AWC Going Dutch Nov Dec 2021

Chased by Zombies
by Melissa White
Frankly, I’m not particularly fascinated by zombies. I saw Night of the Living Dead as
a kid, but had no interest in watching the sequels or the modern series of The Walking
Dead. In general, I’m a wimp and stay far away from horror films (I had nightmares
for over six months after seeing the original Halloween slasher flick when I was 15). So,
it might come as a surprise that I love being chased by zombies, especially while inside
abandoned buildings.
Some of you might have heard of (or even participated in) Zombie Runs in the US, an
unusual variation of a 5K fun run. In our version, it is like one of our normal cross-country
Hash House Harriers running trails—essentially a treasure hunt for beer—where “hares” set
a trail in flour and chalk, and the “pack” has to follow the trail, except we also have to avoid
zombies (other members of our group dressed as the undead).
In 2015, James and I travelled with a
friend down to Doel, Belgium to do our first
Zombie Hash. Located in the shadow of the
nearby nuclear power plant (which had just
started up again after being closed for over
a year and a half due to safety concerns), the
village was slated for demolition starting in
2008 so that the Port of Antwerp could be expanded.
Most of the buildings were boarded
up by the time we visited. However, there
were still some residents who refused to relocate,
making Doel essentially a ghost town.
Although I lost one life there, my dear husband
managed to earn me another as there
were several life tags hidden in some of
the abandoned buildings, one of which he
quickly snatched up.
The following year we headed to a park
near Liege, Belgium. After a great trail
through the woods, we came upon Fort de
la Charteuse, where our zombie friends were
waiting for us. Built by the Dutch, it was
used as a fortification from 1823 to 1891.
During both World Wars, Germany used it
as a prison. The Americans then used it as a military hospital from 1944 to 1945 and the
Belgians later used it as military barracks until 1988.
After our Dutch friends volunteered to hare the next Zombie Hash, they quickly came
to the realization that the Netherlands wasn’t a good spot because the Dutch are so good
at knocking down dilapidated buildings. Instead, they led us to Boom, Belgium, which we
weren’t impressed with when we stopped in the city center for lunch. However, it turned out
to be a great location to be chased by zombies due to an abandoned brick factory and many
decaying buildings. I must confess that I was disappointed to be caught by the slowest of
the three zombies. Luckily, getting caught was painless and had no long-term repercussions.
In 2019, James could no longer stand being on the sidelines and volunteered to hare
with a friend. James and our daughter had first visited Charleroi in 2015 to explore the many
abandoned industrial buildings scattered around the city. In fact, Charleroi is so full of
them that this city in the French-speaking region of Belgium has earned the unofficial >> 42
We surely didn’t expect to meet the zombies before the hash started, nor did we expect
them to be such a friendly group. Like a game of flag football, we were each given a string
to put around our waist with
two paper tags signifying
two lives. The goal was to
get to the finish with at least
one life remaining.
Since there were only 6
zombies chasing about 35
hashers, the odds were actually
in our favor. However,
there were several tricky
spots including a lot next
to the church and cemetery.
I managed to get past one
zombie, not realizing that
I was heading straight into
another just as the path narrowed
with no way around.
40 GOING DUTCH
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 41