Jason Whited's character "John Mills" was named when David Neal Goodman (Writer) was setting up direction for a scene and wrote "John mills about the room." Goodman liked the way that "John Mills" flowed and adopted the name.
John's story of his dog that he relates to Sheriff Cliff Baker is based on an actual event told to David Neal Goodman (Writer) by his father about his own dog when he was a boy.
The first infected person seen is Roger Cummings who also voiced the part of Dr. Steiner in the radio program.
The cabin at the location used normally has the dining table on the west side of the living area and the couch on the east side. The production design required the furniture to be on opposite sides. The crew reversed the setup prior to each film shoot and then moved everything back into place when each shoot was complete.
The location setting was inspired by Pacific County in Washington State however the actual location is near Totten Inlet outside of Olympia, WA.