Imagine a quiet afternoon in Grove City. Most students are peacefully heading to and from their classes without a care in the world. But for a few students, an apocalypse is brewing. These students carry Nerf blasters and sock-balls to defend themselves. They quickly slink between buildings, checking corners and dashing across clearings. There are zombies on the loose. This is Humans vs. Zombies.
Humans vs. Zombies (or HvZ for short) is a week-long event open to all students that takes place once every semester. HvZ is effectively a game of infection tag that lasts an entire week, with students needing to defend themselves on their way to and from classes. The human team must wear an identifying armband while the zombies wear headbands. The humans’ goal is to survive the week while completing objectives to keep the zombies at bay. The zombies’ goal is as you might expect: to turn all the humans into zombies. Zombies do so by tagging the humans. But the humans are not entirely helpless–they get Nerf blasters or other foam-flinging items that stun the zombies. There are also those who forego blasters and instead use sock-balls to stun zombies. If you want to participate in HvZ but do not have any Nerf blasters, fear not! The HvZ community at Grove City prides itself on never having run out of loaner gear for students to use.
One of the best parts of HvZ is the afterparty, where survivors get to swap war stories and heroic moments over pizza. During the afterparty, awards are distributed. Among them are “The Best Human,” “The Best Zombie,” and “The Best Moment” for each team. My first semester, the best human moment was taken by a junior named Haddon. He was rushed by five zombies at once and managed to live to tell the tale. He took down the first three with three quick shots from his blaster. But as he took his fourth shot, his blaster jammed. In the blink of an eye, he un-holstered his secondary blaster, threw a sock-ball, and shot the last zombie. This heroic stand earned him the title of Grove City’s own John Wick.
You will hear this story and many more from the students that play HvZ every semester. If you want a heart-racing, action-packed week to add to your college experience, I cannot recommend anything more than HvZ. And do not worry if you feel like you cannot commit to a full week. Starting in 2020, HvZ has added smaller Saturday afternoon events that you can join in on for as long or short as you like. If you are interested in HvZ, or have any questions, you can email them at grovecityhvz@gmail.com. I hope to see you out there!
