Third-year biology student Gianna Mancine and first-year pharmacy student Jasmine Whatley needed a way to de-stress from their intense workloads. Instead of letting the stress get to them, the duo took an unconventional approach to unwinding.
Mancine and Whatley started a campus-wide game of tag that brings the threat of zombies attacking players anywhere on campus. Since then, everyday activities, from walking to the library, grabbing food from Russell House and leaving class have become a thrilling chase.
“It was sort of like a break, I guess, because everyone is stressing out about their classes or even about other clubs that have meetings every other day or something,” Mancine said. “We wanted to have something a bit (more low-key) and low-commitment, while still being a part of the club.”
The club, Cocks vs. Zombies, began in spring 2024 and has returned for a second semester. There are also 100 members in the organizations' GroupMe.
The game consists of two teams — the zombies and the cocks, also known as the humans. The zombie team starts off with one player, normally a president of the club, who will start to spread the infection by tagging humans at the beginning of the semester, Mancine said.
All new players begin as humans, regardless of when they join. As the zombie team grows, the human team must try to survive by outrunning them or outsmarting them, Whatley said.
Humans are marked with red ribbons , while zombies are marked with green ribbons. These ribbons are worn on participants' bags to signal to other players, Mancine said. The game is played constantly, so players need to be prepared for attack at any moment.
The Cocks team is able to defend themselves by throwing items, such as cotton balls, to pause the Zombies for a few seconds, but Zombies cannot retaliate, Mancine said.
During the semester, players are setting up the teams for the end-of-semester event called “The Acockalypse,” where the whole club plays a game of tag at the park, Mancine said. This event is the final face-off between the human and zombie teams. She also said that there will be a secret prize for the winning team at that event.
At the first Acockalypse event in the spring of 2024, a small portion of the club participated in the event. After the humans and zombies played the final match of Cocks vs. Zombies, they also played tag and hide and seek.
The club had roughly 20 members at the start. Despite the small size, there was still plenty of action, Whatley said.
“I got ambushed last year out of my class," Whatley said. "That was a bit scary."
Will Stansberry, a first-year fashion merchandising student, heard about the group this year from a link to Garnet Gate. He joined the club as a way to meet new people. He was recently tagged and turned into a zombie by Mancine and Whatley while walking to his science class.
“If you like ... the style of infection and surprises on campus and all that, then it’s definitely fun,” Stansberry said. “It’s a little challenging, for sure, because you’re not sure if you’re going to see someone or not.”
Mancine said that anyone interested in the club should join through the Cocks vs. Zombies GarnetGate and then join the GroupMe .