Long thread, and not sure if this was mentioned, but why not add a shove mechanic that knocks a zombie to the ground? No animation required (unless you want to add it) just show the result of the Zed going down for beta. Zombie goes down a little dazed and has to get up allowing you a little space to run away. Make it so that it affects only one target and it takes a second to do it so that it's risky if there are multiples but maybe could buy you some time.