NEW Infection Theory

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Originally Posted by PhysicsLB

Again, crafty writing on Kc's part. We don't know if saul is unaffected by ground zero due to anibiotics or inheirant immunity. Adding to the mystery without giving anything away. It's really impressive.

Also, Malador, thanks for bringing up the bit about genetic abnormalities. That's something that hasnt been considered yet. It very well could be a physical difference that kept him from turning.

So since nothing about the cause/possible immunity/cure can be determined without more information, what about ideas on what actually happening to those that ARE infected? We're seeing rapid physical mutation, coupled with mental degredation. Is there anything that has abilities close to this in the real world? How are these changes taking place? Is it a DNA weaponizing agent a-la prometheus? Or could it possibly be a parasite like resident evil 4 (i realize this throws our immunity theories out the window...)?

Ideas guys? Lets put some out there and try to narrow things down with science and stuff.

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Only rabies. I am too less of a medic or scientist to give a proper answer to your last question. But rabies ... That's at least the excuse for the Zedism in other Zombie-Stories (like WWZ) ...

Rabies was my initial thought as well, but the specialization of certain Zeds seems to point to something else.

It's possible that ground zero has something to do with it, perhaps there is a third agent involved for the special infected? But what would cause drastic physical mutation simply by being exposed to it?

I had thought the same thing, since the survivors in the outlying areas had no contact with anything but biters. The only things I can think of that ground zero had that the other areas didn't were Ink, the chasms, and Radon labs.

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Originally Posted by PhysicsLB

Rabies was my initial thought as well, but the specialization of certain Zeds seems to point to something else.

It's possible that ground zero has something to do with it, perhaps there is a third agent involved for the special infected? But what would cause drastic physical mutation simply by being exposed to it?

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Yep, either a third agent or some other special conditions unique to Ground Zero and possibly other hot spots. I keep wondering what Kalani meant by the Hawaiian zombies being meaner and nastier than the ones in L.A. (Even after being ticked, captured and held by L.A. zombies, and even seeing a Behemoth first hand.) never mentioned any special kinds in HA.

A couple of times characters remarked that the special ones, Behemoths and Little Ones, look like they were never human.

Thanks for this interesting thread! I wanted to throw a detail out there into the discussion to see if this matters at all. What might be the significance within these thoughts of the way alcohol fends off the zombized attackers? I'm partial to the idea that what has saved Saul and Tanya has been their antibiotics, which might point more to a bacterial infection that is spread, primarily, through the blood (and maybe also through saliva). Perhaps in its earliest stages, it was airborne, also, which could be the connection to Radon Labs (more on that in a moment). Alcohol does kill most bacteria, and if this bacterial infection has some sort of sentient properties within a body, perhaps it sensed inherently that the alcohol, though not a complete threat to the body it was in, would not allow the bacteria to spread (and if ingested could harm part of the infection within the body in which it was living. Stronger antibiotics might help resist its spread within a body, such as Saul and Tanya. A question, though: does anyone know - could an antibiotic treatment also serve as a vaccination against future bacterial attacks? Or was Saul "immune" to the ground zero sight only because he was still on his IV drip?

Tar Heel:
The alcohol blocks out the smell of human pheramones. A scent camo most likely. Scent seems to be the primary sense for your typical biter, with human pheromones creating a kind of "frenzy" similar to sharks who smell blood in the water.

Your point about Saul at ground zero is something that i alluded to in a previous post: we don't know if it's inheirant immunity or if it was his IV Drip that kept him from feeling the effects.

Witch_Doctor: Any thoughts on where those variants originated from? Let's not forget the runners and jumpers, and even TOWTM who DO seem to be previously human.

Of the ones that dont appear human (D.A.H.), is it a combination of zedism and the third agent or the third agent alone that creates these creatures?

Perhaps the third agent changes the original infection vector and TOWTM has figured out a way to utilize that?

