The film begins with a personal and localized crisis: Gerry Lane, a former employee of the United Nations, and his family - wife Karin (Mireille Enos) and daughters Rachel (Daniella Kertesz) and Connie (Fana Mokoena) - are forced to flee Philadelphia as it descends into chaos due to an unexplained outbreak. The disease, which reanimates the dead, quickly spreads worldwide, turning the global population into aggressive, zombie-like creatures.