Because it looked to be a very cool thing to take part in, we bought tickets for 2.8 Hours Later Survival as part of Deb and Luce’s Christmas present. For anyone who doesn’t know, it’s a zombie chase game, run in a bunch of cities through the year. This was the first time for Newcastle and it runs two nights last week and three this week. I’d not even heard of it before, but the five nights in Newcastle sold out pretty fast. Around 500 players take part every night, with 12 stages to get through over a four mile course. My niece, Abi, and her boyfriend Simon managed to get tickets too. 

The zombies are made up of volunteers, who go through zombie school, a half day course which basically teaches someone how to be a zombie. 

What Deb and Luce didn’t know was that my second in command and I had volunteered to be zombies. Zombie school was a great experience, even without the actual event. We spent an afternoon at Gosforth boys’ school, and some time practicing in the park, to become fully trained zombies. 

The event itself is incredible though. Since Deb and Luce were going Saturday night (Abi was too, but she knew we’d be there), we were there at Friday’s first night to practice our new skills. Well, we wanted to be at our best on the Saturday. 

My second command were in different zones, she in zone 11 and me in 9. On the Saturday, it was 9 and 11 (I know, that won’t mean a lot to most people). Yesterday, most of my evening was spent in a bush, waiting to jump out and chase players as they passed. I won’t say more in case any future player comes across this. 

A few pictures from Saturday …

The zombie disco, at the end of the night, was well worth a visit. Both players and zombies attended. And after over three hours of jumping out of a bush and running after people, the first pint of beer was the best thing I’ve ever tasted.

Oh, my view from the bush.