Load your Nerf guns; the Zombie Apocalypse is back

By Hannah Eckert 
Staff Writer  

One minute you’re walking, the next you’re sprinting. Deathly moans sound from around the corner you’re approaching. You turn around, and a figure slowly staggers toward you from behind. You’re trapped! Hoards of walking dead are getting closer. You have two choices: You either flee or you fight.

Welcome to the Zombie Apocalypse.

Started in 2011 by former students Kielyanne “Kiwi” Portesi Love and Luke Harris, the Zombie Apocalypse has been leaving all who dare participate trembling with fear for eight semesters now.

Sam Brock takes a bite out of Tim Baldi during the 2014 Apocalypse/Photo by Emily Cairns
Sam Brock takes a bite out of Tim Baldi during the 2014 Apocalypse/Photo by Emily Cairns

“Kiwi often came up with ideas to diversify life at Bryan. I think the Zombie Apocalypse was her making Halloween and imagination fun for adults,” said Tim Baldi, current game coordinator and 2012 Bryan College graduate.

Each semester like clockwork, students dress in costume and make their way to a designated meeting place on campus armed with styrofoam swords, Nerf guns and all the foam-based ammo they can carry. Before the chaos ensues, the gamemasters explain why the Apocalypse happened this time and lay down the rules of the game.

Once the formalities are dealt with and the weapons are tested to make sure they are safe, students are handed a number and a piece of cardboard to tape to their arm, signifying participation. Several numbers are randomly selected to be zombies.

After zombies have been chosen, weapons are strategically hidden around the building and people divide themselves into groups, while not knowing who has been designated a zombie and who has not. Five minutes later, the gamemasters call for the zombies to reveal themselves and rip off their cardboard.

If a zombie manages to grab and rip off another player’s cardboard, that player is turned into a zombie. In the most common scenario, the goal of the game is to survive the longest without being turned.

A different scenario includes the use of a doctor who can convert zombies back from the dead. In this case, the goal is to convert everyone into a human. The final scenario involves a character called “the psychopath,” whose goal is to turn everyone into a zombie without being turned himself.

Full-fledged zombie attack during the 2014 Apocalypse /Photo by Emily Cairns
Full-fledged zombie attack during the 2014 Apocalypse /Photo by Emily Cairns

In all possible scenarios, humans have the advantage of being able to run while zombies can only stagger.

Senior Sam Brock will be participating in the Zombie Apocalypse for the fifth time this semester and once enjoyed taking a turn as the psychopath, “My favorite memory is when I was the cause of human extinction because, as the psychopath, I destroyed the last hope for humanity.”

Junior Lexa Townshend, a Zombie Apocalypse veteran, is in it for the gore, “They come up with new and creative ways to destroy the human race. I love it.”

This semester’s  Zombie Apocalypse is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7. Adrenaline-seekers from every class and department, living or dead, are welcome to join the game.