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Originally Posted by Tar Heel Fan

Thanks for this interesting thread! I wanted to throw a detail out there into the discussion to see if this matters at all. What might be the significance within these thoughts of the way alcohol fends off the zombized attackers? I'm partial to the idea that what has saved Saul and Tanya has been their antibiotics, which might point more to a bacterial infection that is spread, primarily, through the blood (and maybe also through saliva). Perhaps in its earliest stages, it was airborne, also, which could be the connection to Radon Labs (more on that in a moment). Alcohol does kill most bacteria, and if this bacterial infection has some sort of sentient properties within a body, perhaps it sensed inherently that the alcohol, though not a complete threat to the body it was in, would not allow the bacteria to spread (and if ingested could harm part of the infection within the body in which it was living. Stronger antibiotics might help resist its spread within a body, such as Saul and Tanya. A question, though: does anyone know - could an antibiotic treatment also serve as a vaccination against future bacterial attacks? Or was Saul "immune" to the ground zero sight only because he was still on his IV drip?

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Originally Posted by PhysicsLB

Witch_Doctor: Any thoughts on where those variants originated from? Let's not forget the runners and jumpers, and even TOWTM who DO seem to be previously human.

Of the ones that dont appear human (D.A.H.), is it a combination of zedism and the third agent or the third agent alone that creates these creatures?

Perhaps the third agent changes the original infection vector and TOWTM has figured out a way to utilize that?

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I wondered at some point if alcohol somehow inhibited the infection here are a couple of old posts.

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Originally Posted by Witch_Doctor

Forgiveness given :)

ALCOHOL!

There are a number of instances where we suspect that someone MAY become infected. To add to the mystery, we are denied information to conclude that person X was absolutely exposed. In most, not all, of those instances alcohol was involved.

1) Riley and Angel in the stack of bodies at the arena. They doused themselves with wine prior to that scene.
2) Saul getting shot by Burt, possibly through Tommy. Saul was the drunkest dude at the party.
3) Tanya dragged by Randy. No drinking involved. She is the outlier. This doesn't disprove the hypothesis but highlights that there could be unique circumstances concerning her that is not readily known or understood.
4) Riley on the farm. She was tore-up from the floor-up drunk. While Kelly and Michael searched for her Kelly made a number of comments that Riley was not alone.
a) The tracks Kelly and Michael follow diverge into two tracks.
b) Kelly says, "The tracks might not be hers."
c) Riley is STILL at the Weed. I originally suspected that Riley was being held for so long at the Weed Hospital because they discovered bites, but now we can say that that was likely not the case.

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Originally Posted by Witch_Doctor

My point isn't that the alcohol's smell masks our heroes from the zombies but that the massive amount of alcohol in Saul's and Riley's bodies either prevented or assuaged any infection they may have gotten from an exposure to zombie blood or drool. I thought it was well established and widely accepted that the smell of alcohol masks human scent from the zombies. During the war KC pretty must nailed home the fact the Saul was drunk. A lot of story time was used focusing on Saul intoxication. Each episode is 30 minutes or less so that would be an expensive 'filler' scene. Having one less soldier to fight wouldn't have mattered since they had no weapons. Riley was established as a lush in season one. She being a wino was only significant twice. Once to clear her suspicion of shooting Pippin, the other so that she could wander away in a drunken stupor, only to be found be Michael while Kelly continuously screams, "... these tacks look like they're going the other way!....Michael, the tracks might not be hers.... She's covered in (?)..."
What, Kelly? What was she covered in? Ding dang it, Michael! Why do you always interrupt people when they might have something important to say?
Check this out: Michael in Hawaii, December 7 1941....
Mike, "What are you looking at through your binoculars?"
Random Sailor, " I don't believe it but I think I see..."
Michael, " Just what the hell are you getting at!!??"
Sailor, "You know what? Forget it!! I'm going back to the Arizona!"

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As for the special types of Zombies, I speculate that ground zero has something to do with them.

1. In Last Dying Breath(?) C.J. points out that the reason that there are Special zombies in L.A. and not near the Colony could be the presence of Gound Zero.
2. In R & R, Kalani tells Saul that Ground Zero is a place where C.J.'s convoys would return with reports of strange creature, some that can run fast, jump high...
3. In Last Dying Breath, C.J. reveals that Ground Zero alone, is enough to turn a person into a zombie.

TOWTM seems to be able to control the Special Ones or D.A.H.s (Love that term) but there seems to be a more personal connection between him and the Inklings. Like, he's had some affect on their creation.

