Zombie Journals

Spring 2009 - Day 3 Pre-Mission

2009-04-04T13:30:00.002-05:00

I apologize if this seems rushed – I have a mission in less than an hour.

Friday morning was to be a bloodbath of zombifications – so declared by Ben Shannon and so confirmed by myself. The truth of HvZ population dynamics is that, with accumulated kills from Wednesday and Thursday, every zombie would be fed on Friday (and surplus people would probably be munched). Only the strong and the smart would survive, because by this day the zombies were organizing advanced ambushes to annihilate individual humans during passing periods. In particular, zombie population density followed a Gaussian curve model about the Bell Tower, with ends stretching toward Magruder-Violette and toward Baldwin. To the east and the west, numbers were significantly diminished, so humans that made it through this wall were safe to their destinations.

And the humans weren’t letting this wall build, either. There was a constant human defense organization positioned at the Violette door of Magruder, and that parking lot was kept open and clear for humans all morning. I took a path across the Mall to get to Baldwin after my chemistry class in Magruder and saw no zombies on that side of the population wall. While moving, I overheard a bible-thumper proclaiming the good word, and I had half a mind to perform a mockery by declaring the end of the world by eventual zombification.

After Spanish I made it back across the Mall (safely again) to the SUB where I had lunch with Gina. She’s been humoring all my HvZ stories, for which I’m grateful, although she does think I’m a dork for carrying a campus map in my backpack. For the readers who were members of DotA Squad – it’s the very same map. After lunch I escorted Alexis Matthews from Violette to Centennial by passing through Magruder. Alan Eckert was the only zombie we saw, and he followed us on principle. I applaud the man.

I found Zach Minute in Magruder before my other chemistry course, and we went to the Chemistry Corner to discuss strategies for the mission. Not knowing what it would entail, we could only speculate on attendance numbers and escape routes for the post-mission munchathon (A newly-coined term. Learn it. Love it.). We broke dorms up into three destinations: Centennial (C-Hall and WCS), Missouri (MO and BNB), and Ryle (Ryle, Campbell, and Fair). Centennial is more isolated relative to the others than any other destination, and Centennial was the group that got attacked the day before (see Spring 2009 – Day 2). However, respawn points had to be considered. Thus, our plan was the following. If either the Missouri or Ryle destinations are respawn points, then the entire human coalition goes to Centennial first. The group stays together after that until they can safely split into Ryle and Missouri. If either of the other two are the respawn points, then Centennial is safe on its own and Ryle and Missouri stick together until it is safe to split. This was how we would minimize casualties.

After chemistry, about 12 zombies were populating the Violette-Magruder gap. To make matters even more fun, Taylor Hyndman was in Violette and had a meeting at 2:30 in Magruder. He wasn’t going through that parking lot. I was on the phone with him, and I think we were on the same train of thought because he asked if the C-Store and the Multi-Cultural Affairs buildings were safe zones – they most certainly were. He made it to the MAC, being chased by zombies. I got on the phone with him again and, when we both had visual of the zombies present, told him to make a break to Grim when he had an opening. We disconnected our phones and I walked out of the south greenhouse exit of Magruder toward Patterson. I kept the attention of three zombies – just enough to give Taylor a chance. Bolting around the building toward the SUB, I drew the zombies away from Grim and toward myself. I ran to the basement door and heard Ben Eggering say, “He’s inside, he’s safe.” Not quite yet, zombies – Taylor wasn’t home yet. I ran up the steps and Ben, confused, questioned, “…maybe not?” I ran again to the next Magruder Door – the west door that opened to the parking lot. The zombies in pursuit slowed as I reached that door, and they barely followed me at all as I went to the final door and inside the building.

Taylor was in Grim, he said on the phone, and I was on my way back to the greenhouse door. I made it just in time to hold the door open for him as he sprinted across a clear Patterson, pursued 20 feet away by a single zombie. He was safe.

I convinced the humans inside to escort me to my van, parked by Centennial, so that I could unload most of my backpack and be more nimble during the mission. The movement from Magruder to Centennial, through the parking lot, and back again was psychologically intense, although only three zombies were in pursuit. Most of the humans had to get to Missouri (two had to get to Ryle from there), so from Magruder we made it to McClain, Baldwin, and across the quad to Ophelia Parrish. Behind this last building, near the parking lot that it shares with Missouri, we had a skirmish of 7 humans against 4 visible zombies (and one that I drew out of hiding from around the corner). Every zombie but one were stunned, and everyone made it to Missouri safely. No zomibifications during that ordeal, and it’s thanks to the intelligence of the humans with us. As veterans, I have a lot of respect for Zach Minute, Tom Hogan and Joey Palmer. I’ll be glad to see them at the mission today.

I darted to choir in Ophelia Parrish at 3:30 and, at 4:30, I’d made it safely to Centennial 15 minutes early for the mission. Humans were already gathered, preparing, and I’d formulated a plan to create a thinktank to solve our mission’s objectives.

-John

Spring 2009 - Day 2

2009-04-03T00:52:00.001-05:00

Partly cloudy with a chance of brain.

My day started as well as I could hope. A cold rain coupled with dramatic wind ruled Kirksville through 1:00pm, and this weather kept many of the zombifications at bay. I enjoyed thoroughly uneventful treks to my chemistry lab, my apartment, my radio show, and Magruder (to which I arrived around 2:30pm). The rain had to end, however, and the zombies soon came.

Taylor Hyndman and Alexis Mathews, two fellow survivors, were going from Violette to McClain and Centennial, respectively, and I had promised to escort them. So by 2:45pm I was waiting in the lobby of Violette, chatting with Zach Silver about life and unlife. He offered to help me with the escort, an invitation I graciously accepted. Taylor and Alexis came down the stairs and we left. Violette to Magruder to the SUB (if necessary) to McClain to Centennial was our path and, other than Zach’s human friend who joined us to get to Baldwin, we saw no one out and about. Zach had heard about zombies on the Quad by the Library and we, being competent intelligent humans, opted to intercept them and eliminate the kills they’d cause. With the help of humans hiding out in Baldwin and a few crossing the Quad, we stunned every zombie. Zach and I were even able to provide an escort for two more people to the Centennial area.

At 3:30 the humans received intel on a mission – meet in the main lounge of Ryle at 4:30. I had just under an hour from reading the email to make it. This was plenty of time, and zombies were on the prowl, so I kept my head low and my eyes open to the activity around Magruder.

Fellow survivors, bunkered in the southeast door of Magruder, stood outside to fight the horde as they charged from Violette and the Bell Tower. As soon as the last zombie ran by the Cyber Café, I kicked the door open and bolted after them, firing darts and keeping a cool head. One human was lost – the very Zach Silver who helped me earlier in the day. There wasn’t time to lament, however, because zombies were swarming the SUB.

I had a complete visual on the 7+ zombies circling the building, although I didn’t know who was inside. The members of the horde were preparing for an ambush at first, but slowly became antsier as their prey never left the building. I finally decided that whoever was inside was ready for a long wait, and that they could probably use my help. After 10 minutes circling the parking lots to find a zombie-free door and another 10 minutes scouring the building, I found Cody Sumter in the basement. He was dressed in quite fancy clothes and was strategizing via phone. The mission time was quickly approaching and thus the zombies were leaving their Magruder-SUB post, meaning that Cody and I could sprint across while Joey Palmer and Ian Noble covered our retreat. With the three others, a Tom Hogan, and 5 humans from Centennial, I passed from Magruder to Ryle in time for the mission to begin.

The humans were packed in throngs, all chatting about their latest close call or the pain of watching their friends get munched or that sweet stun that saved them on Day 1. Many old friends were already gathered as well, and I was grateful to see that their experience and skill would benefit the human cause today. However, going into the mission my mind was set on my end goal – Nothing else matters but my own survival. The mission objectives, rescuing other humans, the men trapped in cryostasis, all coming second to this goal. I have a reputation from never becoming zombified in a non-mission setting, and so this mission setting was the most dangerous place for me to be trying for this goal.

The moderators made a few announcements and, breaking into three groups, the humans spread throughout campus. From my perspective the entire mission felt more like a wild goose chase than a wartime battle, but I had decided to relinquish the reigns of leadership until someone took them over, and if it meant that I was somewhat out of the loop then so be it.

Zombies populated the Quad – 15 to 20 of them, and we had a Baldwin group of humans and my Ophelia Parrish group of humans. Between all of us we stunned every minion without casualties. Our next stop was the Fair Apartments parking lot, which was a strategically terrible place to defend for an invasion. I took over at this point, directing the humans to the edge of the U-shape so that we could be flanked from 2 directions rather than 8 different corridors. Once safe, Michael Hogard took over and led the troops to Red Barn Park where the mission was completed. I talked with a member of The Wildcat Squad, which is coming to Kirksville in a day or two to help our survival.

Another wild scramble – the moderators announced the end of the mission and everybody tried to gather up in geographic squads to return to dorms. I bellowed over the din, organized the humans into 3 different groups (Ryle, Missouri and Centennial) and went with the Centennial group to Franklin Street. The most dangerous part of the mission would thus begin.

