Yeah, I guess it's approximately 2 years late, but I decided to start my zombie apocalypse story here.
APRIL 14,2012 - I'll never forget this day. The day when hell broke loose. The zombie apocalypse just fell upon the Philippines... Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna, where I currently live right now to be precise. I wasn't really much of a fan of fun runs, but I was thrilled when I learned about this kind of event. I'm a big fan of zombies in the gaming world, especially the ones in Resident Evil, and Left 4 Dead, so I decided to give it a shot.
IMPORTANT RULES:
*NO WEAPONS ALLOWED - Yes, it was a zombie apocalypse, but we were there to RUN FOR OUR LIVES!
*NO HARMFUL PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH THE ZOMBIES - They were zombies, but they are still people, acting like zombies!
*SURVIVE AND HAVE FUN! - Hey, it's a FUN RUN!
The running grounds consisted approximately 5 kilometers of mostly grassy, rocky, and unpaved roads , so it was a hell of a run, in addition of the zombies that tried to catch us. The red strips of plastic that you see around the waists of the runners represented the life flags, and the goal of the zombies were to snatch the 3 red flags . Imagine yourself running with all that I have mentioned under the freakin' summer heat! Fortunately, there were water stations on the way that gave us COLD MINERAL WATER. Refreshing!
I was with my sister from the starting point. When we started to run, we dashed towards the end, going to a detour where the unpaved roads start. Unfortunately, my sister tripped, rolled like a barrel, and crashed into a fence. A zombie kindly pulled her up. Yes, a ZOMBIE pulled her up. After a few minutes, she decided to give up because she was injured, so from that point on, I was a lone wolf. To survive, I tried to blend in with other groups, and used them as my human shield in a subtle way.
There were challenges and obstacles that might give you additional life flags, I only got an extra by just crawling under the wires like the ones used in an army's boot camp with live machine gun fire shooting at them just to keep the newbies' heads down. Of course, there was no machine gun on my experience.
I stumbled upon a sign that says "Easy way" which pointed on the right, and the "Horde way" which pointed on the left. The marshal in charge there told us that the "Easy way" had less zombies, but a longer route, while the "Horde way" had more zombies, but a shorter route. I observed that more people were going on the "Horde way", so I guessed my chances were better if I took that path as well. They were not kidding at all, it had a lot of zombies! Some of them were just sitting on the tall grass though. They looked so dehydrated under the sun. I wondered who had a harder time, the zombies or us?
I saw another obstacle. There were a lot of zombies in a small path, impossible to outmaneuver them. There was a marshal there as well, and a large barrel. The marshal said the barrel contained "zombie guts". We had to wrap some around our bodies, walk like a zombie, and pass by the horde. I passed by them without losing a life! Yes!
Two lives left, and I saw another obstacle. I can't describe it, so I have decided not to describe it anymore. LoL! I was almost at the finish line, and there was only one zombie standing in the way between me and my survival. She looked like Sailor Moon...with one eye gouged out, dangling on her face. Amazing prosthetics she got there! There was a family with me, a couple with 3 kids. They couldn't outrun Sailor Moon zombie, so while she was fixated on them I used the opportunity to pass by her. Finally! I was steps away to the finish line. I crossed it. I SURVIVED!
I feared that I might trip during my run, so I decided to leave my gadgets behind. I didn't have much photos during my survival run. Anyway, the zombies came up all in different shapes and sizes. They even had zombie Michael Jackson!
The runners also had the opportunity to wear anything they want. These middle eastern-looking guys looked prepared for the summer heat. The others wore like a fully-geared soldiers, Disney princesses. I even saw guys who wore nothing but boxers! I wondered how were they during their run.
I received my bragging rights. A tote bag containing this awesome shirt, and some other stuff from their sponsors. Thanks to the event, I also received sunburns on almost every exposed part of my body, except my forehead because I was wearing a beret. Imagine me, a dark-faced dude with a fairly white forehead. LoL! Outbreak Manila was really an awesome, and unforgettable experience!
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