Last Friday night, the zombies in the library weren't chemical engineering majors.
Roughly 200 students brought Nerf blasters, camouflage clothing and tactical flashlights to the library for a yearly game of "Humans vs. Zombies."
Most of the participants started the game on the ground floor as humans, but a handful of volunteers climbed to the fourth floor and started as zombies.
Some of the organizers of the events wore yellow bandannas and served as moderators.
When the intercom dinged, the game began, and the central staircase was filled with the sounds of battle cries and thundering feet.
On each floor of the library, there was a survival item like a radio, a medical kit or a can of ammunition. The humans' goal was to find each of these items before then end of a 20-minute round.
The zombies' objective was even simpler: tag all the humans.
If a zombie was hit with a Nerf blaster, they had to return to a "respawn" point, but if a human was tagged, they became a zombie.
In later rounds, different objectives and characters were introduced like a deranged doctor who sent the humans on various missions that had to be completed in a certain order.
Jared Davenport, student in mechanical engineering, is the public face of "Humans vs. Zombies" at Auburn and ran the game Friday night.
"Our big objective is to put on a really good show for the new dean of the library and also the risk management of Auburn University," Davenport said.
The organization has a goal of returning to a week-long, assassination-type game where zombies and humans are running around on the concourse having a good time, Davenport said.
Years ago, this was how "Humans vs. Zombies" was played, but an incident involving a spray-painted Nerf blaster got the game removed by the Office of Risk Management and Safety.
Jonathan Holder, senior in aviation management, who organized much of the event and is co-manager with Davenport, acknowledged the University made the right call, especially considering that "society has changed," and that it's "not that simple anymore," he said.
In an effort to put past mistakes behind them this year, Davenport said the group was trying to be on their best behavior to make sure the game went as smoothly as it could.
And despite a few mid-game rule changes to address some confusion, things ran smoothly.
Many of the participants arrived in color-coded groups with strategies and tactics holstered next to their Nerf blasters.
"We have a formation that we learned," said Justin Coffin, senior in mechanical engineering and Air Force ROTC student. "We are more organized and communicate well."
Overall, there was a spooky atmosphere inside the library, which matched the cold October night outside.
Dark shadows faded between the rows of endless bookshelves and ominous sounds echoed through the building. Zombies lurked around corners, and survivors huddled together for protection.
Of course, all was done in the spirit of fun, and any disagreements were settled by the time-honored tradition of rock-paper-scissors.
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