I think
Samantha partially was a plot device, like Osiris said, to both make us feel more sympathetic towards
Datu, and to fill in the hole that was Hope's mother.
I do think though that out of the two victims, Samantha was the "logical" choice between the two. I haven't listened to that episode in quite some time, so bear with me. From what I remember, Samantha and
Kalani, and the previous human inhabitants, were held captive for the zombies' recreational entertainment, if you will. They (the zeds) selected a human prisoner, pitted them against a Behemoth, and watched the human pitifully and pointlessly fight for their life. Think of it as a modern day gladiatorial contest, except the gladiators are a giant, very lethal zombie and unarmed, very fragile human. And the zombies enjoyed watching us pitiful humans fight their King Kong Behemoth.
When the zombie came to collect the next victim, Kalani was collapsed on the ground, not moving. Datu and Samantha, however, were very much alive and...active. It's very logical when you think about it in terms of the zombies' entertainment. Why would they choose a human playing dead when they had a human who was able to give a good fight?
That's my best theory.
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