First Mission a “Bloodbath”

On Saturday October 17 the area of campus behind Orchard Hill was flooded with bandana-wearing students during the first mission of this semester’s Humans v. Zombie game.

“What do we want? BRAINS!” This rally cry was screamed as crowds of zombies descended on human squads carrying a 20-foot ‘battering ram’ and armed with automatic Nerf rifles.

Keith Rood, one of the game’s administrators, said the mission was a ‘big win’ for the Zombies. “We’ve had humans massacre in the first mission before,” but the zombies strategy carried them through successful shootouts with the humans. The key to zombie victory was a plan to stick together. “Sometimes the zombies aren’t familiar with each other by the first mission,” Rood said.

Human players picked up the battering ram outside of Brooks Hall in Central Residential Area at 1 p.m. Their goal was to march through campus and hit cardboard fortifications surrounding a pond. The mission was completed when humans escorted people from the trail to the Orchard Hill bowl.

Once the mission had finished, Rood was unclear whether or not the next scheduled mission would happen. Rood and the other administrators were to vote later that night. There were such high human losses, he said, “there might not be a large turn out.”

Squad leaders for both teams were Tweeting during the battle. Human leader Ed Clairmont called the mission a ‘bloodbath’. His was the only squad that survived the mission. A task, he said, that was all thanks to his squad’s preparedness. “It’s a good [thing] some of us were up all night at work planning for the mission today,” he wrote on Twitter.

Sean Moore, zombie squad leader, led his squad despite a bruised heel. “I may be limping and injured, but I will still eat your brains,” he Tweeted afterward. He also encouraged zombies to hold off on using ‘vaccines’, until they were made
available for everyone.