Do we have a definitive answer? v.AliveOrUndead?

[Osiris]

I'm curious about this since the 'little ones' thread, as well as the 'swimming zombies' thread. Has we gotten conclusive evidence that points toward the zombies being either alive or undead?

If not, what do you think? Alive? Undead? WTF BBQ? I want to know!

[reaper239]

all the other zed we've seen up to this point have been alive, makes sense that they would be too.

[Osiris]

But what about the ones coming up from under water during the Great Yacht Escape? Those couldn't have been alive. I swear I heard Michael mention a dark mass underwater at one point. They wouldn't be breathing water if they were alive.

[yarri]

But what about the ones coming up from under water during the Great Yacht Escape? Those couldn't have been alive. I swear I heard Michael mention a dark mass underwater at one point. They wouldn't be breathing water if they were alive.

We've seen adaptations of the zombies based on environment it would stand to reason that gills could be added

[nikvoodoo]

But what about the ones coming up from under water during the Great Yacht Escape? Those couldn't have been alive. I swear I heard Michael mention a dark mass underwater at one point. They wouldn't be breathing water if they were alive.

But at the same time we've also seen them metabolize some wicked ether faster than any person could, jump out of a 2nd or 3rd story window, jump across the distance of two buildings, nearly chase down a car, not react to being shot with an arrow...They seem to be able to push the boundaries of the human body to beyond it's limits.

So if they are capable of pushing themselves past normal limits, they could in theory make it from the island underwater, perhaps stopping for air a ways away from the yacht.

[Osiris]

But at the same time we've also seen them metabolize some wicked ether faster than any person could, jump out of a 2nd or 3rd story window, jump across the distance of two buildings, nearly chase down a car, not react to being shot with an arrow...They seem to be able to push the boundaries of the human body to beyond it's limits.

So if they are capable of pushing themselves past normal limits, they could in theory make it from the island underwater, perhaps stopping for air a ways away from the yacht.

It's entirely possible, though I would again question that logic, knowing that the 'newer models' have so far only been seen in certain areas, and not down South--or wherever the hell the Colony was located. I vaguely recall something to that effect. Using that as the model for successive generations and based off what was found in the hospital, it makes it less likely that they are 'advanced'. Mostly likely they are O.G. Zeds, possibly from a place Kalani may have been. I don't have the answers, only more questions.

[HardKor]

I've gotta go with the "alive" option. We've seen them sleep and they appear to need to eat to survive (the withered ones on the island, looked to be starving). The regular varieties seem to go down from shots not just to the head but to the chest also. And they seem to have some sort of pheromone response (slobbering and drooling over the sweat bottles). All these seem to indicate a "living" thing as opposed to reanimated dead.

As far as the special varieties are concerned, I think they were the results of some sort of medical testing. Big, tank-like, behemoths, runners, jumpers, etc: they all have something special that could be useful to whoever designed them. And for the swimmers, we never got a real good description of them. They might just be regular ones that were in the water and maybe they all have the ability to hold their breath for long periods of time, would help to explain the adaptation to Michale's homemade chloroform. Or maybe they are another special type with the ability to hold their breath and swim really fast.
And last but not least, the little ones I think are Ink's crazy little addition to zombie taxonomy. Chapter 23 seems to point pretty strongly in that direction.

[Osiris]

Intersting points.

[Wicked Sid]

We could also note that they do digest whatever they eat due to the fact that we have not seen any Zeds with grotesquely engorged stomachs filled with flesh.

Do they share their meals? Or do they just take what they get, like lions?

[trubkir]

But what about the ones coming up from under water during the Great Yacht Escape? Those couldn't have been alive. I swear I heard Michael mention a dark mass underwater at one point. They wouldn't be breathing water if they were alive.

Well it's confusing because that was the exact same thought that crossed my mind. Then Michael and Pegs make the observation that the zombies look emaciated so then I'm thinking if they are starving they are alive