WND episode #48

[nikvoodoo]

Aight...lets hear it! Give me your thoughts on episode 34-1!


Do it. Or the next time you open a door, King Datu the Resourceful will bury a pick axe in your throat.

[Cabbage Patch]

What is it about Datu and tools? A strange, dark room, an inkling/ADLO on his tail, seconds to act, and he picks exactly the right tool to do the job!

[LiamKerrington]

@Cabbage: Well, as odd as it is it was neither the crowbar, the fire-axe, spade nor the chainsaw; Kc chose to diverge from the cliche and let Datu pick the right thing.
Since Datu is THE maintenance-guy, hw know how to handle tools and how to take care of things. But he did not hit the head of this thing, which strikes me: Is Datu getting old, having trouble with his eyes, having a short build as a man, or was it simply to dark ... ? All things I would accept.
Although I am curious why Datu had so little trouble dealing with this thing, while soldiers in the out put so much effort gunning 'em Zeds down, I actually liked the scene a lot.

[LiamKerrington]

Prediction Mode:

#34 is all about saving some people from Boulder;
#35 will bring us back to the Colony to end issues there;
#36 will be about bringing the Boulder survivors to The Colony or at least preparing the next rescue step leading there - and thus bringing back together the Tower-folks. "The Gang is back!"

All the best!
Liam

[Cabbage Patch]

@Cabbage: Well, as odd as it is it was neither the crowbar, the fire-axe, spade nor the chainsaw; Kc chose to diverge from the cliche and let Datu pick the right thing.
Since Datu is THE maintenance-guy, hw know how to handle tools and how to take care of things. But he did not hit the head of this thing, which strikes me: Is Datu getting old, having trouble with his eyes, having a short build as a man, or was it simply to dark ... ? All things I would accept.
Although I am curious why Datu had so little trouble dealing with this thing, while soldiers in the out put so much effort gunning 'em Zeds down, I actually liked the scene a lot.

My thought is that the pick axe through the throat severed the inkling's spine. Missing the head was probably a lucky break, since the pick axe might have just bounced off of an inkling's skull.

[Teej]

I am with liam, I see the boulder survivors being evacuated to the colony as the method of converging the two story lines. Kimmet commented about not having the resources to bring them all to Irwin, and what other place do we know that could support a sizeable population, that Michael happens to have intimate knowledge of. Unless Saul and co. Happen to overthrow the mallers by then however, I sure hope Michael thinks to send a squad or two ahead of the civilians.

[nikvoodoo]

Not to blow my load early on this, but why would Michael suggest anyone go to the Colony in the state he left it? It was left with a murdered leader and a "sociopath" taking command. That's the latest info he has. Why would he purposefully send survivors directly to the Colony without first investigating it?

[Teej]

Yea, I didn't think about the state he left it. So probably minimal chances of him not investigating first but I still see it as a very plossible device to converge the story lines, unless there is some other place suitable for the refugees that we don't know of yet. And just another thought, perhaps a recon team shows up mid coup/rebellion started by saul and co on the verge of stalling and act as the deciding factor to winning the battle and ousting the mallers? Just a thought.

[LiamKerrington]

Not to blow my load early on this, but why would Michael suggest anyone go to the Colony in the state he left it? It was left with a murdered leader and a "sociopath" taking command. That's the latest info he has. Why would he purposefully send survivors directly to the Colony without first investigating it?

Simple:
The idea would not come from Michael, but it needs to come from Saul. Because Saul knows the situation at the Colony well enough, Michael could apply to the new situation. In the P.S.: I provide to possible story-lines ... But all of that would take place in #36 and heavily relies on the outcome of what happens to Saul, Victor, Lizzy, CJ and Burt in #35 ...
Both ways make sense to some degree; but maybe my timeline for #34-#36 might be a little over-ambitious ... ;)

All the best!
Liam

P.S.:
(1) My prediction would work if Saul, Victor and CJ take care of things in the Colony. At the moment there is a lot of trouble around. But "hopefully" Saul, Vic and C receive some awesome help from Gatekeeper and staff in order to give Scratch and The Mallers something to chew on - like dying or leaving The Colony.
Next thing that would have to happen: Since Fort Irwin would have plenty of trouble keeping survivors at the base they would have to do some more reconaissance in L.A. at longbeach. That would be a perfect situation for Saul to get in touch with Fort Irwin, therefore with Michael.
Then the rescue-clockwork would start to spin towards securing The Colony ...