Halfway to Centennial from Barnett, we spotted the horde at a distance. They were flowing from Centennial since it was their respawn and rendezvous point, and some of the humans tried to back into the parking lot. I told them that we would, instead, be better off crossing the street and entering Pershing to make it across campus. We crossed between traffic and backed up to the building, but found ourselves in a courtyard with one-way doors. And that one way was not the convenient way. Meanwhile the horde was advancing. At the last possible minute, the two humans who had run around the building opened the doors from the inside and we flowed in, cheering for ourselves and jeering the zombies.

I ordered the humans through Pershing to the far north side, where Grim’s back door existed. However, zombies were already on that position. The space itself was about 7 feet wide (between the two buildings) and 12 feet long (from the fence to the corners). Joe Siegel himself was guarding our easy retreat, and zombies climbing the fence had the harder way. Thus, we could only stun the fence zombies and press on through Grim. At the front door (facing Magruder, our goal where we would find ourselves beyond the most difficult hill of the travel), nearly 15 zombies waited in ambush around corners, behind trees, and against the building. We had 18 humans, enough to lose no one if we fought correctly.

I will take this time to acknowledge my tactical and strategic failure from last semester – the space between Baldwin and McClain. The humans were freaking out, unorganized, and too scared to pull a trigger. Thus, I died. I would not let that happen again.

4 zombies were to the left and the rest were to the right. Thus, the plan was for me to lead a charge with 4 other humans to the left and stun those zombies. Meanwhile, the rest of the humans would pour out and form a wall to stun the right-side zombies who rushed. We all knew that we had to fight our way out and that we might not all make it. Someone asked for a prayer and, 10 seconds later, we all sang a heart-felt rendition of Amazing Grace. When the song finished, we’d make our move.

The zombies saw me push open the door singing “…now I see” while rushing to their right. 4 humans followed behind me and we started popping every zombie we saw. One behind the tree, down. Two against the building, down. One’s charging from across the lawn, down. Meanwhile, the others were stunning zombies behind us. 5 humans were at Violette the whole time watching the battle and opting not to help, but we ended up not needing them.

After a 15-second melee, most of the zombies were stunned. In the chaos I was unable to identify stunned from unstunned from human easily. Thus, I directed the humans to the greenhouse door of Magruder across the street, and it quickly became apparent that a few zombies remained. They pursued us toward the building, but every one of them was stunned by the time we made it to the doors. No time to mourn the two that died in the pursuit, however – we weren’t in Centennial yet. I directed the humans to double-time through Magruder and we went to the Northwest door, which was a straight shot to the SUB. That was in turn a straight shot to Centennial, and all of the remaining humans made it inside safely and alive.

The rest of my evening was uneventful from a zombie standpoint. I had dinner in my apartment and went to my night class. My girlfriend, being one of the more HvZ-considerate ones I’ve known, came to Magruder to me rather than making me go to the Library to her, and we talked on the basement couches for a while. Ben Shannon and Eric Bozarth arrived and we all had a good talk about old antics and dating during HvZ, and the stroll back to my car was zombiless and relaxing. Were I not paranoid, I would have stargazed the whole time.

I’m now relaxing in my apartment, finished with my day’s reflections and ready for sleep. The count stands at H 136 – Z 50. Every zombie fed today (some twice), so I’ll have to wait until at least Saturday afternoon for starvation to begin. This is contingent on humans not dying during passing period, the Friday mission, or the Saturday mission.

…*sigh*. It’s going to be a long weekend.

-John

Spring 2009 - Days 0 and 1

2009-04-02T01:33:00.003-05:00

I am hunched over the keyboard in a dimly-lit bedroom in an apartment south of campus at 12:38am on Thursday, April 2. My legs are sore and my back aches, but tomorrow will be an early rise. I’m taking full advantage of the lengthening days because survivability against the zombies is easier in sunlight. My name is John Mohr, and I’m still alive in the Kirksville Zombie Apocalypse of Spring 2009.

26 hours and 23 minutes ago, I slid darts into the rotating barrel of the Firefly and let it drop to my side. The strap slung over my shoulder and the gun felt comfortable at my waist. An old friend, the Firefly has seen me through ambushes, battles, and narrow escapes for a year now, and this zombie apocalypse would be no different. It was 10:15pm on a chilled, windy Tuesday night and 30 other humans were waiting for me at the fountain behind the SUB. I had just left a particularly hot make-out session and was less than eager for what I assumed was a zombification false alarm until Mike Solomon described the situation. Three people, in cryogenic suspended animation, were somewhere on campus and their vitals were dropping. 3 days from that point and they’d be dead. Our tasks that night were simple and quick – hit the multiple buildings, solving puzzles at each one, and eventually hack into a communication system that kept track of the life signs of every person on campus. In short, we would receive automated messages every time somebody died. 24 hours later and the soft vibrations of my phone are more gut-wrenching than I could have imagined.

At 7:30am I showered, dressed (wearing my Food Chain Pyramid shirt with zombies at the top) and made lunch and dinner for myself. Sandwiches and fruit – food that I can stuff into a backpack is essential for maximum mobility and minimum locale dependency. Going into the day I didn’t know what to expect, but growing up I was always taught to be prepared. With extra socks in my pocket, an arm band wrapping my right arm and my Firefly tucked behind my back, I climbed into my minivan and made the drive toward campus.

The desolate silence was my first warning – campus is usually noisier than it was that morning. I ducked into Magruder and met Ben Shannon. He is a talented human, a gunsmith, and an all-around brilliant man. It is virtually impossible to sneak up on him, and that’s what allows him to survive. If I knew then what I know now… We chatted about tweaking guns and he even offered me a Zebra Cake – it tasted just like zebra.

By then I’d already sent a mass-text April Fool’s joke declaring Cody Sumter, the game’s original moderator, as an Original Zombie. To this I received responses ranging from “Fuck” and “Chriiiiiiist” to “Figures”. Ben appreciated the joke, but I confessed quickly as I met more and more humans that morning. I went to my Physical Chemistry lecture with no excitement and went to my van afterward. Along the way I saw Carl Schmitt waiting in the Magruder doors toward Violette, so I yelled “Zombie!!” behind him to scare him. He didn’t seem to appreciate it. I let him run outside ahead of me and we kept our distance since we were both worried that the other could be the OZ.

Reaching my van, I drove to the square where I cut my hair. Correction – I hacked my hair. It went from a straightened, almost emo-look to short-cropped and wavy. With such a drastic difference, I could become even more inconspicuous than I already could be, and I enjoyed my lunch in the SUB while feeling like a ghost to friends who passed by, not recognizing me from a distance. It was certainly an experience.

By this point I had almost confirmed Carl Schmitt, Ben Shannon, and potentially Ben Eggering as the three OZs. This was solidified after Organic Chemistry when I stunned Kevin Luker between Magruder and Violette after Carl Schmitt had gone into Violette. This was my first encounter that day, but certainly not my last. I’d been speaking with a few other humans and they’d confirmed Joe Siegel as another OZ – one that was added at 12:00pm so as to catalyze the zombie population growth.

The eventual trek to Ophelia Parrish for my choir class was uneventful, save for the activation of the TrumanZombies Twitter account on my phone. At that point I could receive text alerting me of every zombification as it happened. This is very good in theory, but horribly demoralizing in practice. The path back to the SUB from choir proved to be more dangerous.

It was about 4:40pm and Taylor Hyndman was going to the SUB to attend the same committee meeting as I was, except that he was trapped in Violette while I was in Magruder. I was with 2 men that I met minutes before he called, and they were formulating a plan to break their friend out of the library. The complication: a horde of 12+ zombies were patrolling the Bell Tower. I had Taylor on the phone and told him, when I gave him the signal, to run across the parking lot. I knew that he could make it if the few zombies in the area didn’t know about the mad dash that would ensue. Giving the waving signal, he threw open the doors of Violette and began running across the path. This run turned into a dash, which turned into a mad sprint, when all 12 of the zombies began pouring from the parking lot – between cars, behind trash cans, from across the street the zombies bolted after Taylor. He vaulted the 5 steps downhill and made it to Magruder with just a second to spare.

We quickly made it across the path to the SUB and rested during the committee meeting, and the rest of the day was luckily uneventful. I stunned Joe Siegel while leaving the SUB, made it home for a nap, picked up some papers from my girlfriend’s house, and enjoyed stress-free evening meetings from 8:30pm to 10:00pm. Hogey and I escorted each other from Magruder as far as Dobson before splitting ways. I drove from the northeast corner of campus to Il Spazio on the square to savor a well-earned Rum & Coke and made it back to my apartment.

Upon finishing the narration of the first full day of the zombie invasion, I have mixed emotions. I’ve met some wonderful people so far, but they’re all the same – just human. They’re just as susceptible to the flesh-eating minions as I am, and I hate receiving texts from 40404 because it never brings good news. However, I am optimistic at the same time. Hogey is a smart man and a fierce fighter, and there are many humans just like him. Also, I’ve done my research on this zombie infestation compared to the last one. This outbreak has not been as bad as the one before, and for that I’m grateful. I’m just curious on the state of the rest of the world as well as the three souls in cryostasis.

