I couldn’t stand him – until he gave me his gun

We were in a disused shopping centre in Reading hunting zombies (Picture: Darryl Hannah Baker)

‘Here, take my gun,’ insisted my colleague, Lee, after I realised mine was busted. 

‘Take it!’ he said again, with more urgency as shadowy figures gained on us; before thrusting his gun in my hands and disappearing into the darkness. 

Suddenly, I saw Lee through different eyes. 

We were in a disused shopping centre in Reading hunting zombies – well, actors pretending to be zombies. 

Although we’d been working together for three weeks at lads’ magazine Loaded – him in sales and me as a junior writer – I’d only met Lee properly two hours earlier. 

It was early 2013 and experiential, immersive experiences were all the rage. I’d been sent out on assignment – a PR event for the DVD release of a zombie movie – an...