Zombies wanted: North Carolina town is staging ‘apocalypse’ survival test

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (Mark Price/Charlotte Observer) – A “Zombie Survival” event in North Carolina is in need of volunteers willing to “chase humans” who sign up to fight for their life.

Wake Forest officials say the idea is to share survival tips — should the dead actually reanimate and start walking the earth. The tongue-in-cheek apocalyptic competition is being staged 5:30-7 p.m. Oct. 19, according to a parks department release.

“Find out who on your team has what it takes to endure the ‘zombie apocalypse’ and which ones are ‘zombie bait’,” the press release says. “Participating teams will have 60 minutes to retrieve items needed to survive a night in a containment zone.”

Zombies — at least in horror movies — are flesh-eating corpses that rise and walk the earth “when there is no more room in hell.”

However, instead of being bitten, the human participants in the survival event will have their “life flags” stolen by people made to look like they’re dead and rotting, officials said. Winning teams of two to four players must make it back to a base camp with at least one “life flag” — and their supplies — to count as survivors, officials say.

“In order for the event to be a ‘howling’ success, Zombie volunteers, ages 14 and older, are needed,” officials said. “On the day of the event, volunteers will be transformed into the ‘undead’ by professional face painters, then chase humans.”

Zombie volunteers will get free food, officials said. Exactly what they’ll eat wasn’t explained.