So ends Days 0 and 1.

-John

UPDATE: I’ve just received message from the communication system in Kirksville. System Power is at 1%, with a total failure predicted within 24 hours. Despite a few bastions of human defense, the world is mostly overrun with the horde. And their numbers here are steadily rising. This isn’t going to be a leisurely stroll.

Unification and Leadership

2009-01-27T16:38:00.007-06:00

My role in Humans vs. Zombies, after my first semester of play, has been the decisive, vocal and educated leader. During Fall 2007 I was a pioneer in the unconventional warfare, examples of which include:

Duck Maneuver (I think we called it that) -. Nate Klessig and I left a the sieged Violette through a side door, coordinating an ambush on the door zombies with the humans still inside. Everyone made it.
Baldwin Radio Technician - A columned group of zombies rushed our four-man position, so I took the left flank and sprayed a Magstrike clip at eight zombies at once.

In Spring and Fall 2008 I was seen as an experienced player, a survivor, and a generally charismatic guy. Even as a zombie the other players needed me, and eventually expected me, to take a role as a general. I’ve had my good leadership calls and my bad, but they still trust me. This is probably due mostly to my tendency to stick my neck into danger for another’s survival, and it has certainly got me munched. This is a less favorable state for me since I’m a better human than zombie, and a better leader than follower. I haven’t studied zombie tactics as much as human tactics, so I’m most effective at the top of the human hierarchy.

In a given battle situation, a mob of zombies plows into the human position. Does Charlie hold his position to stun a few zombies, knowing he’ll save the comrades behind him but inevitably get munched? Or does he screw them and retreat 25 feet to a more survivable position? When four zombies semicircle around a retreating human such as Josh Hirner or Ben Shannon, do the rush knowing full well that they’re going to get stunned (and potentially not feed)? Or do they hesitate, hoping to wrap around the human for a more tactfully advantageous opportunity? My point is this: There is no higher cause that can justify a person to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. HvZ is not a political war game and it’s not La Revolución. It comes ultimately to survival of the individual. Then is the concept of a unified, cohesive army (on either side) achievable or just a fool’s dream?

Let’s look again at my game tendencies. As a human I escort humans, take dangerous parts of missions, and combat the zombies directly. As a zombie I organize the ambushes and lead charges. I go out of my way, putting myself in danger, to make sure that a few other players have less danger. Players see me as an effective leader, but they also see me as a way to minimize their own risk. To cite Fall 2008’s Baldwin-McClain lab technician massacre, I led the humans into a dangerous deathtrap and I lost control of them. I compromised their safety and they had to think for themselves. Uncontrollable chaos.

Now, let me say that I have been reading Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and will soon delve into books by Sun Pin, Machiavelli, and Clausewitz. Hypothetically speaking, if the humans had a unified mentality and were willing to work together without doubt beyond the reasonable constrains of human nature, I could very easily minimize (or negate!) casualties on missions and achieve victory in as many of them as possible. The contingency is that humans work together, and this requires that they put aside their survival instincts and individualism for the sake of the group.

It’s said that you have to die before you can live. Humans and zombies will not have to sacrifice their 15 minutes or their lives to a good general. They must, however, be willing to do so. This is where the trouble lies. I can’t tell my humans, “I promise you’ll make it out alive.” Then they won't expect danger. I can’t tell my humans, “Prepare to die for our side’s cause.” This forces the individual to compromise themselves, which no one will do. For this reason, the human cause will never be unified and will never live, but rather just survive.

Zombies have an easier time in masses because they each understand that death means a 15-minute downtime. In smaller skirmishes, though, zombies are either timid to rush (because their numbers and strength are small) or they lack confidence in their ability to tag one of the three humans they rush. The mentality that rushing is better than a free escape is the best mentality a zombie can have. The mentality that rushing is better than not rushing is the worst mentality a zombie can have. The latter gets into more global strategy, which I will not discuss at this time.

As a human leader, I have to work with the humans’ survival mentality. I’ll never have a total unification and, thus, a perfectly networked pyramidal system of teams, squads, platoons and armies can never be enacted. Victory will never be achieved with total organization and this is integral to understanding HvZ war dynamics. All I can do is show the army the preemptive battle plans, tell the army how the enemy is projected to respond, tell them how we can respond to achieve victory, and hope that they buy it. If they like it, great – we have a survivable game plan. If not, well – go with another plan and be ready to run when it turns sour. That, after all, is the mentality each of your players will have.

Humans and zombies are terribly indecisive creatures. The leader occasionally rises from the masses, but this isn’t because they need to lead – the leader could just as easily run away from trouble, maybe munch or stun a few people along the way, and make it to the next sunrise. Rather, the people need to be led. When a group needs a decisive person, the telltale sign is that they become disordered and separated. The leader role is created out of necessity and it is filled by the most eligible candidate at the time (see my side note at the end of the post).

For this reason, I will almost certainly avoid the position of widespread leader among the humans and the zombies. By the coming semester I will be very well qualified and very well trained, but there are certainly other people who would enjoy leading just as much as, if not more than, myself. If the necessity arises I can and will provide the leadership needed to keep my group alive. If someone steps up and suggests decisions that may be less favorable than those I would choose, I will not hesitate to bring mine up. If I’m in a small group that gets skirmished, I will shout tactical orders to keep us all alive. But I no longer need to be the general. My year-long reign is over.

I must take this time to acknowledge an observation concerning my zombifications. During Fall 2007 I never took an active leadership position on missions and I was one of nine on that helicopter. In Spring and Fall 2008 I took very vocal, very active leadership positions and I was munched during missions both semesters. Needless to say, I’ve noticed my tendency to survive more effectively alone despite the "protection" of fellow humans. I’ll certainly contribute when I see a loophole that could send a plan to hell. However, stunning individual zombies over a long period of time seems to be safer than surviving the big clashes, and I want to get back on the helicopter this semester. Thus, don't be surprised if I contribute to missions by staying away from the humans.

-John

A side note: Taylor Moody, an experienced player and an unconventional HvZ theologian, had an interesting social experiment of which I am supportive. The concept is this – throw the fledglings out of the nest and let them learn to fly. At the beginning of the first human mission, gather up experienced players and well-respected leaders and separate them from the masses. Then see which newbies step up as effective leaders among the chaos. Remove them from the masses to work with the more experienced players and repeat as necessary. By the end of Day 4, and assuming that leaders step up for all players as well as for smaller mission-specific teams, as many as 20 functional leaders could be revealed. Operation Fledgling is contingent on less than one third of the population being zombified on Day 1, of course.

Recapitulation

2009-01-22T23:39:00.003-06:00

In the fall of 2007, Cody Sumter brought Humans vs. Zombies to Truman State University’s campus and, of the 120 registered players, 100 significantly contributed to the game. The Original Zombie, Wendy Morgan, successfully turned some very talented zombies who in turn made many of the Day 1 kills. I remember seeing Carl Schmidt at 9:00 am on that first day, wearing a headband across the quad, and realizing that people had already died. The adrenaline kicked in at that moment and I bolted from Ophelia Parrish to Baldwin. I crossed the bridge to McClain and he continued to follow me around the building outside. I actually had to hide behind couches, indoors, on the first day of this first game. That’s when HvZ really started for me.

We received survival missions such as searching campus for food, protecting radio technicians across campus, and even scrambling to the helipad to escape Kirksville on the night of the eighth day. Automatic guns were legalized along the way and I used this to my advantage, sporting one of the only machine guns that semester. I used the Magstrike, with a 10-dart clip ready to go at any time and three more strapped to my chest. I carried a duffel bag in my backpack to put all my guns, socks and ammo in during classes, and I strapped everything on in between. I was a knight in shining armor – zombies cowered at the thunderous rip of the emptying clip. The stretch between Magruder and Violette was always zombie-free for any travelers while I was on watch.

Morale was another victory during that game. I made a point to greet every fellow survivor when I saw them. These hails were few and far between by the fifth day, but they became more inspiring since it showed that other humans were still alive. Also, zombies were beginning to starve by that point. A particularly large partition of the population withered away by midday of the sixth day, and Truman’s campus became a ghost town Not allowing a sense of security, I stayed hidden despite the missing hoards. I guarantee that this added guard at all times, even when travel seemed safe, is what allowed me to make it onto the helicopter at the end of the game. The eighth day had ended and nine people survived.

The next night was Truman’s first Final Stand, starring Josh Hirner in the Pit. It has since become a staple of any Truman game.

In the spring of 2008, 140 people registered to play, approximately 115-120 of them contributing significantly. This game lasted seven days rather than the obscene eight and it finally introduced a proper story line. Also, two Original Zombies were chosen rather than one. Corey Johnson and Chris Jeffrey quickly added Sean Kamrey to their ranks at 12:30 am and the hoard began the reign of terror.

