Episode Recap: Day One

So many origin stories, so little time. You've definitely wondered what the team was up to when the zombie outbreak first started ... and here it is. Shall we begin? 

Let's start with Citizen Z. Prior to the zombie outbreak, he was arrested on espionage charges for his hacking shenanigans ... and then offered a job at the NSA, where he was stationed at the Northern Light listening post. The NSA knows talent when they see it! 

Meanwhile, in the present, Citizen Z realizes that he himself has been hacked by unknown forces. Things aren't going terribly well for the team, either, as their fleet of El Caminos is busted. They're on foot the rest of the way through California to get Murphy to the CDC, and they're walking through what remains of Disneyland (not much) when Roberta wonders, "How did it all get like this?"

And so, to Roberta Warren's origin story. She was a Lieutenant with the National Guard and forced to kill some good soldiers who'd been turned at the base where she was stationed. 

Doc, it turns out, was an addiction counselor and worked at a center where he was pretty good at keeping people calm ... with the power of hugging! When the zombies showed up, he escaped after patients and colleagues went all Z.

Addy's origin story marks the return of Mack ... sort of. It's a flashback. Flashmack? Anyway, it turns out that Mack and Addy met at a hockey game where everyone turned Z, after which Addy had to get home to her brother and mother (and we know how that turned out). Anyone else super-curious to find out where she picked up the Z-Whacker?

10K was alone in the woods when he was suddenly attacked by some Z-hunters and a park ranger. After a good deal of running, 10K (then known simply as 'Tommy') was rescued by his father (and we know what happens to that poor guy).

But by far the most impressive and terrifying origin story has to be Vasquez's. It turns out the funeral for his wife and daughter was on the first day of the outbreak, and the first zombies Vasquez encountered were the funeral director ... and zombie versions of his wife and daughter, crawling out of their damn coffins. So disturbing!

Meanwhile, back in the present, Citizen Z is tracing the hackers and discovers they've been tracking Operation Bitemark all along. When he realizes that he may be leading a potential threat to Murphy, he destroys his servers. Murphy himself is growing increasingly worried about what's going to happen at the CDC, which prompts his own dark Day One flashback ...

Murphy was in prison (for postal fraud, FYI), where a jailyard murder went awry after the inmates began turning Z. It was every man for himself as Murphy managed to escape ... and lock the gate so that others couldn't get out, including those who hadn't been turned. It's a pretty awful thing to do, so maybe he's indeed looking to redeem himself as what Roberta calls the "hope for humanity"?

When the team arrives at what they believe to be the coordinates of the CDC lab, they find a run-down restaurant populated by a sweet lady who offers them tea. It's actually pretty spooky ... and to be continued!