From his small apartment in Austin, Texas, George Zaragosa watches in awe as surreal reports of a bizarre plague flood the national news. Until today, his life as a local theater teacher was stable and ordinary, if overshadowed by the unsolved murder of his beautiful fiancee. Now, hearing how those who died from an unstoppable virus are coming back to life in growing numbers, George knows what he has to do: leave everything behind in the city and get home to San Uvalde, just down the road.

It began in New York City, when the dead arose from the hospitals and morgues, attacking the living...