36. RUN DMZ BREWERY AND DISTILLERY

This building was the former Connors Street Community and Senior center, it was built in conjunction with Rayder Towers, and was at one time full of start of the art learning and health equipment.  However, it was hit hard during Carnival and the gang battles that followed. 

Many people in the Zone have their own stills, and many people brew their own beers.  But Run DMZ is the only one doing it in bulk.  When a nomad by the name of Memphis Bill took over the Center and started Run DMZ, he turned the gymnasium into a distillery, where a distinct brand of moonshine is made in large stills.  This Moonshine varies slightly in flavor and alcohol content with each batch due to the availability of ingredients and demand, but is distinct in that it tastes something like a mixture of Scotch and Spiced Rum, with a hint of orange.  No one outside the distillery knows the exact recipe, but it has become very popular in the Zone, and is even attaining notoriety outside the Zone, showing up in some of the trendier clubs at inflated prices.  Inside the Zone, it’s by far the cheapest hard liquor available, as premium brands are hard to get here… even for the places like Bitter Sea and Club Crossroads. 

Later a Belgian couple named Phillippe and Lizette Chambert came to him with their beer recipe, and their plans for setting up a brewery.  Bill made them partners, and now the three run one of the most profitable legitimate businesses in the Zone, as well as one of the largest employers. The area that used to be an Olympic sized indoor swimming pool now houses the large kettles used to ferment the beer, and the changing rooms now house the processes to filter and bottle it.  Run DMZ label beer comes in a variety of flavors.

To finance the initial equipment, Bill sold the computers, other electronics and medical supplies from the center off, or traded them for whatever he could.  He hires the Walking Dead as security and Run DMZ employs about 40 men and women, mostly in bottling, and in delivery.  Their proximity to the wall allows them to receive bottles and ingredients, although they are not allowed to legally sell their products outside the Zone due to the high alcohol content and the fact that no health inspector will willingly enter the Combat Zone.  They have turned the unused portions of the center into a living area for themselves and employees.

Written By Deric Bernier, image from Alien

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