#outbreak missions

Before and after (bottom photo’s newly released WHOO!!)

I’m just glad I dressed to (slightly) impress. And pants.

Finally. I was able to join an Outbreak event. Was always planning to attend previous outbreaks but certain circumstances won't allow me to do so. So when I had the chance, I grabbed it immediately. Being a fan of zombie themed movies, tv series and games I was really excited to be a part of Outbreak Missions. Unlike previous Outbreaks, it is not a just a fun run anymore. You have a mission to accomplish. We have to find Dr. Alfonso Adarna and get the "CURE" from him.

  AND SO IT BEGINS

Kathy (my companion and my girlfriend) and I weren't really prepared for the event. Heck, I was wearing a shirt, jeans and my boots. Kathy has a dress and flats on her. But we don't care. It made the experience more realistic. You can never know when an outbreak will happen. So wearing daily clothes while doing outbreak is more of a challenge. We went there, met with Jude and Karlo (my college classmates) alongside with their cousins so we could be in a group. We were advised to form a group of 10. It was a reasonable advise since who would want to go through a zombie mission alone? Then the mission started. We were given instructions and was told about the specific mission. Find Dr. Alfonso Adarna, get the cure from him and make it to the finish line, ALIVE. Yeah. You could die in the middle of the mission. we were each given three flags. It represents our health. It's just like the one in the games. So yeah. Before we started we huddled up first as a team then we bravely went into the walls to begin the mission.

FIRST RUN

I was really excited but at the same time nervous as well. I treated the zombies as if they were real to make the experience even more exciting. Which I think is bad for me because I panic a lot. I remember when I was still playing Left 4 Dead. I am the noisiest of our group. HAHAHA! Anyways the first run was already hell for me. A whole street, approximately 300 meters was infested with zombies. I wasn't prepared! Really? This early? But I had no choice. Yet. So I ran as fast as I could but I REALLY GOT SCARED AND INTIMIDATED BY THE ZOMBIES. So I stopped at one point. Little did I know there was already two zombies after me. FVCK! I tried to run from them but one got one of my health flags. Sad. That early I already lost a life. WTF man?! HAHA! So... After that sprint, we were briefed to be careful of THE BROTHERHOOD. The Rebels told us that The Brotherhood are the bad guys. They told us not to trust the other camp. When go up the walls, we should not make any suspicious movements or else, they might get a health flag from us. so we acted cool. We walked above the walls of Intramuros. Met a couple of Non Playing Characters along the way then we bumped on to an another zombie infested area. We must avoid the light so the zombies couldn't 'bite' us. Once again, I was left behind 'coz again I panicked. I'm such a pussy. HAHAHA! I even tried to hide behind one of the photographer so the zombies won't notice me. THE PLAN WORKED! BWAHAHAHA! Imade it through that specific course without getting bit. By that time, I was out of breathe already. The running and the long distance  walking on the uneven Intramuros path was really tiring. We were longing for a water station. Soon enough there was a a checkpoint. the water station.

  THE BROTHERHOOD

Afterwards me met The Brotherhood. The supposed to be bad guys of the mission. They told us that they are really the good guys here. They will be using the cure to control the zombies. They told us the we will have better chances of survival if we control them rather than cure them. I believed them. Not just because there are a lot of hot boys in their team. HAHA! But because in a writer's point of view I knew that there is something fishy with the rebels and Dra Vera Adarna. And if ever they are the bad guys, fine! I love the bad guys. They are hot bad guys. I wanna be with them! HAHAHA! Our team huddled up. balanced everything then we decided to go with the brotherhood. After a long walk, we finally went down the walls. As soon as we went down, a couple of cute guys from the brotherhood met us to give instructions. They told us the next course will be again zombie infested. But they will help us. We should just follow the red light because they said that the zombies will avoid us if we are in that red light. As our team ventured into that specific course we ran as fast as we could. THE LIGHT WAS MOVING SO FAST!!! Gosh. And also other teams came with us. Ugh. But then, the lights went off. Everyone went crazy! Someone even bumped me on my chest. I had difficulty in breathing after that so I sat down for a while to rest and catch my breathe. Maybe after 10 minutes we continued with the mission. Another long walk inside Intramuros. I loved those moments. I really appreciated the beauty of Intramuros at night. Though a little bit creepy. IT IS MAGNIFICENT! Oh. Moving on...

  MORE ZOMBIES!

As we were walking we noticed a group going back. Shit. Something bad's gonna happen here! They told us that there is a horde of zombies waiting ahead. It's a long run that's why they went back first to go through with it with a lot of people so it will be hard for the zombies to catch. Fvck! I believe that was four blocks. The adrenaline was UGH! It was really like I was running for my life! Scary zombies. After that run, I only had one life. it's because one of the runners, got it from me. Desperate much? No. He wasn't a zombie. Gahd. I went to the marshalls and told them what happened but I couldn't find the person who took my flag. So. Yeah. Sad life. Hope he gets bitten by a real zombie. By then, I only had one life left.

