I Came, I Ran, I was limping but Survived Outbreak BGC

I grew up loving zombie movies, and just recently I got so hooked with watching Walking Dead that I ended up watching the two whole seasons twice! I couldn’t imagine how life would be if a real outbreak does happen in real life, and soon my curiosity and wonder if I would survive an actual outbreak got the best of me. I then took up all the courage and signed up for one!

Eating light dinner just before the run

Trying to scare the zombies away!

Goofing around instead of stretching LOL

Well of course, it wasn’t a real one, but it was close enough. Last July 28, 2012, I came and ran at the Outbreak Manila – BGC with my cousin, Pegs! Although it was encouraged to come in costumes, my cousin and I decided to dress casually and comfortably. I mean, c’mon, if we were in a real outbreak, would we really want to dress up first? Would you?

We were in the 17th wave and it was already dark by then (8:30ish PM?). And to make things worse and more challenging, the rain started pouring in as our wave was called in for the briefing. Well, for me, I didn’t mind the rain although I did have a hard time since I was wearing contacts. I also forgot to do some stretching and warm ups (but then it’s alright coz it was a real test if I will survive an outbreak – no one stretches and warms up in the Walking Dead right?).

My heart was pounding with excitement and fear. For one, I was terribly frightened by the zombies (even though I know they weren’t really real) and second, the dark made it scarier! But hey, if it were a real outbreak, chances are I would be really running in the dark right? But then we came prepared and brought with us LED flashlights, which I think was a smart move since it helped me big time throughout the course.

With the sound of the alarm, everyone started running. We tried to stick with our plan of not going separate ways but as soon as the first zombie showed up, I was running mindlessly, little did I know that Pegs already got pushed and had a few bruises. But good thing, she quickly got up and get on with it.

When things cleared up, I slowed down a bit and waited to see if Pegs was anywhere near. But it was a bit hard to wait because every now and then, zombies showed up chasing the crap out of us. Soon, I noticed Pegs and we started to run together again.

That didn’t last long though as more zombies blocked our way. We were dodging and moving left and right, making sure the zombies wouldn’t get even a single life flag. But as I was running, I bumped into a hooded girl whom I thought was one of the runners. Then I felt it like a knife on my gut (well not exactly but my heart was pounding like it was), the hooded girl turned out to be a zombie and she quickly grabbed my life flag. If I were in a real outbreak, I consider that moment as the moment I dropped half of my bullets. And now I am running with just a gun and an axe (in my imagination).

It went on for quite a while, but before even reaching the second kilometer, I got into a terrible accident. A zombie was running after me and I sprinted as fast as I could, which I think I did awesomely coz the girl behind me got caught while I outran the walker. But the intensity of the run (and someone accidentally hitting my thigh with his knee) got me injured. It hurt so much that I was limping towards the water station (safe zone) out of breath! Pegs was already there when I arrived and she was also having a hard time running because of her bruises from the early attack.

I gulped down two cups of water and rested for a while. But since I felt that staying there would just be a waste of time, I started to get back on the course, limping, hopping and running. But I wasn’t able to get too far when a swarm of zombies came and soon, my thigh got so bad that I had to go to the medic.

The guys who rescued me were nice and applied a liniment on my thigh (though it didn’t help much, I’m sorry to say that). I rested again for a bit and stretched my legs, hoping it would get better. After a few minutes wasted, I decided to get back on track, but I tried to take it a little slower this time.

Then here’s the great part. I think zombies still had a little humanity left in their hearts. When they saw me limping alone in the street, most of them turned the other way instead of chasing after me. Some even pretended not to see me. I guess the whole injury was able to help me survive it. I was able to safely walk a few kilometers safely, without losing anything but my thigh, I guess.

But don’t get me wrong; even though there were fewer zombies, the walk with a hurting leg was a great challenge. I had to go to another medic to help me stretch it so that I can manage to walk. There were so many obstacles and walking alone in the dark surely got me terrified. The medics wanted me to just hop in to the ambulance, but I kept insisting on finishing it. If this were a real outbreak, there’s not gonna be an easy way out so I might as well push my luck.

Survival against the zombies wasn’t the only challenge; it was also the walk down the dark and slippery road on an injured leg. As painful as it was, I continued to walk the haunted path until I came across a maze. Oh my god, of all things why do they had to build a maze. I am so bad with direction and I have always feared getting stuck in a maze. But I had no other option and there weren’t anyone to be with. So with all the courage that I had with me, I got into the maze alone.

I came across a few dead ends but luckily, there weren’t any walkers around. I slowly walked so that no one could sense I was there. I tried to walk against the walls of the maze, so that I could feel if anyone was near where I was. Soon, I finally saw the exit and hurriedly got back on the course.

After the maze, I felt a sense of hope that I could survive this outbreak. Until I reached the latter zone of the course…  more than fifteen zombies blocked the road and several abandoned scattered the street. This was the perfect version of my dooms day!

I tried to walk slowly. Other runners were running and already panicking. I tried to lay low so that the zombies wouldn’t see me walking alone on the other side of the road. I almost got out of the horde of zombies, until one walker noticed me. She was indeed very hungry for flags and she totally lost her humanity, she quickly grabbed my flag and I hurriedly limped my way out of there.
Finally! I reached the safe zone. And guess what?! I managed to get out with two flags left. One red flag and a white one that I got from Juice.ph and Eyp.Ph. The extra white flag could be a lifesaver, if things got out of hand. And as I walked down the safe path towards the finish line, I was so happy to see Pegs, still alive! She even managed to survive with three flags (although she lost a flag right there at the finish line coz things were getting crazy with the scanning of bibs and stuff).

King of Pop and I

Real great stuff from the artists at the Outbreak

Thumbs Up for the Awesome Time!

Survived!!! Wooohooooo!!!!

I'm cold!!!

And that’s my story on how I came, ran and survived Outbreak Manila. If it were a real outbreak, I may have ended up with no weapon and a broken leg, but then the important thing was I SURVIVED… alone! Yes, for me it gave me a sense of hope that in case a real zombie outbreak happens, I would probably have a higher chance of surviving and not turning into a walker.