It’s the end of the world as we know it. An epidemic is spreading around the globe, infecting humans and turning them into zombies. Only a few people are still alive – by normal standards.

Such is the premise of lastdaysjournal.com, a new social networking site and alternate reality game launched in mid-October.

The network is meant to connect the uninfected and help them survive in a world full of zombies.

The site encourages users to create alter egos through which to write a story of survival, said Kuka Hiko, the creator of lastdaysjournal.com.

“It’s a vehicle for people to come together and write a story,” Hiko said.

Hiko said he created the site with high school and college students in mind, to provide them with a venue they can use to write stories and where others can read their work.

Members of the site can post blogs, photos, video and audio clips, which are intended to provide other survivors with information on their location and status.

Though some visitors to the Web site might laugh at the idea of an imaginary world overrun by the living-dead, Hiko said he thinks the site will take off because people are already familiar with the zombie and apocalyptic genre through films such as “28 Days Later” and “Dawn of the Dead.”

“It’s already a world that people are familiar with. People can literally hit the ground running and just have fun,” Hiko said.

Since lastdaysjournal.com is still in its early stages, there aren’t many registered users, but Hiko said the joined members are very active in the site.

“Only a few users a day jump on, but the ones that stick around have a lot of fun,” Hiko said.

In a society addicted to networks such as MySpace and Facebook, some college students may be reluctant to add another social-networking account.

Casen Fernald, a freshman from Quad Cities studying accounting, said although the idea of lastdaysjournal.com sounds interesting, he wouldn’t be interested in joining.

“It wouldn’t be something that I’d be opposed to, but I’m not into it too much,” he said.

Audra Ord can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 275 or [email protected].