As the sun set last Saturday night, Oct. 31, over 150 people gathered in the basement of the Science Building for the Abstraction club’s annual Zombiefest, a night that included several different variations of games all hosting a zombie-versus-human setting.

Participants were required to have a Nerf gun to shoot other students who were designated as zombies, a designation that involved wearing a dead look, walking with a limp and shouting “Brains!” to everyone who passed by.

The different games, such as capture the flag, V.I.P. and patient zero, all began with a certain number of students volunteering as zombies. The goal was to find the hidden glow stick and bring it back to the headquarters without getting tagged by, and changed into, a zombie. For V.I.P. and patient zero, it involved finding the sick patient who was wandering the building, and then getting the glow stick to cure them. Students were permitted on all levels of the Science Building but were limited to the hallways.

And when the zombies did appear, sometimes in large crowds known as “hordes,” students had to quickly decide to use their fight or flight responses.

“Our group went down to the second floor,” said participant Jamison Koeman, a first-year student. “There were a ton of zombies and we barely survived.”

Some students came prepared, sporting their Nerf collection and gear. One such participant was junior Joshua Van Wyhe.

“When I was a freshman I did this zombiefest, and after that I started hitting up thrift stores, flea markets and garages sales to find Nerf guns,” he said. “I have at least 15 guns now.”

Some students, like Van Wyhe, enjoyed using their Nerf shooting skills.

“It was definitely more fun to be shooters,” said Koeman. “When you were a zombie you couldn’t really do much.”

Others mastered the art of being a zombie.

“I liked being a zombie,” said first-year student Gregory Manni. “I would walk down hallways in the dark, hide in corners and pop out and scare people.”