Stuart Goddard sits in an interrogation room. He glances at the camera in the corner.
Diaz and Santiago come in to interrogate him. They tell him to tell his full story. Stuart starts telling them how he saved the world. The officers get annoyed at how he tells the story slowly and with lots of ego. He tells them it was zombies.
Stuart tells the story of how he saved the world. Stuart drives a white car down a lonely road through endless Kansas cornfields. he's going to do an IT job for an evil megacorporation. He drives to a rural lab where corn-based research is done. Stuart parks in the lot and gets out of the car.
Stuart opens the front door to the lab and goes inside. The front room is sparsely decorated. A rack with outdated and faded brochures and two chairs make up a waiting area. Across from that is a desk and secretary. Shelly smiles as Stuart comes inside.
Diaz asks if Stuart is always this creepy with women.
Shelly buzzes Stuart back into the lab area.
Santiago isn't sure he wants to continue the interrogation. Diaz urges everyone to continue.
Stuart enters the lab area. He looks around, like he’s waiting for someone. The lab normally tests corn-based fuel. Stuart finds it odd that no one greets him. He walks slowly down the hallway towards his usual workstation. His door, which is usually locked, is propped open. By the body of Dr. Wyden. He calls out and nudges the body, but Wyden is dead. He's bleeding from a wound on his next.
The workroom is otherwise empty. Dr. Wyden stands up, a zombie. Stuart has to figure out what kind of zombie he is. He rushes to the far side of the room. The zombie was too slow to catch him. It's not a Danny Boyle-type. Then he had to determine whether it was a Night of the Living Dead-style zombie or a Return of the Living Dead-style zombie.
He had previously planned his hop, skip and jump to deposit him right next to the fire extinguisher. Dr. Wyden approached him slowly. Stuart hit him with the fire extinguisher.
Stuart brings the fire extinguisher down on Dr. Wyden’s head. Stuart hits Dr. Wyden again. Dr. Wyden falls to the floor, dead. Again. Stuart brings the fire extinguisher down on Dr. Wyden’s face, crushing the rest of his skull. Stuart grabs Wyden's keycard, swipes it and pulls the door open. A bloody hand grabs Stuart by the shoulder. Stuart screams and drops the fire extinguisher. It bounces down the hall past the man holding Stuart’s shoulder. The zombie that grabbed Stuart is Dr. Dole. Further down the hall is another zombie with a nametag that says Woodring.
Stuart easily breaks free from Dr. Dole’s weak grip and runs towards the front door, but he drops Dr. Wyden’s keycard as he goes. Dr. Dole follows Stuart, stepping over the fallen keycard. Stuart starts to panic. He runs to the front door and bangs on the glass. Dr. Dole and Woodring follow. Stuart peers through the glass, but Shelly isn’t at her desk. He looks back to see the two zombies closing in on him. It’s a short hallway.
Shelly stands outside, finishing a cigarette. She puts it in an outside ashtray.
Shelly comes in to Stuart banging on the inner door. She pulls her keycard and swipes it. It doesn’t work. She flips the card over and rescans it. She looks at Stuart with concern. Stuart rushes through and shuts the door behind him. Stuart bumps into Shelly coming through the door and she almost falls over. He’s too slow in shutting the door and Dr. Dole is halfway through. Stuart smashes the door into Dr. Dole’s head with a thunk. Dr. Dole reaches and tries to grab Stuart. He tries pushing the door harder, but it’s no use.
He calls for Shelly to help him. She steadies herself and pushes on the door. It holds. Temporarily.
Stuart pushes as hard as he can against the door, temporarily holding Dr. Dole back. He yells for Shelly to help. He tells her to break the glass and get the axe. She does. He tells her to get out of the building and lock him inside.
Stuart steps away from the door, pulling it open behind him. Dr. Dole falls through the doorway and crashes to the floor. He splits Dole's skull. Then he severs Woodring's head.
Stuart realizes there's one more zombie and he goes back in the lab area to kill it. He calls out to avoid any surprises. He attracts an older zombie in a hospital gown. He kills the zombie with the axe. He goes into the back lab room and finds a still moving zombie torso. He kills it.
Stuart walks back-and-forth, animatedly waving is arms as he finishes his tale. Stuart sits in the chair, smiling as Diaz and Santiago eye him warily.
Stuart and Santiago clash a bit. Fox comes in and gives a message to Diaz, who tells Stuart he's hired.
Stuart tries to sneak into his apartment building without being seen, but the resident manager, Chauncy, catches him. He reminds Stuart that his rent is three months late and he has to initiate eviction proceedings Monday morning.
Stuart sits on his couch, playing PS5. He defeats the final boss and says he needs harder games to play.
Stuart cooks in his professional-level kitchen. The phone rings. Stuart has been fired from his delivery job.
Clay Curry, a young boy finishes playing basketball and leaves the city park. He runs in front of a sewer entrance. From the sewer, the Shadow Man tempts him with a ball and Clay falls for it. The Shadow Man takes him.
Outside the tunnel, cops have cordoned the area off. Crowds have gathered, including the basketball players. Near the police line stand MR. and MRS. CURRY, his arms wrapped around her as she cries.
The Cube is a huge building whose full exterior is copper-tinted glass. Stuart, dressed in his best suit, opens the front door and goes inside. Stuart enters a large, busy lobby. He looks around and sees Diaz and Santiago, standing near a guarded door to the back. They wave him over. He joins them happily.
Diaz and Santiago walk into the briefing room ahead of Stuart and take seats. Stuart is greeted by Jennifer Green. She welcomes Stuart to Section Z. Jennifer is his new partner. She introduces Mr. Wiggins, leader of Section Z.
Wiggins says Stuart can pick his first case and gives him three options: a missing actress L.A. Starry Stomile, a white supremacist militia in Memphis, and a missing New York boy, Clay Curry. Stuart pics Curry. Jennifer says that was her choice, too. Wiggins says their plane leaves in 43 minutes.