ‘back’ button to get back to the post.
That’s right, that is absolutely a drawbridge that you see in the fourth photo and it’s the only way to get inside the house once it’s locked down. THE ONLY WAY. Now let’s take a look inside, shall we?
And a few more shots of the outside, but all opened up.
Nice, huh?
Indoor swimming pool too? *gasps* Alright, so who has the land where we can build this baby?
