Blood gushed from their faces, dripping to the ground.

Their shirts were stained crimson red, symmetrically splattered across their chests.

As these visions of the undead limped down Comstock Avenue, moaning and growling with every stumble, the living did not turn and run for their lives.

They laughed.

‘The people driving by think it’s kind of funny,’ said Amy Rourke, a Syracuse resident.

Rourke was one of the 127 people dressed as the undead for the Zombie Walk, which broke out Saturday afternoon. The walk, created by the Cayuga Community College Zombie Research Club, helped raise money for American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Brendan McCarey, the event’s creator, said the money might be needed for an eventual zombie apocalypse.

‘We figured that would work well with zombies,’ said McCarey.

Participants were allowed to walk for free, but were encouraged to make a donation to the fund. People who donated $5 or more received a blood-spattered T-shirt that read, ‘It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when.’ Although McCarey said he was hoping to raise a little more money, the walk made $700 in donations.

McCarey, a student at CCC, raised the dead at Syracuse instead of CCC’s campus in Fulton because he wanted a larger crowd. He said Syracuse’s size created the perfect venue for the flesh-eaters to roam free.

With fake chunks of skin hanging from their faces, the zombies lumbered down Comstock Avenue to Morningside Cemetery.

‘If you see the humans, feel free to attack them,’ McCarey said.

As the zombies growled in search for brains, passing drivers honked their horns and laughed. Provoked, many of the zombies would chase after them for a few yards, before returning to the mass.

‘It’s fun doing stuff out of the ordinary and catching people’s attention,’ said Dylan Allen, a sophomore illustration major at SU. Allen, a self-professed zombie fan, said he missed out on the campus-wide zombie game, ‘Humans vs. Zombies,’ last April, but was glad he could find an alternative.

‘(We’re) a bunch of zombie fans out there ready to show it,’ Allen said.

With no students to feed on in the cemetery, the zombies became cannibalistic. Shaw Dining Center wasn’t going to cut it. Some chased after one particular victim among the crumbling headstones until they caught a zombie. Tackling the fellow member of the undead, the zombies swarmed him. But zombies can’t eat other zombies, so a mauling had to suffice.

Despite the blood and carnage, some zombies were glad others would benefit from the group’s acts of savagery. ‘It’s a good cause, and it’s great people came out,’ said Pat Collins, an Oswego resident who helped McCarey organize the event.

Entering the back side of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry campus, the zombies began looking for food. The growls grew louder, the limping legs shuffled faster.

Begrudgingly, these zombies obeyed traffic laws. Crossing the street from ESF to SU campus, the zombies stopped, allowing for traffic to pass through. ‘Zombies don’t give a s*** about traffic,’ said one zombie as she waited to cross to SU.

After roaming through the cemetery and an abandoned ESF campus, the zombies finally found what they had been looking for: flesh. As students walked to Archbold Gymnasium, zombies would run up to them, snarling and clawing for a meal. When they passed tennis courts, some zombies would sprint toward the fence and shake them.

But even in the face of the undead, SU students couldn’t help but crack a smile.

‘It’s a weird approach, but it’s very unique,’ said Guy Campbell, a freshman public relations major. ‘I just wouldn’t have known it was for the Red Cross unless somebody came up and told me.’

As they left campus, the zombies managed to resist their craving for human brains, and no students were hurt. Wiping the blood from their faces, the zombies later met for a Halloween party at Funk ‘n Waffles. All of the money raised at the party also went to the Red Cross.

‘The zombies look great, we’re having fun. That’s what matters,’ McCarey said. ‘We’re doing a good thing.’

ansteinb@syr.edu

Published on October 24, 2010 at 12:00 pm