Missions for the humans included collecting biological samples from specific zombies, recovering genetic research tools, unlocking the military armory by killing the then-undead soldier with the keys, and eventually destroying the escape helicopter by which the mad scientist tried to escape. My head on a swivel, traveling between classes was again my bread-and-butter. I was untouchable on my own. Surviving a five-zombie ambush between Violette and Dobson on the fourth day (Nick Holtgrewe was munched by Sean after we took out the first four), I realized two things. First – the Firefly was the main member of my arsenal from then on. Second – my decisive battlefield leadership was the difference between life and death when it came to skirmishes and full-out battles.

The mission on the fifth day was when I became zombified, and by none other than Sean Kamrey. The humans were huddled between Violette and Magruder, backed against the parking lot with an 8-zombie wall in the cars to prevent a simple retreat. The hoard rounded the far corner of Magruder, marched into a formation, and charged. Magstrike blazing, I took to a flank to spray an entire clip and was gloriously overrun by a group of five zombies. That was the last time I ever touched my first gun, the blue automatic.

I helped my fellow zombies hunt between classes and I was a member of the mob-like rushes during the missions after, but I was new to being a zombie. I didn’t have the tactics down and I couldn’t contribute like the veteran soldiers around me. I was slow, timid, and bad at dodging darts. For the first time since that mad dash from Carl Schmidt, I was a newbie.

The humans destroyed their means of escape because the bad guy got on the helicopter first. Missing that mission – I think I actually had a date that night – I rejoined my flesh-hungry brethren for Truman’s second Final Stand. An admirable group of rag-tag, heat-packing survivors stood on a hill with every weapon in the pantheon of legendary foam dart guns – the Rapid Fire 20, the Tommy 20, the Dual-Wielding Magstrikes, and others. Each one of them bit the dust as the hoard melted over their hilltop position. Yummy brains.

In the fall of 2008, 305 people registered on the site. This population explosion, unpredicted by the moderators or any of the veteran players, provided a dangerous unforeseen element to the eventual five-day game. Five Original Zombies massacred that population, a majority being inexperienced players. Ivan Lenov had fresh zombies lure humans to him. Drew Clark earned trust, actually escorting humans to their (inconspicuous) locations where he munched them. Steve Bermudez eventually worked with Ivan. Jimmy Wiley kept a particularly low profile for much of the day, hiding his status as an Original Zombie until he could take full advantage of unsuspecting humans. Kevin Sack – I never saw the man in action, but his OZ status was one of the first confirmed. Nate Klessig was not an Original Zombie, but he was the single highest-suspected human that day.

The Original Zombies killed 45 people that day. Nearly 100 people altogether were members of the hoard at the end of the first day. The remaining humans were in a panic. The zombies had high-profile names, but many freshmen who’d never seen the game before also. The comfort of their potential lack of talent was overshadowed by the fear of their raw numbers – 1/3 of the population dead in 24 hours.

The missions trudged dangerously and the humans lost more and more players. I was munched on the third day during the single biggest victory for the zombie side. During that transition hour I walked with the zombies, learning their ways and becoming excited about the prospects of hunting. This time, I realized my position in the hoard. I can’t run fast, I can’t dodge bullets, and I can’t give intimidating roars. But I sure as hell can mobilize and direct a hoard.

My successful conquests included:

Surrounding Magruder AND the SUB, simultaneously, with 40 zombies for over 2 hours
Surrounding Kirk later that night for 2 hours with about 35 zombies
Staging a camp-out outside of Kirk for 4 hours, with the entire zombie hoard, during which time we played games, sang songs, gained friends, and really demonstrated the camaraderie of the hoard. Stories echoing in the halls of legends come from that night, and there is nowhere I’d rather have been than in a circle of Human, Human, OZ on a Saturday night.
Leading a third of the hoard to victory on the mission of the fourth day
Leading a third of the hoard to victory on the mission of the fifth (and final) day

Of the 20 humans left for the mission on the fifth day, 3 made it into Kirk (from the West Campus Suites, to Ophelia Parrish, to Barnett, and to Kirk without going into ANY other buildings). In the storyline, the humans induced cryostasis upon themselves to out-live the hoard. In real life, 3 humans survived the deadliest game of HvZ to date and themselves became legends.

I look back with mixed feelings, unresolved sentiments, hypothetical answers to countless situations, and restlessness. Let me clarify - I've loved every minute of the game. But one can't give a year and a half to this experience without wondering how things could have gone differently. This is coupled with reasons as to why the upcoming game will be significantly different from any other:

Cody Sumter, chief moderator and the game’s originator at Truman, is finally playing.
The other moderators have full control over what happens, and veteran players are stepping up to fill Cody’s shoes. The storyline and missions will get crazy.
This will be the biggest game we've seen, with the 300 people from last semester and the inevitable population swell of spring from fall.
Spring 2009 will parallel the game during which Goucher’s documentary was filmed, and there is already talk about our own similar attempts.
Blogging the game, which started with one man in Fall 2007 and has since become the primary means of portraying the greatest stories of HvZ, will potentially propel the game into mass media. This will affect an exponentially-growing population outside the game and will have real-world ramifications. (I found out last week that Goucher students were reading my Zombie Journals last semester… simply epic)
Tactics, strategies, survival seminars, squads, politics, alliances and enemies, potential innovations to the game, and other abstract ideas are falling out of the existence of this game. And 300+ people can make a lot of it happen.

My next post, ideally, will concern my philosophies on psychology and leadership in Humans vs. Zombies. Following that post will be a series of episodic explorations into varies aspects of the game – success and failure precedents for both sides of the game, zombie tactics, human tactics, and even my overall vision for human survival. I may at times cite specific scenarios from previous games, but none of what I plan to contribute is set in stone. My posts are not plans of mine but purely resources, and my reasoning for this will be further explained in my next installment.

So brace yourselves. Things are about to go unexpectedly.

-John

Fall 2008 - The Death of John

2008-10-25T13:15:00.000-05:00

The warrior and hero John Mohr fell in battle that day. He was one of five humans to charge into the horde. However, he took the brunt of 5 zombies, saving four of his comrades.

The rest of the humans retreated back, stunned a few zombies, and gathered together. The remaining zombies had reinforcements rush in to form a pincer maneuver, eliminating the assistant and many of the humans. Those that remained retreated to the West Campus Suites. Since the zombies at the stadium had received word that the assistant was dead, they had no motivation to protect Captain Greg Wayne. Instead, the bloodthirsty rotting corpses across campus gathered on the west side of campus and massacred the humans. Of the 25 that made a stand that day, three of them escaped into Centennial Hall.

Sam Pixley lived in Centennial, so he made it inside and was safe. Eric Bozarth lived off-campus behind Cenennial, and so he could stay there all night if he had to.

Taylor Moody ran away during the rush, seeing the futility and the inevitable zombificaiton. He ran along the ravine, through the parking lot, around the Rec Center, and eventually made it into some building. Going around the corner and finding a suitable wall, he collapsed and caught his breath.

Josh Hirner and Kristy Carey escaped to Magruder where they were safe for part of the night. Erin Futrell and Chris Jeffrey were there as well.

Jeremy Hellwig, never getting the back-up necessary to eliminate Wayne, escaped without alerting the zombies of his presence.

Jocelyn made it out of the Pincer Maneuver and escaped to live another day. The humans need her leadership, but their morale was too low that day for her to help them or herself.

Justus left before John Mohr died because he had work that night. He is a lucky soul.

There was a rumor that Joe Leiber died between the Pincer Maneuver and the incident at West Campus Suites, but he has sent radio signals since to confirm that he is alive.

195 zombies to 89 humans, and it is the beginning of Day 4.

Fall 2008 - Day 3

2008-10-25T13:01:00.000-05:00

Metagame Translation: Many of the zombies were staying inside today because it was rainy and wet. That seemed to give the humans unnatural confidence both during classes and during the mission. On top of that, they got to hang out with zombies for an hour and a half without being tagged because of the Oktoberfest rule (the game was paused from 4:30 to 6). So, going into the mission at 6, the humans were probably relaxing a little too much. Thus, when they got the ridiculous mission of protecting a wheelchair-bound lab assistant while having to hunt down a superzombie, the human morale dropped significantly. The mission was a bloodbath, and soon after began the individualized huntings.

The usual technique of getting to Magruder at 7 am worked perfectly, as I encountered no zombies along the way, and I had plenty of time to study for my 9:30 P-Chem quiz. After that, however, was my 10:30 class in Baldwin across campus to which I had to travel during a passing period. Luckily, I had good friends.
With the help of Chris Jeffrey, Derek Rice, and Kyle Denk, I traveled quite safely across the Mall in front of the SUB to my class. There was one zombie along the way, and the guys dispatched of him quickly as I ducked into the building.

Two hours of classes and a rainy trek to Missouri Hall from Baldwin were zombieless, which was both refreshing and eerie. Were they really not hunting simply because of the rain and cold? It was advantageous to me, so I didn’t question divine providence.

But now was my chance to take revenge on fate and help out humans as much as possible. In the heat of the moment, you find that it’s easy to help out fellow humans if you can and if you know that you will be safe (at least relatively). So I began leading escort missions.