(2) And even if Saul, Vic and C fail to take over The Colony, they would retreat to their own place (together with Lizzy, Henry and Burt); yet the issues for Fort Irwin remain the same, which means reconaissance for safe places in L.A.; Saul and Michael get in touch, and during that contact or later discussions/ plans Fort Irwin could think of that: "What are some Mallonies in The Colony, if they meet National Guardists, Iraq Veterans, Boulder Veterans and Z-pocalypse-battle-hardened-US-best-boys from the US-Army?" There we have it: The confrontation of good and evil in The Colony in order to save the survivors ...

[Adventureless_Hero]

So there are a few points I think are worth taking note and theorizing on. I think evidence for this nuke situation was provided for us way back in the cover art for episode 29.

http://www.zombiepodcast.com/The_Zombie_Podcast/WereAliveMain_files/WA_S3%20April30%20final.jpg

As you can see it appears that the plane is flying towards a mushroom cloud. The title, It Only Takes One, may not only reference the single Inkling that infiltrated Boulder and caused this disastrous outbreak, but It Only Takes One may also be a reference to only needing one bomb to destroy an entire city.

Also, I think it is important to take note of a brief line Michael had in response to Spec. Robbins commenting on the soldier like quality of the biters in Boulder. Michael asked very pointedly, "What did you say?!" His question seemed to go unnoticed by anyone else in the room. It was very reminiscent of when Tanya said the exact same lines when Michael mentioned a soldier named Saul back in the colony. Her question could have been interpreted different ways, but we came to learn it ultimately meant she knew more than she was letting on. I'm inclined to think the same applies to Michael. For me, he must have made the comparison of the Inklings being like soldier biters and realized that there must be a general: Pinstripes.

Also, I think there should be an opinion poll as to who will die in the immediate future. I'm thinking Kelly, but I hope I'm wrong because I ever since Tommy died, I've come to appreciate her attempt to change herself for the better.

[Witch_Doctor]

We've yet to see KODI put into action.

[Hoff4D]

Prediction Mode:

#34 is all about saving some people from Boulder;
#35 will bring us back to the Colony to end issues there;
#36 will be about bringing the Boulder survivors to The Colony or at least preparing the next rescue step leading there - and thus bringing back together the Tower-folks. "The Gang is back!"

All the best!
Liam


Gonna bite my theory off the end of the 34-1 section, if only to produce an antithesis theory to yours. To sum it up: Michael/Puck defy Kimmet (SURPRISE!) and go to Boulder on the next aircraft out to help save as many as they can. Upon arriving, they try to check on the resident HQ (having just learned of the nuclear issue, and concerned about it) They run into some Inklings, who are just then pushing the buttons on the Sat phone to detonate the Ft. Irwin Warhead. For shock value, the inklings are calm and still and hear Michael/Puck in the room just as they detonate the warhead, one says "It's Paul.....junior". Michael and Puck lay waste to some inklings in an epic battle. Reconvene somewhere with datu and company, and attempt to establish a Tower 2.0 (not to be confused with Dunbar) and take back the city of Boulder as best they can, cuz Irwin is gonzo. Upon this happening is right when Saul returns to Dunbar with Lizzie, Burt, Vic, and CJ. They piece back together a Sat phone, redial Irwin as it's obliterated (with enough communication to know to stay away cuz a bomb is dropped, but not enough to close out doubts of michaels survival). End Act 3


TL;DR:
#34 - Michael/Puck get to Boulder, establish communication with Datu and company. Perhaps establish an army force to clear main areas for extraction, end on cliffhanger of room full of still Inklings and a Sat phone
#35 - Saul/Lizzie rejoined, hell is breaking loose on colony. Try to get Lizzie out, but because she just learned of Burt's survival, insists that she will not leave without him. this leads to epic revenge fight of Burt vs Scratch almighty.
#36 - Either return to dunbar, or get Glenn/Pete to come back out to Colony as CJ runs the show now. Piece together Sat phone, Press redial and we get ahold of Kimmets office. Saul explains his knowledge of Michael, Kimmet tries to find Michael, and realizes michael is in Boulder. informs Saul that Michael marched into a suicide mission, just as Kimmet sees an inbound strapped with a nuke. Gasps some soliloquy of we're all gonna die and phone goes silent.

End season.

For bonus points, he bings Riley on her first real mission to go with them to Boulder, and breaks out Tonya as well, since that room is no home for her....and her depth of knowledge so far.

