As the sun rises on Monday, Oct. 20 a zombie will begin its slow solitary amble around Northern Michigan University’s campus in search of fresh flesh to feast on. Its hope is to infect all humans with an unknown virus by the end of the week.
This is the basis for Humans vs. Zombies (HvZ), a game of tag that will take place on campus from Oct. 20 through Oct. 24. It is free to play and all you have to do is sign up on hvzsource.com/nmuhvz.
One original zombie will be randomly selected from the participant list on the source website, while everyone else starts as a human. At 7 a.m. Monday, the game begins and it’s live or be un-living.
The field of play is “from the dorms to Cohodas,” senior zoology major and head moderator Christopher Hatridge said. Dorms are safe, the LRC is safe, parking lots are safe, even riding your bike is safe, but if you are outside on campus walking on those lively legs watch out.
All it takes to become a zombie is to be tagged by one.
“While it’s fun to be a human and try to survive the entire week, the game doesn’t end if you get tagged,” senior business management major and HvZ moderator Aubrey Kall said. “Being a zombie is just the next stage of the game, and it’s less stressful.”
There is hope for the humans, however, and it comes in the shape of those small sugary treats that taste so good with graham crackers and chocolate. A hit from a marshmallow to the torso stuns the zombie for five minutes allowing the human escape.
Zombies will be identified by wearing a bright green piece of fabric around their head, while humans will wear the same strip of fabric on their right arm. Once tagged the once-human-now-living-dead must put the headband around its head and begin to do what zombies do best: hunt the still beating hearts of humans.
The bright green pieces of fabric will be handed out for free to all participants from 2 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16 from the ticket office in Jamrich and 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19 in the Payne-Halverson lobby.
Marshmallows will also be sold for 25 cents per bag which covers the cost of the identifying fabric and keeps the game free. Participants are also always welcome to purchase their own zombie-thwarting marshmallows.
Every evening during the week there will be an objective-based mission which, if completed, will result in beneficial rewards which will help in winning the final mission. As the week progresses and it becomes harder to just be human, the rewards become more beneficial to help the ever diminishing population of humans.
“Not to release too specific [of] details, but my favorite mission this year will be Tuesday,” senior political science pre-law and accounting major Greg Wegener said, moderator of the Human vs. Zombies game. “We have a goal for each mission. Each one is different.”
To win the game as a human you must survive the entire week. Alternately to win for the zombie side all humans must perish. But there is a catch for those humans that think they can wait out the entire week in their dorm room munching on Funyuns, to win you must participate in the final mission on Friday.
If you want to test how well your zombie apocalypse plan works, now is the time. Stock up on food, water, marshmallows and keep a close eye on your surroundings. You never know what lifeless eyes are watching.
For more information on the rules of the game visit hvzsource.com/nmuhvz or join the group NMU Humans vs. Zombies 2014-2015.
