Zombie Tag

About a week ago a little boy at school introduced THE best game I've ever played.

We were outside in the large play area, which is basically a caged soccer field, when we started playing every variety of tag you could think of. The setting is important as it adds to the hysteria later, so keep that in mind. Side note: the kids at school call Freeze Tag, 'Stuck In the Mud' but the rules are still the same - when you get touched, you have to stay frozen or stuck until someone crawls through your legs. The kids find it hilarious to crawl through mine, so usually I just have to stand with my feet apart in permanent freeze so a constant stream of children can shoot through them. The best was when I tried to dart through a little girls legs and we both fell over in a fit of giggles as I bulldozed her over.

After about two minutes, the kids get bored of playing the same kind of tag and we have to try to  give it a remix.

One little boy, who is five and I am sure plays too many video games, started moving really slowly with his arms out and shouted 'Zombie Tag!' I probably should have stopped it, as I think it even gave me nightmares that night, but it was WAY too fun at the time. The added layer of excitement was that he began to groan and, I kid you not, drool as he stumbled for us.

Quickly we established rules that everyone could agree on: 1. zombies can't run (Sorry 28 Days Later, you lose) 2. once 'bitten' you are also a zombie and must begin moving slowly and groaning (drooling is optional, but highly recommended). 3. The last child 'alive' is the winner.

As the game progressed and more and more of us were zombies, I stepped back to watch them evolve much as they would in a real apocalypse. As the healthy children continued to evade the infected children by just running away, small pockets of zombies began to organise to corner the healthies, leaving them no place to escape. A real fear washed over the children as we were in a trapped environment - a cage. I am sure I am not the only one to have clocked that you might try to run away, but you're never ever really going to get away, are you? It was then that the infected spread out to attack the untouched through intricate traps and orchestrated movements. It wasn't long before no child could claim to be the winner, because they all succumbed to defeat at once.

It was horrifying.







But also awesome.

I hope we play again tomorrow.