Chapter 29-1- Beyond Our Walls Part 1

[Witch_Doctor]

im thinking litmaster may have struck a good point in his bigger post about ft irwin being evac's recuited.

think back to private carls behaviour when they first arrived. i could totally see him as just a normal dude who has been playing army for a couple months now...looking at things that way could also help explain a lot of the smaller pieces that really dont seem to have any bearing right now. but will(or could) in the future...

also, how about this...IF michael refuses to sign, and knowing that he brought two people fairly shaken up along with him...what would the chances be of them being turned away? puck made reference to that but nothing more...i cant shake the feeling that this will not be all sunshine and daisies...

I was racking my brain trying to figure out why Puck referred to others as newbies, given his low rank. I think y'all might have hit the nail on the head.

Facts:
1) Cpl Puck was originally stationed at Fort Irwin before the outbreak (They're calling it an Outbreak now).
2) His name is stitched onto his name tag.
3) The newbies have name tags made of 100 mph tape with their names written on them. This suggests that they are not soldiers who arrived in uniforms.
4) At 12:00 minutes Puck establishes a timeline seperating the newbies' presence at Ft. Irwin and his own. He tell's Michael that some of the nubes have the temporary name tags but Micheal points out that Puck doesn't. Puck replies that he was there before the outbreak. This implies that the nubes came after the outbreak.

One question that I have is, what does Puck mean when he says that he is Prior Active when the Col. assigns him to Michael for training?

[awkwardalex]

Here's a thought i had today.

Now a lot of us our Dead Island players (on pc if you wanna play) but for those who aren't a recurring theme happens to the tourists of Banoi:

Many live in a false sense of hope and reality. Lots of characters you meet are unaware or unconcerned about the danger surrounding them. You have a woman offering a reward for her lost neckalace a guy who needs alchol to curb his hangover, a russian pain in the ass who will do ANYTHING for champane, and a few others *cough* Pshyco Anna *cough*

Now where was I going with this?

Oh yes false sense of security. The Fort Irwin currency piqued my interest as it did Michael's.

Where are they getting any thought that the other bases are safe? If they were then some sense of order may have been able to be restored. What if the head honcho is in denial? Or something i'm tired.

[Cabbage Patch]

One question that I have is, what does Puck mean when he says that he is Prior Active when the Col. assigns him to Michael for training?

There's a long history of people in the active Army looking down on their National Guard and Army Reserve counterparts. There was a time when there might have been some justification to those views, but these days those elements have probably seen as much war-time service as the active duty Army. I think CPL Puck was just venting, something he's quite adept at. Notice how his attitude changed when he realized that Michael had combat experience in the Middle East.

[Witch_Doctor]

Puck sound's depressed about the state of things and hints that things are either really really bad or are about to get really really worse.

1) Warns Micheal that he is about to have a lot bad news dumped on him in his intell briefing. Micheal says he's prepared, Puck responds, "You say that now."
2) Says that he prefers his "foxhole" to knowing about how bad things are.
3) When Datu laments about the trouble he has learning the military accronymns he remarks that it might be necessary.
4) When warned about the Col.'s mood, Puck says getting fired would a step up.

Ominous things are mentioned by or about the Col. too.
1) Asks Puck about his last check up.
2) When he and Micheal are talking about exchange credits, he tells Micheal that he learned early on that people don't just keep working out of duty alone. He sounds like he's reflecting on a difficult time in the past. (How did he regain control?)
3) He returns from Pantex, a nuclear weapons (dis)assembly plant.
4) Map of western US.
5) Office wall full of inventory lists.

Questions
1) Are nukes being planned?
2) Parallels between the Colony and Irwin. Victor = Puck. But Victor warns them away. Puck is like a bad-assed emo. Marcus and Col. K. Micheal finally gets 'Sean's job'.
3) Something horrible is being planned?
4) Puck is part of a planned coup? (Mentions that Datu might not need to learn army speak. So Maybe Datu can't join; there won't be an army for long; Datu and crew gets the boot)
5) Did Tanya bite or scratch Puck? Nurse Britt offers him ice, he declines, someone else says the he will need it. Later, Col. ominously asks about Puck's med checkup.

Prediction:
1) Tanya is discovered to have some sort of zombie exposure and threatened with death or expulsion.
2) Puck is discovered to have Tanya's zombie cooties and his life is in danger too.
3) Micheal and gang escape with Tonya and Victor... oops, I mean Puck.

Micheal as MI. HE SUCKS! Every time someone is about to reveal some important info, he interupts, makes someone mad and they storm off before saying what they were going to say.

[7oddisdead]

Oh wow...if we are to assume pantex is the nuke site...could a nuking of LA be in the future?...hmm sounds ominous...also a likely possibility considering the things we saw/heard

[Osiris]

In response to the nuke theory.

I would think that scenario to be inevitable. Containment by any means necessary has always been the Modus Operandi of 'The Government/Military' in every other zombie film/book so far. It also seems to be the right arc for the overall story line. Now it's a race against the clock to get back to L.A. and find Saul and Victor! Oh wait... we don't know they're alive just yet.

Expect a radio transmission from Saul or Victor that gives Michael and the rest of the Tower (sorry, former Tower) residents a reason to race back to L.A. It'll definitely give either this season or the final season a hell of a lot of tension. It's also the perfect out for KC to kill everyone in the last chapter of the series. All that needs to happen is Michael leaves the journals behind at the base as their group's contribution to the intelligence effort. Either that or the format simply switches to present-tense for the series finale.

