My fascination with the undead commenced with the release of the 1968 low-budget independent horror film “Night of the Living Dead,” in which the protagonist, Ben Huss, and five others are trapped in a rural Pennsylvania farmhouse and are attacked by zombies. The cult classic spawned numerous remakes and a plethora of zombie spin-offs.
These days, talk surrounds the possibility of a “zombie apocalypse,” a calamity of which I am a firm believer. Just ask our venerable Homeland Security Department.
“The zombies are coming,” say Homeland Security officials.
Yes, our very own government is urging citizens to prepare for a zombie apocalypse as part of a public health campaign to encourage better preparation for genuine disasters and emergencies. The theory is that if you’re prepared for a zombie attack, you are prepared for a hurricane, pandemic, earthquake or terrorist attack. Some of the government’s suggestions are eerily similar to the 33 rules for dealing with zombies popularized in the 2009 movie “Zombieland,” including, “always carry a change of underwear” and “when in doubt, know your way out.”
I have been a lifetime proponent of those two directives.
Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which launched a zombie apocalypse social media campaign, buys into the unburied.
It was recently announced our military personnel are preparing for an apocalypse of zombie-like proportions. Starting next month, the San Diego-based HALO Corp., founded by former Special Operations personnel, is providing high-end security for government and Homeland Security employees on its 44-acre training site, which is being converted into a mock battleground in the zombie apocalypse. The company will offer an exercise to kill fictional zombies as part of its five-day Counter-Terrorism Summit in October. The summit will include hands-on demonstrations, lectures and classes for more than 1,000 students from police officers, medical workers and government employees.
“They are going to see a lot of stuff go down,” HALO President Brad Barker told the Military Times.
The training will feature undead actors who will attack participating troops and medical workers. HALO has partnered with Strategic Operations, Inc., a firm that specializes in using special effects and realistic combat training, to enhance the experience.
Other, less prominent activities will include far less dangerous scenarios, such as cyber-warfare and Mideast combat.
To be fair to the CDC, its own media campaign was totally tongue-in-cheek.
“The CDC does not know of a virus or condition that would reanimate the dead (or one that would present zombie-like symptoms),” a defiant agency spokesman David Daigle said in an email to The Huffington Post.
My son, who wore camos, donned fake blood and eye-black and spray-painted his hair jet-black for Halloween, will not be convinced.
Nor am I. Our house is stocked with dozens of two-liter diet Pepsis and enough meat and canned goods to feed a small army.
Oh yes, the zombies are coming.
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