HUMAN

It felt like one of the coldest days in Statesboro. The weatherman predicted it would snow, but he didn’t predict that humans would be running from zombies.

Not real zombies, of course, but still scary nonetheless.

The biting wind blew across our faces as the four other humans loaded Nerf guns to their capacity. A combination of socks, Nerf guns and a game plan was all we had to fend off 17 zombies. We declared we were ready but is one ever truly ready for a zombie attack?

A group of five zombies charged toward us, but we shot them within a few seconds. The zombies ran back to the respawn zone and brought more zombies with them. As we tried to shoot the new zombies before they got too close to attack, the gun jammed.

At that moment, all you could do was run. It was one man versus three zombies. The odds didn’t look too good.

The ground was still wet from the rain the previous day. The leaves crunched underneath our shoes as we ran. Sweetheart Circle never felt so small until a swarm of zombies is surrounding you. A sock was in sight. Grabbing it while running by, you could feel a zombie was within range.

The sock flew through the air and wham! The zombie was hit; it stopped in it’s tracks.

There were two more, but no socks in sight. Heart racing, you pick up the pace and could feel yourself grow tired. Behind, a zombie slowed to a stop to catch it’s breath.

One zombie down, one to go.

Another zombie grew closer. In the instant of turning around to check, it was on you; you had been tagged.

Lesson: Always keep your eyes forward.

ZOMBIE

Being a zombie meant you had to turn on the people you were once partners with.

There were only three humans left.

Giving up your gun to the respawn zone, you run toward a human. Within two seconds, you feel the pop of two darts. Hit. Back to the respawn zone.

While turning back around, three zombies attacked a human at once. One went for his ankles, one for his chest, and the other for his back.

Two more humans left.

Zombies were running left and right with socks and darts. We gathered together and ambushed the humans. The zombies had won.

GAME OVER.

——

Human versus Zombies is an organization that is open to anyone.

“It’s a really great way to meet new people while getting your exercise at the same time. We classify ourselves as a special interest group but also an athletic student organization,” Sierra Moore, vice president of Human vs. Zombies, said.

There are two teams: humans and zombies.

There is a 10-day event where each team has a mission to do usually at night.

“Around 7:30 p.m., you’ll get a text that says ‘Hey, you have to find this thing across campus’ and the games will begin,” David Tullius, president of Human vs. Zombies, said.

Each game starts with one zombie and the zombies multiply quickly.

“A moderator’s job is to make the game. They come up with the theme, new classes for the humans and zombies, missions throughout the game and keep everything running smoothly through the game,” Courtney Cleaton, moderator of Human vs. Zombies, said.

The game is really simple.

Zombie’s try to tag humans with both hands to turn humans into one of them.

There are different types of zombies that try to attack in waves. Psycho, White Walker, Wraith, Brawler and Charger are a few of the new ones recently added. Each zombie has a distinct characteristic to aid during the game.

A Psycho zombie has noodles, which are used as extendable arms to tag humans. A White Walker zombie is immune to Nerf darts, but socks can stun it. A Wraith zombie is an immortal stunner. It holds onto humans for 15 seconds and stuns them, but it does not turn humans into zombies. A Brawler zombie has a shield and fist, one touch from this one and you become a zombie. Finally, a Charger zombie has a helmet to dodge off attacks.

A human’s objective is to ward off the zombies as long as possible by throwing darts and socks at the zombies. Once a zombie dies, it has to wait a certain amount of time to respawn.

To distinguish between the humans and zombies, humans wear bandanas on their arms while zombies wear bandanas on their head.

People travel from surrounding places like Savannah and Athens to participate in the games.

“We’ve had a relationship with Georgia Southern’s Human versus Zombies for a really long time now. I come here every weekend to participate. I like how challenging and difficult it is to win their games. It’s very cool,” Haley Baggerley, president of the University of Georgia Human vs. Zombies team, said.