Humans vs. Zombies: an inside look

By Matthew Ducharme

Posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009, 1:21 am

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Humans vs. Zombies, or HvZ, has been a part of campus life since last year, yet those not involved know little about the game’s inner workings. HvZ is essentially a giant game of tag with two types of players: humans, wearing yellow armbands, and zombies, wearing red armbands. Humans become zombies after being tagged by zombies. The winners are the humans who last the longest and the zombies who tag the most humans.

Within these boundaries lies an intricate world that consumes players as they go through their week. Simple activities such as getting to class can become brushes with danger. On Tuesday, I was particularly vulnerable because I had a class in Bennett Hall — a hot spot for zombie activity. I waited until 30 minutes past the hour to go anywhere — that was a survival rule for humans, always try to travel 30 minutes past the hour when traffic was less dense. I was able to slide past the other zombie hot spots, which included the Memorial Union and the mall. Having two classes in the same building became tiny blessings as my mind was continually occupied with avoiding the zombie onslaught.

Seasoned players hold an advantage over beginners. On Monday evening when the game began, a group of first-years tried to fight zombies instead of fleeing. They fell prey quickly, as the ratio began to change from the two zombies and 304 humans that started the game.

As midweek came around, I was having more adventurous run-ins with zombies. After a meal at Wells Commons, I was forced to sprint all the way to Estabrooke Hall — clutching my dessert in my hand the whole way.

Some people get more into the game than others. There were rumors of a zombie dressed as a ninja who would leap from trees to tag people. A sharp eye was needed to avoid zombies. I found myself hurrying through my meals just to get a step ahead of the zombies.

On Friday I ran into two extreme zombie encounters. First, I slowly walked past two zombies five feet away, and neither gave pursuit. Unfortunately my luck ran out when I was tagged by a zombie after my last class of the day.

After I was turned into a zombie, a great sense of anxiety was lifted. I had made it until Friday afternoon, far past my expectations at the beginning of the week, and I decided I would not hunt any humans. During my time playing the game, I learned a bunch of things. I learned a lot about campus after I was forced to take alternate routes to get to class, and I learned about all the escape doors in every building I went to. I learned to trust people, even though I didn’t know them well, as all playing gave a sense of togetherness. Lastly, I learned running away from zombies is a good cardio workout.