From the fictional country town of Arnette, Texas, Stu Redman is the only member of a large family that never left town to make a good life for himself. Already having lost a wife and child during birth, he is a quiet and sad man who spends his days jobless and his nights drinking beer at his friend Hap's gas station until a security guard from a classified government installation crashes his car there and dies of a mystery disease.When Stu is taken by government officials against his own will with the rest of his friends and their family, he eventually escapes only to find that much of the world has been decimated by a killer flu. And when survivors begin to band together, he finds himself naturally being made leader for his strong, silent, competent and sensible manner.