- The Control Voice: Along with futures we dare not imagine... come choices we dare not make.
A group of people take shelter in a hospital from a plague. A vaccine is provided, but there is only enough for three people.
- The Control Voice: Though survival of the fittest is the cornerstone of evolution, perhaps... the meek shall inherit the earth after all.
Tropes:
- Bottle Episode: This episode takes place entirely in and around a hospital.
- The Confidant: Arnold to Marie.
- I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: Private Stanhope delivering the vaccine is dying himself and just trying to distribute it first, then go home and probably die where his family is buried.
- Karmic Death: The Jerkass Social Darwinists force the nurse main character to mix up the titular vaccine for them at gunpoint, and even after they promise to save one dose for the little boy, they take it and give it to one of their own when the nurse's back is turned. They then go into anaphylactic shock, because they were already exposed and immune to the virus; the vaccine itself killed them and they inadvertently saved the lives of more sympathetic characters.
- The Lancer: James serves this role at the hospital, being the youngest and most able one who is actually willing to help Marie.
- Phony Newscast: Marie Alexander recalls watching numerous news reports on the progress of the Berlin C virus in Flashbacks.
- The Plague: The vast majority of humanity was killed by the Berlin C virus, which was genetically engineered by a doomsday cult, within three months.
- Post-Apocalyptic Dog: James is attacked by two vicious dogs while he is outside the hospital getting diesel from a truck to power the hospital's generator. His hazmat suit is torn in the process and he is exposed to the Berlin C virus. However, he survives as it turns out that he and the others are immune to the virus due to the bacteria which forced them into quarantine in the first place.
- Post-Apocalyptic Gas Mask: Private Stanhope has one, although its soon revealed that he's already sick and is merely wearing the mask for the benefit of the people that he's meeting with.
- Sole Surviving Scientist: Some are alluded to, having created the titular vaccine for survivors of the plague. None of them appear in person, and they're represented by a dying soldier delivering samples to various groups of survivors.
- Synthetic Plague: A doomsday cult created the genetically engineered Berlin C virus which killed billions of people worldwide within three months. The cult's motivation was the fulfillment of their prophecy about the coming millennium.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Major Ford, the initial leader of the hospital, left in flashbacks to help elsewhere six days before the beginning of the episode. His ultimate fate is unrevealed, with the characters hoping that Private Stanhope (who brings the vaccine) might be him.
