It is that time of year. That time when you are no longer safe heading to the cafeteria for your meals. That time when you are no longer safe heading back to your room for that afternoon nap that you have been looking forward to all day. It is HVZ and elimination season, and the paranoia has set in.
Our first round of humans vs. zombies was a success. The largest game Bethel has ever had with over 50 players. Things started off a little slow, the OZ (original zombie) had not made their move yet. All the humans were becoming paranoid. No game had gone this long without at least one infection, especially not with this many humans. Humans roamed the campus free of any kind of undead threat, until 6:00pm that very night. Nobody saw it coming, and then zombie after zombie began to appear. Myself being among the first tagged, I was betrayed by a friend. After that everything snowballed out of control. This was partly due to the fact that nobody expected there to be two OZ’s, especially not for the first game. When the first OZ was revealed, everyone thought they could relax and drop their guard. Little did they know, this would lead to another slew of infections. By the end of the second day their were only 6 humans left. Needless to say, they did not survive that night. And so ends one of the most epic games of HVZ this Bethel campus had ever seen.
Having finished the first round of HVZ, you would think that we could all relax. In fact, the end of HVZ simply meant the beginning of yet another paranoia inducing activity called Elimination. Elimination is a game where you seek out a target and then attempt to douse them with water to eliminate them. It is a week long event that can drive some individuals to eat meals in their rooms and walk at a brisk pace after class back to their rooms or the student center. Though, I personally do not resort to such measures, I do have to check over my shoulder ever now and again and maintain a safe distance from those who carry water bottles, cups, as well as keep my distance from sprinklers while others are around.
As paranoid as these games can make you, it is still an unbelievable amount of fun. The thrill of the chase when outrunning a zombie or chasing down a human. The glorious feeling of eliminating your first target by simply spritzing your target with a few drops of water from your finger tips. I am not the only one who feels this way. Ask around. And if you aren’t playing either of these games then I would seriously consider doing so next time around.