Life at UMass: Humans Vs. Zombies

Well, folks, it's that time of year again. The time when it is no longer safe to walk around campus with any kind of bandanna, scarf, headband, etc. lest you be mistaken for participating in Humans vs. Zombies. If you DO make that mistake, do not be surprised to be ambushed, chased, or shot with a foam bullet by a player assuming that you are their opposition.

For those of you who are very confused and don't know what I'm talking about (aka, not a UMass student), here is the overview provided on the UMass Humans Vs. Zombies webpage:

Humans vs. Zombies is a game of tag played between two teams: human and zombie.
The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world, in which the winning team conquers and
outlives the other.

The goal of the human team is to survive the zombie onslaught from day one until the
final day, but stunning zombies with unmodified NERF weaponry (Buzzbee blasters are
also permitted), tossing clean balled up socks, and tossing fresh marshmallows. Once
stunned, zombies are ineligible to bite (tag) a human for a pre-set period of time.

Survival may be made easier for the human team depending on their success or failure
during a series of OPTIONAL side-missions and random encounters. In these
OPTIONAL side-missions and random encounters, the humans must satisfy a series of
objectives set by game administrators, while also fending off the zombie horde.

The sole goal of the zombie team is to devour all humans, by safely tagging human
players and recording their bite codes (each player carries a unique ID) and recording the
bites online.

Zombies are HIGHLY encouraged to feast on human flesh during the OPTIONAL side
missions and random encounters by any means possible. 


The website also describes the color codings for bandannas, indicating whether you are a human, self-bitten zombie, immortal zombie, self-bitten AND immortal, etc. There are some serious rules about safe zones and times. For instance, there is a concert at the Mullins Center tonight, for which the players are allowed a half-hour grace period before and after the show if they are attending. It is very serious business. The zombies in the photos above (red indicates a regular zombie) convened as I was walking by them, and I laughed to myself as I heard one say "I've only seen two humans all day!"

I have to say, that my first few years at UMass, I absolutely despised this game. I had no tolerance for the kids charging around campus with their Nerf guns, yelling to each other about where the zombies had gone to that they were trying to attack. At times it's still kind of annoying. However, I think I've grown more sympathetic since freshman year, and now I find the whole thing pretty amusing, and almost endearing. Everybody laughs at how weird these kids are and how obnoxious it is that they take over the campus. But really, we're all a little weird. And these kids are having way more fun than us anyway.

Zombie on,
R.