About 20 human survivors rallied for a last stand on Hume Field Sunday. They gathered in a tight circle, brandishing their guns. More than 400 zombies advanced. The survivors were overwhelmed.
This was the final act of Humans vs. Zombies, a four-day game that began at midnight Thursday.
The game originated in 2005 at Goucher College in Baltimore and has since spread to college campuses nationwide.
About 470 students participated in UF’s first game.
During Humans vs. Zombies, humans, who wear bandannas around their arms, use Nerf guns and balled-up socks to stun zombies for 15 minutes. Zombies, who move the bandanna onto their heads upon transformation, use no weapons and tag humans to turn them into zombies.
UF freshman Jesse Schmitt brought the game to UF. He created an official club, Gators Humans vs. Zombies.
Finding players was easy.
In a week, more than 400 people registered to play after hearing about the game through Facebook and word-of-mouth, Schmitt said.
“It shows the power of the Internet,” Schmitt said.
Alec Fufidio heard about Humans vs. Zombies through Facebook and immediately began preparing for the game.
“I’ve been a fan of zombies since I was 15,” said Fufidio, a UF freshman.
Fufidio is not UF’s only fan of zombies. Andrew Joustra, a telecommunications production junior, was a player in Humans vs. Zombies and is producing a documentary about zombies and their prevalence in popular culture.
“It has a fan base that people don’t realize how large it is,” Joustra said. “I’d like to show people the magnitude of zombie popularity.”
Joustra has interviewed Max Brooks, author of the best-selling “Zombie Survival Guide” and the zombie novel “World War Z,” for his documentary. He plans to use footage from UF’s Human vs. Zombies game in his documentary.
Schmitt said he is planning another game of Humans vs. Zombies for the first week of April.