  LAST MISSION

Infront of the church, there were NPCs from the rebels waiting for us. They gave us instructions to find Dr Alfonso adarna. Gave us directions on how to get there then off we go! Infront of Fort Santiago was a drunk Dr Alfonso Adarna. He told us to find three ingredients in a specific area. He also told us the those ingredients will be used for the cure. But here's the catch. If we will ide with the brotherhood, we only need three ingredients. If with the rebels, there’s a 4th ingredient waiting for us outside the fort. He also told us not to believe Dra Vera, his wife. He told us she cheated on him with Capt Guerrero. The one who gave us instructions at the beginning of the mission. Hmmm. But he also told us that it is our choice on who will we help. We huddled as a group and decided that we will stick with the brotherhood. We came up with this theory that maybe the 4th ingredient is us. Maybe we will be experimented by theses rebels. So got into the area and find these ingredients. It is another zombie infested area so it was kinda hard. But we got to meet zombie hitler! HAHAHA! After we found those ingredients we went out of the fort and there was a long line waiting for us. It’s an opportunity for us to catch our breathe. After about 20 minutes, we continued with the missions. An NPC told us that we need to make a choice. One of the paths will lead to the brotherhood. It is just a straight walk and we just have to bring them the ingredients. The other path is in a dungeon, there are deaf zombies in there but they have an enhanced vision. So sudden movements might make them take your life. Our team couldn’t decide on what path to take so we just played heads or tails. But for me, I am with the brotherhood. I trust them. Not just that there are a lot of hot guys there but there’s really something suspicious with the rebels. So we tossed the coin but unfortunately, it was heads. It represented the rebels. So we fell in line since a lot of the runners chose the rebels path. We went inside carefully bus as soon as we got in we were having second thoughts. Something really was suspicious in there. The 4th ingredient which was the ingredient Z is like, I dunno maybe like chemical X? Maybe it’s a 4th unnecessary/”pilit” ingredient? So we went back. We decided that we will take the road less taken. Other runners were wondering why we came back. So there. We just walked ‘til we get to the hideout of the brotherhood. We gave them the ingredients. They mixed it and tested it on the zombies. We were scared at first. Coz after they dropped the medicine on the undead, they took of their chains. The zombies immediately went for us! We ran but one of the brotherhood yelled “STOP!”. The zombies really stopped. AMAZING! So they really could control the zombies with the medicine. And then after that, they told us… MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! WOOHOO!!!

POST MISSION

Since we finished the mission and all of us in our team had at least one life left we got to receive the survivor dogtag! Yey! It’s a symbol of our survival throughout the mission. By that time we were all really tired. I just wanna lay down on my bed and sleep. HAHA! But it was fun! Another unforgettable experience. Actually, I can’t wait for the next mission. I wonder what will happen next with the story. Hmmm. After that we got our souvenir items, our bags from the baggage counter and we went home. Oh wait! I saw my crush from the Brotherhood so I asked Kathy to take a picture of us! SHET! He really is cute. And hot. Ugh! HAHAHA! I hope I get to see him again on the next Outbreak. So there it is.

  I SURVIVED THE OUTBREAK IN THE WALLED CITY OF INTRAMUROS! YEAH!

July 1, 2011. That's the date of my last post here at Tumblr. The date is currently October 21, 2013. It was like two years, three months and 20 days. So why did I decided to reanimate, resurrect and bring this blog back to life? Simple.

Outbreak Manila. Outbreak Missions. The Narrows.

Yes. It's the trend that people around the world loves and I think will be immortally loved. The undead's charm never fails to get the attention of one, either it maybe due to admiration, intention or fear. So when I heard that the next Outbreak will be in Filinvest City, I prayed and hoped that it would be in Festival Mall. And like an answered prayer, it indeed will be in Festi(val)! :D

It all started when a co teacher and a close friend of mine posted the Outbreak Missions in Facebook. I immediately asked her and one more co teacher to join, knowing that Outbreak Manila was my kind of event. So after numerous private messages and endless conversations on whether to join or not, we ended up heading to Alabang Town Center to have ourselves registered. Prior to that, we were contemplating on which mission to join; I told them that I liked The Narrows because it focuses of finding a way out of the infected mall while they opted to join Adarna Initiative cos we all thought that it will be more of the outside-perimeter-of-the-mall run and just a bit of going inside (the mission then would be to find out a certain “cure” for the zombie infestation). I was too keen to join The Narrows because I told them that I am confident enough in knowing the ins of the mall, having almost “lived” there since my highschool days. :D Upon registering, we knew that The Narrows and The Adarna Initiative would both entail navigating through the entire mall, so basing from the registrar’s recommendation, we chose to be enlisted in The Narrows instead of the original plan of The Adarna Initiative. That was about a month before the actual event and I could feel chills of excitement running through me at the thought of being in my beloved Festival Mall in the wee hours of the evening being on the run from brain (life flags) hungry undead. Creeply my kind of adventure! :D

                        Registration: Check! Now let's prepare ourselves! 

