Students abruptly gathered for safety inside the Hall of Languages, gripping their weapons tightly. Sweat poured from their faces as they calculated their next move. After all, this was a matter of life and death.

Who they were or where they came from was irrelevant. Comprised of mostly strangers, the ragtag group had one thing in common.

Killing zombies.

Or at least that’s what they’d like to think. Surrounded by a swarm of students imitating the undead, the group represented the remaining survivors in the ongoing  ‘Humans vs. Zombies’ game currently infecting Syracuse University.

Outbreak began when Victoria Taylor and Erica Bortnick created a Facebook page promoting the augmented game of tag. When the game officially started on Sunday, the two sophomore illustration majors said they were surprised when more than 130 students signed up for the hunt.

‘I never knew the game existed until I joined my friend in a game at Ithaca College,’ Bortnick said. ‘Victoria and I decided we would see if people were interested in it, and it just took off from there.’

‘Humans vs. Zombies’ is played on college campuses throughout the nation. The game begins with all players tying a bright bandana around their arm, signifying their human status.

Then, two zombie players are secretly let loose to tag, or ‘devour,’ the humans. Once a human is tagged, he or she then puts the brightly colored bandana on their head, signifying their new role as a zombie. As the amount of zombies grows, the player’s struggle to survive increases until the time limit is over. Whoever is left uninfected wins.

Humans might seem a little on edge as zombies are potentially lurking behind every corner. Carefully timing each step, participants can’t stop looking over their shoulder. The human players can’t stop to talk to a friend on the Quad, and they can’t stop straddling the trigger of purple and green Nerf guns. Paranoia is in the air. Their best hope to defend themselves is with a toy dart gun, which, when fired at the zombies, deactivates them for a short amount of time. All it takes is a group of zombies to spot them and it’s game over.

‘I’m very paranoid. It’s very difficult to be a human,’ said Martin Biando, a freshman art photography major who was uninfected as of Tuesday. ‘I have not gone through the Quad once this week.’

Usually, human players try to travel in groups, as this makes the zombie killing easier. But the struggle for survival has budded unexpected friendships across campus.

‘We’re all getting to know each other,’ Taylor said. ‘It’s really bringing people together who wouldn’t hang out otherwise.’

Whether they are sprinting to Crouse College together or shooting zombified students with foam darts — each one inscribed with their name on it — these students are forging bonds. 

‘I just met someone from my dorm I’ve never met before,’ said Greg MacDonald, a freshman aerospace engineer major, as he and fellow survivors were trapped inside the Hall of Languages by a horde of zombie players, formulating an escape plan to Hendricks Chapel. ‘It’s almost a motivation to get out and go to class.’

With the academic year almost over, Taylor and Bortnick, the creators of the Facebook group, said the game is an amusing form of stress relief.

‘It helps spread the fun around campus,’ Bortnick said. ‘Especially now that the long winter’s over, we get to go outside.’

John LoDolce, a senior chemical engineering major and a current zombie, finds the job of a zombie easier than that of a human. There’s no gun to carry around and no paranoia. Lying on the Quad, LoDolce is able to breathe easy as a zombie.

‘It’s so much fun. It’s a great way to break from everything,’ he said. ‘I’m really surprised at how many zombies have shown up in the past few days.’

As the war between human and zombie rages on, people who haven’t been playing are taking notice. When civilians become stuck in the crossfire, the game is often met with a rolling of eyes or a quiet snicker under their breath.

‘I think it’s silly. You just don’t see that every day,’ said Jessica Ekstein, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. ‘But, why not?’

The struggle between human and zombie is far from over. As of Wednesday, more than 400 players have joined the group. The foam darts will keep flying until Sunday, when Bortnick and Taylor will create a special mission for the remaining humans. Whoever wins the final battle will be crowned the winner of the event.

‘I think me and Erica are just really neat and quirky people. We really don’t care what other people think of us,’ Taylor said. ‘So it was the perfect opportunity to run around with Nerf guns.’

Until Sunday, the zombie numbers can only grow. As it becomes increasingly difficult for the humans to survive, the pockets of survivors will keep looking over their shoulders. Always darting inside a building for safety, never knowing when the next wave of undead classmates will rise and never knowing just when their day will get a little more interesting

‘It’s cool,’ MacDonald said. ‘It’s extra ordinary in an ordinary day.’

ansteinb@syr.edu

Published on April 14, 2010 at 12:00 pm