The drive was long. The weekend was worth it. Aftermath Zombie Event at Predator's Den

Nine hundred kilometres, round trip. That's what it took to get from home to Predator's Den in South Bingera, near Bundaberg, for the Aftermath Zombie Event. It was worth the trip.

The Aftermath Zombie Event is not a casual skirmish with a zombie label slapped on it for atmosphere. It had a proper survival structure — an in-game economy, constrained resources, multiple hostile factions with specific mechanics, handmade characters, field-wide objectives, a night defence, and a final mission that required players from across Queensland to actually cooperate with people they'd never met. Ridiculous premise. It worked completely.

Predator's Den — the field does a lot of the work

Predator's Den sits in South Bingera near Bundaberg and covers around 180 acres of dense Queensland bushland. Not a flat paddock with some pallets and plywood. Actual bush — thick scrub, tree cover, uneven ground, proper distance between objectives. The kind of field where movement feels like a decision rather than a formality.

The layout gave the scenario real destinations. The Settlement was our main survivor base, properly built with a front gate, defined entry points and a watchtower. The Hospital was roughly 250 to 300 metres out. The Power Station around 300 metres in a different direction. The Marauders' Base about 500 metres one way. Every time you left the Settlement you were committing to something.

That distance matters. A compact field collapses everything into a brawl near the centre. Real space between objectives forces players to think about routes, resources, and what happens if they get turned on the way back. Predator's Den gave the event room to breathe and the event used every bit of it. If you're after other Queensland fields worth knowing about, the RedSpear QLD field and store map has them.

Predator's Den runs scenario events like this through the year. Follow Predator's Den on Facebook to see what's coming up — and to catch the next Aftermath event.

How the survival system worked

Every survivor started with one empty cure vial and three bronze coins. The shop inside the Settlement could fill the vial — but cure cost four coins. So from the first minute, nobody had quite enough on their own. You needed to trade, cooperate, or go scavenging to close the gap. Simple setup. Immediate pressure.

Across the field, players could find silver items, gold bricks, bronze bricks and other resources, then bring them back to exchange for coins. Coins bought cure or small 3D-printed keepsakes. It sounds straightforward on paper and it was — which is exactly why it worked. The system created trading, movement and conversation between players without needing a manual.

If a zombie got you, you were down for 30 seconds. With a full cure vial, you emptied it and came back as a survivor. Without one, you became a zombie — handed your weapons in at the Power Station and joined the other side. Another survivor could cure you later, but you'd return unarmed and have to walk back to the Power Station to retrieve your gear. Lovely little administrative process, apocalypse edition.

As the weekend went on and supply dropped, the cure price climbed — from four bronze coins to around eight. Apocalypse inflation, apparently. The economy responded to scarcity in real time, which meant the pressure kept building even as players figured out how the system worked.

Zombies, Alpha Zombies, a Juggernaut, and people worse than all of them

Normal zombies were the base threat — turned players hunting survivors across the field. The organisers clearly decided that wasn't enough to keep anyone properly honest.

The Alpha Zombie could be shot but wouldn't go down unless you popped the small balloon attached to his chest. One change, completely different feel. Instead of suppressing fire, you had to hit a specific weak point under pressure. Players who treated him like a regular zombie found out quickly that wasn't going to work.

The Juggernaut could not be killed at all. The only way to deal with him was a grenade launcher or a grenade. That's a different threat model entirely — instead of "shoot it enough times," you had to ask whether you even had the right tool, and what to do if you didn't. Most gel blaster events never go near that design. This one committed to it fully.

The Marauders were a hostile human faction. Not zombies — people who'd decided the apocalypse was a good time to go hunting survivors with ambushes, traps and serious intent. So we weren't just watching for zombies. We were also dealing with people who could think, plan and ruin your day with considerably more enthusiasm than any sensible person should have. That's a different kind of pressure, and it never fully went away.

Saturday night — defending the Settlement in the dark

Saturday night was a one-hour Settlement defence. Simple objective. Brilliant setup. Hold three entry points against zombies, the Alpha Zombie, the Juggernaut, and a new threat — the Mutant — who was the only character that could break through the Settlement front gate.

That single mechanic gave the night defence real structure. Watch the gates for the Mutant. Manage everything else at the entry points. Hold the line in the dark. Each threat needed a different response, and doing all of it simultaneously under low visibility made it genuinely difficult rather than just tense.

Darkness makes everything harder, which makes it better. The confusion, the friendly-fire risk, the moment when you hear movement in the scrub and genuinely cannot tell what's coming — all of it gets amplified the moment the sun goes down. The night game was the most atmospheric part of the weekend, and it wasn't particularly close.

Day two — no zombies, just Marauders and a very tight clock

Sunday changed the game completely. No zombies. The Marauder force was much larger, and the survivors had three hours — 8:00 am to 11:00 am — to complete a full objective chain.

We had to retrieve pipes and components from the Hospital, find required items around the Power Station, raid the Marauders' Base to recover a bomb, bring everything back to the Settlement, and assemble it correctly. Only if all the required parts were present and properly put together would the bomb actually work.