[Blood & Ice Cream]

We now know that a couple of nukes are available and that in the past Burt's radio and the tested KODI tactics can work against groups of zombies

Prediction - one giant nuke mother of a KODI trap to end all zombies, little ones, inklings, grigglings will feature in season 4....

[Cabbage Patch]

Assuming the humans don't panic, the situation in Boulder should start to stabilize.

• The population is locked up tight in boarded up homes and fortified public buildings, and they're armed. This means that the Inklings will have a tougher time recruiting than was the case during the initial outbreak and they're taking losses doing it. And don't forget, Datu is at large, with a pickaxe!

• Army units that were guarding the perimeter of the city will be reorganizing and converging on the city center. With the civilians indoors, anyone seen on the streets will be a target, allowing the troops to make maximum use of their firepower and making it much harder for the Inklings to turn the troops. This should slow the outward spread of the Inklings, and possibly start pushing them back. The assault force from Fort Irwin should arrive in time to reinforce this effort.

• The trick now will be to draw the Inklings into the open, where they can be effectively engaged by any available armor, artillery and helicopter gunships. This becomes particularly attractive if there is an MLRS unit in Boulder. Imagine the KODI, but on a grand scale. Let's hope that Michael shared the sweat lure idea with Boulder, that they've laid in a stock of sweat bottles, and that it works on Inklings! The athletic fields at the University of Colorado campus would make a wonderful killing ground.

[the one who shoots first]

a little off topic with all of this nuke talk, but what kind of surgery could hope have had that could restore her vision? i was under the impression that her blindness was a result of psychological trauma. not a physical trauma that could be fixed so simply. a sort of, her young mind could not handle the horrors she saw so her mind cut it off to protect her psyche, or am i missing something?

[nikvoodoo]

a little off topic with all of this nuke talk, but what kind of surgery could hope have had that could restore her vision? i was under the impression that her blindness was a result of psychological trauma. not a physical trauma that could be fixed so simply. a sort of, her young mind could not handle the horrors she saw so her mind cut it off to protect her psyche, or am i missing something?

Hope's fall from the third story and hard landing jarred something loose in her eyes causing her blindness. If you go back to.....uh....19-2 I think? You'll hear her explain her escape from Dunbar and rescue by Sean.

[the one who shoots first]

Hope's fall from the third story and hard landing jarred something loose in her eyes causing her blindness.
oh yeah, i guess i forgot about the whole fall thing. i just remembered the 2nd tower being overrun and her escaping with sean.

[7oddisdead]

Also, I think it is important to take note of a brief line Michael had in response to Spec. Robbins commenting on the soldier like quality of the biters in Boulder. Michael asked very pointedly, "What did you say?!" His question seemed to go unnoticed by anyone else in the room. It was very reminiscent of when Tanya said the exact same lines when Michael mentioned a soldier named Saul back in the colony. Her question could have been interpreted different ways, but we came to learn it ultimately meant she knew more than she was letting on. I'm inclined to think the same applies to Michael. For me, he must have made the comparison of the Inklings being like soldier biters and realized that there must be a general: Pinstripes.

Also, I think there should be an opinion poll as to who will die in the immediate future. I'm thinking Kelly, but I hope I'm wrong because I ever since Tommy died, I've come to appreciate her attempt to change herself for the better.

exactly, what jumped out about that all to me was michael first came up with the ants theory...now just to tie the fact that these things are the same as the LA inklings...calling these guys "soldier-like" just brings that point home, and brings that message home in michaels head...LA has escaped the confines of LA...bad news, bonzo '_'

[Witch_Doctor]

RED MEAT FOLKS! WE NOW HAVE RED MEAT!!
2185

What? Not RED enough? Well here ya go, courtsey of Mr. KC Wayland.
2186

Complaints of things moving too slow? As Kimmet says, "Now it's time to catch up."
Meatless episodes? KC says, "Choke on my meat now, Bitches!"
Some of us were complaining while we were walking through the desert, "Ye, when we were in L.A. we had plenty of action and lots of red, bloody, dripping people meats. Now all we have is this story-sustaining manna!" Now we have heart-pumping action and a shmorgasborge of meat. Potentially 150,000 corpeses worth. "Yo, Mr. Shit! The Fan, over there, said somethin' about ya mutha! Whatcha gonna do aboud it?" You know the rest!

No communication with Boulder; They're not answering their phone, IP pings are timing out, Mork can't be reached in his shell and they don't poke you back on facebook. What's happening?

Over run by Zombies
Just bad communication channels.
Glenn screwing around reparing the broken sat phone.
Satellites' orbits are decaying.

