Chapter 40-3 Monsters

[Tar Heel Fan]

2. Saul's Immunity
I'm absolutely enthralled by the biological aspect of this story. From the very beginning a pretty scientific approach has been laid down for all the pieces. (Hell look at the follistatin and pallets of Preparation H. Holy moly science!) in chap7 Blood, Sweat, and Fears, the towerites are testing the scent/pheromones theory. It is specifically stated that a bottle labeled SAUL is the first bottle dropped with absolutely no zombie reaction. It isn't until another unnamed bottle (meaning it's only important to note the non-reaction to Saul's bottle rather than the actual reaction of any other person's bottle) is dropped that the zeds react in their dog-in-heat fashion. Thus, proving that Saul's immunity is a biological/genetic occurrence rather than an antibiotic cocktail. It also proves that the zeds can sniff out immunity/slow turner status/one of us mentality in a persons pheromones. Also, supports why Tanya experienced an attempted kidnapping and not an actual killing. Haha! I've got you now KC!

My next thought bunny with this is Datu's apparent immunity/slow turner status/one of us mentality to his many up close and personal experiences with the creatures (*chest pound for Tommy* miss you little buddy). I'm not sure what the link could be there, but it's there.... Somewhere.

This is consistent with the zombies giving up on Saul when he was in the trunk (and we thought it was all alcohol), and maybe Riley should be added to the list of potentially genetically immune, since she, too, was left alone. It could explain why so many of those who are left have made it this far, or even past the initial outbreak.
If true, wonder how many Mallers would also fit in this class? (I'm looking at you, Scratch)

[katlero]

Skittles once told Angel that his name is Duncan, but did not give a full name.

Now, that could be a lie, or a middle name. But CJ's info should have more info on him since he lived at Dunbar before the attack.

Darn it! Knew his name was probably out there somewhere. My goal is to delisted to the whole show before the next episode. Maybe find some more clues along the way.

[tonyhind86]

I'm starting to come around to Bricks being Austin McKibben, as I don't think Victor got a good look at Tardust, as much as I wish to see his character come back into play and add drama to it all (along with expertise in explosives).

While we all seem to be focusing on McKibbins, what about Ink's cellmate, Cohen, who snuck in the ink cocktail? Who might he be? Could he be Tardust? Or, perhaps with his apparent knowledge of chemicals, could he be pre-zombie Randy? Any thoughts about Cohen?

I'm leaning toward Cohen being Randy (Randy Cohen does have a nice ring to it). However, because of his deteriorated state of mind, I'm also tempted to say Skittles aka Duncan. Me and a few others theorised about his identity in the 40-2 thread.

[Red Shirt]

Just from first glance of the the detailed picture. I would say they are alchemy symbols.

As best we can tell, some might be... The barred arrow above his left eye is the symbol for sulfur.
The barred circle may be salt... though it could also be lower case theta: θ

I am actually kinda shocked that we didn't get more information about Ink's tattoos when we found the court records.......
usually they take pictures of tattoos when you enter any kind of jail or prison so that they can keep up with things like gang activity, etc, etc.....

Yes they do, those pictures "exist." Whether they only exist in the fictional sense within the story OR exist/will exist in an actual physical sense that we can examine remains to be seen.

Also, don't forget that Kelly found the files in the Judge's chamber were mixed up and scattered about. She later states that Ink's is a partial file. She hasn't yet had the time to sift through them and put them back into order and find out what she does have. Those evidence photos may yet still be in that stack

I like how everyone is glazing over the fact that she ask Datu directly if he was ok with that and if the weapon was ready. Both Glenn and Datu said that they were good. So it CJ's fault for trusting two adults on their decision? Blame should be going all around. Micheal for not bring back the gun truck, CJ for not send enough, and Datu and Glenn for not field test the matagun. I'm starting to hate the CJ hate-train on the forums. How about just going with the idea that all decisions have consequences, good or bad?

Turns out that Michael is blameless. While conducting research for the above I stumbled back across this:

Chapter 40; Part 1/3 @ 5:23
Kelly: We don't even have a gun truck remember?
Michael: Well, Saul and Puck are working on a new one right now.

All (both?) of the gun trucks are back under CJ's command (control) by the beginning of Chapter 40. I can assume that both/all the gun trucks were out on the scavenging missions. Therefore blame can rest squarely right back on CJ's shoulders for the disaster at the pumping station. Why? The first rule of leadership: Everything is your fault.

Simply put, she should not have sent them out there without high levels of protection. Were I in that position, I would have told them:

"I don't care if you think you have the Hand of God in your pocket. Frankly, I'm a bit distrustful of him right now, seeing as how he dicked us over hard with this apocalypse and all. Life is too important, YOU are too important and the water project is too important to go out there with minimal forces and unproven weapons. Besides, it's about to rain anyway. Your trip to the mill will wait and this is not open for discussion. In the meantime, get to work on fine tuning and making more Mata guns."

Then I listened to the CJ, Datu & Glenn conversation again:

Chapter 40; Part 3/3 @ 1:57
CJ: Micheal's not back with the other gun truck and we're too low on fuel to not send out the other truck today to scavenge for more.

Is there a slight disparity in the timeline of events, as in we are hearing them slightly out of order... or should I be asking "What the Actual Fuck, CJ?"

[Grognaurd]

Darn it! Knew his name was probably out there somewhere. My goal is to delisted to the whole show before the next episode. Maybe find some more clues along the way.

The beauty of WA is it is very open. Duncan would not be the first character to hide his past or have a non traditional name. Although CJ calls him Duncan after the attack, he does not respond to it. Some have speculated well before this chapter that Duncan might not be his real name.

[Elisa]

The Zeds gave up on Saul, Tanya, Riley, CJ, possibly Michael at the waterworks and possibly Datu at the Mill. Hmmm mm

[Gooer]

The Zeds gave up on Saul, Tanya, Riley, CJ, possibly Michael at the waterworks and possibly Datu at the Mill. Hmmm mm

Pretty sure they gave up on Saul cuz of the alcohol smell, but it could be because of other terms.
Gave up on Tanya because Michael and co. were there to fend them off, and no point in wasting their own numbers
Riley, I don't remember where they gave up on her.....Maybe in the tower? I don't think they could reach her, and then Angel came to help
CJ, because she was in a well-defended area and there was no point in wasting their numbers - again
We know nothing about Michael at the waterworks (unfortunately, hopefully we learn it soon) so that's unknown
Datu, WHO KNOWS ABOUT THAT? Besides Kc and Blair...

Also, they left Duncan(Skittles) when they attacked Dunbar, also, not sure why...

[Elisa]

Ink left CJ alone at Dunbar after he wreaked havoc.

[Tar Heel Fan]

The first rule of leadership: Everything is your fault.

Yes. . . if you are leading out of a place of caring about those you're leading and owning up to your own flaws and mistakes. Unfortunately, too many leaders we see today are only interested in one thing: Self-preservation in the place of power. And if that's all you care about, then the opposite has become true - first rule of staying in leadership: it's always someone else's fault.
I suppose the way CJ handles it will reveal a great deal about her intentions (and growth?) as a leader.

[Eviebae]

Are you talking about Hot Zombie on Zombie lovin?

No! No! Bad Witch_Doctor! Very bad! Drop that idea! I said drop it! Now go to your crate and think about what you've done.