But, if the D.A.H.s are products of G.Z., which is a hot spot, then why didn't Kalani mention any on the Big Island? Maybe he just never saw any?
Any thoughts, guys?

What kind of time frame was it between the initial outbreak and first encounters with the DAHs in LA? Maybe they left hawaii before they could encounter any?

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Originally Posted by PhysicsLB

What kind of time frame was it between the initial outbreak and first encounters with the DAHs in LA? Maybe they left hawaii before they could encounter any?

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It depends which zombs you consider DAHs. If we stick with the descriptions within the show, then Behemoths (first encountered in late June), Little Ones (first encountered and acknowledged at the military reserve base in late July, but already heard but not recognized at the Arena around late June and early July), and maybe Jumpers because of their very different looking (early July) would be the measure; according to that the DAHs showed up the first time a month after the outbreak.

According to CJ the crazy and weird zombies showed up around ground zero, although she did not mention when exactly; but considering that she and her team did reconnaissance before her Tower fell (early to mid June), then those DAH might have appeared as early as during the second half of May - or even earlier.

Based on what we know and what we can assume things remain kind of vague; but I also think it is quite safe to assume that the DAHs evolved early in the zombocalypse, but they did not come from Hawaii ...

Best wishes!
Liam

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Originally Posted by PhysicsLB

What kind of time frame was it between the initial outbreak and first encounters with the DAHs in LA? Maybe they left hawaii before they could encounter any?

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Our group's first encounter with a D.A.H. seems to be in Chapter 5, when they are chased by the runners. This is after Burt, Saul and Lizzy have investigated the ambush site which is likely the same one that was from C.J.'s tower. If the ambushed convoy was from C.J.'s tower then they could have been attacked in the rain (as mentioned by Samantha in Purgatory) which would be the same rain storm that took place before Lizzy, Burt and Saul left the tower to find fuel for the Generator. (Saul says, "... and its raining in zombie land.")

This would coincide with Kalani's arrival to L.A. as he arrived Shortly after C.J.'s doomed convoy is attacked.

In a nutshell, the first appearance of the D.A.H.'s to our group likely took place after Kalani reached L.A. BUT C.J.'s group may have encountered them earlier, as Kalani learned about them second-hand.

i do have a theory about this sickness what ever it is, uses body fats, there is a difference between transfats and theres another type of fat. (i believe transfats are what make you obease, if thats wrong i got it right in another theory thread of mine) more leaner people with more body fat become bohemmoths, leaner muscles could become jumpers, etc its all there, food for thought for you folks, i've been away a while, glad this thread is still going. i'm not sure what post it is, i sugest a rummage through the theory posts.

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Originally Posted by Drogon Malice

i do have a theory about this sickness what ever it is, uses body fats, there is a difference between transfats and theres another type of fat. (i believe transfats are what make you obease, if thats wrong i got it right in another theory thread of mine) more leaner people with more body fat become bohemmoths, leaner muscles could become jumpers, etc its all there, food for thought for you folks, i've been away a while, glad this thread is still going. i'm not sure what post it is, i sugest a rummage through the theory posts.

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But this is L.A., shouldn't there be more Jumpers and Behemoths?

maybe being a jumper came from having a greater athletic ability then adverage, perhaps someone who's been runnign and jumping thier whole lives or people who were training to be athletes, infact is it just me or have we only ever seen 1 jumper in the whole series so far? i'm probably wrong

I think they have a creator some thing said that with a pause that frankenstiens the best traits into certain types of creations

I know that he is scatterbrained, but skittles mentioned that he stopped seeing Jumpers, that he thought they weren't around anymore. This is odd considering that a faster more agile infected should be able to get to people the regulars wouldn't, so they shouldn't have starved off.

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Originally Posted by Malador

I know that he is scatterbrained, but skittles mentioned that he stopped seeing Jumpers, that he thought they weren't around anymore. This is odd considering that a faster more agile infected should be able to get to people the regulars wouldn't, so they shouldn't have starved off.

