Zombies have taken West Greenwich, but they only come out at night and on the weekend.
After years of watching zombie thrillers and playing every zombie game I could get my hands on, I was prepared for an onslaught of undead corpses shambling toward me. My bloodlust would overcome their hunger for my coveted brain.
After a sunset drive and a minor mix-up of directions, I arrived at Field of Screams. Fully prepared to charge toward some zombie villains, I parked on a large field among the vehicles of my fellow zombie hunters.
A friend and I waited in line for all of 5 minutes. In line with us were a dozen children ranging from 10 to 13 years old, along with a few parents. All of us prepared to do the deed that needed doing: Hunting the undead. We were brought into a small barracks and greeted by an older gentleman and a young woman clad in camo gear who gave us a brief overview of the rules.
“You’re here to kill the zombies, not to hurt the zombies,” said the man. He explained that the paintball guns are high pressure and they hurt regardless of how much undead padding the zombies wore. Once a zombie fell we were instructed not to waste our precious ammunition on the collapsed corpses.
For this article I was dared to be a zombie, but I failed to do so and I’m not ashamed to say I’m grateful. The zombies took many, many, high velocity paintballs. One employee told us about the various bruises that the zombies had shown off, huge black and blue welts on thighs and chests. I played the merciful zombie killer and only shot as much as needed, trying not to ruin these zombies’ nights.
After having the rules drilled into us, my group of about 18 people boarded a 5-ton military truck rumbling through a forest course and spitting high-octane fumes into the night. As we approached the zombies in their dark habitat, Ride of the Valkyrie blared from speakers on the truck.
The truck, with the mounted paintball guns on either side, drove us all through a large course, slowed down occasionally, and zombies popped out at every dark, twisted turn. We would shoot and shoot and then as the zombie fell we moved to the next area.
The entire trip was a real-life arcade shooter. Guns mounted to a truck, zombies popping out left and right as we all aimed and fired hoping they’d go down. The ride was about 15 minutes long, and I say personally took down about eight of the flesh chomping monsters.
An overall fun, chilly October night, well spent hunting the undead through the forests of West Greenwich.
