{"236841":{"#nid":"236841","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Campus Faces Zombie Apocalypse","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EYellow bandanas. Flying marshmallows. The walking un-dead. The sudden presence of these things on campus can only mean one thing: Georgia Tech has come under zombie attack.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor one week every semester, hundreds of students join in to play what\u2019s essentially an elaborate game of tag \u2014 Humans vs. Zombies (HvZ). The game is open to all students, faculty, and staff and takes place outdoors, all over campus, with a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hvz.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ewebsite\u003C\/a\u003E tracking each player\u2019s achievements throughout the week.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA few of this year\u2019s HvZ administrators were willing to discuss gameplay, strategy, and how they advise surviving one of the deadliest weeks of the year, which, this semester, will be Sept. 16-20.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrom Stephanie Greear, chief disciplinarian and fifth-year international affairs and modern languages major (and an administrator for all 10 HvZ games that have taken place at Tech):\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow is HvZ played?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEveryone but the Original Zombie starts off as human, and they defend themselves with socks or marshmallows that they try to hit zombies with to stun them. Zombies are stunned for a default of 10 minutes, during which time they can\u2019t play. We have missions every day where each faction will have some kind of objective to complete to aid their side or harm the other\u2019s odds of winning. \u003Cem\u003E(Humans are identified by the yellow bandanas tied around their upper arms. Zombies\u2019 bandanas are tied around their heads.)\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWho gets the honor of Original Zombie?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOZ has an application and interview process because it\u2019s such an important job. A bad OZ leads to a bad game, so we always try to get the best person we can.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIs there a winner?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat depends on how you define \u201cwinning.\u201d If you define it by humans surviving the finale, then we\u2019ve only had 11 people \u201cwin\u201d the game. Humans survived during the very first and fifth games, but none have survived since. For future survivors there is a \u201cSurvivor\u201d achievement on our website, which people really, really want. We like to joke that everybody wins when the zombies win, because that means everyone has become a zombie.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat\u2019s involved in your role as chief disciplinarian?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMy title springs from being the person who gets to yell at players for doing something wrong. Our players are smart \u2014 this is Georgia Tech, after all \u2014 and love to find loopholes in the rules or sometimes just blatantly break them, so someone has to step in. The Georgia Tech rules list is the longest of any HvZ game from any school because we have to be so specific with things.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat\u2019s the best strategy for humans? And zombies?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe biggest strategy for both sides is stealth. Taking weird paths around campus and hiding really well will save you from being \u201cnommed\u201d or from starving out as a zombie. \u003Cem\u003E(Zombies need to feed every 48 hours.)\u003C\/em\u003E HvZ players are probably the best people to ask for directions on campus because we\u2019ve learned it so well to survive or hunt.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere\u2019s the best place to take shelter on campus in the event of a zombie takeover?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFreshman year my friends and I used to spend a lot of time thinking up the best zombie apocalypse plans. I think we agreed that Brittain would be the best place to go because there are so few doors and there would be food of varying degrees of edibleness.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy should students play?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHvZ is a community building network, a place to make friends. All my closest friends are from HvZ, and we\u0027ve had so many people meet their significant others through the game that we\u2019ve joked about HvZ being a dating site.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrom Wes Hunt, head admin and fourth-year civil engineering major:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat was your experience like as Original Zombie?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe semester I was OZ, I spent the morning tagging a few people that didn\u0027t expect me to be out so early. As the day went on, I\u0026nbsp;discreetly\u0026nbsp;kept tagging unsuspecting humans and kept the horde growing. At one point, a human tried to take a picture of me, which made me run back to my dorm room to change clothes. Throughout the week, I did my best to be the zombie leader, with one other zombie running a \u201chivemind\u201d of sorts \u2014 a central information zombie who sends out texts to all other zombies with information about humans moving around.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are the essential skills for a zombie seeking fresh humans?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EZombies should know where the kill zones are. Howey, Skiles, Student Center, and dining halls are great camp zones. The more zombies group together, the more likely they can kill the humans they find. If it\u2019s one zombie against one human, the human will almost always stun the zombie.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy is there so much tension between humans and zombies?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EZombies represent everything humans are against: dying, decaying, and eating other humans. They are a walking reminder of the dark horrors of death. Humans fight to survive, and zombies must feed to continue with their terrible un-lives.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy do you play?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s a short break from school, from responsibility, and from reality to run around with socks and marshmallows, throwing them or chasing after the poor, lone human trying to outrun me. Sure, I still go back to my apartment at the end of the day and work on that four-page homework assignment or study for that huge test coming up, but there isn\u0027t anything like Humans vs. Zombies that can give such a release from the stress of Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrom Daniel Valdez, admin and third-year applied mathematics major:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat\u2019s your strategy for staying human?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStay vigilant, stay paranoid.\u0026nbsp;Most players don\u0027t die because they are overwhelmed by zombies. Instead, it\u0027s because a zombie sneaked up on them. Also, travel during class times. Nothing gets you killed faster than walking around during class change on Thursday or Friday.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are the essential skills for a human avoiding zombies, or for a zombie seeking fresh humans?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a human avoiding zombies, you need to understand the zombie mindset. Most zombies are lazy. You can avoid the horde \u2014 though not everyone \u2014 by simply taking the long, less busy route to wherever you are headed. As a zombie seeking humans, you can really find them anywhere. During my OZ game, I usually just walked around the center of campus. Granted, this is much easier to do if you look like a human. But even later in the week, keeping your eyes open and pursuing any potential kills will work well. A chance at a kill is almost always worth getting stunned. To quote another admin, \u201cStuns last 10 minutes, kills last forever.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy is there so much tension between humans and zombies?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn general, zombies are hungry, and humans are delicious.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow does HvZ compare to what you\u2019d do in case of a real zombie apocalypse?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI would act exactly the same, assuming real zombies are also inexplicably subdued by a rolled-up sock covered in duct tape.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy do you play?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis week is the most fun of the semester. You wouldn\u0027t think paranoia as a human would be enjoyable, but it\u2019s\u0026nbsp;exhilarating. The thrill of killing a human after a valiant battle or a stealthy chase is without equal. And that\u2019s only during regular gameplay; the missions bring a whole new level of teamwork and excitement. Basically, if you don\u0027t play, you\u2019re missing out.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor one week each semester, hundreds of people on campus join in an elaborate game of tag to play Humans vs. Zombies.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"For one week each semester, hundreds of people on campus join in an elaborate game of tag to play Humans vs. Zombies."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2013-09-12 09:30:53","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:53","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-09-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-09-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"236801":{"id":"236801","type":"image","title":"Humans vs. Zombies Horde","body":null,"created":"1449243659","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 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