Calling all braaaaaaains… The deadline to submit a solution for the MakeShift that was featured in MAKE Volume 25 is June 3! This one was a personal favorite. (Also, I’m the zombie in the bottom left corner of the window!) Check out some fun outtakes from the photo shoot on the article page.
The Scenario: You’ve noticed a few underground reports on the web of a spreading epidemic causing hordes of undead to rampage through suburban neighborhoods in search of new victims. You dismissed the postings as just hype to promote some new horror movie. But now you’re home at night relaxing with a friend when you hear screams of panic. You look outside to see a throng of, well, zombies terrorizing your street — a pack of which is shuffling hungrily toward your house. Good God, the internet was right!
Grabbing your cellphone and laptop, you quickly retreat to the garage and lock yourself in, trying to shut out the methodical pounding on your walls and the moaning cries of “Brraaaiiinnnnssss!” Furiously surfing the web and calling, you learn that the police are overwhelmed but have secured a school two miles from your house from which they can evacuate the uninfected by helicopter. Too bad your car is at the repair shop tonight.
The Challenge: Trustworthy sources say that the mindless zombies can be kept at bay by flames of sufficient size and — worst come to worst — incapacitated by a forceful blow to the head. But it’s clear from the shaking of your garage door that you have at most an hour before you face those suckers head-on. Bottom line: You’re going to need whatever’s in the garage to fight your way out and through the zombies to get yourself to that school on foot!
What You’ve Got: You have your set of tools (hammers, saws, screwdrivers, wrenches, etc.), a working sink, two towels, a first-aid kit with adhesive bandages and hydrogen peroxide, an acetylene torch, a chainsaw (out of gas), a propane grill (with a ¾-full tank), 50′ of Class 315 PVC pipe, a framing nail gun with a box of 500 3½” framing nails, 3 full cans of oil-based ceiling paint, a bottle of turpentine, a case of 10W-40 motor oil, a six-pack of empty beer bottles, your camping gear (backpack, tent, sleeping bag, and a handful of lighters and matches), a disassembled lawn mower (half full of gas) and 3 bottles of 30W lawn mower oil, a cricket bat, and of course, some duct tape and your Swiss Army knife or Leatherman.
It’s time to show those zombies what happens when they cross a real maker. Good luck and
good hunting!
Send a detailed description of your MakeShift solution with sketches and/or photos to makeshift@makezine.com by June 3, 2011. If duplicate solutions are submitted, the winner will be determined by the quality of the explanation and presentation. The most plausible and most creative solutions will each win a MAKE T-shirt and a MAKE Pocket Ref. Think positive and include your shirt size and contact information with your solution. Good luck! For readers’ solutions to previous MakeShift challenges, visit makezine.com/makeshift.
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