BLOGS-The exciting life of the pretend-a-freshman

Humans versus Zombies

By Aisha Stern, blogger

October 26, 2007 | 1:56 p.m.

I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a war going on right now. I'm talking about the one of campus, of course. According to Facebook, there are 631 participants, not counting the various people who have joined the fight but not the group. You've certainly noticed the two sides-- they're armed with Nerf guns and have taken to wearing bandanas around their arms or heads, depending on which side they're on.

I'm talking about Humans versus Zombies, in case you haven't figured it out. From what I've gleaned from checking out the Facebook group, you are either a human or a zombie. At the start of the game, the moderators of the group select the zombies from the people that have joined, and leave the carnage to the players. As the game progresses, more and more humans become zombies, though zombies can also be killed, albeit until the next 'respawn' time, when a zombie is allowed to participate again.

I'm not participating, even though I came very close to doing so. A few things factored into my decision, but the main thing that really made up my mind was knowing how stressed I often am- even though I thrive when I wake up knowing I have a list as long as my arm that needs done by the day's end- the edginess of the human participants I've seen on campus is not something I need to add to my life. They don't seem to stand still, and are always looking suspiciously around them, as if waiting for death to fall from the sky like an anvil. That is a little too close to real war for me, and would leave me such a mess of nerves that it would take me until finals to not be on edge, waiting for a Nerf dart in the back.

A few other things have really bothered me about the game, including the injuries that seem to result from playing. One person I know broke his leg last year, which, if I’m remembering correctly, happened because he was chasing zombies, down West Washington Street and tripped. I also really dislike the war mentality people seem to go into, where they absolutely must win. It doesn't seem that prevalent, but it's still something that bothers me. Having been an observer to the madness last year definitely fueled my decision to not participate again this year.

The more seriously people take the game, the more willing they seem to be to make up their own rules, which is why the funniest thing about Humans versus Zombies, to me, is that they are trying to maintain order. The administrators of the Facebook group have a list of about ten rules on there, but they seem to be broken or bent rather consistently throughout the game. It reminds me of playing tag when I was younger, with friends insisting they had not been tagged, or that the tag did not count because of x, y, or z. If you aren't playing a board game, I don't see how you can honestly expect people to follow the rules, especially when there are so many people involved. It's a game of survival, and if survival means bending the rules a little, people are going to do it. Maybe I'm just cynical and everyone is actually playing fairly and nicely and getting along like best buddies, but I really doubt it.

I imagine next year, when I am living in the dorms, I'll probably end up participating, because it really does look fun. But right now, as a pretend-a-freshman with a full plate, the stress and insanity of Humans versus Zombies is more than I want to deal with.