After a long action-packed, paranoia-filled week, Humans VS Zombies has come to a close. Last night was the last mission of the game and would decide the winners. 14 humans went up against the rest of the zombies and the zombies came out on top. Zombies have won Humans VS Zombies again!
HvZ was the funnest thing I've done since I got here at KSC. Right from 12:01 am that cold Wednesday night, I had fun doing it 24 hours a day. I would always be cautious going outside, whether I was looking for zombies to defend myself against or to see if I needed to haul ass towards a human and pray to the HvZ Gods that their gun misfired. At 4am walking back to my room or sitting in my room protecting myself from the zombie infestation checking the official site to see how many humans and zombies there were. It was always fun for me.
After surviving 48 hours almost exactly, I got infected. I'll admit, I was pissed. But as soon as I got my first tag, the game was fun again. I ended the game with two tags, and oh did they feel good. Nothing feels better than running up to and touching a complete stranger from behind and surprising them...should I word that differently?
The missions were the most exciting part of the game. It was literally every human against every zombie completing tasks to earn bonuses throughout the game like less/more stun time for zombies which could make or break the zombies' plans to infect every human. During one mission, the humans needed to protect 3 "scientists" holding "biogel" (big boxes) and if they got the biogel out of the building safely they win the mission and zombies were stunned for 20 minutes instead of 15 until the next mission.
My absolute favorite part of the game was the people though. Every single player that played the game. They are the reason why I got so much out of this game. This wasn't only a game though. In all seriousness, it was a bonding experience among 90+ of us. It was a community based game. I felt like I was a part of a community. The HvZ community.
I would walk down Appain Way when I was a human, dual-wielding my Mavericks, and I saw another human who I didn't even know with a Nerf gun, we made eye contact and both of us would salute each other. We were complete strangers and just the fact that we were both Humans instantly made us allies and acknowledged each other's existence when normally we wouldn't. Allie would laugh at me every single time I saluted someone but it was an occurring thing that happened throughout the week, human or zombie.
On the other hand, anytime I saw someone with a headband, I would nod at them. You know, the 'Sup' nod. Then I would go over and introduce myself and talk about the game. I was fascinated by this. The fact that all of us, who would have never known each other, are making friendships by walking up to these kids we don't know and striking conversations instantly with no awkwardness that comes with meeting someone for the first time.
Facebook was a huge part of the game, surprisingly. There was a beginning Facebook group Called Keene State College Humans VS Zombies where every player was added to it. Then there was KSC Zombies were all of the zombies coordinated together and rallied to get all of the humans.
I've made so many friends throughout this entire experience this way by just walking up to people playing and striking up a conversation. Now I know the majority of the people playing and I can wave to them when I see them or say hi when we walk past each other with just the knowledge that we survived the zombie apocalypse or tried spreading the infection together.
The last mission was Tuesday night. The last 14 humans needed to walk all the way down Appain to Butler Court which was their safe zone, then walk back to the very beginning of Appain. If they did, the humans would win the entire game. The zombies surrounded the humans and rushed at them. After that, 1 human survived. Justin Smith. Justin Smith was able to get away from the zombies and make it to Butler Court safely. To make it fair, 3 of the Moderators joined Justin to try and help him down Appain. The zombies banded together to surround the humans, intimidate them, pretend to charge at them, etc. After a stare-down that lasted what felt like an hour, the humans started walking. The zombies waited patiently and walked with the humans. The second they stepped foot on Appain, the zombies bum-rushed them and tagged them all. The zombies had won!
In my opinion though, the fact that Justin Smith was able to last until the last minutes of the game, surviving a whole week of paranoia and infection, I believe Justin won. He was able to outwit every single zombie when they all had a bounty out for his head. His roommate Ryan even posted his class schedule on Facebook so the zombies could lurk outside his class's buildings. Justin outsmarted them and was able to last the entire 7 days.
The single best moment of the game for me, was after the game was over. As soon as Justin was tagged, the zombies threw their arms up in the air and cheered all together "FOR THE HORDE!" which was our battle cry that we decided to use. "FOR THE HORDE! FOR THE HORDE!" Ben Piche, a moderator and the man who made this game possible, told everyone to walk to the front of the Student Center once it was all said and done. We walked together, giving high-fives to both our zombie brethren and mostly to Justin.
We got to the Student Center and surrounded Ben Piche. The group started chanting "FOR THE HORDE!" Then Ben started talking. Ben instantly brought Justin to the center of the circle and everyone cheered for him. No one was mad that they got tagged within the last hour of the game, there was no hostility, there was only cheering. We weren't humans and zombies anymore. We were players who had one of the most fun weeks of our lives.
"Justin! How did it feel being the last human that lasted the entire week?"
"It was fucking exhausting!"
Ben took the center of the circle and thanked all of us for playing. He thanked the moderators for making this all possible. At that moment, one kid shouted "BEN PICHE!" and we started chanting "BEN PICHE! BEN PICHE!" He thanked the moderators, then all of the players for making this the best game of HvZ he's played since it started at KSC last semester.
After the rally that took place outside the student center, half of the group went into the student center. We were there for almost an hour just talking about the game. Kyle Virgin worded it better than I can:
"You may say the best part of this game is shooting down 6 zombies, or maybe that delicious feel of brain cards on your fingers. I personally think the best part of this game is when everyone sits down after, and enjoys their new friendships, formed from alliances between brothers and beasts."
This is why the aftermath of the game was the best part for me. New friendships were formed, and people who would have never gotten to know each other on campus were standing there laughing and telling stories about the game. I think that it takes something big to get almost 90 people to bond like this.
Humans VS Zombies is one of the most fun things I've ever done. I know it was just a game but it honestly was. I'd like to thank Ben for bringing this to Keene State, all the mods that helped make this so big, and every single player who made this so much fun. Second semester is coming fast, get your Nerf guns ready, your bandanas tied tight, and get ready to start quoting Zombieland constantly again. I'll see you all as players in the Spring, but I'll see you all on campus as friends.
Until next time,
For the horde!
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