Day Zero – On a relatively pleasant and innocent day—Sunday, Oct. 15—at Loras College, a catastrophe of momentous proportions struck the campus. At approximately 5:56 p.m. central standard time, it was confirmed: a Loras student had been infected with a virus categorized by a loss of human emotion and reasoning, an insatiable hunger for human flesh, and a murderous, violent rage. Any cure was days off; the science was in its infancy; the reality had settled like a pall over campus: the fight for mankind had begun.

Day One – Within seconds of waking up today, I remember the horror dumped in our lap. My roommate and I solemnly read the grim memo discussing what little was known about the so-called zombie virus. Blake Neeble was the first: worse than dead, now a ghastly, lethal, soulless beast animated in a human body. Here is what we know: it is not airborne—yet—it does not spread through secondary sources, and you are only susceptible outdoors.  In other words, direct contact from the zombie is necessary for the transmission. The only consolation, the only defense is balled up socks; the fabric neutralizes the flesh-crazed demons for 15 minutes. Nevertheless, within two hours, the virus found its first host, and by the end of the day, Loras was home to seven zombies.

Day Two – Today was marked by utter panic and chaos. Any naïve dreams of a quarantine passed as the zombie virus spread far to quickly. You can hardly trust anyone; someone could be your best friend for years and then suddenly they were a horrible, conniving, homicidal maniac. Frantic running and piercing screams dominated campus. The number one pastime became flesh eating literally overnight.

I had my first near-death experience. As I gingerly and inconspicuously approached Beckman, I found several ravenous Zombies staking out the entrance. They had numbers; I had the surprise. I got the jump on them and neutralized two with my socks and barely made it inside. The adrenaline was coursing through my veins; yet this minor victory was bitter-sweet. How many more close calls would turn my way?

Day Three – Wednesday truly was the day of reckoning. We lost so many good men and women today. The amount of zombies on campus was nearing 30, and barely an hour went by when one did not fret that mankind had met its match. At 11:30 a.m. central standard time, a brilliant scientist who wrote the renowned dissertation “The Hungry Zombie” arrived at Loras. The hope was that possibly he could create a vaccine or even a cure. But for now I wait with baited breath remembering, if only for a moment, a time void of blood-thirsty beasts. 

Marlon Torres

Day Four – I can barely sit still for a moment. If you talk to me above a whisper I am likely to jump—it’s called living in constant fear. Today I found myself in Hoffmann while it was under an ambush. Who knows if I could wait it out? And that’s when I heard them: confidence, courage, power. I dared not dream for even a second that it was them, but maybe it was? Could it be the legend that humans hoped for? The men who hunted zombies? The heroic tales surrounding them made your eyes well with tears of inspiration. They were called Chuck and Lucas. Indeed, there they stood in Hoffmann a great force to be reckoned with. They laughed genuinely, they talked care-free, they had a gleam in their eyes, they had an air about them that the gloom could not penetrate. They weren’t just surviving, they were living. Through their efforts, we fought our way out of the ambush and found safety. They spoke of a cure that was to be dropped into the grass outside the library that night. The humans marched out to claim what was rightfully theirs in a battle that would never be forgotten. I had not seen so many humans in one place in days. To think that there were others like Chuck and Lucas—like the one who called himself Andrew or The Bear. Because of these heroic individuals, hope spread throughout the campus.

The individual who documented the darkest days in human history died at approximately 12:33 p.m. Friday, the 21st. His identity remains concealed. He died, as so many other brave men and women died before their time, during the final battle—the fight of Faber-Clark. But through his sacrifice and so many others, a chopper made it to the few survivors, and the zombies watched in wicked frustration as succulent and undefiled human flesh rode away into victory. And thus Mankind salutes those who gave their life; those who never gave up; those who risked everything. Thanks to you, the greatest threat to the human race in the history of the world was triumphed.

(This author’s identity remains a tightly guarded secret for this journal, the struggle, this war was about more than any one human.)

Last week, there were a lot of head bands present on campus. You might wonder; is this some sort of gang? Is there a religious significance? The answer is no. The bandanas were simply there to determine who was alive or dead, silly.

The entire last week was dedicated to staying alive. One by one, zombies attacked the living. But how do you know who is a zombie? No, there isn’t any green flesh or worm-and-dirt covered hair. There is one simple clue- the bandana.

If the person has a bandana or cloth wrapped around their arm, they’re still fighting the battle as a human. However, if they have a bandana or cloth wrapped around their head, they’ve crossed over to the dark, dead side.

However, as much fear as being chased by a zombie might add, the game also added a little bit of spice to the monotonous campus life. “The best part is that it doesn’t really take anything out of your day, rather adds an element to your life,” said Jake Regan, a first year who played the role of a zombie.

The game all started with first-year Zachary Shay. “It is true that I did start it here at Loras, but I cannot take credit for starting it as a whole. It is played at a lot of college campuses around the country. I heard about it from a friend who played it last week at his college (University of Minnesota Morris).  He said that he was having a blast. I wanted to play so I thought that I would give it a shot and see if I could get it organized here.”

First-year Zachary Shay, who brought the Humans vs. Zombie game to Loras, poses for a photo along with other participants in the game. (Photo submitted by Robert Ward)

To start, they needed a zombie. As the Original Zombie (OZ), Andrew White had the power to start infecting. “For how I was chosen, apparently they just rolled a dice or something, it was completely random. It happened in a really funny way though! I was on my way back to campus and I got a phone call from Zachary (the kid who started the whole thing) and I answered it really happily, albeit confused as to why he was calling me at 12:01 a.m. on a Sunday night,” said White. “So I answered it and the first thing he said was, ‘I’m afraid I have some grave news.’ So I got really worried, thinking he had hurt himself somehow or something. I inquired what the news was and he told me my blood tests came back positive. Still confused I asked what blood tests and when he told me I was the OZ (Original Zombie) I got REALLY excited!”

Throughout the week, as White infected people and the new zombies infected more people, more and more headbands could be seen around campus. Some zombies even donned jackets with holes and fake blood (or the blood of the humans that they infected).

One final face-off decided who would win- Zombies or Humans. “The extraction was at 9:45 p.m. in Faber-Clark Field. The remaining humans had to get into the field and remain alive until 10 p.m. and then they would win the game.  It was supposed to simulate the end of the game when they were air-lifted out of the zombie infested area. Since the zombies knew when and where they were going to be, there was a showdown,” explained Shay. “The humans were very organized and were able to last until all of the zombies had been fended off. So they won!”

The group has big plans for next year. “For next year we are going to see if we can make it a student group which would allow us to use some of the campuses facilities to help us organize this game on a larger scale, and maybe even some events to go along with it, like I was thinking about doing a zombie movie marathon the night before it starts as a kick-off!” concluded Zach Shay.

The Original Zombie, Andrew White, wrapped up his thoughts saying “I have been very proud of my fellow zombies, we’ve been through a lot, but remain strong!”

Congratulations, Humans. You are the victors.