You start out with a slow jog, just trying to put distance between you and the possibility of a painful death. You hear the moans and footsteps of clumsy, heavy feet getting louder behind you. If the threat of zombies tearing you to pieces doesn’t get you to run, not much will.

“Zombies are so dangerous because they have the potential to either painfully eat you or infect you, in which case you will die anyway,” said zombie enthusiast Stephanie Gerstetter, freshman in LAS.

Fight or flight mode takes over when faced with the fear of getting torn limb from limb by a hoard of brain-hungry zombies. Any sane person would choose to run, and the application Zombies, Run! capitalizes on this instinct.

A zombie craze has swept the nation. They can be seen on the television as you flip through the channels, on a bookcase as you browse for a good read, or in an app while looking for a new game to play.

“I like zombies because zombies or a zombie apocalypse are both things that I feel could happen in modern society,” Gerstetter said.

The new app Zombies, Run! plays through the scenario of an imminent zombie apocalypse. Players become Runner 5 and are sent on missions, but the main point is to steer clear of getting caught in the brain eaters’ grasps. Players must speed their jog up to a run when approaching zombies can be heard. To add even more interest, players collect items such as batteries and medicine on their run to take back to camp.

There are 13 missions and 17 more that plan to be released for Zombies, Run! The missions last 20 to 30 minutes and are jam- packed with action. Players can create a playlist to listen to under the audio of the game telling you when to flee from a pack of flesh eaters.

The idea for the app originated from two people, Adrian Hon and Naomi Alderman.

“On my side, I used to hate running as a teenager and only got into it with the help of gadgets like the Garmin Forerunner GPS watch and Runkeeper. They’re a great way to help you improve running, but even then, they don’t actually make the act of running any more fun for beginners. So I’ve always wanted to make a real ‘running game’ that motivates you to go further and faster,” said Hon, co-creator of Zombies, Run!

Alderman, co-creator and writer for the application, said part of the inspiration to create the app came from a “beginning-to-run class” she once joined, where participants were asked why they wanted to learn how to run.

“One woman said: ‘to escape the zombie horde,’ which became a sort of class joke; We’d say it all the time,” Alderman said. “So when Adrian said ‘running app,’ I said, ‘something where you run from the zombie horde!’, and it all came from there.”

In the world of apps, Zombies, Run! has one of the much higher prices coming in at $7.99.

“We think Zombies, Run! provides a huge amount of value — it might be more expensive than Angry Birds or Draw Something, but it really does get you out and running, and it’s a fraction of the price compared to a personal trainer or running club or gym membership,” Hon said. “Plus, it’s not just about training. It’s about a story that unfolds over 20 hours — and I don’t think people would mind too much if a DVD box set or book cost just $8!”

As the player continues to do missions, the story of why the apocalypse happened begins to unfold. Curiosity about why everything has happened will keep people coming back for more running to uncover the mystery.