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maybe its a case of they are also evolving on a rapid celluar level or something so when the jumpers have finished jumping about and eating people and getting high up and such, what else is there to do, if thier food source is depleted by their optimal hunting pattern is it a case they litrally died off. Jumpers strike me more as the kind that would die out that way where as the tattooed zombie and the regular zombies seemed to be more organised, the way they came in and took people when Datu was Captured and the fact they can lay traps and even hunt and out wit normal alive people, they are definately organised and capable of indipendent learning and self intelligence, dispite thier pack mentality, this is also something i mentioned in a previous posting somewhere.

i thinking is a parasidic genetic virus, because you can have a genetic virus, you can also have a parasidic virus, so why not mix them together for this. it fits with my body fat theory too.

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Originally Posted by Drogon Malice

maybe its a case of they are also evolving on a rapid celluar level or something so when the jumpers have finished jumping about and eating people and getting high up and such, what else is there to do, if thier food source is depleted by their optimal hunting pattern is it a case they litrally died off. Jumpers strike me more as the kind that would die out that way where as the tattooed zombie and the regular zombies seemed to be more organised, the way they came in and took people when Datu was Captured and the fact they can lay traps and even hunt and out wit normal alive people, they are definately organised and capable of indipendent learning and self intelligence, dispite thier pack mentality, this is also something i mentioned in a previous posting somewhere.

i thinking is a parasidic genetic virus, because you can have a genetic virus, you can also have a parasidic virus, so why not mix them together for this. it fits with my body fat theory too.

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Hm, I somehow do not buy the virus infection thing. I mean, Tanya simply should have found at least some evidence while conducting / as a result of the autopsy. Cf.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laborat...ral_infections. But that is just my opinion.

Loving this thread. Just had to do some catch up on it.

On the DAH stuff, I think we might lay the Little Ones to rest on DAH since so many humans have become Little Ones in Season 3. Well the original 12(?) might have come from something else, it would seem odd that humans turn into exact replicas of them...

We never see Runners or Behemoths turn anyone. Tommy got turned by Jumper guts, if I recall correctly.

I think Behemoths have the best chance at not starting as people. They seem to have had the most differences from all the others.

As for general Infection theory, I like the alcohol angle. Esp. for Saul's non-reaction to his lead Zed injection. What if the alcohol managed to give thin out the Zed stuff and his damn good immune system was able to make some sort of antibodies. Similar to the way vaccines work. then we find out that Tanya is a closet lush who was also hammered when the slow turner bit her. So she gets the same antibodies (immune system like Saul's - where do you think he got it from?) Of course, we have no inclination that Tanya does/did drink.

Anyway, Saul obviously has something beyond just being drunk at the party in his favor - otherwise Ground Zero would have affected him. So we're back to a damned mystery!

Need to go back and check the LO autopsy episode. I don't think it mentioned Tanya getting into the brain of the LO and seeing what was in there or running tests on it. That's where I think the Zed stuff is focused. How it alters the whole body with no trace in the blood stream though... no clue. Radiation? Aliens? We'll have to wait and see I guess....

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Originally Posted by scbubba

Loving this thread. Just had to do some catch up on it.

On the DAH stuff, I think we might lay the Little Ones to rest on DAH since so many humans have become Little Ones in Season 3. Well the original 12(?) might have come from something else, it would seem odd that humans turn into exact replicas of them...

We never see Runners or Behemoths turn anyone. Tommy got turned by Jumper guts, if I recall correctly.

I think Behemoths have the best chance at not starting as people. They seem to have had the most differences from all the others.

As for general Infection theory, I like the alcohol angle. Esp. for Saul's non-reaction to his lead Zed injection. What if the alcohol managed to give thin out the Zed stuff and his damn good immune system was able to make some sort of antibodies. Similar to the way vaccines work. then we find out that Tanya is a closet lush who was also hammered when the slow turner bit her. So she gets the same antibodies (immune system like Saul's - where do you think he got it from?) Of course, we have no inclination that Tanya does/did drink.

Anyway, Saul obviously has something beyond just being drunk at the party in his favor - otherwise Ground Zero would have affected him. So we're back to a damned mystery!

Need to go back and check the LO autopsy episode. I don't think it mentioned Tanya getting into the brain of the LO and seeing what was in there or running tests on it. That's where I think the Zed stuff is focused. How it alters the whole body with no trace in the blood stream though... no clue. Radiation? Aliens? We'll have to wait and see I guess....

