As the only child in an upper-middle class family, Rowan has had it easy. Doted on by a mother who never wanted anything but a child to love, she's never wanted for anything. Kiaya’s life, however, has been anything but easy. Parents who didn’t want her, followed by being torn away from her only sibling by the foster care system, she knows what it means to have to work hard for the things she wants. When a deadly virus sweeps the country, Rowan and Kiaya are away at college and far from everything they love.

From the moment Andra hears about the mysterious illness spreading the globe, she knows it’s the end. Sheltering in place with her daughter, ex, and his new family, they watch in dread as the world begins to crumble around them, while rumors of survivors turning into monsters spread. When the dust finally settles, all Andra wants to do is keep her daughter safe as they build a new life for themselves. But a fresh horror awaits, and it’s going to take all of them working together to survive the new world they’re facing. And maybe not even then....

Willie grew up outside of Damascus, Virginia, and life was never easy for her. She’s a hard-as-nails single mom who struggles to make ends meet with little support and few opportunities. She’s also the community “rescue mom”, taking in young people with no other place to go. All this while dodging an ex-boyfriend turned stalker who also happens to be a cop. Willie only made it to adulthood by being resilient. That toughness, combined with a series of odd jobs and side hustles, helps keep her unorthodox family afloat.

Rose Winter has enough problems. With a marriage going down the tubes and a dreaded anniversary party on the horizon, the last thing she needs is the zombie apocalypse. She wanted to get drunk and sing karaoke, not murder her undead neighbors. It’s clear the party’s over, however, now Rose has more problems - a missing husband, an overbearing houseguest, and keeping her family alive.

Cassie Forrest isn't surprised to learn that the day she’s decided to get her life together is also the day the world ends. After all, she’s been on a self-imposed losing streak since her survivalist parents died: she’s stopped painting, broken off her engagement to Adrian and dated a real jerk. Rectifying her mistakes has to wait, however, because Cassie and her friends have just enough time to escape Brooklyn for her parents’ cabin before Bornavirus LX turns them into zombies, too.

He thought he was at rock bottom. Then the world blew up. Now, he’s the only one that can save the city. But it may take more than he has to give . . . Detective Kurt Weller has been framed, shamed, and beaten. And now he wakes up to the end of the world. Bombs are dropping, and dead people are trying to eat him.

Twenty years ago a deadly virus swept the globe, ravaging the population. People died and came back as monsters, and through the tragedy that rocked the world, survivors were born.

Since childhood Nila Carter has been made to spend every weekend at the family cabin. In her teenage years she believes it to be a prison; as an adult it becomes her sanctuary and means to survive. When a mysterious outbreak occurs in India, Nila's brother, Bobby, a virologist with the CDC, places the family on a precautionary alert to be ready to bug out. Unlike anything he's ever seen, the rabies-like virus is not just deadly; it causes extreme violent behavior in those infected.

Forty years later, the pain of his personal tragedy still echoes within John Hopper. He retreats to the small town, Ripley, West Virginia, and is content being alone and in peace. He spends his evenings as an amateur podcast host, anonymously broadcasting rants about what is wrong with the world. Through a faithful listener and scientist, Jarvis, John finds out about the impending comet impact, possibly, an extinction level event.

Isaac Race thought he'd found a new family and home. A new Life. He had, but it's all about to be snatched away. When an ambitious enemy launches a sneak attack on the USA, his peaceful life is shattered and Isaac, by his very nature a loner, must band together with a ragtag group of survivors to make their way to a sanctuary, three states away in the depths of a vicious east coast winter.