Editor’s note: Emily Sturnfield’s personal email has been removed from this article.

The infestation has returned.

The “Humans vs. Zombies” competition at NIU, a survival-of-the-fittest outdoor game similar to cops-and-robbers, begins its second year Oct. 22

Emily Sturnfield, a junior anthropology and geology major, brought the game to campus.

“It started as a Facebook group, just to see who would be interested in doing it,” Sturnfield said. “I didn’t think anything would actually be planned.”

The basic concept of the game is that of a big game of tag, Sturnfield said.

The game consists of two teams: the Human Resistance and the Zombie Horde. The goal of the Resistance is to outlast the zombies until they starve to death, while the zombies strive to infect the humans, thereby turning them into zombies.

At the start of the game, there is only one zombie, whose identity is secret. The original zombie’s job is to “infect” as many of the opposing players as possible.

Ways for zombies to infect humans – or for humans to defend themselves from zombie – include shooting them with a Nerf gun or hitting the opposition with marshmallows or socks.

There are specific means to tell humans apart from zombies during the course of the game.

“Humans wear a camouflage bandana on their arm with a strip of silver duct tape on it. Zombies wear the bandana on their head, also with the silver duct tape,” Sturnfield said.

The game has no official end date.

“It will probably last between a week and a week-and-a-half,” she said.

There are certain areas in which game play is restricted.

“Any academic building, the library, fitness centers, the Campus Life Building … basically any university-owned building besides the residence halls [are out of play],” Sturnfield said.

To participate, students must attend one of the mandatory informational meetings. The next meeting is 9 p.m. Wednesday in Douglas Hall. If unable to attend, separate arrangements can be made via e-mail at [personal email redacted.]

To learn more about “Humans vs. Zombies,” visit the official Web site at www.niuzombies.com.