At 1:45 pm, a group of us led Jocelyn and Jim across the quad to their 1:30 Baldwin classes. At 2:00 pm, we led Carmen (McKenna’s roommate) to the health center and back.

At 3:00 pm was the most morale-raising, most daring mission yet. I’d received a call from Taylor Hyndman asking for the best route from the SUB to Missouri Hall. I told him that the best action would be to sit tight and wait for the escort to arrive. Also, I’d promised Jocelyn that I’d get her and Jim across the quad during passing period to OP and Missouri. So it began.

Five of us left through the front of Missouri. The reason was that we saw a few zombies surrounding Kirk, which implied that a human needed help getting out. Also, the zombies included Nate Klessig and Sean Kamrey. One human against 5 of those guys wouldn’t make it, so we marched toward the building to bust them out. The zombies, seeing our advance, snuck around the back of the building and retreated silently. Alec was the man inside the building, and he happily joined us on our escort mission with the promise that we’d take him back to BNB.

Cutting through Magruder, we ran into Joey Palmer. A chivalrous man, he was more than willing to get some human-saving action, so he joined the task force. Our group was seven at this point.

Finally, we made it to the SUB Down Under. I walked in to find almost 15 people spread out, interviewing each other and generally conversing. I announced, “Where is Taylor Hyndman?” and received a generally shocked response from everyone. Taylor stood up, saw the army I’d brought along, and gasped, “Holy shit…” “Let’s head out,” I suggested. Our group was now at eight.

We cut back through Magruder to drop Joey off. “Call me if you need help,” he said. Then we left Magruder, cutting along the brick sidewalk next to the Sunken Garden. With seven people guarding every direction, there was no way we’d get ambushed. We got to BNB safely and dropped Alec off. “Thanks, guys! I really appreciate it!” We walked through the front door of Missouri by Zach’s suggestion because it was more bad-ass.

It was 3:13. Everyone who needed to get across to help Jocelyn and Jim had to go now. I said, “I’m still going. Who else is in?” Everyone was in. So the six of us slithered across the quad, laying low and avoiding zombies. There was a group of zombies around the White Apartments (the same group as Kirk, including Nate and Sean), which gave me a bad feeling, but we had to keep pushing. Making it into Baldwin, we ran up the stairs and waited on the bridge for Jocelyn and Jim.

I received a phone call. “John, where are you right now?” It was Derek. I told him about our escort mission. “Dude, I’m trapped in Kayla’s apartment and there’s a bunch of zombies outside trying to get me! They know I have Biology at 3:30!” What was I supposed to do? I told him that I’d try to get the small escort group to go toward the White Apartments to eliminate the zombies, and that I’d call him if we got there. However, I told him that I made no promises.

Jim made it first, and Jocelyn came at the 23 mark. I told her what was going down with the White Apartments and she muttered, “Shit.” When we began discussing how to get out, the back door of McClain was suggested. Since Jocelyn knew the route best, she took charge through the building. We rain into three or four more humans along the way who joined our group. At this point, the group was about eleven people.

We swept through McClain, burst through the back door, and took Normal by storm. Two zombies flooded through Baldwin and another three were hiding at the entrance to campus behind the walls, but they’d all left the White Apartments at this point. I called Derek – no response. Called again – voice mail. “Dammit, he’s not there. We have to keep going to OP.” We circled up and marched systematically to the side entrance of the building. I pointed my guns at three of the zombies and told the humans that I’d be the last one in. The humans all poured inside and the zombies rushed. I shot Bova and bolted to the door, making it just in time to avoid Sean’s munch.

Jocelyn and I led the rag-tag group of apocalypse-surviving, battle-hardened warriors through the maze of Ophelia Parrish to the back door. There, the humans poured out, guns blazing, and rushed back into their home of Missouri Hall. The time: 3:28. Taylor made it in time for work at 3:30. Jocelyn and I made it to Choir at 3:30. There were no casualties over the course of that half-hour mission.

Choir was relaxing, and the hour and a half-long Oktoberfest allowed humans and zombies a chance to mingle – the game was paused from 4:30 to 6. We laughed, we gasped, we cried, we shared stories of great escapes and greater munches. The talk was all about brains. However, it had to end, and the humans quickly retreated to Centennial Hall for the mission that would bring about the beginning of the end.

Kathleen Reinhurst has a wheelchair-bound lab assistant who told us that he could begin working on a cure. However, we had to get through the zombie hordes to one particular man – Captain Greg Wayne. Previously MIA, Greg Wayne was reported by the mysterious OP to not necessarily be dead. And now he was leading the zombies to war? If we could get Greg Wayne to the assistant or the assistant to Greg Wayne, he could get a blood sample and take it to his lab. Those were the terms of the mission. We had 50 minutes.

The first two groups that left were small ones. Six people took the assistant to a ramp between McClain and Baldwin. A group of ten or so bolted off as scouts to find Wayne. The rest of the human army split into two groups – one to seek and destroy Wayne and one to provide a diversion for whatever zombies were moving around – this is the group that I led.

We decided to march toward the Clock Tower and go between Violette and Magruder in order to stay away from the assistant. However, we saw motion at Barnett. Zombies? We gathered up, double-timed the march, and made a line to the building.

Justus called. “Hey dude, we’re AT Barnett right now! We see you! But, there are a TON of zombies out by the stadium.” I announced, “Humans! There are a lot of zombies at the stadium. We’re going to rendezvous with the humans at Barnett and decide a course of action with their leaders.”

We got to Barnett and saw the horde. 40 strong – that’s when the morale began to drop. We had about 25 or 30 humans, so we were outnumbered. However, the ratio wasn’t so bad that we couldn’t withstand an attack from them. We just had to do it on our own terms.

I led the humans to the bridge across the ravine – our first bottleneck. The zombies had no good way to rush us across the ravine. Since it was generally acknowledged that the zombies were numerous and had well-qualified leaders (Steve Bermudez and Drew Clark were both in the group), and since we were getting phone calls about the assistant’s position being found, we bolted for the wall at Pershing – our second bottleneck. They’d come between the fence and the wall and we’d pick off a small group of them. They couldn’t handle that, so they stopped their advance. We bolted to the lot between Violette and Magruder and I ordered the humans to take cover behind pillars and bushes. The zombies were not advancing anymore, so we turned around and hustled to McClain.

Zombies featuring Hogey and Annie were taunting the humans. They were spread-out and looked intimidating, and the humans had no leadership here. Everyone was scared. I rushed my humans in and ordered an attack. “Kill all the zombies! They’ll have to leave for their respawn point on the other side of campus! Leave none alive!”

The rush began, and the zombies were killed systematically. They all left and the humans were alone, but scared. “There are zombies on the other side of the wall!” they shouted. “What do we do?” I suggested to Jocelyn and Justus that we rush those zombies as well, forcing them away. However, the unorganized humans around me shouted about how they’d spread out and flank us. Or that there were too many corners. Or that there were too many of them. It was utter chaos and I had lost my status as their leader. They were too scared to listen to anyone.

Then the second horde arrived. I don’t know if there was a respawn time or if there was a third horde silently moving around, but 30 zombies showed up on Normal street, ready to march on our location. The humans were spread long and thin, and there were still a lot of them at the back wooden wall. With the 8 in the back and the 30 in the front, and with the walls between us, there was no escape. We had to fight.
“Humans,” I said, “they’re all gathered in a tight group. We can eliminate them quickly, but only if we hit all sides at once. Here’s how we’ll do it. On the count of three, ALL HUMANS need to charge in a quickly-tightening semicircle formation. Just shoot all your ammo. Fill them with Styrofoam. Don’t stop until every one of them is stunned. Our position will be safe at that point, so we can take the assistant, kill the zombies in the back, rendezvous with every other human on campus, and march on Wayne’s position at the Stadium.”
“One… two… THREE!!!”

I ran forward, guns at the ready. I shot the Nitefinder – the dart sailed between a few zombies. Throwing it aside, I picked up the Firefly strapped to my side. I roared a primitive battle cry, cocked the assault rifle, and fired again and again into the ever-advancing charge of undead flesh.

Fall 2008 - Day 2

2008-10-24T00:53:00.000-05:00

First off, I apologize for the length of this post. I am currently half-way through page 3 and still have quite a bit left. It’ll spill over 4 pages in MS Word 2007, so bare with me.

Metagame Translation: I slept in and almost got to P-Chem lab late today, but luckily there weren’t zombies around as I moved between classes (most rookie move I’ve made so far this game). During the day I felt pretty safe…I left campus for a little bit to crash in my apartment, showered off, took care of bills with my landlord, and made it back. That’s when the hell started, and I’ve had 2 chances to rest since about 2:30 – once around 11:15 while giving one very sick Valerie Moody a well-deserved back massage, and once right now to tell my story. I still have Spanish homework to finish and a P-Chem quiz to study for. I guess it’ll be another early day.

