You never know what may be lurking behind every corner, underneath a bridge or in the darkness of the night. Warn your friends, get your survival kit together–Zombies are roaming California State University, Stanislaus, searching for human flesh. In honor of Halloween approaching, the popular game, Human vs. Zombies, has been brought back to CSU Stanislaus for the fall 2012 semester.
Eric Meneses (senior, Criminal Justice), Community Lead for Phase Two and Three of the Housing and Residential Life community, has spearheaded the activity.
“The main purpose of bringing this activity back is to bring the community on campus together,” Meneses said. “It also helps get on-campus residents out of their rooms, allowing potential for more social networking while having fun.”
The activity is loosely based on a combination of tag and hide and go seek. Humans vs. Zombies is a game that only allows on-campus residents an opportunity to participate in. The game is exclusive to on-campus residents because documentation is taken daily to record who has been tagged and transformed over to the side of the zombies.
In the beginning of the game participants are given Center of Disease Control (CDC) identification cards identifying themselves as humans. Only one individual is randomly selected to be the first zombie, and their status remains undisclosed. The original zombie must tag as many humans as they can in hopes of “infecting” them, which then causes the humans to become zombies.
The game is played through the month of October and requires some interesting equipment. Participants need an orange or green headband that identifies distinction between human and zombie, a CDC identification card and clean rolled up socks. Humans use the clean socks as a method of “stunning” zombies to gain extra time to get away before the zombies can feed.
According to Meneses, the game has seen a significant increase from 40 student participants in the spring of 2012 to an approximated 70 students participating this fall semester. Unfortunately, sign-ups for Humans vs. Zombies have already taken place and the game does not allow any more participants to sign up after the game has begun.
Participating students share their enthusiasm about their game planning strategies, forming teams and some even have specific game plans.
“I plan to survive, so Zombies, watch out,” David Jones (freshman, Biology) said. “Don’t forget, I got socks for days.”
If you see socks flying by you while you’re walking to class, it’s because the humans are trying to stay alive. Strict rules require safety measures expected to be upheld by participants. It is advised that spectators refrain from interruption of the game and allow the concept of “survival of the fittest” to take its course.
“I’m super excited to eat people if I have the chance to be a zombie,” Joseph Mini (freshman, Physics) said.
Students who have previously played offer advice to newcomers this semester.
“I’m excited to play this game again because I was the winner in the second game played last spring,” Rafael Jimenez (sophomore, Sociology) said. “Think on your feet, zombies pop out of nowhere.”
Once all humans have been tagged, hope for mankind will be lost, and zombies will rule the campus triumphantly. Play safe, fair and good luck to those who are brave enough to play this ghoul game!