ROCKREVOLT GOES TO ZOMBIE SCHOOL

RockRevolt is ready for the zombie apocalypse that is set to ravage the U.K., but to outsmart the enemy, you have to think like one… 

Little is known about the existence of zombies, apart from just one bite can turn you into a feral beast with an urge to chomp down on human flesh. The guys at 2.8 Hours Later have a better idea – zombies have to be educated. In essence, being a zombie is an art form that is the final product of exercise, vocal warm-ups, the varying walking styles and getting into the blood lusted minds of the undead. 

 9am: Catch train up to Bristol. It’s a bit nerve racking when you engage in a conversation with someone about what you’re going to do.

“So what are you doing today?”

“Going to a Zombie School”

10:30 am: Arrive at Castle Park. Briefly miss presentation from a guy called Alex – already dressed in zombie attire that consists of an orange prison jumpsuit and covered in blood. It’s slightly distracting for the people doing yoga to classical music in the bandstand opposite.

11 am: Exercise! Many people dread it but it helps to prevent injuries as you’re running around following a zombie whilst being judged yourself as to whether you’re suitable to be a zombie. The first activity we engage in consists of having a lemon on a wooden spoon, pretending that “The lemon is your brain” and you have to knock it off the opponents spoon, last man stands win. RockRevolt wins two of the three games. 2 points for RockRevolt! 

Next is the vocal warm ups. Alex shows us the screeches and the growling of a zombie in style, whereas the rest of us struggle to match up with his level.

12 pm: Next lesson of the zombie school curriculum is learning how to walk. There are two types of zombies in the game – Type 1 and Type 2 – and the walks from one side of the park to the other attract attention and the lingering video camera. Look hard enough and you may see the event unfold. The styles are skylark, drunken (we’ve all been there), and inverted (twisting an ankle and dragging it along). 

1 pm: After a little break, the true test of zombie-worthiness begins.

Capture the Flag

The rules were simple: treat it as though it were 2.8 Hours Later. The lanes were roads and couldn’t play on them, but to get to one base we had to walk. Break the rules and you got a stamp, three stamps and you’re out. White team (the team of RockRevolt) won the first game (we received a stamp for being chased onto a lane and not paying attention – we know…LAME!). Second game was to play as the zombies. Break the character and you got two stamps. RockRevolt got another stamp for running across the lane. It was close to elimination but we can still take part in the game. 

2 pm: Paperwork. The dates we’re choosing for the volunteering and handing in deposits before everyone departed and the people overseeing us wanted to get some Chinese (it’s a tradition to do in every city for them). 

In the space of four hours, what we achieved and discovered was unbelievable. The strength and fitness needed to be a zombie and the amount of muscles that were needed for all the running, even keeping focus was a task, but it was all overcome. 

We were able to speak to the head zombie – Alex – and were able to get a few words

 What does it feel like teaching others how to be a zombie?

 It’s possibly the best job in the world, I love it. It’s really good fun and the guys who come make a really good crowd, and I love adding more people to our zombie family.

 What was it that drew you into wanting to be a zombie then teaching others how to be one?

 I’ve always been a fan of zombie films and games and all the cult stuff surrounding it, but I played the Leeds games, the second one they did outside of Bristol and I’ve been coming to every one of them since.

 From when you first started playing 2.8 hours later, have you seen an increase of the amount of people willing to volunteer as zombies and an increase in the amount of players?

 Well, we haven’t had any mainstream advertising like radio or TV adverts but it’s all been word of mouth, through social media and all that. So it’s gone from a small group of people having fun with some zombies to this massive thing where everyone’s talking about it all year round. Each time in a new city there are players that keep coming back each time, so there’s definitely been an increase in players and volunteers.

In all the games you’ve played, what would you say has been the best city to play in?

 Oh god. Er, I’m going to say I like them all or else there’ll be a bit of bias. I like Leeds because I know a lot of people there and that’s where I started.

 So for anyone playing the Bristol game, what would we have to do to make it the best game you’ve ever played?

 We all ways try and raise the bar, and by the looks of things this is going to be quite possibly the best game so far. And then we’re following that bar with London, which is going to be pretty high!

 I’ve heard some complaints about the game in London, mostly because of the pricing. What’s the reason that it’s a bit more expensive than the other games?

 Well, it’s the fact that it’s three weeks in a row. People were very “On the Ball” for it, buying tickets at discount rates. Some nights, such as Friday and Saturday nights, are more expensive to run than on Wednesday’s or Thursday. But what we want to achieve is that we want to make it worth the £30/£60 pounds worth, we want to make it the ultimate experience. Plus this is the only game o this kind in the world, you’re not going to get that anywhere else.

 Is there anything we can expect from 2.8 Hours Later in the future?

 That’s going to be a secret I’m afraid! But what I can say is that there’ll be more characters, more zones and maybe even going to new places. We may even be taking a trip to the U.S. with the game, who knows?

We managed to grab some participants – Dave, Bruce, Simon, and Emma – taking part in the game as well

 What was it that made you want to participate as a zombie in this year’s game?

 Bruce: I saw it advertised last year and wanted to do it but they weren’t in Bristol at the time. It’s the only opportunity you’ll get chased by zombies, so why not?

 Emma: And you can dress up as a zombie and be in a professional role!

 What part of the Zombie School today did you enjoy the most?

 Bruce: I liked the games the most, where we played the game with the lemons on the spoon and had to knock the lemon off the other person’s spoon.

 Emma: You see a lot of zombies on the telly, but you don’t think to yourself about the technique of how to be a zombie which I didn’t even know about.

 Simon: There’s a lot of muscle usage in being a zombie, I didn’t even know I had!

What was it that drew you to take part as a zombie than a survivor; do you prefer scaring other people than being scared yourself?

 Emma: Well, being a survivor would be pretty cool, but it’s just that when you see zombies in films and you’re just like “Wow, that’s so cool! I wanna be dressed up and all gored up like them” and now you get the opportunity to do it.

Bruce: I’m taking part on two dates, because I want to know what it’s like being chased by a zombie and what it’s like to chase someone like a zombie.

Simon: I think it would be a good laugh, just some of us running through Bristol and scaring the hell out of people.

 Bruce: I’m looking forward to it, we like dressing up for a variety of reasons. *glances at Simon and Emma* not in that way! I go on a lot of scout camps and everyone dresses up as various characters along the way. We’ve done pirates. We did ‘The Worm’ recently, that was entertaining but Captain Scarlet was the best.

 Are any of you big fans of zombies in the sense of movies and video games?

 All: Yes.

 Emma: We like The Undead in general really.

 Simon: I’ve played Left4Dead 2 and loved it, does that count? I might have to get it again to refresh my memory of what zombies are like!

 Bruce: Is that based on true events?

 Simon: Of course! Just need to watch more zombie related things to get into the mindset of a zombie for the game.

 Emma: We’re a big fan of Simon Pegg films; not sure if that counts, but other than that zombie films are generally quite funny.

Give it to a good director and they’ll make zombies into your worst nightmare.