Monday, October 25, 2010
the s tat e s m a n www.sbstatesman.com
Volume LIV, Issue 9
CHRISTIAN SANTANA / THE STATESMAN
WORLD WAR SBU:
A Reporter's Look Inside Humans vs. Zombies By Christian Santana Staff Writer
T
he Second Zombie War at Stony Brook University was a chain of events that began with the spread of bacteria, Necro streptococcus pyogenes, through the release of a green substance planted inside a newspaper kiosk in Times Square. **** Day 1: This is how it begins… The virus was initially called Z1H1 according to moderator and storywriter Kenneth Ejerta. By the time the virus spread to Stony Brook, it had mutated into Z2H1. “Finding a cure is proving difficult because of its mutant nature and Stony Brook is now on lockdown to hopefully stave off the disease’s spread,”¬ Ejerta said in a
forum post. In hindsight, I would never have guessed that my entrance into the fray would come in the form of a Facebook message received at around 23:30, which only read “I’m in front of the TAC.” In the midst of a small crowd outside of the Tabler Café stood my contact and my guide into the human-zombie conflict: the figure I only knew by a forum alias, Solidus_Snake. I wandered around the café’s outdoor plaza aimlessly, only vaguely knowing who in the crowd I was to meet, until a man sitting in the corner waved in my direction. He formally introduced himself as Nick Mann, a geology student, and in this war, the leader of FoxHound Squad, one of the many factions combating the undead hordes. Clad in a black tactical vest, sunglasses, and wielding an arsenal
of no less than three NERF guns, Mann seemed perfectly equipped to weather the zombie apocalypse. In fact, he had done just that in last year’s game, in which he survived four days. “FoxHound specializes in reconnaissance,” Mann said between drags from an American Spirit cigarette. “We mostly do surveying and provide supporting fire for other troops.” To demonstrate exactly what he meant by “supporting fire,” Mann unloaded an entire magazine of darts at a nearby wall in about ten seconds flat with one of his guns, a NERF Magstrike AS-10. He soon left, and with good reason; we later recieved word that the original zombie had spawned in Tabler and would soon infect many of the people in front of the Café that night. ****
Day 3: Paranoia sts in... The bulk of the human resistance had fortified itself in front of the Javits Lecture Center to await instructions for the first mission of the game: escorting a radio operator to the Union. While I push through the crowd, I see a familiar face: Mann and the other half of FoxHound, sophomore Paul Harding. “I don’t like being in huge groups like this,” Mann said. “You can’t cover everyone, people move too slowly and communication breaks down.” Not long after, the group splintered off in all directions with many humans unsure of where to go next. Subsequently, the opportunistic undead took advantage of the confusion. “Worst of all, people get way too cocky,” added Mann, as humans splintered off from the group
every few moments to pick off a few straggling zombies, only to get infected themselves. Though they were quite easily held off, many underestimate the cunning of the undead. On many occasions, zombies have been observed waiting under the cover of brush and foliage for hours, with some even sustaining rashes from poison ivy, until their next victim walks by, according to sophomore Jeff Fernandez. There are even reports of zombie players using rollerblades and bikes to gain an edge over slow-moving humans. According to both Mann and Harding, “those are the scary ones you need to watch out for.” “When you’re human, you actually feel really scared,” said Andy W., a human resistance See ZOMBIE on 5