SUMMIT — When a group of friends at a shop in Summit heard about a pair of deputies who needed some help, they got to work and called in the zombies.

“We wanted to do something to raise money for two brothers who are both in bad situations,” said Josh Painter, explaining the inspiration for Infected: Zombie Apocalypse  — the haunted house attraction hosted by Avalon Treasures at Meade Station Plaza.

“Basically it’s the zombie apocalypse with all your other fears involved,” Painter summarized.

The haunted house will be open from 7 p.m. to midnight, Wednesday through Saturday, for the rest of the month, as well as Oct. 31 as part of a larger effort to benefit deputies Rick Farrell and John Fultz.

“We are working in conjunction with Brother's Fall Festival Committee,” said Avalon Treasures owner Kelly Collins. “Brothers Fall Festival was established by two local deputy jailers, Matt Sizemore and Josh Painter. Their goal is to sponsor an annual fall festival to aid local heroes who had experienced hardship or tragedy. This year’s recipients are Deputy Rick Farrell, whose family lost everything this year in a house fire, and Deputy John Fultz, who is experiencing a serious health crisis.”

Working with a core group of about 15 people, Collins said the local zombie outbreak now has about 25 actors and one technician dedicated to giving their guests a fine fright for $6. “It’s a group effort to make this happen,” Collins said, joking that everyone involved “will need a month off after this.”

Collins crafted the script for “Infected: Zombie Apocalypse” after a few intense brainstorming sessions with Painter and others, and the group has since spent an estimated 4,000 hours constructing the outdoor attraction, designing costumes, building props and fine-tuning frights.

“We did run-thrus and tweaked and added scares,” Collins said, explaining they also filmed video segments which include authentic films about reanimation from the old Soviet Union to set the stage. The haunted house has been getting great reactions from visitors, including an online review by “Dr. Sick,” who declared it the best in the Tri-State. A commercial for the haunted house can be found online at youtube.com/watch?v=OtHIFi9KSJA.

 The “Infected” volunteers report they have already been rewarded by unexpected reactions to the haunted house, including one lady who may have temporarily lost control of her bodily functions, and a young girl who snapped off a handle inside her mother’s vehicle in response to an actor wielding a chain saw. Thursday evening’s guests Maira Gonzalez, Chance Perry, Brandi Alicie and Carly Rice gave the crew their approval for a job well done after making their way through the infected areas.

“She was scared when the guy popped out at the beginning,” Alicie said, nodding toward Rice.

“I had fun watching her be scared,” Perry said with a grin, squeezing Gonzalez tight after her tour which included several prolonged and upclose encounters with many of the actors inside. The small group easily agreed, “The best part was the girl on the bed. That was intensely scary.”

Painter said they plan to have another benefit festival and haunted house next fall. “We’re going to help some local heroes,” he said.

The Brother’s Fall Festival, with “fun and games, crafters, and more,” will be from noon to 7 p.m. Oct.26 and 27. For more information, call Avalon Treasures at (606) 371-9931.

TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com.