The morning started out… stressful. My alarm goes off at 6 am and I think, “I barely made it out alive yesterday and I only got 4.5 hours of sleep. I’ve earned a 15-minute nap.” Nope, I earned a 2 hour and 15 minute nap. I’ve never driven to City 17 as quick in my life. I made it to my 8:30 chemical research lab (chemistry was always an interest of mine, even though without a college degree I’m an amateur left to the books to learn my theory). The travel to the lab was uneventful, and the quick trek from Magruder to Centennial Hall to eat lunch was also safe.

“Lunch is over,” I thought to myself, “and I can actually SHOWER for the day!” I booked it to the van, got home, checked the recent kill reports, and cleansed myself. I made it to campus around 2:30 because there was an escort mission going down at 3. “OK,” I figured, “I’ll escort at 3, relax in Baldwin until Spanish at 3:30, and head to the mission that Com. Lucian had ordered us upon at 4:00.” That’s not how it happened. A small group of us were cutting from Missouri Hall to Ophelia Parrish when we saw 15+ zombies who, in turn, saw us and chased. Getting inside, we looked at them through the door and I looked at my men. A quick thought: “Guys, they’re on THIS side of OP and we need to leave through the OTHER side. BOOK IT! NOW!!” We sprinted through the front of OP and got about 15 feet onto the quad before we saw an equally-sized horde between Baldwin and the Library. “BACK INSIDE! ANOTHER GROUP!!”

We gave up on the escort, as it was already after 3:00 and we’d lost communication with the humans inside. However, one of us still had to get to Baldwin for a class. We decided to wait out the hordes because they had other things on their minds. Somehow the four of us broke through the Normal side of OP with virtually no zombies. We crossed the street, got into the side of Baldwin, and our guy got to his class. The other four of us (we picked one up on the quad) took the long way behind the White Apartments, coming from behind Normal and Davis, and got to my van. By this point, the mission was a half-hour away and I wouldn’t be going to my Spanish class, so I was switching my backpack out for a lighter bag and carried only the essentials – extra darts, phone, wallet, keys.

Making it to MO Hall safely, we rendezvoused with more humans and began our tense but uneventful trek to Ryle Hall for the mission. Michael Justus was our man with eagle eyes and got us there safely. Once inside, we were greeted by practically every fellow surviving human. This was a glorious sight for sore, nearly-infected eyes. And there was Commander Lucian with Kathleen Reinhurst’s new research results and our mission.

The zombie infection is spread by the very nanobots that were created to stop the virus. And the zombies were going to hack into the city-wide computer system to spread the virus throughout the whole block. Our goal: stop the zombies from breaking into as many of the 5 computer stations as possible. The zombies had 30 minutes. The catch: they could respawn in 5 minutes by returning to OP and searching again.

Justus gives me a look and says, “Want to come with us to Barnett?” Hell yeah. We all sprinted, guns bouncing and heads swiveling, from Ryle through the parking lot and into Pershing. Cutting through a volleyball game, we came out the back side of Pershing and found a man stationed at a computer mainframe system. He had a puzzle on a piece of paper, and if the zombies solved it then they shut down the station. We ran into another group of humans and we stuck together. This was a damn good thing because, not 5 minutes afterward, about 25 zombies came strolling up lead by the charismatic general Drew Clark.

I looked at him and he looked at me. This was a battle of leadership. I kept 4 men on top of the hill to watch for zombies sweeping around and had the humans gather up. 5 runners, including Joey Palmer and Biscuit, were sent from the mission area to find other nodes. Socks were given to the people without other weapons and were prepared for lobbing from the back line. Guns were mobilized, loaded, cocked and readied at the front. Drew gave his barbaric yell and they charged.

It was a beautiful blur of resolve. Cotton rained down from above as the thunder of spring on plastic hurled foam at the oncoming horde. 10 seconds after the rush I yelled, “Which zombies are not stunned?” There was one. “How many people died?” There were none. We gave a victorious cheer and hunted down the last one brutally.

Nate Klessig called. “There’s a node at the West Campus Suites and we need some people here to help with it!” Michael Justus lead about half of the group in that direction and I kept the other half at the node. Then another call soon after from Kyle Denk. “There are a ton of zombies in the BNB courtyard and they have a puzzle. We’re not sure if they’re done with it yet, but we need help over here.” I basically put Craig in charge of the node with 4 other trusted humans who could eliminate zombies quickly and took the last of our group (at this point about 8 humans) through Pershing, Grim, and to Magruder. We saw Kyle and he relayed to us how he escaped. A group of about 5 humans were with him, and the big decision became whether or not to distract the zombies from the puzzle. The humans were unsure, weighing pros and cons, and this needed an immediate decision because time was on their side. “The more time we waste deliberating, the more time they have to solve that damn puzzle and access that node. Let’s get over there and stop them! NOW!!”

I ran to Violette followed by 7 or 8 other humans. We cut through the math building, came out in front of BNB, and saw quite a horde. 25 or so zombies spread out throughout the yard, with about 10 concentrated in the middle. They saw us, we saw them, and we all bolted inside.

The first of many of my stand-offs began. Zombies surrounded the building and kept about 4 working on the Sudoku puzzle (as we found out from Kyle that it was). Joe Seigel was next to us every 5 or so minutes, reporting back out to the zombies. Near the end of the mission time (about 20 minutes had elapsed since), I had a plan. We all separate, sprint indoors in different directions, and meet at the middle back door. Glass room, plenty of visibility. If we make it there, we make it to MO. Joe came back in to taunt us as a zombie, and there were zombies outside watching our moves. Once everyone was off the phone, I made another moment decision that I think bought us some more time. “Stick to the plan, whether you arrive alone or with others. 3, 2, 1, GO!!” We all bolted.

Arriving at the back glass door, I eventually regrouped with the rest of us (7 at this point). The parking lot looked clear and no one was guarding this entrance, so I said, “Ok, let’s go now.” A moment too soon – a huge group of people and bandannas were between BNB and MO Hall. “Shit, back up! There’s a horde back there!” I took one more glace after we’d backed away and paid attention this time – they were Moderators, Researchers, a man with a camera and Commander Lucian himself. I told the others, “Guys, they’re mods. There are no zombies. We have to go now. NOW! LET’S GO!!” Slamming the door open, we all sprinted across the back of BNB into the Southeast wing of MO Hall, all of it caught on camera beautifully.
By now, the zombies’ mission was over. They’d taken the node in the sunken garden and we weren’t sure what those implications were yet.

At this point, the plan was to let the Ryle guys do their own thing, escaping through a back door, while I lead the C-Hall people across the quad into Baldwin, McClain, and finally Centennial. Then I was going to West Campus Suites to help with Nate’s bad infestation there. The plan failed. OP was surrounded by zombies moments after they saw us step out of MO Hall. The BNB crowd had basically relocated and picked more people up. Zombies were at every entrance and multiples inside standing by us. Then things got interesting.

“I want John Mohr!” one of them yelled. Sam Neudecker, you had to make it personal. “We only want John Mohr! One-on-one. No other zombies, no other humans. I just want to fight him myself!” Leaving the humans to guard the indoor zombies, I stepped outside and gave him an offer. “Pick 2 of your guys for me to fight. If I lose, you get my brains and these humans are screwed. But if I win, they get free passage to their dorms!”

Sam was intrigued. “…ok. Ok. Let me talk with the guys.” While they deliberated this, I whispered to the other humans to discretely file out and escape. Once they all snuck out, the only remaining humans were Jay, Carl and I. They were all going to MO, and with this stand-off I had to just go back as well. I couldn’t help Nate.

Sam came back and said, “So, do we have a deal?” I responded, “We would, but I don’t have anyone left to fight for.” The rest of them had made it out and were in transit. So the deal was off and I’d bought the other humans some time. Walking toward the back of OP, all the zombies were tracking me outside and 5 of them stuck with me inside. They didn’t CARE about the other two humans. Great.

But I had one last trick up my sleeve, thanks to a timely Will Burgess hiding in OP. I’d finished getting a drink of water and was talking with one of the zombies (the rest had already gone to the front door). Then I turned to the wood-working room and said, “Oh, hey, Elaine! Hang on a second!” Turning to the zombie, “Oh, I’m sorry, gotta say hi to her. I’ll be right back.” I ducked through the door and it closed behind me. Yes. And there was an unguarded door to the outside. YES! Will and I looked at each other and went for it. We propped the door (without a handle) to get back in, stunned the only two zombies nearby, and we both ran for it. I personally ran all the way off-campus to the Post Office, took Jefferson to Fible, took Fible to Normal ,and took Normal to my van just on the corner of Normal and Davis. Hell fucking yes, I made it.

Stopping in my apartment momentarily, I cracked open my well-deserved first cold one of the game. I drank that Bud Light like it was the only drink in the desert (and, I was parched and it was the only drink in my fridge). But no rest for the weary: it was 6:30 and I had a group project at 7 in Centennial Hall.

The drive to the parking lot, the trek into Centennial, the group project for Religions, and the work on my P-Chem lab report all went painless if you take into account how exhausted I was. By the time I was done with all of that it was 10:00 pm. I was checking a few last-minute things on the computer when I got the text message that changed the night.