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Or the whole thing was caused by genetically enhanced food by Mosanto?



innovation - humans to zombies
collaboration - smart ones
speed - fast ones

And even Hugh Grant looks a bit like Pinstripes.

What if each different zombie is a different strain of the original infection?

The vector is evolving with each infection, which creates these offshoot species. This would explain why jumpers disappeared: they have a higher caloric cost to function, but their ability to find prey dwindled as the population of humans dropped, leading to their "extinction". This could also explain why we weren't seeing anything like behemoths very early on, and why runners and jumpers (essentially souped up biters) were the first specials to show up. Now we have the "Little Ones", the cutting-edge in biological manipulation. They hold all the best traits of all the previous species: speed, agility, toughness, and intelligence! And they self propagate! The only thing any crazed evil genius would ever need!

In all seriousness though, it appears the "virus" is trying to improve the host body and, by extension, it's propagation through accelerated evolution. A "trial and error" of different assets. Runners and jumpers showed that imrpoved athleticism was effective in the early stages of a crumbled society. Behemoths showed that better toughness and strength made it easier to bust through defenses, and survive prolonged exposure to a settlement. The smart ones have obvious advantages, and the Little Ones combine all these aspects.

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Originally Posted by PhysicsLB

What if each different zombie is a different strain of the original infection?

The vector is evolving with each infection, which creates these offshoot species. This would explain why jumpers disappeared: they have a higher caloric cost to function, but their ability to find prey dwindled as the population of humans dropped, leading to their "extinction". This could also explain why we weren't seeing anything like behemoths very early on, and why runners and jumpers (essentially souped up biters) were the first specials to show up. Now we have the "Little Ones", the cutting-edge in biological manipulation. They hold all the best traits of all the previous species: speed, agility, toughness, and intelligence! And they self propagate! The only thing any crazed evil genius would ever need!

In all seriousness though, it appears the "virus" is trying to improve the host body and, by extension, it's propagation through accelerated evolution. A "trial and error" of different assets. Runners and jumpers showed that imrpoved athleticism was effective in the early stages of a crumbled society. Behemoths showed that better toughness and strength made it easier to bust through defenses, and survive prolonged exposure to a settlement. The smart ones have obvious advantages, and the Little Ones combine all these aspects.

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In short: Darwin was right. :D

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Originally Posted by YetAnotherBloodyCheek

In short: Darwin was right. :D

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I'm still holding on to the Evil Genius theory of all the different Zeds.... But for the same reasons listed. Evil Genius (EG for short) tampered and got Runners. Tampered some more and got Jumpers. Some more tweaks by EG and we got Behemoths.
EG decides to bring it all in and stop playing around. EG combines the athletic abilities of Runners and Jumpers with the strength and toughness of Behemoths -> Little Ones.

So, skip Darwin and go on to Intelligent Design (albeit an Evil Intelligence.. mwahahaha) :tinfoil:

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Originally Posted by scbubba

I'm still holding on to the Evil Genius theory of all the different Zeds.... But for the same reasons listed. Evil Genius (EG for short) tampered and got Runners. Tampered some more and got Jumpers. Some more tweaks by EG and we got Behemoths.
EG decides to bring it all in and stop playing around. EG combines the athletic abilities of Runners and Jumpers with the strength and toughness of Behemoths -> Little Ones.

So, skip Darwin and go on to Intelligent Design (albeit an Evil Intelligence.. mwahahaha) :tinfoil:

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if there is a evil genius then someone in a position of power must of known about it, to an extent this only supports my "Victor is a CIA Agent" theory :p

but instead of speculating what it is and all that, lets stick to the raw facts, how does this thing react and behave, is it a virus, it is a contagious genetic virus, etc so on, when we started talking about saul and tonya being genetically immune we got off topic, lets sit down and work out what it could be or be a varient of.

who is immune and who isn't has no baring on the virus at all. it was even covered in this thread that Tonya said "if he was a slow turner, he would of been dead by now" which means its likely he just had blood posioning, WHICH is what saul got treated for, it makes sense, Tonya wouldn't know how to treat someone who was infected because the previous drugs weren't working. thats why the other slow turner got killed off by the colony.

now don't get me wrong i'm not saying that to be right or anything but i've always thought it was "too convienent" that someone would be immune, YES I KNOW HOW IMMUNUTY WORKS! (for the record i already knew so the fact i had it explaiend to me twice on this thread pissed me off i must admit, but i digress)

the point i am trying to make here is that to work out more accurately whats been doing what and who goes where would simply be a case of doing some kind of basic profile for the virus, for example, why is it only transferable through blood like an STD? does that have any bearing of its profile, it may be possible.

