Chapter 34 It Only Takes One Part 3

[Jannit]

To add to all of the wild guess work I'm also thinking we haven't seen or heard the last from Boulder. The radiation left behind surely must have some kind of ill or positive effect on the little ones and I'm sure they didn't all die, at least not right away. I believe people/animals have been known to survive nuclear attacks although they obviously aren't in the center of the blast radius. Usually these survivors die off due to the radiation right?

I somehow get a really really really strange feeling that all survivors (including what's left of the mallers) may have to team up to fight a ridiculous onslaught of Zombies. I'm thinking Lord of the Rings battle for Helms Deep here ... I don't know where I think it's going to go down but I just have a feeling this story sooner or later will be all about surviving the Zombies. There is so much left in the whole Ink story and the creation of the little ones as well ...

Earlier in this thread someone was explaining why cockroaches can live through a nuclear explosion and how it had to do with the slow division of cells. I'm sorry but I'm being too lazy to go back and find the quote.

This point got me thinking. There has been a decent amount of speculation on 'radioactive' zombies and such, but we already know that the zombie disease/plague/virus/whatever is VERY contagious and spreads rapidly. Wouldn't that mean that zombies are prone to being more affected by radiation than humans? Since humans ultimately die from radiation poisoning, zombies that are close enough to have gotten exposed should keel over much more quickly due to the cell division going on as a result of the disease.

[Pillars]

Too Fallout 3-ish.

[YetAnotherBloodyCheek]

I have to say that this episode has left more impression on me than the previous one. I do not want to compare both episodes, because it has nothing to do with the story or a particular character. I mean, com on, most of us expected the nuke more or less to go off in the last chapter. It was somehow surreal, for sure. Besides, to a Boulderite, what lead to the detonation depended on assumptions and strategic considerations made far away at Fort Irwin.

In the final act of chapter 34, the immediate horror intensifies. Just imagine how shocking it must have been for the unturned Boulderites to experience to look at the helicopter and the ground troops firing at them. It it not about strategy anymore, it is just about them or us. And this is when the real horror starts.

[wh33t]

Earlier in this thread someone was explaining why cockroaches can live through a nuclear explosion and how it had to do with the slow division of cells. I'm sorry but I'm being too lazy to go back and find the quote.

This point got me thinking. There has been a decent amount of speculation on 'radioactive' zombies and such, but we already know that the zombie disease/plague/virus/whatever is VERY contagious and spreads rapidly. Wouldn't that mean that zombies are prone to being more affected by radiation than humans? Since humans ultimately die from radiation poisoning, zombies that are close enough to have gotten exposed should keel over much more quickly due to the cell division going on as a result of the disease.

Yes, I remember that. As I understand the radiation that causes humans to die is due to the fact that the radiation modifies how are DNA mutates. This occurs naturally at a very slow pace and I believe this is a central component to Evolutionary theory. When it happens slowly I think is where you get the small and subtle differences between us in terms of our abilities and natural responses. So with a sudden blast of radiation the interference with our DNA causes rapid mutation. That's a bad thing for us, but it could be a great thing for a creature that spreads it's DNA (or w/e it is) very rapidly. Not to mention the Zombies seem to be way tougher than us.

At this point in time I don't think it's fair to rule out radioactive Zombies just because it's been a theme before in another Zombie franchise. There is lots of repeat material even in We're Alive that has been in other Zombie media before.

[YetAnotherBloodyCheek]

Yes, I remember that. As I understand the radiation that causes humans to die is due to the fact that the radiation modifies how are DNA mutates. This occurs naturally at a very slow pace and I believe this is a central component to Evolutionary theory. [...]

Naaaa, the main catch phrase is "Survival of the fittest." As an zombified individual you might have to stink, look ugly and have to eat human flesh - but it will also grand you a wide variety of recreational hunting activities, e.g. hunting military personnel.

[wh33t]

Naaaa, the main catch phrase is "Survival of the fittest." As an zombified individual you might have to stink, look ugly and have to eat human flesh - but it will also grand you a wide variety of recreational hunting activities, e.g. hunting military personnel.

Of course it's survival of the fittest but what do you think leads to one being "fittest", the ones that are born with the best chances of catching of the best mutations. The biggest and strongest parents still produce runts occasionally. There is always the chance of random subtle genetic mutation. Survival of the fittest doesn't necessarily mean the strongest either, it really just means the adaptable to what is required to live. Sometimes being huge and requiring massive amounts of food to live isn't necessarily the best for survival yet it does seem misleading as that's usually what we equate being "fit" with.

[Privateer]

Yes, I remember that. As I understand the radiation that causes humans to die is due to the fact that the radiation modifies how are DNA mutates. This occurs naturally at a very slow pace and I believe this is a central component to Evolutionary theory. When it happens slowly I think is where you get the small and subtle differences between us in terms of our abilities and natural responses. So with a sudden blast of radiation the interference with our DNA causes rapid mutation. That's a bad thing for us, but it could be a great thing for a creature that spreads it's DNA (or w/e it is) very rapidly. Not to mention the Zombies seem to be way tougher than us.

At this point in time I don't think it's fair to rule out radioactive Zombies just because it's been a theme before in another Zombie franchise. There is lots of repeat material even in We're Alive that has been in other Zombie media before.

Catch me if I'm wrong, but I think KC has come down pretty hard on radioactive zombies, and no. Besides, I imagine radioactive human isn't really a thing. People don't glow, they get sick and die. Zombies are a little different, but they're still living thinga, and I imagine radiation might have the same effect. We're also talking about a ground burst, though, so fallout should be relatively limited.

As for Michael being a chatter box, phrase/counter phrase would probably only work when everyones properly briefed. He didn't give much away by saying Irwin. Anyone near a Satphone would probably already know Irwins around.

[Pillars]

If the zombie infection deals with DNA than radiation ionization could affect the molecule compounds. But again I think we're stretching the nuke out further than it was meant to go.

[Cabbage Patch]

Before this week's episode I would have thought that none of the Inklings survived Boulder. That nuke should have incinerated the entire downtown area and smashed the suburbs under a deluge of flamethrower hot air, hurricane force winds and hard radiation. Nothing even remotely human could survive that. The only survivors would be those that got out of the city entirely, which didn't seem to have happened when the bomb went off.

But this week we learned that Inklings managed to infiltrate the convoy back to Fort Irwin. And it only takes one. So maybe Inklings did make it out of Boulder only to get hit by the wave of ionizing radiation, or to receive long-term exposure to radioactive fallout.

BTW, what is it about the Inklings that compells them to hide out till they're about 30 miles away from a juicy target, and then attack? First the Chinook, which was brought down about 30 miles from Boulder. Then the convoy, where the attack took place about 30 miles from Yermo, which we know is on Fort Irwin's outer defense perimeter (okay, 75 miles from Fort Irwin proper, but I couldn't resist the 30 mile comparison).

[IamPaul]

Great episode!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can see the season 3 finale being a "Zombie War"! I figure next chapter will be with Saul and Co. getting out of the Colony and getting the Sat phone fixed. Then the finale will be the War 2/Rescue mission for Saul Co. and Pegs and Kelly. Ending in Irwins nuke being used, maybe? Kimmett seems very weary at leading an army.