A second the struggle. It should be present. But not made out of RNG. There are other mechanisms to create struggles. Other than just pure luck - or lack thereof.
That would actually be a big thing. It's almost impossible to die to normal zombies. I usually just die because I did not hear a random zombie dog horde spawn or something like that. Feels more like RNG not like a lack of skill (imho).
But what would I use to block? Shields? My arms? The weapon...
I would appreciate that, too. When that happened the first time I didn't even understand what just happened. My loot just went away. Completely gone. It took me a while to find out. :(
Just consider it improved realism (funny to say that in a zombie game forum :D ). IRL you would not have that crosshair anyway and have to double check everything. :)
Survive!
Isn't that what it's all about? Surviving? Survive as long as you can. That's what the game is about, at least to me. Kind of like a race: you against the zombies. Who will win? :D