Zombie Decomposition

When classifying zombies, perhaps the state of decay could (or should) play a factor. For at least the first couple hours, those freshly killed and/or re-animated are going to possess most of the speed and strength as the living until rigor mortis and decay take over. As such, we could term this first type to be "Runners," and they would perhaps be the most dangerous.

Next would be the average run-of-the-mill, shambling, slow-moving zombie. Decay and/or non-lethal attacks will have slowed their movement and reduced their strength, but they are nevertheless still very dangerous and very capable of spreading the virus. These types could be termed "Shamblers" or something similar.

The final class of zombie would be the weakest. Decay will have severely handicapped the zombie, and perhaps even withered it to just a chomping skull. It would be too weak to cause any real damage (or possibly even move), but, again, still able to spread the virus if someone was careless enough. Perhaps these could be named something along the lines of "Rotters" or some such.