Chief Barnes is the leader of a band of survivors, and he is convinced that the United States military must have made a stand against the infected dead somewhere. He and his trusted friends embark on an expedition across the continent to Alaska, searching for more survivors from the infection that reduced the population to near extinction. Their travels take them to the Aleutian Islands, where they discover more than they expected. The world has had years to change. The infected dead roam the streets and the forests in search of living victims. No one knows how the virus started, but even less is known about how to stop it. All the survivors can do is try to outlive it. Cities fall before the hordes of infected, but a small band of survivors fights back by locating and liberating a network of shelters built by the government during the Cold War. Their goal is to unite enough survivors to eventually turn the tide of death in the favor of the living.