Kim Dickens plays high school guidance counselor, Madison Clark.
A widowed mother of two teens, Madison has just moved in with her boyfriend (who also has a family of his own) and is generally trying to make the best of life. The spread of a mysterious infection isn't going to make that very easy.
Her youngest child, Alicia Clark (Alycia Debnam-Carey) is a college-bound model student with big plans and a bright future.
Her other child, Nick (Frank Dillane), is Madison's oldest son, and her biggest headache.
Addicted to drugs and tangled in trouble, Nick might finally be on the road to recovery — even though the rest of the world is undergoing the exact opposite.
Travis (Cliff Curtis) is Madison's boyfriend, an English teacher at the high school where she works.
He also happens to be coming out of another marriage. Travis shares custody of his son Chris with his ex-wife. Initially struggling with blending a family, Travis will have to deal with all that and more as he and Madison find themselves thrust into the very beginning of the zombie apocalypse.
His ex-wife is Lisa Ortiz (Elizabeth Rodriguez).
A driven single mother putting herself through nursing school, Liza is Travis' ex-wife finally chasing her own dreams. These new zombies are going to ruin so many plans.
Together, they have a son Chris, (Lorenzo James Henrie).
A child of divorce, he lives with his mother and has a chip on his shoulder towards his father. He wants to do good, like his father, but rebels at the thought of becoming a family with the Clarks. Hopefully he likes them more once they all are forced to fight for survival.
They'll get mixed up with Daniel Salazar (Ruben Blades), a refugee from El Salvador, and his family.
Salazar has established a life for himself and his family as a Los Angeles barber, and will do anything to protect his family.
Patricia Reyes Spíndola will play his wife, Griselda, a deeply religious woman committed to ensuring her daughter has a better life in the US than she did in El Salvador.
Their daughter Ofelia, will be played by Mercedes Mason.
As the first-generation American daughter of Daniel and Griselda, Ofelia wants very different things out of life than her parents do. Headstrong and a bit naive thanks to the sheltered life her parents afforded her, she's going to clash with her father when things get dire.