The final step was activating the bomb outside the Settlement and defending the detonation point for two minutes. We made it, but only just. A clean run where everything goes smoothly would have felt considerably less earned. Smooth is overrated anyway. Smooth is what happens when nobody has put enough chaos into the game design.

The best part of the weekend — Queensland teams becoming one force

Several teams from across Queensland attended, and naturally everyone spent most of Saturday playing with their own crew. Groups form, trust builds within the group, coordination across groups stays loose. That's just how it goes — humans form little groups, give them names, then act surprised when wider coordination is hard.

The Sunday bomb objective had no patience for any of that. It required the Hospital, Power Station, Marauders' Base, bomb components and final detonation defence to all run simultaneously or in close sequence. No individual group had the numbers or field coverage to handle it alone. The mission forced communication between teams that had been operating independently since Friday afternoon.

The players showed up. Different teams, different styles, people who'd barely spoken before Sunday morning — and by 9:00 am they were coordinating assaults, covering flanks and holding a detonation point together under Marauder fire. The win felt earned because it genuinely was. Not from individual skill or firepower, but from groups choosing to work together when the objective left them no other option. That's the most human part of what was otherwise a weekend built around zombies and a bomb.

The effort behind it deserves to be said out loud

I'm deliberately not naming individuals, because too many people were involved and the fastest way to ruin a thank-you is to accidentally leave out someone who spent hours making the whole thing work.

But the handmade costumes for the zombies, Alpha Zombie, Juggernaut and Mutant were excellent. The 3D-printed coins, cure vials, shop setup, bomb prop, scenario structure and escalating objective design showed real planning and real time. This didn't feel thrown together the night before with a hot glue gun and optimism. It felt tested — built by people who actually cared whether it worked.

The balance between accessibility and depth was exactly right. Newer players had the story, the atmosphere and the coin economy to bring them in. Experienced players had the terrain, the threat variety, the Juggernaut's unkillable mechanic and the Sunday objective chain to keep them properly occupied. Getting both in the same event without compromising either is harder than it sounds, and this one managed it.

Why this kind of event matters for Queensland gel blasting

Gel blasters are legal to own and use in Queensland — the framework is clear and workable — and the community that's grown around that has more creative potential than most weekends show. The Aftermath Zombie Event is proof of what's possible when a field, a group of organisers and a community of players all put proper effort into the same thing at the same time.

Queensland needs events like this: creative, community-driven weekends that give players a reason to travel, camp, meet people and get properly involved. The field at Predator's Den gave it scale. The organisers gave it story. The players gave it energy. It was physically demanding, tactically interesting, funny in places, chaotic in others, and full of genuine community spirit — exactly the kind of weekend this hobby needs more of. If a future event at Predator's Den shows up on the calendar, go. The drive will be worth it. (Planning to make the trip? Our QLD milsim gear guide covers what to pack for a full-day regional op.)

Key takeaways

• Predator's Den in South Bingera is a serious Queensland venue — around 180 acres of dense bushland with purpose-built structures and real distance between objectives. Not a paddock.
• The one-coin gap in the cure economy was the best design decision in the event. Starting every survivor one coin short forced cooperation immediately, without a rule or explanation required.
• Four different threat types changed how players had to think — normal zombies, the Alpha Zombie's balloon weak point, the unkillable Juggernaut, and hostile Marauders, each needing a different response.
• The Sunday bomb objective was the weekend's peak. A mission that demands cross-group coordination under a tight clock produces the most satisfying wins.
• Free onsite camping makes the distance manageable. The drive from most of Queensland is real, but not having to sort accommodation removes the main logistical excuse.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where was the Aftermath Zombie Event held?

The Aftermath Zombie Event was held at Predator's Den in South Bingera, near Bundaberg, Queensland.

When was the Aftermath Zombie Event at Predator's Den?

The event ran across Saturday and Sunday, 24–25 May 2026, with free onsite camping available from Friday 23 May 2026.

What type of gel blaster event was it?

A survival-style zombie gel blaster event. Survivors faced normal zombies, an Alpha Zombie, a Juggernaut, a Mutant and a hostile Marauder faction while completing field missions across Predator's Den's 180-acre bushland venue — including a night Settlement defence and a final bomb detonation objective.

Was the Aftermath Zombie Event suitable for newer players?

Yes. The scenario story, in-game economy and community atmosphere gave newer players plenty to engage with, while experienced players had the terrain, threat variety and full objective chain to keep them occupied. The event balanced both without compromising either.

Is Predator's Den near Bundaberg worth travelling to?

After a 900km round trip and two and a half days there: yes. Free onsite camping makes the logistics easy, and a well-run scenario event at a proper Queensland bushland venue is worth the drive from most parts of the state.

What made the Aftermath Zombie Event stand out from other gel blaster events?

The constrained cure-vial economy, the cure-price inflation as supply dropped, handmade costumes for multiple zombie types, the night Settlement defence, the Marauder faction, and the final bomb objective that forced Queensland teams to operate together rather than independently.

RedSpear Armory — Queensland's dedicated marketplace for used gel blasters. Browse listings, sell your gear, and connect with the local QLD community at redspeararmory.com.au .