ALSO i have a random question, has anyone actually ever printed off a map and listened to the show and plotted out the origon source and compared that to where radon labs is on the map?

if not i voulinteer!

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Originally Posted by YetAnotherBloodyCheek

Or the whole thing was caused by genetically enhanced food by Mosanto?



innovation - humans to zombies
collaboration - smart ones
speed - fast ones

And even Hugh Grant looks a bit like Pinstripes.

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thats actually a horrifying thought O.O

The approximated location of Radon Labs is on the opposite side of the tower from ground zero. According to the estimated times the infestation origin.
Attachment 2610
This is what I came up with form the show and the wiki, and while it doesn't link Radon to the outbreak, it is possible something there lead to the appearance of the DAH varieties.

I was wondering if Radon Labs' location was mentioned anywhere. Did Burt say it was near his shop?

Another thing that bugs me is how do the smart ones fit in with the other special ones. Burt speculated that being a smart human made you a smart zombie. Skittles re-emphasized this when he warns against going near hospitals and 'book places' because of the brains. Therefore smartness seems to be a trait carried over from before infection.

The special ones appear to come from Ground Zero, as expressed by Kalani and C.J. But the runners, jumpers and behemoths have traits that EXCEED those of regular humans! The smart ones are just not as dumb as the other Zs. They don't have super human Khan Noonian Singh-like intelligence.

Burt never came out and said that radon labs was near his shop, but he knew about it, and they saw it on their way back from his shop to the tower, so I approximated that it was west of his shop and east of the tower.

Call me a moron, but the whole Radon Labs thing starts to sound a bit too wishful thinking-like. We need better evidence than that. If z-day was set up, the last priority would be laying out ID badge breadcrumbs.

I don't think that it was mentioned in passing, it seems like it should have something to do with the whole thing. Either way, with *Possible Spoiler* Michael promising to take the fight to them *End spoiler** we should see a fair amount of light being shone upon the subject.

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Originally Posted by YetAnotherBloodyCheek

Call me a moron, but the whole Radon Labs thing starts to sound a bit too wishful thinking-like. We need better evidence than that. If z-day was set up, the last priority would be laying out ID badge breadcrumbs.

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Originally Posted by Malador

I don't think that it was mentioned in passing, it seems like it should have something to do with the whole thing. Either way, with *Possible Spoiler* Michael promising to take the fight to them *End spoiler** we should see a fair amount of light being shone upon the subject.

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Dang it, you both make good points!

On a side note, when did They mention passing Radon Labs?

I seem to recall Burt mentioning the lab when they killed the smart one that attacked them on the roof that Radon Labs was nearby. They were en route from the shop to the tower so I would think it would have to be in that general area.

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Originally Posted by Drogon Malice

but instead of speculating what it is and all that, lets stick to the raw facts, how does this thing react and behave, is it a virus, it is a contagious genetic virus, etc so on, when we started talking about saul and tonya being genetically immune we got off topic, lets sit down and work out what it could be or be a varient of.

who is immune and who isn't has no baring on the virus at all. it was even covered in this thread that Tonya said "if he was a slow turner, he would of been dead by now" which means its likely he just had blood posioning, WHICH is what saul got treated for, it makes sense, Tonya wouldn't know how to treat someone who was infected because the previous drugs weren't working. thats why the other slow turner got killed off by the colony.

now don't get me wrong i'm not saying that to be right or anything but i've always thought it was "too convienent" that someone would be immune, YES I KNOW HOW IMMUNUTY WORKS! (for the record i already knew so the fact i had it explaiend to me twice on this thread pissed me off i must admit, but i digress)

the point i am trying to make here is that to work out more accurately whats been doing what and who goes where would simply be a case of doing some kind of basic profile for the virus, for example, why is it only transferable through blood like an STD? does that have any bearing of its profile, it may be possible.

