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The mission: Find the human base, steal their tub of Twinkies, put the tub in the middle of the Nicholls State University quad to lure the humans out and then launch a full-on zombie attack.
Wait, what? Thibodaux has zombies?
Yes, zombies were trying to take over Nicholls last week, but it was all part of the student’s campus-wide Halloween festivities.
“We need to split into two groups to find them and take the Twinkies,” said zombie leader Korin Boyd, a freshman art major from Pointe-aux-Chene, as she readied her force of eight zombies. “Once we get the Twinkies to the Quad, spread out and hide around the area and, when they get to the Twinkies, rush them from all angles. If they shoot at you, dodge it.”
The nine-deep pack of zombies were just a few of the 127 students taking part in the weeklong game of tag – if you are attacked by a zombie, you become one or, if you are a human, you stun the zombies for three minutes with Nerf guns darts or wadded up socks to keep them from eating your brain and haul butt away as fast as you can. Prior to the start of Wednesday night’s mission, humans were still in the lead, 79 uninfected to 48 infected.
There are several rules in the game but basically those with orange bandanas on their arms, toting Nerf guns, are usually humans and those with orange bandanas on their heads, well, lets just say, you should run from them ‘cause all they want are to eat your brains. Goal of the game: to be on the side with the most people, dead or undead, standing.
“The humans are still in the lead, but the zombie numbers are growing,” said zombie moderator Tyler Adams, a sophomore mass communication student from Bourg. “The original zombies, called ozies, can wear their bands on their arms like humans and lure the humans into the open. We’ll tally the numbers at the end of the week and see who wins.”
Adams recalled a year when someone broke into the Bollinger Student Union while playing, thus necessitating many of the rules that are more to keep people out of real trouble than safeguard against zombie-related issues.
“Climbing trees is outlawed, too,” said zombie Katie Hoffman, a sales and marketing sophomore from Baton Rouge, laughing. “Last year, a zombie jumped out of a tree and attacked two humans. Nobody was hurt and it was a pretty cool attack, but we had to make a rule against it.”
In the scheme of the campus-wide game of tag, buildings are safe zones for humans, but they must immediately exit through another entrance, and the open space north of Elkins Hall, the “front” of campus, and roads are not in play.
“We don’t want folks on the road seeing people chasing others with guns from afar,” said human Heath Vizier, a sophomore business major from Thibodaux. “Remember zombies, if you are hit, you are stunned for three minutes. I know with the adrenaline rush, you might not know you are hit, but you need to stay stunned and not cheat. We need to play with our Nerf guns like adults, if that really makes any sense.”
At 5 p.m., Vizier and the 17 other humans took off for their base, giving Boyd and her group of zombies 10 minutes to plan their chase.
“I think their base may be near the residence halls, so let’s start there first,” Boyd said. “Let’s break into two groups and, when we get closer to the halls, fan out.”
Boyd and her zombie band quickly traveled out of the quad to the south side of union, utilizing building corners and bushes to check for humans before signaling to others that it was safe to move forward. One of the two groups then made its way around the backside of the residence halls, moving parallel to Bowie Road while the other group traveled the sidewalk along Acadia Drive.
After a search for humans near the residence halls turned up no mortals or Twinkie tubs, the first group of zombies crossed Acadia Drive and traveled to the east side of Ellender Memorial Library, soon noticing that the second group of zombies had cornered several humans on the east side of the building.
The first battle of the night was began as all the zombies came together, and the group charged the humans amid a barrage of flying bright orange foam darts. Two humans did not make it out of the fracas as mortals, and most of those who did fled the area after collecting their zombie-stunning darts.
Vizier, who made it through the skirmish, soon found himself being chased by most of the zombies to an empty field on the west side of the library.
“Let’s all charge him at one time,” one of the zombies yelled as Vizier found himself backed up against Madewood Drive.
Vizier quickly reloaded his Nerf gun clip and began firing as the zombies charged him, stunning all but a few of the undead pursuers.
As the zombies waited off their stun time, several of the humans, including Tyler Davidson, a freshman mass communication major from Berwick, made their way to the safety of the union’s southern entrance.
“This is a great way for students to meet each other and hang out with people from different demographics,” Davidson said as he and three other humans made their way to an alley between the union and Talbot Hall and came face to face with the four of the zombies.
With only 10 minutes left in play, the last battle of the mission ensued.
“Corner them, corner them!” yelled one of the humans as he began firing into the group of zombies, stunning three of them before he and his fellow homo sapiens ran a game of cat and mouse on a trapped zombie, stunning him as well.
Buzz: Time was up. Zombie mission incomplete, but their forces grew by two.
Korin Boyd, left, a freshman art major from Pointe Aux Chene, and Collin Harrelson, a freshman art major from Raceland, give their best zombie faces prior to the start of the Nicholls State University’s Zombies versus Humans game. The weeklong event was hosted as part of the university’s Halloween festivities.
