Since the latest patch to experimental zombies seem to be able to land their attacks from double the distance they were before and from at least twice the range I could land melee attacks with a fire ax.
This may be due to the modification to zombie behavior to now attack a player's torso area rather than head, but the strike distance seems way off.
Aggro any zombie and engage them in melee.
Also I meant to say there were no signs of lag on the server during this time. Food container opening, item acquisition/dropping, weapon switching, and door opening (usual signs of lag for me) were all happening real-time.
I can say from this morning that zombies do not make you bleed after one hit every time. Took 3-4 hits this morning. Seems to depend on the condition and layers of clothing being worn.