Zombies invade University Park

YPSILANTI, Mich.- Humans beware- zombies have taken over Eastern Michigan University's University Park. But they came in peace.

Eastern Michigan University hosted it's annual Relay for Life 24 hour cancer walk last Saturday. Members of Greek Life and many other student organizations set up tents, fun events and collection plates to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

EMU's zombie nerf squad was no different. They rolled up their bloody sleeves to help the cause as well. But many walkers wondered who these boys wearing fake blood were.

While they may look creepy, these zombies' hearts (do zombies even have hearts?) were in the right place. Cries of "Save a life, shoot a zombie!" and "Come take a shot at the undead" could be heard coming from their tables.

"Yeah, I'll give it a shot," a Sigma Kappa sister said. She eagerly grabbed the weapon and took aim.

For a dollar donation, or however much the participants could afford, they were given a fully loaded "nerf soft foam dart launcher, safe for kids ages three and up" to unload on zombie Jesse Peck, with all the proceeds going to the fundraiser.

"Woohoo, that was awesome," a Tau Kappa Epsilon brother said after firing a round at Peck.

And just who are these self-sacrificing zombies? They are members of Outbreak: Eastern, a campus club where members dress up like zombies and play amped up versions of tag.

"We are members of a human versus zombie nerf gun tag team," Peck said, vice-president of Outbreak: Eastern. "Groups of humans run objective-based missions and the zombies try to thwart the missions."

Peck, along with President Dustin Miller and Kelly Reid founded Outbreak: Eastern last September. Reid had the idea to start a "human versus zombie" game on campus, like other college campuses have.

"Because of rules and liability on campus, we couldn't do that so we figured out what we could do," Miller said.

Hence, Outbreak: Eastern was born.

And the guys loved getting involved, helping a good cause and getting some publicity for their club.

"Light me up," Peck said. "It's fun getting blasted."

While the group did put on their game faces, it wasn't all work. In between shifts at the tables, the human team set up another mission that the zombies tried to stop.

Zombies invade University Park