Undead horde topples humans in Zombie Apocalypse

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Benjamin Raughton
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
The zombie onslaught began Saturday, Sept. 28, and the human resistance struggled to fight back.

A Zombie Apocalypse paintball game, hosted on Barksdale's east reservation at Clear Lake Park, pitted teams of humans against oncoming waves of zombies. Zombies could only be stopped by being shot in the head, but humans who were shot by zombies became infected, and could only be cured by a vaccine pod located in the heart of the zombie spawning entrance. The battle ended when all zombies were killed, when humans became infected or the vaccine pod was located and grabbed by the humans.

Senior Airman Dustin Ramsey, a zombie apocalypse paintball referee, coached players on both sides about rules and safety before the players entered the paintball field.

"Typically, not more than about 30 people have shown up to paintball games, but we had between 100 and 120 people show up," he said. "It was a very large turnout. Airmen often work long hours and this is a way for them to relieve stress and have fun on weekends."

Before the game, players decided whether they wanted to play paintball as a human-hunting zombie, or as a human trying to survive the invasion.

Doug Robinson, 307th Maintenance Operations Squadron administration clerk, discussed team strategy with his teammates.

"I haven't quite decided if I want to be a zombie or a human," he said. "I think it'd feel exhilarating to hunt zombies. If the zombies win, however, I'd hope there's ultimately a human uprising to wipe them all out."

The human resistance showed they were ready to lock and load by employing guerilla tactics to outsmart the zombies before attempting to shoot them in the head.

The outnumbered humans also had to communicate effectively under fire and coordinate attacks because the zombies continued to pour from the spawning hole.

The zombies advanced on the humans, but weren't able to make an effective attack, while the humans hid behind abandoned wreckage and steels drums coordinating ways to upend the undead horde's attack.

Night fell, and it was unclear if any humans were able to reach the vaccine pod to save their comrades since the warm air turned to fog and the humans could only see silhouettes of their undead enemies.

After the battle, both zombies and humans emerged from the battlefield covered in dirt, sweat and paint. As they removed their paintball gear, they transformed back into their Airmen brothers and sisters, families and friends.

"I got shot in the back before I could kill a human," said Airman 1st Class Caleb Rappl, a 2nd Operations Support Squadron, zombie air traffic controller. "But they weren't able to shoot me in the head. We won. I'm confident and I'm not afraid of a human uprising."

The zombie apocalypse is over for now, but Ramsey sees potential for other battles in the future.

"Paintball builds camaraderie among Airmen," said Ramsey. "I'd like to see it become more like the other intramural sports we have on base."