The Taliban IED exploding in the faces of the U.S. soldiers wasn't the surprise. It was the zombie assault that came afterwards.
The War on Terror and the Zombie War on Humanity met Halloween night as an American patrol confronted IEDs, wounded civilians and waves of zombies. The setting was the parking lot of the HALO Corporation's counter-terrorism conference in San Diego, and the soldiers and zombies came from Strategic Operations, a private company that uses Hollywood special effects and actors to train U.S. soldiers.
But as you can see from the video, this wasn't training Marines how to make friends with Afghan villagers. The scenario starts with an American VIP - the dude in the black shirt and sunglasses - visiting a village (Strategic Operations describes it as a Third World village, but the keffiyeh/shemagh scarf worn by the village elder suggests Iraq or Afghanistan). He is escorted by a Personal Security Detail of American soldiers. As the team prepares to leave the village, they are attacked by insurgents driving a truck carrying an IED. The soldiers destroy the vehicle and detonate the IED.
That's when the zombies strike. The soldiers pick off the undead while an armored vehicle arrives to extract the team. Then a Quick Reaction Force of soldiers deploys to rescue the villagers and put everyone through a decontamination station. There were some 60 roleplayers, plus assorted special effects crews, staging the event. The soldiers actually consisted of former U.S. military personnel - including ex-SEALs - as well as police officers.
Of course, this battle raises many troubling questions. Was the zombie assault deliberately timed to coincide with the Taliban attack? Is there an alliance between Al Qaeda and the zombies, and will this lead to drone strikes against zombie targets? Has the War on Terror morphed into the War on Zombiedom?
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