For many Americans — about 76 percent — Sunday was Easter, a religious holiday dedicated to the day Jesus Christ rose from the dead three days after his crucifixion. However, for some people, the notion of rising from the dead means something different entirely. 

The folks at ZombieJesusDay.org explain it like this: “Everything that rises from the dead is a zombie.”

We’re happy to let both camps, along with people who believe neither in a resurrection nor in a Zombie Jesus, carry on with their beliefs. You’ll find a variety of these opinions among this editorial board. We’re not here to judge.

We are, however, here to point out that this year, Easter — or Zombie Jesus Day — fell right before the start of Dead Week. A week so horrific, so stress-inducing and so sleep-depriving that many of us end up feeling more like it should be called Undead Week instead.

The proximity of these two events gives us good reason to think that now is as likely a time as ever for a zombie apocalypse — a zombiepocalypse, if you will. But don’t fret, because the Daily Editorial Board is here to do everything we can to help you survive this potentially impending doom.

First words of wisdom: be cautious, but not overzealous. The toughest thing about a zombiepocalypse during (un)Dead Week is that the zombies will have lots of decoys available.

For instance, your roommate might be working around the clock on a final project, or staying up all night studying. But just because school has sucked the life out of her does not mean she is actually undead. She might be moving unusually slowly, with bloodshot eyes and the inability to communicate in anything other than grunts and groans, but this does not mean she has an uncontrollable urge to eat your flesh.

The same goes for your professor. Just because he drones on, does not make him the walking dead. 

The bar scene will also present some difficulties in determining the difference between live humans and zombies. Both drunks and zombies mumble, stumble, fall over and grab unwilling victims. And if “doing the Bernie” — a dance move based on the movements of the “undead” body in “Weekend at Bernie’s” — suddenly catches on in Ames, it will even be tough to distinguish someone who wants to dance with you from someone who wants to munch on your brains.

Of course, if you find yourself face to face with an undead creature with a hankering for human flesh, you’ve got to protect yourself. And the only way to destroy a zombie is to destroy its brain.

This can be done in a variety of ways, and it really depends on your personal preference and the available resources.

Within short range, if you happen to have a sharp blade with you, the best route is probably decapitation. If you can’t sever the zombie’s head, you might try to stab it in the brain. Bludgeoning is another technique, although you must be prepared to do some serious bashing — the last thing you want is to make it angry with you for hitting it in the head.

From a greater distance, why not try for an explosion? Or, if you don’t have a grenade in your pocket, grab a gun and shoot the zombie in the head. Remember, once again, the only way to destroy the zombie is to destroy its brain. 

Come to think of it, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus should really adopt the impending zombiepocalypse as an argument for their cause.

Remember: don’t mistake roommates, professors or drunk college students for zombies — unless they are zombies. Destroy the brains. And if the zombiepocalypse comes this week, we can at least be thankful that it’s happening before Finals Week.