“You will be receiving a mission email soon. Zombies won’t know. Speed and stealth is a must. Please help. –OP”

The dilemma at this point is, of course, whether or not to go. OP hasn’t given me any reason to trust them, and they didn’t contact me during the mission. On the other hand, I told OP exactly how I felt the night before – we’re all in this together. If I want OP to trust me, I’ve got to trust OP. So I packed my things, leaving my car and bike in the Centennial Hall parking lot, and began the trek to MO Hall.

There were 2 zombies outside the side of the SUB as I was walking toward Magruder. Hide my guns and keep a low profile? No. Kick ass and take names? Oh, hell yes. One saw me, waved to his friend and pointed at me. “Bring it the fuck on,” I taunted. I ran at them with guns pointed and began backing toward the side door. Suddenly Kevin Luker and another zombie round the corner and they all swarm me. I shot the Nitefinder at a distance. Missed. I dropped it in favor of the Firefly and took them out systematically – with the Firefly, not a dart missed its target. “You’re down, you’re down, you’re down,” I called as they dove at me. The fourth one didn’t even approach. “Tell the others what you saw here.”

(I didn’t say that, but it was implied by the way he ran.)

Getting into the basement of the SUB, I found 5 humans. “Guys,” I said, “I just took out 3 of the 4 zombies outside and the last guy ran off. If you want to escape, let’s go. Where are you heading,” I asked. “MO Hall,” they said. “Well, load your guns, grab your socks, and let’s get going.” “We forgot our weapons.” …suddenly I had 5 unarmed men that I was about to lead to MO. I offered any of them the Nitefinder and one spoke up. “Don’t worry about us, we’ll be fine. Go on to MO on your own.” I replied, “Two men with 2 guns are better than one man with 2 guns.” “No, no, go on, we’ll be ok.” Dammit. I lost potential allies.

I left the side entrance toward Magruder (the area was clear) and ducked inside. Violette was next, and simple. Getting to the sidewalk in front of Dobson, I readied myself for the MO Hall guards that perpetually stood outside because all the doors were locked except the front. However, I found the three ballsiest humans of the game. They were walking around after 10:30 pm and stunning zombies. Just for fun. “What’s up,” the leader said, “where are you heading?” I told them my story. He said, “Well, let’s bust them out!”

We ran into five zombies along the way. Stunned four, left one, and ran to the building. The guys were all inside the doorway with their fraternity brothers. So that was their strategy – sneak home with fellow Betas to hid the arm bands. We left again toward MO Hall, keeping an eye on the one zombie left. The remaining trek was uneventful, luckily. I thanked my new saviors, they tipped their guns to me, and they were among the shadows of the night.

11:00 pm and I had an hour of downtime. The humans were mobilizing and keeping silent about OP’s secret, human-only mission, so all I could was relax. And the best way to do so was to find a girl that I hadn’t seen since before I began working at Syrner, one that was too sick to take her job and would be out there along side of me if she could. I sought out Valerie Moody.

She was getting better, she said. She had a bad sickness as of early Tuesday and promptly alerted Mark Thompson that she couldn’t take the job. And now she’s safe from the horde, but she’d rather be pumping those ghouls full of orange Styrofoam. All I could do was relieve her back pain with a massage while waiting for the midnight mission. She’s one of the reasons I’m surviving out there. I’d take a munch for her, and she’d do the same for me.

Then came the text from OP. “Mission alert – emergency.” I threw my weaponry together, wished Valerie a good night, and headed downstairs. 5 humans gathered at the back door of a much unguarded, late-night Missouri Hall. Jocelyn, Mike, Jeremy, Arron and myself. In an instant, we were the night. We dissected the parking lot and hit Davis street before being joined by Andy, a freshman. The six of us marched silently to the Pershing Parking lot where OP alerted us that we’d need to be.

The mission was simple, but important: deliver a truck-full of boxed weaponry, two at a time, from the Pershing lot to the Barnett lot. The best way to deliver them quickly while keeping an eye out for zombies, we decided, was to make an assembly line of humans and always keep a free-handed human with the two current box-carriers in case a zombie came by. The transfers took about 10 tense minutes in the lamp-illuminated darkness of night, and then we all reconvened at the truck. The men there told us,

“We had an extra box of fully-automatic weapons, and we heard that there’s a zombie infestation. We’ll take you wherever you’re going and then you can use the weapons as you see fit.”

Eric Bozarth, Craig Harkness and I traveled back toward Centennial alone while the group went with the Vulcan-wielding moderators. I gave a quick wave to Josh, who retreated to his apartment, and Justus, who ducked into his vehicle, before we double-timed it to the lot where my van was parked. 12:30 pm: I dropped Craig at his house, Bozarth made it to his apartment on foot, and I was alone in the van with my thoughts.

I’m not exactly sure how or why I made it out of today alive. I can only trust that I’ve been given an incredible gift of time. After the afternoon’s captured node, we’ve lost the Communication Grid, so we can’t contact the outside world. However, our Research Database, our Security Systems and our Sensor Arrays are all still operational. Dr. Reinhurst is working on a new zombification cure. I still think that OP will be able to help us somehow, although I’m not sure when or how just yet. All I can do is stay alive longer out there, harness my natural leadership and charisma, and keep the human resolve strong.

Until next time, this is John Mohr.

Fall 2008 - Day 1

2008-10-23T01:09:00.000-05:00

Metagame Translation: This was the first day of actual game play, and the Original Zombies really went to town. Between the five of them they managed 43 kills, which snowballed into 91 zombies at the end of the day. Out of 295 total players, we’re looking at an approximate ratio of 2:1 humans to zombies. Veterans like me have seen this before, but not on Day 1. Whatever happens in the next few days will be a bloodbath, and a swift one at that. Our only hope is that the zombies will pick off another 50 to 100 and then start starving. The zombies have some good players, but they have a lot of people who made careless mistakes. We have to use that to our advantage – realize that we still have many incredible humans, and that we’re outnumbering them, and stick their snowball right down their throats.

It rained heavily last night and the comfortable seat on my bike was saturated with water this morning, so I packed it into my van and drove to City 17. I had educational seminars to attend all morning, but I still showed up earlier than necessary. Not just to sip on coffee and greet the sunrise, but also because I had a bad feeling about the day.

Heh. Understatement of the year.

In Magruder I saw a man with wrinkled skin and gashes across his body sneaking around corners. “What the hell is that?” I wondered to myself. Seeing an old friend Kyle Denk, we talked about it and confirmed our suspicions: the “Ebola” virus had escaped again and was hitting City 17. This is what we’d be hired for, though – seek out and eliminate the infected in an attempt to contain the virus.

They’re violent, though. And they have an insatiable desire for those of us who aren’t infected. Throughout the day I began hearing stories from other workers about infected victims attacking soldiers, biting into them, and then those same soldiers later attacking their fellow workers! Were those classified documents really this accurate? In the back of my mind I always had skepticism that I’d have to use my weaponry against citizens of the city. And they’re still the same citizens – they recognized people they knew before the infection and are even capable of speech and motor skills. Are they really the same, though? Does every person have this cannibalistic monstrosity inside of them, or is there malevolence at work?

The infected were not always easy to spot, however. In particular, rumors were quickly spreading about people who looked healthy but were actually spreading their infection. Something about their blood delayed the anatomical symptoms, but the rage and hunger for flesh was still there. I couldn’t trust my fellow workers. I couldn’t trust the leader of my Squad. I couldn’t trust the very workers that I’d seen at my instructional seminar the previous week! I was alone.

So I took matters into my own hands. I stocked up on weaponry and laid low in well-barricaded buildings. I found a pair of scissors and cut most of my hair off as a make-shift disguise. I constantly changed my outward appearance by switching coats and sometimes only wearing a t-shirt. And this worked quite well. I only had to use my pistol once today, and it was against a recently-turned woman between Missouri Hall and Ophelia Parrish. I saw her outside and she saw me inside, so I busted through the door yelling, “Get the hell over here, zombie!” and pointing the Firefly and Nitefinder at her. One shot with the Nitefinder was all it took to knock her down. I retreated into Ophelia Parrish quickly.

While there I found a room wherein I could watch all activity on the Quad, providing an eagle’s-eye view to friends who had to get back to Missouri Hall. At this point I was still weary of humans. But there were some gruesome ambushes in that grassy field. One man was carrying an instrument in one hand and a sniper rifle in the other – one zombie followed him at a distance and then three more came in for the rush. He didn’t make it out. Not 30 seconds later, a woman with a large leather trench coat came from Baldwin walking toward Ophelia Parrish. A zombie sprinted from behind and sunk his teeth deep into her neck.

I recounted these tales in the cafeteria to some other humans (by this time I was sure of who the infected without symptoms were), eating quickly so that I could sneak through the city to Magruder Hall for evening meetings. I moved as a shadow – MO Hall to BNB to Violette to Magruder, weaving through hallways, ducking through entrances. Walking past Violette there was a miraculous sight – a human resistance, marching through the city and eliminating the infected. There were bodies in their wake. Not wanting to be outside long, I quickly waved to them, but I feel as though I can trust them. I was glad to see that my old friend Jason Marth, their leader, was still alive and well.

