Spring Break
Zombies Again?
Zombie-themed reality game infecting campus
Heather Dinwiddie
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: News
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In the late afternoon, students of every class were seen wearing bandannas on their heads and arms and chasing each other with Nerf guns or socks. Freshman Caitlyn Daron and Shelby Barry started the game at ECU based on variations played on other college campuses.
"I heard about it from my friend who goes to Appalachian State," Daron said. "I never heard about it and my friend explained it. I took the rules from there and brought them here. My friend Shelby told me to go for it."
The rules of the game require each player to wear a bandanna that is visible either on their head or on their arms. Players wearing a bandanna on their head show that they are humans. Players wearing a bandanna on their arms show that they are zombies. A zombie must "eat" a human within 24 hours or they will "die." Once a human is turned into a zombie, they are to wear the bandanna on their right arm.
To make sure of the safety of every student, Daron explains that there are safe zones.
"The safe zones are dining halls, restaurants in Dowdy, inside any academic building and the dorm rooms, too. People can play at apartment complexes but outside," said Daron.
Before informing the ECU community of the game through Facebook, Daron contacted the ECU police to get approval.
"I called the campus police about the use of Nerf guns and they said it was OK. But, I talked to my R.A. and if you're caught with a Nerf gun [in a dorm], you'll get written up," said Daron.
However, on Facebook, it was posted that Nerf guns can be in residence halls as long as they are not being used. Daron and Barry also stressed that participants throwing socks must not put anything in them to avoid hurting other players.
While safety is stressed in the game, Daron explains how the concept and Zombie theme came about.
"The movie 'Zombieland' had just come out and my friends thought it was cool. Then my friend from Appalachian told me about the game they play there," she said.
Barry explains how she became involved.
"I'm moral support. Caitlyn made it up and we just invited our Facebook friends," said Barry.
With 1,068 players involved with the help of Facebook, Daron and Shelby were expecting the game to be fun but ran into problems on the first day. Because of the problems, Daron sent a message to the Facebook group members.
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