Water on Mars, a terminal brain cancer diagnosis, a penchant for inspiring quotes, and a MacGyver-level knack for engineering combine in this new zombie short written and directed by Mitch Cohen.

Check out Super Zero: Badass Journey Into Zombie Awesomeness.

In this terrifically cool take on the zombie apocalypse, the short opens with some exposition by main character Josh Hershberg. The discovery of water on Mars has the world excited about the possibilities for the future of humanity on the same day Josh, played by actor Umberto Celisano, learns he’s been diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer.

Thinking himself worthless after the news from his doctor and lamenting that he’s no athlete, isn’t creative, and is definitely not “the whole package,” Josh decides to commit suicide. Coincidentally, “the whole package” in his mind is classmate Paige Reynolds, whom our main character figures has and never will notice him. Convinced he’s got nothing to offer the world, Josh attempts to hang himself only to have the rope snap. This happens exactly as news breaks, including a cameo of NASA JPL’s own Bobak Ferdowsi, that a returning exploratory Mars mission has crash landed near his home.

Cut to a month later where the world has apparently been decimated by the “Borealis Pathogenic Virus,” or as Josh puts it “some extra terrestrial waterborne primordial virus from hell.” And you guessed it, this pathogen turns people into zombies. Trudging through the now zombified world, Hershberg happens upon a warehouse and is surprised as some survivors rush by him that include Paige “The Whole Package” Reynolds. Suddenly put to the test, Josh has to learn if he really does have what it takes in the zombie apocalypse.

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What did you think of Super Zero? Do you think Mars really is the key to our zombie dreams? Can we blame Bobak and JPL if Curiosity unleashes the undead upon us? Let us know in the comments below.