Syfy has ordered a 13-episode zombie series from The Asylum, the company behind the cable channel's hit 2013 B movie Sharknado.

Titled Z Nation, the post-apocalyptic horror series is set three years after a zombie virus ravaged the country, as a team of "everyday heroes" transports the only known survivor of the plague from New York to California, where the last functioning viral lab awaits his blood. While the antibodies he carries represent the world's last, best hope, he also hides a dark secret that threatens everyone. The show is set to air this fall.

"Z Nation is a unique new journey into the long-established zombie genre," Syfy's Chris Regina said in a statement. "Instead of existential despair, the series offers hope that somehow, some way, humanity will not only survive, but triumph. In producing their first ever weekly series, our long-time partners The Asylum have created a different way of telling an iconic story."

Karl Schaefer (Eerie Indiana, Eureka, The Dead Zone) will serve as executive producer and showrunner.