The Fourth Horseman

In an unspecified location, an enigmatic and unnamed Asian scientist accidentally smashes a bottle containing a deadly and unnatural virus. The disease quickly spreads across the world through air travel, infecting and killing thousands. In modern-day London, a young woman named Jenny visits her friend Andrew, a physician who is working in a city hospital, to ask him to come see a mutual friend, Pat, who has become ill. The hospital clientele has suffered a high number of deaths from the mysterious disease, but the Home Secretary has instructed the hospital staff to keep it quiet, telling the public it is merely a flu epidemic. Soon, civilization begins to collapse as the deaths increase, mass absenteeism affects public services, and amenities and the electronic media go off air. Eventually the electricity shuts off, and all public services falter then eventually cease entirely. Jenny and Andrew return to Pat's home to find she has died from the disease, and Andrew reveals the true extent of the situation to Jenny: he too has got the disease, the virus is wiping out thousands, and there is nothing anyone can to do stop or cure it. Andrew orders Jenny, who has displayed an immunity to the virus, to leave London as fast as possible as the countless dead bodies will spread more diseases which she is vulnerable to. Jenny packs her bags and leaves for the country to look for more survivors.

In a country village outside of London, another young woman, Abby Grant, becomes ill with the sickness and wakes after several days in a coma to find seemingly everyone (including her husband) in her town has died. Abby goes in search of her son who was at boarding school. There she meets the sole remaining staff member at the school, Dr. Bronson. He tells her that the healthy boys were taken camping by another teacher in the hope of escaping the epidemic. Dr. Bronson believes that those who survive the epidemic will need to re-learn old skills that have been lost in modern society, if they are to survive long-term. While Abby proposes that there will be stockpiles of energy sources and preserved food, he explains that every product used in contemporary society relies on the complex interworking of thousands of people in different regions, each having specialized knowledge and a constant supply of materials – all of which have suddenly vanished. Despondent, Abby drives home and decides to move on in search of other survivors. She cuts her hair short, packs some essentials, then burns down her house, which contains her husband's body, and drives away.