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First, i'll apologize for explaining immunity. The way you had worded previous posts seemed to imply that you didnt fully understand it. that was a mistaken assumption on my part.

As for immunity not having a bearing: It actually does, insofar as the presence of an immunity would help us determine what type of vector it is. From there we can determine communicability, possible treatments, and even begin brainstorming on how illness prgresses and why it affects people differently (other variant zeds). My point with illustrating all these things regarding immunity is that depending on what scenario is true, we can identify the culprit. So saul and tanya's possible immunity is very germaine to this discussion. There is also a hole in your logic here: saul was unaffected by ground zero, but we can't determine if it was the drugs or a natural resistance. As we pointed out earlier, this was done on purpose to keep us from learning anything of value about the infection based on that event. If his drugs truly only affected his blood poisoning, then that event shows saul has a natural immunity.

As far as profiling the infection, i thought that was what we were doing. We've been analyzing the syptoms (zeds & the variants) and trying to determine if there is a second force at play here. If you look at the progression of the variant zeds, it seems to point towards intelligent design. Who that designer is will likely never be known until the very end.

I also have a follow-up for the blood transmission question: are there any instances where someone was turned without exposure to blood? I'm asking because i don't remember, and it's a good question. Especially since Tanya found no irregularities in the blood of the infected.

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Originally Posted by Witch_Doctor

Another thing that bugs me is how do the smart ones fit in with the other special ones. Burt speculated that being a smart human made you a smart zombie. Skittles re-emphasized this when he warns against going near hospitals and 'book places' because of the brains. Therefore smartness seems to be a trait carried over from before infection.

The special ones appear to come from Ground Zero, as expressed by Kalani and C.J. But the runners, jumpers and behemoths have traits that EXCEED those of regular humans! The smart ones are just not as dumb as the other Zs. They don't have super human Khan Noonian Singh-like intelligence.

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You make a really good point here. Also, like you point out: they seem to originate around areas with highly educated people and not ground zero. This would further support that there is something in ground zero causing these physical changes. Also, the fact that they aren't super smart would imply that there is someone/thing else controlling these changes and not TOWTM like some have speculated.

CJ said that she had to shoot someone who had been at ground zero, because exposure to the area had caused them to turn.

Ok. So knowing this, could it be airborne? At least to some small degree?

The question is - are there still jigsaw puzzle pieces left at Ground Zero? It will be quite interesting to see if all the information can be compiled into something useful at all.

So if the pathogen originally came from the fissures in the ground, wouldn't that lead more towards a bacteria of some sort? I thought that viruses were usually spread from a living organism to another, where exposure to an environmental disease were more commonly bacterial or fungal in nature.

The pathogen being released through fissures doesn't really jive with the order of events though, despite the incident of someone turning just from being there...
The infection started all over the globe nearly simultaneously. That seems unlikely for mother nature to pull off, at least without some help. Also, these fissures also seem to spur "evolution" of the zeds. These new species make zeds much more effective, especially when you factor in their appearance coincides with a certain level of societal degredation.

Regular/Smart ones - mass confusion and panic, high number of uninfected concentrated in small areas. No one knows what is going on, easily taken by surprise. Smart ones organize/lead to make the process more efficient.

Runners/Jumpers - uninfected have thinnned out considerably. Starting to arm themselves, building defensive positions, using cars/transport much more effectively. Zeds need to be faster/more agile to catch more dangerous prey.

Behemoths show up/jumpers die out - uninfected have become heavily entrenched, small arms incredibly common among survivors. Zeds need strength and durability to oeverpower their prey. Jumpers, while agile, lack speed and can be gunned down easier, causing their demise.

Little Ones - Survivors are heavily fortified, gaining access to heavier weapons, building a self-sustaining environment/less likely to leave fortifications. Need a smart/fast/strong/durable invading force to break defenses, allowing other zeds to infiltrate. Think Zed SWAT team.

The real outlier here is TOWTM and possibly randy. TOWTM is not only smart, it also has the abilities of a jumper/runner and seems quite durable (i think he's wearing a flak jacket correct?).