Humans prepare for zombie invasion

By Rose Finnerty, Staff Writer

October 25, 2007 | 6 a.m.

When zombies are mentioned, most people immediately think of the living dead that feast on brains featured in gory B movies. Here at Ohio University, though, students think of brightly colored Nerf guns, bandannas and sock balls.

After a campus-wide blackout last year, junior Josh Beebe and a few of his friends threw around the idea of a giant game of hide and seek or Nerf tag. Later that week, Beebe was browsing the Internet when he came upon a Web site promoting a game called “Humans Versus Zombies,” also known as HvZ.

At first Beebe was skeptical that “no one would want to do this,” but he soon brought the game to the attention of his friends and neighbors at the time, juniors Kevin Ley and Matt Pecikonis. The three friends immediately began planning the first annual HvZ game for the OU campus.

HvZ is a game played at quite a few college campuses across the country. Each college has their own variation of the rules, but the basics are all the same. There are two teams, the Human Resistance and the Zombie Horde. The objective of the Humans during this weeklong “outbreak” is to survive Zombie attacks and to put Zombies out of commission for a while. The objective of the Zombies is to turn all the humans into their own kind.

The OU rules are described in detail on the Facebook account that Beebe, Ley and Pecikonis set up last year. The first and most basic rule is the way the Humans and the Zombies are identified. Humans must wear a bandana loosely tied around their arm, above the elbow, and Zombies must wear a bandana tied either around their head or neck. Humans are armed with Nerf guns or sock balls and try to shoot the Zombies to temporarily incapacitate them. Zombies must try to sneak up on the humans and tear off their armbands, which causes the Humans to turn into Zombies.

Certain places like bathrooms and dining halls are “safe zones” and are off limits to game play. The game is governed by the honor system, so no one monitors if players stay as zombies or if they miraculously become humans again.

“Everyone reached a general consensus to play fair. “We’re college kids and it’s only a game,” Pecikonis said. All the official rules can be found on "Humans vs. Zombies OU Chapter."

The game was huge last year, with an estimated 700 people participating by the end. The founders had not anticipated such a turnout.

“Our best estimate was that we would get 100-150 people max,” Ley said. The game was hyped solely by a Facebook event, group invitations and word of mouth. The Facebook group alone reached about 645 people and an estimated 100 people joined later. “We got a huge influx of people once we started playing,” Beebe said.

Students began to really get into the game within a day or two. There were hideouts, a self-appointed zombie leader and battle chants. Then, of course, there was the battle at Jeff Hill. Approximately 150 people showed up for a showdown intended to increase the number of Zombies. Video trailers have been made from that night, and many players consider it to be the highlight of last year’s game.

Ever since the first game, the Facebook group has been hot. There are more than 50 pictures posted, numerous discussion board topics and wall posts, and there are talks of making T-shirts and movies to promote the game. Fans even have created a list called “You Know You’ve Played Too Much Humans Vs. Zombies When. . .” with about 90 different posts.

This year, fan-made posters can be found randomly hung across campus featuring various zombie-themed designs. Veterans of the game and newcomers alike are eager for this year’s festivities to begin. Wal-Mart has been informed to stock up on Nerf gear and many people are already buying their guns and vast supplies of ammo.

The founders are hoping to get at least 15 players to volunteer to start as Zombies this year to accommodate for the large numbers of players. The game started with 10 Zombies last year.

“It’s actually really interesting to be part of the whole game. The first few days you never see Zombies because they’re too scared to come out. By the end of the week they come out and attack during the day,” Beebe said, noting that daytime attacks were a clear indication that “the tide had turned.”

Beebe, Ley and Pecikonis, along with some avid players from last year, are hoping for an even larger turnout this year. The game begins at midnight Oct. 23 and ends at midnight Nov. 1. The week was chosen to encompass not only Halloween but also, more importantly, National Zombie Day which is October 25th. New players, as well as survivors and zombies from last year, will be sure to have their Nerf guns at the ready.

---

Visit the Facebook group.