Pardon me as I take this clump of tinfoil and fashion it into the shape of a cowboy hat, because it's time for some Read Dead Rumors. This latest bit of speculation comes by the way of Read Dead Online's subreddit, where some eagle-eyed players have spotted a peculiar looking npc (as pictured below) that looks a whole lot like they belong to a previously undiscovered undead population. Naturally, because this is the internet we're talking about, a firestorm of speculation has erupted claiming a return of the Undead Nightmare.
Despite the woman depicted in this image standing upright while clearly being of the dead variety, the speculation suggesting her existence is a subtle hint at an unannounced, upcoming zombie-themed update has been severely muddled by the greatest enemy to all conspiracy theories - evidence. Users have pointed out that similar-looking corpses are present in random encounters that involve an NPC baiting players over to them for an impromptu mugging. In these cases, players will typically discover the corpse lain across the ground, but weird animation glitches are nothing new to Red Dead's sprawling world and sometimes things can get a little freaky - especially when it involves a deceased victim appearing to be reanimated.
However, those like myself who are clinging to the possibility that Red Dead Online will soon be getting some form of zombie-themed update have latched on to some circumstantial evidence that could potentially prove to be true. For me, the most compelling proof in favor of zombies can be found in the eyes of the (un)dead woman in question: They are emitting a haunting green glow, which is not something typically associated with a normal corpse, even one that had been ravaged by cholera (which is currently the cause of death being cited for corpses like these). Additionally, those same green eyes are prominently featured as part of the original Read Dead Redemption's Undead Nightmare artwork. Coincidence? Maybe.
Other evidence offered in favor of an impending zombie invasion include one player's claim that taking one of these green-eyed corpses into town and shooting them results in a "wanted for murder" status, which is a decidedly odd thing to be charged for when you consider that the victim is supposedly already dead. A separate player's account claims that certain locations such as Armadillo are hotspots for these the cholera-stricken corpses, and that they have only just turned up with the game's most recent update. While this alone doesn't explicitly support the existence of zombies, another player reports hearing zombie-like groans throughout the town even when there are no living npc's to be found.
Unfortunately for myself and countless others, there is nothing conclusive. Despite how awesome it would be to see Red Dead Online and its beautiful, lush world transformed into an apocalyptic, zombie-filled hell-scape, all we can do is continue to speculate until proven otherwise and hope that Rockstar gives us another Halloween to remember.
