It’s 9:29 p.m. and Arielle Beachy knows in one minute, she’ll be hunted down.
The BGSU junior glances around the deck of campus’ Jerome Library. She can’t see any zombies – yet.
The whistle blows and Beachy sprints toward fraternity row. She has two goals – find her mission’s
objectives and stay alive.
"It was an adrenaline rush because we wanted it done quickly," she said. "Around any
corner, around any bush, there could be a zombie waiting for you."
Beachy is one of the rapidly declining "humans" in the biannual game, "BG Undead."

The game is the largest student-run organization at BGSU and lasts about a week each spring and fall
semester.
"It’s just a giant game of tag," said Aaron Lewis, BG Undead president. "But for us, it’s
humans versus zombies."
The game features a storyline about zombies taking over campus, with humans like Beachy completing
objectives to earn themselves more points and ammunition while trying to finish the week alive.
The battle began last Thursday at midnight. At 12:01 a.m., a few designated zombies were unleashed to
"kill" the humans.
The latest numbers, recorded on www.bgundead.com, suggest the humans are still surviving – outnumbering
the zombies 138 to 89.
To turn a human into a zombie, a zombie must place both hands on the human’s shoulder. To differentiate
between the two, zombies wear bandanas on their heads and hunt for the humans who wear bandanas on their
arms or legs.
"I actually prefer being a zombie more than a human because zombies have a horde or family
mentality," said sophomore Tyler Brewer who, at 9:29 p.m., was hunting Beachy down. "We work
as a team to accomplish one goal – kill humans."
And while it may sound brutal to outsiders, it’s all in good fun and highly regulated.
The game is mostly comprised of "free play," meaning a zombie can kill a human while the human
is outside – there’s no playing in the buildings.
The humans aren’t entirely defenseless, however. They may not have zombie powers, but they’ve got
"weapons" of their own.
"We’ve got marshmallows, balled-up socks and Nerf blasters," Beachy said. "These can stun
zombies for 10 minutes."
After those 10 minutes are up, zombies are free to keep chasing the humans.
After a series of missions throughout the week, BG Undead ends in a final standoff this Thursday night.
There, humans battle the zombies and finish out the story.
Until then, both sides are walking to class with a little more stealth.
"We definitely take advantage of the humans’ paranoia," Brewer said. "We hide off to the
side and as soon as the humans have to reload, we hit them."
When he’s not hunting humans, Brewer is taking advantage of the opportunity to make friends with his
fellow walking dead.
In fact, BG Undead was the deciding factor for Brewer to come to BGSU two years ago.
"One of my friends went school here and started talking about this awesome game. I got super
excited," he said. "I was on the rocks between two schools and I thought, ‘You know what? This
sounds really awesome.’"
After weeks of planning, that feeling is exactly what Lewis and the six other officers wanted.
"We provide a lot of community and a lot of leadership development," Lewis said. "We get a
lot of people who don’t normally socially interact come have a great time."
That great time isn’t just for students. Anyone ages 13 and up, with parental permission, can play.
Other colleges have joined the zombie apocalypse as well. The University of Toledo, Ball State and
Youngstown State University played BGSU in an invitational game last month.
During that final mission, BG Undead Treasurer Brad Carroll sacrificed himself for the good of his human
squad.
"I ran out into the middle of a zombie horde as a distraction," he said. "It made me feel
good and proud. I really enjoyed it."
For zombie player Cory Jenkins, playing in this type of environment only seen in movies and video games
is the dream.
A dream, he said, that everybody should experience at least once.
"You’re living the game style and that’s how I found most of my friends," Jenkins said. "I
thought ‘I’m a zombie, they’re a zombie. We’re going to roll."