There were zombies around Magruder and my meetings were no longer safe. I met with 3 other humans outside of the ACS meeting and we decided to put our full trust in each other and get across campus. Magruder to Missouri Hall, taking back roads, going around dorms, and cutting through fields. Among these men was Blake Mueller, someone who was just recently hired by Syrner. However, this young man has a lot of talent and a lot of spunk. I have total faith in him when he says he has my back, and I hope to see him again soon. I was able to get to my van, the other two got to Missouri Hall, and Blake snuck back to the West Campus Suites by himself. I offered him a ride from my off-campus location to another so as to eliminate unnecessary walking. He said, “Now that wouldn’t be as fun, would it?” I smiled, wished him good luck, and started my engine.

It’s after 1 am now. People still in the city have reported that all the infected who previously showed no symptoms are now fully zombified. The leader of the Nightcrawlers, Nate Klessig, was not one of those infected (contrary to the beliefs of many). However, that still leaves only a few members of the squad and (at last count) 96 of our original 295 workers infected. 32.5% of our workers, in other words.

OP, the mysterious messenger from the previous night, is alive and well. They’ll send word to the humans at some point tomorrow, and hopefully we can meet up with this person and find out what they know.

The infection is spreading quickly, and we need to find a way to stop it soon or else it will take us all.

Until next time, this is John Mohr.

Fall 2008 - Day 0

2008-10-22T01:08:00.000-05:00

Metagame Translation: I went to the orientation at 6:00 pm on the Tuesday before the game started. There were manila envelopes with in-game information in them, and mine had a piece of paper in it. It said to come to Magruder at 10:00 and only bring those that I trusted. I told a few Nightcrawlers, some close friends, and the newbies that I trusted to do well. At 10:00 pm we began a joint mission with Goucher College in Maryland – I was on phone duty, calling their humans and relaying them locations while our humans went on a rainy scavenger hunt from the Sunken Garden to City Hall to KCOM (in 5 groups of 10-15 humans) to gather 2 clues each. They were puzzle pieces, and on the back were lyrics to Jenny/867-5309. Goucher humans gave us op.rebuildourfuture.com. McKenna Peters emailed op@rebuildourfuture.com saying, “Yes, we’ll help.” OP sent one back asking how they can trust us. McKenna messaged me on Facebook and I wrote a response for her to forward. OP thanked her for her support and suggested that we send them any potentially pertinent information.

Mark L. Thompson IV himself greets us as we enter the conference room for the regimented debriefing. My instinct, when shit goes down, is to pack heat – a Firefly assault rifle and a Nitefinder, the newest technology in palm-of-your-hand sniping. How much of it seemed necessary? Not as much as I’m starting to wonder.
We were introduced to Col. Victor Solomon, Maj. Lucian Freeman, and Dr. Kathleen Reinhurst. Reinhurst, I found, survived the events of Kirksville 5 years ago. She’s quiet on the details, but that’s not why we’ve been gathered. We were informed on the Ebola virus (they’ve finally started calling the sick ones “zombies”, just like Tarmo said) and how to defend ourselves. I’m a security guard, so I felt right at home – pistols, rifles and revolvers are all effective. Syrner is developing more heavy artillery and may introduce it if we need it.

A guy next to me (I think his name was Jeff) passed me a note. I asked him if it was from him and he said, “No, I was just told to hand it to you.” Of course, I opened it and found a startling message:

Magruder Clocktower Court Yard

10:00 pm

Bring only those you trust…

What the hell did this mean? The old saying goes, “Curiosity killed the cat.” They never said anything about zombifying the cat. Of course I showed up.

And I wasn’t alone. Over 50 other temporary soldiers showed up, just as confused. To add to the eeriness of the situation, there was a telephone with a speaker system, a phone number, a list of locations and a list of coordinates. The phone number contacted a group of people in Maryland, and the list of locations pertained to where they were. The coordinates were for City 17. Breaking into groups of 5, the other humans went to all 10 coordinate locations and retrieved clues while I manned the phone, feeding the other group locations such as “The Suicide Room,” “The Sundial,” and “The Old Incinerator.”

After an hour, we had everything - lyrics to a song from our clues, and a web site from the other group. At op.rebuildourfuture.com we found a password field, into which we typed 8675309 and got a cryptic message:

YOU FOUND ME

Listen to me if you want to live.

Not everything is what it seems in City 17.

Cpt Wayne is not dead.

In City 17.

Infected.

Cured.

Controlled.

Reinhurst doesn't know.

Not good.

I need your help.

Will you follow me?

op@rebuildourfuture.com

McKenna Peters sent a response saying that we’d help. She received a response – “How can I trust you?” and I wrote a letter for her to send back.

My head is still swimming… what does all of this mean? Greg Wayne is alive somewhere, and… can the virus be cured? Whoever the mysterious OP is, they’ll need our protection. And I plan on providing just that. Let’s just hope that, if they virus does break out again, that we both stay alive long enough to meet.

Until next time, this is John Mohr.

Fall 2008 - Preface

2008-10-22T01:02:00.000-05:00

Metagame translation: I’m giving background information for the character that I’m playing in HvZ this semester. It justifies the info that I filled out when I signed up as a Security man on www.rebuildourfuture.com. Also, my character finds notes left in the form of Zombie Journals from my previous 2 semesters. I was zombified on Day 5 of 7 in the second semester, and I was a survivor in the first semester. Thus, this is a continuation of my old struggle manifested in a new victim. I am weary of Syrner as the mods in-game may try to screw us over.

I’m making pretty good money for what I have to do, just toting a revolver around and looking menacingly at teenagers that wander too close to the complex. It suits me, though. Having an easy job allows my mind to wander to deeper issues; what to make for dinner that night, how to impress that girl that works in Personnel. Ok, so maybe I’m just lazy, but damned if I’m not imaginative. And my favorite thing to do is to dig through all the old records of what Kirksville, Missouri was like before I was hired for Project Rebuild, before Syrner took over the city, during the plagues in the first decade of the new millennium.

What Syrner told me, what they told all the employees on orientation day, was that a freak strain of the Ebola virus got some people sick. Not knowing they had the virus, they didn’t quarantine themselves or go to a doctor until it was too late. After a week there was no communication to and from the town, and the military sealed the town off soon after. I guess Syrner found this strain interesting, so they took over the town and rebuilt it after cleansing it of all contaminants. That was in 2008. Now it’s October 17, 2013 and the town is once again inhabitable. Syrner has power-generating plants, biological laboratories, and state-of-the-art research centers with tons of the top scientists in different fields. It’s a marvel of humanity and the pinnacle of scientific achievement. That’s what Syrner told me.

Syrner is my employer insomuch that some fat cat in the 42nd story of some building somewhere makes 10 times my salary just to make sure that I get money every week. I can’t stress it enough – a job is a job, and money’s tight. That said, I’ve done my objective research into the underbelly of the business. If there’s one thing I know about big corporations, it’s that they’re never as perfect as they’ll make themselves out to be on paper. Syrner is hiding some juicy secrets.

There was an incident in 2007, unconnected to the media and very hushed, about a killer Ebola virus that wiped the town near Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Newspaper clippings showed that a helicopter flew from the quarantine a few days after the military took action, but that the chopper crashed and everyone died. Sad story. But it gets worse. The Syrner archives have some classified material that was collected before the purging of the Ebola virus, and naturally I’ve thumbed through bits of it… there are some pretty astounding accounts by some guy who wrote under the penname “Tarmo”…

“During the 8-day siege - from the outbreak of the infection to the day that the helicopter came - the zombies grew more desperate and more cunning. The surviving humans either became more stealthy or joined the ever-swelling ranks of the undead. After a week of unrelenting zombification, the uninfected pooled their technological resources (and those of surviving technicians in Mt. Pleasant) and transmitted a radio distress signal. The helicopter came around 11:00 pm on Day 8, and only 9 people made it on.”

Tarmo was referencing to the Mt. Pleasant events! But how did they get to Kirksville? Reading on, I found that the survivors from the helicopter were collected and re-quarantined and left to die. Tarmo tried to send help signals to no avail, and was only able to escape when rogue researchers broke into Mt. Pleasant to collect evidence concerning the events. Tarmo escaped and made it to Kirksville. The conspiracy to cover up Mt. Pleasant had extended to research in the town of northeast Missouri, and the mysterious anonymous author hitchhiked to the town to uncover the truth.

His journals of the Kirksville events were not as extensive, and only lasted about halfway into the siege (the length I determined from another set of journals). After these confidential reports and independent research, I’ve concluded that everyone, including the mysterious “Tarmo”, died in Kirksville from the infection.

But was it all to be taken at face-value? What were the “zombies” Tarmo mentioned? Why was Syrner concealing these documents? What was the connection? There’s something bigger going on here and I intend on finding out what it is, starting by volunteering for the anti-zombification militia as assembled by none other than Syrner itself.

Until next time, this is John Mohr.