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The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman has stated that even though Fear The Walking Dead (2015) takes place shortly after the outbreak, we won’t get to see patient zero, nor will the series say what caused the outbreak. To Kirkman, the source of the outbreak isn’t important. What happens to people as a result of it is, and always has been, the point of The Walking Dead in all its forms.

Showrunner Dave Erickson told Hollywood Reporter “For [Kirkman], it’s never been about what caused it; it’s always been about the impact it has on people. Robert’s always said — and this is what we try to anchor Fear in is: Your parents got divorced or there are zombies. You didn’t get invited to the prom, or there are zombies. Because we’re starting a bit earlier and have more of a slow burn into the apocalypse of season one, it gives us the opportunity to really ground our family’s problems. We have this highly dysfunctional, blended family and all the issues that they face and they would have faced if the apocalypse hadn’t struck, those are the problems we’re exploring. The main narrative drive is the conflicts within this family dynamic and how those things are exacerbated by the arrival of the apocalypse.”