Pick 2 or 3? Then you ain't been paying attention! This is the end-times boys and girls. The only good luck is no luck. Everything else is bad luck. Plus, the time line isn't right for Glenn to have the spare phone yet.
Pick 4? Then you're smarter than Michael. Those space birds need nudging from time to time to keep them in proper orbit.
Pick 1? You're a heartless !@#$"%!!! Not Boulder!!! Yeah, great for story but I can't take it. Y'all trying to kill poor ol Witch Doctor? I was rooting to the gang to find safety and this happens?

Kimmet has a private sat phone? OK, Again, Kimmet ... has ... a ... private ... sat ... phone? Who's he gonna call? (I'll piss on the first person to say it.)

Boulder booty calls.
Secret US Government buried in the Appalachian Mountains.
Regional military warlords.
CJ

2,3 and 4 seems like it would have come straight out of somebody's ass.
Personally, I was all like... 2184 You have a private Sat Phone? Who is she?

[Witch_Doctor]

RED MEAT

Kimmet#1, "Get a task force scrambled! I wanna know what's going own out there!"
Puck, "Want me to send someone to check it out?"
Kimmet#2, "Don't jump to conclusions. They might just have communication problems. Wake the engineers. Put the chopers on stand by."
KIMMET!!! Shit or get off the pot!

Uhura, "Hey, there's a secret Sat Phone!"
Michael, "Really? Where does it go?"
Kimmet, "Uh, I gotta go." I just knew he had Kelly on speed dial listed under Booty Call.

We finally get an account of strength of the military at Kimmet's disposal. Assuming the Irwin and deployed numbers are constant..

8500 in Boulder
2000 on Post in Irwin
200 in the Box
180+/- deployed.
10 to 11 thousand.


We learn from Spc Robins:

Communincation and power are the first to go.
Command staff and mayor are probably dead.
They tried radioing Ft Irwin but Michael says they never received any communications.
Solidiers that are not killed are turned and turn on others.
Mentions that they seem like 'soldiered versions of them.' This gets Michaels attention.

#5 on the list is interesting. Is Michael surprised by the fact that they're like soldiers? As in, they're smart zombies retaining soldier traits? Could this be reason that Little Ones move funny because they were babies turned before/while learning to walk? Or was Michael responding to what Robins said about the zombies being difficult to take down, as in an Inkling?

#4 on the list adds a crazy new dynamic to combat. In reality your enemy can kill, capture or wound you. Here, the enemy either kills you or turns you into one of them. Putting up a brave and gallant fight to the death might hurt your side more. The enemy's method of killing, maiming and turning are all the same. When you take away the soldier's advantage of superior firepower (or just firepower, period, in this case) then you have a case simillar to the House Advantage in a casino; in favor of the zombies. During an engagement, the zombies numbers are likely to be sustained or INCREASED. Soldiers will have to kill the zombies and any wounded commrads (screaming for help and mercy) at the same time.

We meet up with Datu and Hope and get our first view of Boulder.
Datu and Hope live together and Pegs and Kelly live in another part of town but we don't know if they live together. Say what you will about Datu's punk-ass-bitchness but he's taken out zombies with things you'll find in a garage. TWICE! Yes, he may be the bane of coyotes and have trouble shooting zombies at point blank range but when push comes to shove he starts swinging. Everyone forget Datu bashing several zombies with a broken chair leg? A B.R.O.K.E.N. C.H.A.I.R. L.E.G! in the arena when they came to get Samantha.
Datu Pacquiao took down an Inking in one swing. Even while missing the head. I didn't hear very much gurgling or strugle after he hit the thing. Sounds like he took it down rather quickly. I would expect a normal person to present some strugling if s/he were wounded only in the throat. He could have severed nerves too, however.

Kimmet reveals the nukes and proves to be the anti-Michael. Anti-Micheal as in he rambles on and on until we all cheer when Michael cuts him off. Kimmet goes on and on about Boulder's medical training facilities like he's a college recruiter instead of focusing on telling Michael his friends will be shipped to Boulder. Here, he goes on... about Pantex during all-hell-breaking-loose. Of course this is for story purposes because not all fans are frum participants. It doesn't take away from the story but from Michael's perspective it's annoyingly irrelevant.

Now back to the nukes.