Fast forward to the first few days of October. While we were kept busy by our day jobs, we all vowed to start “running” as a means of preparation for the Outbreak Missions. We joined our computer expert and his girlfriend in doing cardio exercises after work hours, only to find out that we could only do it once (got to lazy and ate out instead). :DD We also tried “running” around the streets in front of our school but we were able to do it also once (guess we needed more inspiration and determination cos the weight of the Outbreak did not fall down on us that much yet during that time). About a week before the Outbreak Missions, everyone in our school (well, the teachers and some admin) knew about the event we were going to partake. Days before the Mission, it was literally the only thing in my mind besides from work related stuff. I even forgot to follow up my thesis proposal’s result! :P

  October 19, 2013, Saturday:

                    My calendar was a bit too excited for the Missions. :DD

Rm Taytay: november COA, makisama ka naman oh.. excited na ko sa Outbreak Manila,#OutbreakMission The Narrows eh, please magpatapos ka na para wala na kong ibang iisipin.. — feeling confused

  I still need to finish paper works and school stuff so I informed my co teachers that I’ll just meet them at Festival (we agreed earlier that we’ll meet after lunch and chill around before going together in the mall). But everytime I open my browser, my fingers automatically types in Outbreak Manila in the search box (talk about being a hungry runner; hungry for updates indeed!).

  Rm Taytay: nap/sleep. eat. prepare stuffs. go to the venue. run for my life and experience one helluva fright run, hahaha! this is it!  #outbreakmanila #outbreakmissions#thenarrows — feeling excited.

  After struggling and finally finishing my November calendar, I decided to take a nap and relax myself since it was still early. I turned off my laptop and laid down hoping to catch some sleep. But then..

  Rm Taytay: been in bed for hours trying to catch sleep. but every time i try to, images of zombies and the darkness of my beloved festival mall floats into my mind, WAAAA! no turning back, time to face my fears! Outbreak Manila, #OutbreakMissions#TheNarrows — feeling determined.

I could not sleep! All I could see was images of the Outbreak Manila Zombies and the dark facade of Festival Mall! I stood up, went to my mother and told her that we are going to dine out, all on me! I was that nervous I did not think about spending for dine out. I just need to relax myself and have something to take my mind off the event later. :D So me and Mama went to Chicboy (oye comfort food!) after I finished packing away stuff that I will need for the sleepover after the Missions. We ate and talked about how the zombies would like to eat me because I’m too busog (full) of unlimited rice, iced tea and pork liempo, wahahaha! :DD

  So I went to the shuttle terminal to Alabang and after several stop overs (the driver kept on stopping in a certain point due to a weird noise in the wheels of the van) and a full to bursting bladder (aargh too much iced tea!!!), I reached Festival Mall. It looked quite ordinary to me but knowing that later it will be transformed into a deep, dark, vast area, I was preparing myself. When we got together, we went to tread our way to the registration area, following a group of people who were obviously headed the same way as ours.

  Registration. Looking around. Trying our luck at the various booths and ending up winning a sticker and two pens from Coleman (yey!.) Photo Ops.

        Posing with the Hyundai Survival Car. Mobile camera? Boo! :l

                          with the Booster C people, eer.. zombies!

      this is FREAKING SCARY! the look on our faces were REAL!

                      Humans invaded the undead.. for pictures! :D

When it’s time for us to go to the starting area, one of my co teacher was still and silent. She’s worried cos we don’t have group mates yet. Being just three, we could not possibly survive the whole course without someone else with us. As I’ve told her numerous times, “safety in numbers” is the key. We were fortunate enough to join a group of seven great and smart people to complete our team. When the Missions started, I was determined to run for my life cos seeing the first few batches of survivors fight their way out, I know I needed to run.. RUN!

                                        are you ok?

                                             ready to run! :D

With my game face on, I ran as fast as I can and tried evading the undeads wanting to snatch away a life from me. I was determined to go past them without losing a life, but I didn’t thought that as I ran away, I would clash with another runner and ended up bruising my right knee and elbow. When stability failed me, I saw myself crashed down on the concrete floor, two of my lives missing already. My co teacher tried to run back to get me but she was faced with a horde of undead and decided to wait for me in the lighted area. I stood up and felt the pain in my knee, but still determined to move my ass away from the creepy undead. I guess they still have a shard of humanity left in them as they allowed me to walk my way slowly to the light of the medic’s tent without snatching another life. There was a group of people waiting to be healed and treated, some like me went bruised in the knees, elbows and hands. I told my group mates not to worry much because malayo naman sa bituka (it’s not going to kill me).

