“I don’t know how many of them are out there,” a cryptic voice said. “They can’t be stopped.”
These words rolled over a crowd of students in Legacy Hall armed to the teeth with Nerf blasters. These students had gathered with one thing in mind, zombies.
Since it was started two years ago, WT students have spent a few days of their spring semester fleeing the undead. Once again students prepare for the upcoming apocalypse in another game of Humans vs. Zombies.
The game of HVZ is played on many college campuses across the nation and is essentially a game of tag with a little embellishment. The aim of the game is for either the humans to survive until Sunday or for the zombies to infect every last human. The zombies do so simply by tagging the humans. Humans are not defenseless; armed with Nerf blasters and balled up socks, they can freeze zombies in place and escape to live another day. The game will start Wednesday and continue through Sunday, April 7. Throughout the game, players on both sides will participate in various missions both during the day and at night.
Last week students gathered in Legacy Hall for the mandatory meetings. Release waivers were signed, T-shirts were purchased and students lined up at laptops to sign into the HVZsource.com system. Residence Hall Association (RHA) President Brianna Moore went through all the rules of play, always coming back to one recurring phrase.
“Don’t be stupid,” she said.
After the presentation, RHA members and two police officers took participants outside to inspect their Nerf armories, approving some and spray painting those that weren’t proper colors.
“Not a lot has changed,” Moore said. “[There are] more distinct rules and more clarification.”
Moore and her team of moderators will be dedicated to making sure all players have fun while staying safe. The biggest focus of the meetings was explaining all the rules and to answer any questions the prospective zombie hunters had. A focus was also placed on the safety of everyone involved.
“We have more people than the past two years [so] we expect more participating in the missions,” Moore said.
Of the missions, Moore teased little details. Missions could cover objectives like defending a base, escorting a VIP or gathering items.
“It’s going to be awesome. I’m excited,” Stephen Enriquez, freshman Computer Science major, said.