[Osiris]

Shit, I don't think I'm ever going to write a short enough post for Britt to read on air.

[Litmaster]

I was racking my brain trying to figure out why Puck referred to others as newbies, given his low rank. I think y'all might have hit the nail on the head.

One question that I have is, what does Puck mean when he says that he is Prior Active when the Col. assigns him to Michael for training?

There's a long history of people in the active Army looking down on their National Guard and Army Reserve counterparts. There was a time when there might have been some justification to those views, but these days those elements have probably seen as much war-time service as the active duty Army. I think CPL Puck was just venting, something he's quite adept at. Notice how his attitude changed when he realized that Michael had combat experience in the Middle East.

That's part of it, CP, but I think the main reason is that we will find out that most of the 'soldiers' at the base are just newly drafted civilians who were former evacuees from all over Southern LA. That explains the 100mph tape and the fact that Michael is promoted to HQ so damn fast (given that he's a real sgt).

Quick Theory About Irwin's History

Evidence:

• The strong emphasis on medical clearance at Irwin
• That their helicopter was recognized upon arrival at Irwin.
• The 35 mile isolation buffer from the outbreak
• Puck isn't a 'newbie' despite only being in 1 1/2 years
• Irwin was between training cycles at outbreak = Few Active Duty Personnel

Theory:

• Irwin was probably used as an emergency EVAC site at the time of the outbreak
• Much of the base's current personnel are probably made up of civilians who were flown out of LA and nearby locales
• Even with the geographic isolation, they must have had an internal zombie outbreak due to some of the evacuees being infected and then turning upon arrival
• The internal outbreak was quelled, but they probably lost many people during the mini-disaster
• Puck was one of the few original Army guys to survive the outbreak, and so was quickly promoted to positions of responsibility over the incoming civilians
• So the colonel (highest ranking left alive) took over with an iron fist and a firm mandate that all Irwin personnel MUST get a physical at least once a month to ensure no further outbreaks happen

Yeah, so the more I think about this one, the more it makes sense. Here's a few more thoughts on what must have happened:

1. The Fort is made up primarily of civilians who were 'drafted' under Kimmet's command soon after being evacuated from nearby locales. So most of them probably don't know shit, don't follow commands really well, and Kimmet has had a hard time just avoiding a mutiny. So he's not going to be open to any kind of dissent...

2. So there must still be some helicopter pilots on the fort (how did the colonel get to Pantex...walk?!)

3. There must have been an early outbreak due to some of the evacuees being infected and slow-turned, nearly wiping out the place...

4. ... which explains the Texas barriers and gun towers at the barracks! After quelling the outbreak, Kimmet must have ordered that the barracks be set up as an internal fortress to detain any newcomers, where they would stay in isolation and under guard for at least a week to see if they turned. Then they would need a thorough check-up before being allowed into the base proper. This is how the fort has been able to contain any further outbreaks.

5. And that also explains all the leftover junk (guitars, clothes) at the barracks, which must have been left by people who were not medically cleared and were exiled from the fort. Still wondering about why Puck told them to stay off the 2nd and 3rd floors of that place (at 5:23 of 26-2)... is there signs of some violence at the barracks where somebody turned and killed everyone inside, but it was contained within the barracks walls?

Oh wow...if we are to assume pantex is the nuke site...could a nuking of LA be in the future?...hmm sounds ominous...also a likely possibility considering the things we saw/heard

This might be what the colonel is thinking, but I don't think it will go down that way. One more thing:



The Title: Beyond Our Walls
So this chapter is where we will get a lot more information on the larger scope of the outbreak going on 'beyond out walls'--which will mean the walls at Irwin, and probably also the walls over at Dunbar Tower with C.J. and the gang (BTW, can we now call it Dunbar Tower instead of 'The Other Tower' to finally avoid confusing it with the original tower?). At any rate, I predict that Kimmet is going to tell Michael about how widespread the disaster is, how he is phone contact with a few isolated compounds around the western U.S. that managed to avoid being overrun, how he is making plans on assembling forces to defeat the 'enemy' (zombies), and how nukes may be involved. We will also get insight that the colonel knows about the disaster being a bioterrorist attack that has wiped out nearly the entire globe, and that the nearest GZ is somewhere in Los Angeles.


Prediction: After Tanya is found with Z-Cooties, the colonel is going to want to banish her. She will protest, claiming that she has made real headway into developing a zombie vaccine. Kimmet won't believe her, Micheal will defend her, and somehow this will end up in Michael convincing Kimmet to allow him and a small team to go back to LA on a recon mission to Ground Zero to get more information on the source of the outbreak, or something. The other way it could go is for Kimmet to lose command, the shit hitting the fan, and our heroes escaping mass-chaos in a hurried exodus back to LA. Not sure which yet.



And finally, I think the info CJ has will be more juicy and detailed than the 'big picture' stuff the colonel has gleaned... Our groups are going to have lots to talk about if they ever get back together...

[Blood & Ice Cream]

2. So there must still be some helicopter pilots on the fort (how did the colonel get to Pantex...walk?!)

fort irwin also has an army airfield - so he may of used a plane

[bradarro11]

you guys have now made this episode a lot better from this thread alone. listening to the episode itself didnt give up a lot but your speculation has more than made up for that... bring on some answers soon please!