Inspired by games such as The Last of Us and Dying Light 2, I started to wonder about how a zombie apocalypse would look like on the East Falls Campus. Especially with all the nice autumnal colors in the trees, the crisp air, and the clothing that I have been wearing lately, my brain registers this time as the prime time for the onset of an upcoming apocalypse. Whether overrun by zombies, or fungi, what would happen to this beautiful campus?
On Fridays, it is quite still on this campus. The times when students have classes are the times when the paths are all empty and quiet. This is how I imagined the apocalypse to be while walking down the path from Ravenhill Campus to Main Campus without any people in sight. The abandoned-looking building that acts as a shed for landscaping and winter tools also helps build the scenery. The crunch of the leaves as you walk by or even the soft scratch of the gravel against your shoes with every step you take can become a little eerie when it’s the only sound that can be heard for miles.
The fall decorations around Main Campus also give off a chilling feeling that a community once thrived in this environment. An outsider, maybe a family that is being given a tour, should they wander around this campus while it’s desolate, may speculate about the student life, the classes, the work and social life that developed here, and much more complex societal structures. But to me, all I would see is the fall of a once mighty university, renowned for the education that it offers students in the medical, architectural, and design fields. The modern buildings such as DEC and Ronson clashing with the older-style buildings like Hayward and Scholler give the illusion of grandiosity and legacy, which are prime adjectives to describe a site for a zombie apocalypse.
I imagine that the East Falls region would be a map that can be found in the early to middle of the game, where world-building is still ongoing, but the plot starts to thicken. Some of the secrets would be hidden in the Gallagher parking lot, blocked by hordes of zombies throughout the gym area. Or perhaps, a note from scavengers trying to survive in the library, leaving notes behind between the shelves. Reading the little notes etched on the desks and tables while surrounded by abandoned anatomy figures of the arm and foot. Maybe, some group of survivors made their base in the media room. And, then encountering the terrace on top of Kanbar will incite a feeling of wonder and disbelief that a campus full of bustling students once stood here.