Zombies Again?

On Monday, many ECU students broke away from their busy class schedules to participate in a campus-wide game of Humans vs. Zombies.

In the late afternoon, students of every class were seen wearing bandannas on their heads and arms and chasing each other with Nerf guns or socks. Freshman Caitlyn Daron and Shelby Barry started the game at ECU based on variations played on other college campuses.

"I heard about it from my friend who goes to Appalachian State," Daron said. "I never heard about it and my friend explained it. I took the rules from there and brought them here. My friend Shelby told me to go for it."

The rules of the game require each player to wear a bandanna that is visible either on their head or on their arms. Players wearing a bandanna on their head show that they are humans. Players wearing a bandanna on their arms show that they are zombies. A zombie must "eat" a human within 24 hours or they will "die." Once a human is turned into a zombie, they are to wear the bandanna on their right arm.

To make sure of the safety of every student, Daron explains that there are safe zones.

"The safe zones are dining halls, restaurants in Dowdy, inside any academic building and the dorm rooms, too. People can play at apartment complexes but outside," said Daron.

Before informing the ECU community of the game through Facebook, Daron contacted the ECU police to get approval.

"I called the campus police about the use of Nerf guns and they said it was OK. But, I talked to my R.A. and if you're caught with a Nerf gun [in a dorm], you'll get written up," said Daron.

However, on Facebook, it was posted that Nerf guns can be in residence halls as long as they are not being used. Daron and Barry also stressed that participants throwing socks must not put anything in them to avoid hurting other players.

While safety is stressed in the game, Daron explains how the concept and Zombie theme came about.

"The movie 'Zombieland' had just come out and my friends thought it was cool. Then my friend from Appalachian told me about the game they play there," she said.

Barry explains how she became involved.

"I'm moral support. Caitlyn made it up and we just invited our Facebook friends," said Barry.

With 1,068 players involved with the help of Facebook, Daron and Shelby were expecting the game to be fun but ran into problems on the first day. Because of the problems, Daron sent a message to the Facebook group members.

"There are entirely way too many zombies for the first day of the game, so I'm resetting the game. Everyone is human again. Starting out with five zombies this time. The lucky five will be messaged very shortly," said Daron through Facebook.

The game was originally set to occur during all hours; however, due to the time change and safety issues, the game can be played Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The game is put on hold during weekends and was reset on Nov. 3.

Daron and Barry hope the game will last a while.

"I'll call it quits before exams. We were hoping it would last till Thanksgiving but it will probably be after," said Daron. The game will also be called off if all players are turned into zombies or if all the zombies are killed off.

Before it is time to call the game, Daron and Barry hope the game will be a success. They say things will go smoothly and more important than having fun is being safe.

"If people go by the honor code, it will go great," said Daron. "Be careful about the Nerf guns. Be smart about where you shoot it."

You can find videos and pictures from the action at the ECU Zombie Game Facebook page.

This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.