The Stand

An extremely contagious and lethal strain of influenza, resistant to antibodies and vaccines, is developed as a biological weapon within a secret DoD installation in the Mojave Desert, and is accidentally released. The laboratory staff dies, but security guard Charles Campion manages to escape and takes his family out of state. After a couple of days, his car crashes at a gas station in Arnette, Texas. All of those involved at the scene – the gas station owner and his visitors, plus the ambulance attendants – are exposed to the virus. The gas station owner infects his cousin, a traffic cop, and the virus rapidly spreads from there.
The US Army attempts to isolate Arnette, going as far as to execute unarmed civilians. Still, the efforts are in vain – the virus, christened by journalists as the "superflu", "tubeneck", or, most commonly, "Captain Trips", spreads across the country and travels beyond its borders, triggering a global pandemic of apocalyptic proportions. Approximately 99.4% of the world's population is infected and killed within a month. A prism of several personal tragedies describes the collapse of society, explosions of violence, the inability of the government and martial law to stop the pandemic, and the near-extinction of humanity. Many survivors of the virus also die, unable to accept the loss of their loved ones or survive in a world where they must fend for themselves.
Stuart Redman, one of the people present at the gas station when Campion crashes his car, proves immune to the virus. He is forcibly held in specialized centers at Atlanta, Georgia, then Stovington, Vermont, in the hope that a treatment can be made. Redman escapes after the virus disables the Stovington center's staff, and he is forced to kill one of the members in self-defense. He meets with sociology professor Glen Bateman and his Irish Setter Kojak, pregnant college student Frannie Goldsmith, and teenage outcast Harold Lauder. Larry Underwood, a disillusioned pop singer, joins the group in the wake of his mother's death, along with Nadine Cross, a teacher from New Hampshire, and a young boy she found alone, whom she calls "Joe" due to his refusal to speak. Stuart and Frannie are drawn to each other and become lovers, to Harold's disappointment and resentment.
The group shares a common dream of a 108-year-old woman living in Hemingford Home, Nebraska. The woman, Abagail Freemantle – better known as "Mother Abagail" – becomes the group's spiritual leader. Upon arriving in Nebraska and meeting Abagail, "Joe" introduces himself as Leo Rockway, which upsets Nadine, whom Mother Abagail deems to have a dark presence within her. Mother Abagail guides the group to Boulder, Colorado, where other survivors are drawn by her telepathic appeals. New additions to the group include Nick Andros, a deaf-mute deputy from Shoyo, Arkansas; Tom Cullen, a kind-hearted, intellectually disabled man from May, Oklahoma; and Ralph Brentner, a good-natured farmer from Oklahoma. The group attempts to build a new society. They call their land the "Free Zone", organize funeral brigades, and restore electricity.
Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, Randall Flagg, the "dark man", who possesses supernatural abilities, creates his own society from people called by his visions. The people worship Flagg as a messiah and joyfully submit to his fascist dictatorship, in which undesirables are crucified. Flagg rescues spree killer Lloyd Henreid from prison and makes him his lieutenant. A pyromaniac nicknamed "The Trashcan Man", after destroying oil tanks in Gary, Indiana and meeting a power-hungry madman named "The Kid", joins Flagg's group and becomes a weapons specialist. Flagg prepares for war with Boulder.
Mother Abagail, believing she has been too prideful in watching the Zone grow, goes into self-imposed exile. During her absence, the Free Zone's leadership committee secretly sends three people to Flagg's territory to act as spies: Dayna Jurgens, a woman rescued from a group of armed men kidnapping and raping women; Judge Farris, a retired judge from Illinois; and Tom Cullen, a sweet but mentally slow young man. Harold and Nadine, who have both been tempted by Flagg through their dreams, stage an attack on the committee with a bomb. The explosion kills several people, including Nick, but most of the committee members avoid the explosion thanks to Mother Abagail's return. Before dying of exhaustion, Mother Abagail reports God's will: Stuart, Glen, Larry, and Ralph must go to Las Vegas and destroy Flagg.
As Harold and Nadine flee, Flagg causes Harold's motorcycle to crash, and he falls over the edge of a cliff, severely breaking his leg. As his leg turns gangrenous, he realizes the harm he has done, writes a note of apology, and commits suicide. Nadine leaves Harold for dead and meets Flagg in the desert, where he rapes and impregnates her while revealing his true demonic form, an experience that leaves her semi-catatonic. The Trashcan Man has a psychotic episode and destroys Flagg's air force before Flagg can destroy Boulder. He then leaves Las Vegas to atone by finding a more powerful weapon for Flagg. When Tom's fleeting presence in Las Vegas as the sole surviving spy belatedly comes to light, Nadine takes advantage of Flagg's unsettled state to goad him into killing her and her unborn child.
Stuart breaks his leg en route and persuades the others to go on without him, telling them that God will provide for him if that is what is meant to happen. Leaving Kojak with Stu, the remaining three are soon taken prisoner by Flagg's army. Lloyd kills Glen for refusing to grovel before Flagg, who gathers his entire collective to witness the execution of Ralph and Larry. Moments before they are to be killed, the Trashcan Man arrives with a nuclear warhead. Flagg conjures a magical ball of energy to silence a dissenter. Still, it is transformed into a giant glowing hand – "the Hand of God" – which detonates the bomb, destroying Las Vegas and killing all of Flagg's followers, along with Larry and Ralph.
Tom finds Stu near death, but hears Nick's voice directing him to a supply of antibiotics, and saves his life. After nursing Stu back to health and helping his leg heal, the two travel back to Boulder, where Frannie has given birth to her son after a caesarean section. The baby, named Peter after Frannie's late father, manages to fight off the superflu. Four months later, Stuart and Frannie decide to leave Boulder and move to Ogunquit as society slowly reestablishes itself.
The extended edition includes an epilogue in which Flagg wakes up somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere. Regaining his former strength and calling himself Russell Faraday, he begins recruiting adherents among a preliterate, dark-skinned people.