Syfy has announced a Sept. 12 premiere date for Z Nation, its answer to the wildly successful Walking Dead.

Produced by The Asylum, the company behind the cable channel's hit Sharknado franchise, the post-apocalyptic horror series is set three years after a zombie virus ravaged the country. 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 cast includes Harold Perrineau (Lost), DJ Qualls (The Loser), Tom Everett Scott (That Thing You Do), Michael Welch (Twilight), Kellita Smith (The Bernie Mac Show), Anastasia Baranova (Veronica Mars), Russel Hodgkingson (21 & Over, Big Fish) and Keith Allan (Zombie Night, Rise of the Zombies).

Karl Schaefer (Eureka) serves as showerunner. The pilot was directed by John Hyam,s who helmed the shockingly good Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning.

Z Nation premieres Friday, Sept. 12, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.