Inside “The Walking Dead Escape San Diego” with Pink Egg Media

Have you ever watched a zombie movie or TV show and thought to yourself, “I’d definitely survive, I can totally outrun everyone and kick some zombie butt?” AMC has created an obstacle course for you to test these skills.

Photo by: Kim Rescate

We grabbed our cameras and headed to Petco Park to experience this year’s The Walking Dead Escape. We have previously participated in their inaugural event. This year, they changed the course and everyone is required to check in his/her bags before proceeding to the entrance during their Wave time. We joined the Wave at around 8:20 p.m. It was starting to get dark which added to the eerie ambiance.

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

The first stop was a briefing of the situation, a soldier told the group about the outbreak and then led us forward. Zombies came at us almost immediately forcing everyone to go back and head up the stairs. We ran through broken gates and saw missing person signs everywhere. It was pure chaos.

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

The first obstacle was crawling underneath a chain-link fence with zombies trying to grab you from above, limbs and disemboweled bodies scattered all over the floor. We had to crawl past another zombie that was blocking the barricade to get out.

Photo by: Ana Pines

We went up the escalator, past the hallways and encountered zombies in cages. We had to slide against the wall because they were so close and were trying to reach out to grab us. We crawled under another set of barricades and ran past Hospital Hell. We navigated through Undead Doctors and destroyed equipment without a single safe spot to catch our breath.

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

Once we survived that infected area, one of the guards asked everyone to stand against the wall to avoid fainting from fatigue. After catching our breath we proceeded around the corner, we had to climb up 3 wire crawls and 3 wooden overs. With the undead trying to grab us every time we climbed down, there was no time to stop. The long run down the ramps was inundated with zombies blocking our every move.

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

We ended up outside the stadium where we had to climb up and down 2 obstacles. Once we made it through we had to climb over more barricades and go through two cargo containers. Then up the stairs we went. We were able to take a moment to chill out as the undead are unable to follow you up.

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

At the top of the stairs, we were unsure where to go because the only entrance forward seemed to be blocked by six walkers. We made it through by distracting them towards one side and running past them on the other.

Photo by: Ana Pines

Up the ramp, we hid in the corner from several walkers and waited for them to wander out of our way. There were only four us and it would have been too hard to run past them in that tiny space. A few feet from this hallway, we also waited a while to crawl through a chain-link obstacle because there were two zombies at the end. It would have been impossible to get out without getting infected. After a few minutes, one of them figured out how to get underneath the obstacle and started coming towards us. After she got out and moved to one side we crawled as fast as we could, slid down the next two obstacles and just kept moving.

Photo by: Ana Pines

We had to work as a team to go through the next hallway because it was such a tiny space (the width would be comparable to three people, shoulder to shoulder) and there were walkers everywhere. We were unsure we’d make it through.

Photo by: Ana Pines

After escaping from that hallway, we ran past another set of the walkers and navigated through numerous large boxes of medical supplies that the undead could hide behind. We had to climb a few more barricades before the final obstacle. Broken cars, smoke, walkers and road signs try to stop us from getting out uninfected. We dug deep and just went for it. We jumped over tires, went around smoking cars and ran as fast as we could.

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

Photo by: Ana Pines

Video by Kim Rescate

We stopped to catch our breath around the corner before heading into the Quarantine tent. We were separated into two lines. The infected and the uninfected. I was deemed infected so I waited in line with about five others. Ana tested clean and was able to get out of the tent. When it was my turn, I was told to go into another tent. The doctor said that since the test result showed that I was infected, there’s no other choice. She took out a handgun and shot me in the head…execution style!

Photo by: Ana Pines

The whole course took us about half an hour, including the waiting. If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead, this adventure is not to be missed. Even if you’re not, going through these obstacles provides an adrenaline rush!

Kim Rescate and Ana Pines

There are three ways to participate in The Walking Dead Escape. Be a survivor, which is what we did. You can be one of the Walkers by embracing the inevitable and becoming one of the undead. If you’d like to watch from the sidelines and cheer on the Survivors (or the Walkers), you can sign up as a spectator. For more information, visit http://www.thewalkingdeadescape.com/