Listen at 17:00 minutes Kimmet say that there was a time when the whole thing started they were losing whole cities. BEFORE we lost contact with other bases IT WAS DECIDED we would have a (failsafe.)
Now back to my nagging feeling that it would be strange to nuke a city if the whole world were over-run. If Boulder is over-run, why nuke it. L.A. was over-run and it's still there. If the shit hit the fan all over the U.S. and they know it (Which Kimmet states that he doesn't know for sure in part two of Beyond our Borders) then now is too little to late to contain things. It sure wasn't to contain the possible 150,000 Inklings. They were not even imagined when the failsafe was in place.

Ah ha! Failsafe. Everytime I listened to that chapter I kept thing about the Cold War film. Now I know why. Not only because of the title and the nukes but because I kept wondering HOW Boulder was the failsafe.

This brings me back even further to my suspicion that there are other safe zones and maybe there is some sort of world-wide communication blackout. Kimmet wants access to the Pacific? For what? Could be any number of reasons.

Also, he wasn't the sole decision maker in the failsafe. Of course he could have just as easily meant his command staff as he could have meant other base commanders. This is what I like about this story. One nugget can point into so many directions.

[Jannit]

On the topic of Datu hitting the inkling in the throat, it seemed pretty logical to me. If the other ones we've seen average 6'5" or so, and newly bitten/infected people grow when bitten, maybe the throat shot would have hit a normal biter in the head. Datu likely wasn't expecting it to be so tall as I don't think he's seen them before, has he?

[Osiris]

I thought it was good. It was nice to hear voices from the past.

[Witch_Doctor]

On the topic of Datu hitting the inkling in the throat, it seemed pretty logical to me. If the other ones we've seen average 6'5" or so, and newly bitten/infected people grow when bitten, maybe the throat shot would have hit a normal biter in the head. Datu likely wasn't expecting it to be so tall as I don't think he's seen them before, has he?

Agreed. I'm guessing that it was dark and it sounds as if one was running to the other. I'm not sure but it sounds like the Inkling may have crashed through a door, wall or other barrier.

[Blood & Ice Cream]

like a few others have mentioned i'm going with the Season 3 ending just concentrating on the Boulder/Irwin situation now (and not the Colony)

Kimmet will be seeking to press the big red button on Boulder, but Micheal convinces him to hang fire for a couple of days whilst he and his army gang fly into Boulder in the Blackhawk with Crew Chief Specialist Anthony Robins just to rescue Pegs/Datu/Kelly and Hope

but if the situation at Boulder is manageable, he'll find the nuke and cut the connection so Kimmet can't do the nasty on Boulder

[LiamKerrington]

Awesome show, Britt, Nik and Kc! I enjoyed it a lot. And sometimes it really is marvellous how time 'flies' ... The 1h23m time-span of this episode did not feel like such a long time.
Congrats to Britt for having you again,
congrats to Nik for the 'promotion' wa-wise,
congrats to Kc for everything you have achieved so far,
and happy birthday to the one I don't know!

All the best!
Liam

[Pikepaw]

On the subject of "Little Ones" nicknames, I am alone in calling them Hunters. However when they are attacking and I start freaking and cursing, I start shouting Hunters!

Except quite a few people would think of Halo when you mention Hunters and freaking out when they appear. My thoughts

So fun to listen to KC try not to reveal details.

[nikvoodoo]

Yeah....these are released funny. This thread should be about the chapter episode which I'm not sure where that is. But whatevs. A thread is a thread. And it's numbered 47 so......yay!

[7oddisdead]

Awesome lil chat...and definitely some food for thought in this one. Awesome

Also....i may have to change my name finally, the description of Todd fits me completely (minus the douche-baggery, hopefully)...scary

[Osiris]

That was a good chat for sure. Enjoyed hearing Kc drop science.

[Hoff4D]

As per KCs request....

2203

[Adventureless_Hero]

Cool beans! Great episode. Twas awesome to hear from KC, who seemed to "tilt his hand" quite a bit this time around! I was actually expecting KC to say, "JUST KIDDING!" after each little tidbit he gave us.

Gary Oldman for the win! I had to download that episode of Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Did you guys ever notice Gary Oldman's role as a white Rastafarian in the movie True Romance? The guy is a freaking chameleon! I love that bastard!

Happy Belated Birthday Beeze! I thought it was awesome to hear the guys sing you happy b-day at the end, and other edits you reinserted at the end. Easter Egg!

Okay, I'm off to listen to 34-2. Later!

[nikvoodoo]

2222

As promised, Chris' tattoo we mentioned on the podcast this week. Click on the picture to see a larger image.

[LiamKerrington]

He should keep it hidden ... It's too good! Panicking survivors might shoot him confusing the tattoo-zeehs with real zeehs ...