                                               sorry mama! :)))

We went to find the coordinates given to us at and started the easy way to the mall. When we arrived there, the first thing that I thought of was the blind zombies.. EEK! Food court area! This was the area I was most anxious to go through, because it is where my idol was stationed *fan girl mode*. From the instructions given to us by the NPCs, we need to be super quiet as not to alert the blind undeads or else they’ll start chasing after us. The Surgeon was right behind us with his hair rising “graaaawr!” which cold taunt us to scream and eventually alert the others scattered around the court. When I passed by the School Girl zombie *fan girl mode*, I was torn to sticking to my “mission” or risk my life by having a picture taken with her and end up as a zombie steak. :DD In the end I contented myself by waving a friendly “Hi!” to her and silently walk my way away. We were almost at the end of the court when we heard some running and eventually ran to the entrance of the mall. Turned out that one of our teammates got pinned in between two zombies and had to make a run out of them. When we reached the second floor we met another NPC (hi miss nikki!) and she warned us that the next zombie horde are deaf and we have to “act like a zombie” and pick up Mogu Mogu stuff from the floor which could be lives. Believing this, we went as “zombies” with matching arms raising and some grunting sounds. Too bad this was all a plot to get our flags; the NPC does NOT have a green band in her. We ended up losing several flags in the process. When we reached the fourth floor we were directed into a narrow fire exit, this time we were more mindful of the clues and our surroundings. Decision making time came when we met another NPC, this time we were torn whether to go down to the ground floor or go until the second floor (we were at the fourth floor). We decided to go down to the second floor where we met two more NPCs telling us not to stop and talk to anyone until we reach the fourth floor again. This time we were in a fury to run away from the zombies as they all are in a rage to get our lives. Up to the third floor where a horde of hungry undeads were waiting for us, I gathered all my strength and evaded them through ninja moves, :DD. The final straw for me was in the third floor escalator going up the fourth, were the Slash zombie was waiting at the foot of the escalator. With all the guts left on me and the clear vision of the safety of the fourth floor, I ran my way up the escalator narrowly missing the Slash’s eager hands. I was literally almost crying when we reached the exit in the fourth floor, where bystanders are looking up at us with a mixture of inquiry and awe. I was glad I survived! :D

  But not to celebrate yet! The last NPC that we talked to before going on a rampage up the last floor told us that we need to go straight out of the mall then turn left, basically taking us back to the area were we started our journey. Keeping a slow pace, we talked about what’s left for our mission until we reached a long, dark stretch of road. Basing from the commands heard from the commandants at the base camp, we all though that this is the last wave. We decided to make a run for it since it will be the last either than waiting for other survivors to come and join us. Weighing our chances, we decided to give our last shot, though narrowly, our chances are slim cos the zombies are all energized and could outnumber us easily. Biting against the curb, we ran at the count of three.

  And I knew what the word Outbreak meant.

  Several, no. Dozens of undead came out from all directions. I told myself that I’ll do my best to run alive as far as I can. I tried evading some but I guess that I’m not meant to live. A smart ass undead guy snatched my last flag and cut my way. He caught me off guard! When I felt the last life taken away from me, I slowed down and thought “Good run, not a bad way to die fighting for your life!”. I was walking amidst hordes of zombies around me, unafraid because they do not have anything to take from me anymore! I jokingly asked a zombie when he cut across me while walking since he had a bunch of lives at hand. I told him “Kuya, no more lives. Pahingi naman po ng isa, madami ka pa naman dyan eh!” (Can you give me one since you still have lots on hand?). He laughed and told me “Sorry Ma’am, di po pwede eh!”. When he reached the quarantine area (that’s what I first thought it was), we were greeted by the pretty Dra. Vera Adarna. She was smiling and congratulated us; we made it alive and uninfected! I was alive because one of my teammates gave me and our other mates his extra flags (thanks Kuya!). Dra. Adarna told us that we were the FIRST team to reach her, yehey! :D

  And then we parted ways. We weren’t able to get to know each other that much but I think our group clicked cos we all worked hard. We three were lucky to have you guys adopt us. :D

Then we went home to our co teacher's cozy house and spend our remaining weekend watching movies, eating and sleeping. Nagalit si mama paguwi ko, hahaha! (My mom got mad when I got home). :P

There! Emerged with a big ouchie that prevented me to go to work today but very proud of myself and my team for being able to make the right choices. As I was writing this, I discovered that those who made it to the bus were taken as guinea pigs and were infected. OH NO! So I could say that we were really LUCKY to have chosen the right path, whew!

Registration still ongoing!

come and join the dark side ;)

hey guys! registrations for Outbreak Manila Zombies is now open!