Zombie game brings community together

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - A frightening experience in Norfolk, Va., this weekend as zombies descend upon the historic area of Ghent for a community-wide, zombie-themed game of tag called "Survive Norfolk."

About 1,500 people are expected to take part in the event, in which they will run, duck, hide and try to outmanueuver their opponents in the most chilling race of their life.

"I actually heard about it from some friends from the beach that are coming in for it," said ODU student Berkeley Ange, "Because everybody is doing it, so I'm going to do it too."

Coordinator Whitney Metzger says it's part tag, part foot race and part zombie apocalypse. Almost 20,000 people have contacted Metzger via Facebook, wanting to participate in the zombie chase.

"I never would have thought it would have morphed into thousands of people wanting to play. It's wonderful," said Metzger.

Participants have 2.5 hours to make it from start to finish. There are four checkpoints along the way that each participant must stop at before moving on to the next, while zombies chase them down. If the participant is tagged by a zombie at any time during the race, they too become zombies. So as the race dwindles down to its final moments, hundreds upon hundreds of zombies will be out to get the last few participants lucky enough to still be in the game.

The run begins at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, October 22 and ends at midnight.

All proceeds from the race will benefit local charities like Hope House Foundation, D'Art Center and the Hermitage Museum and Gardens.

Raleigh, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. have hosted similar events.

For more information visit Survive Norfolk's Facebook page .