28 Days Later begins in a science lab, where animals rights activists break in and free a screaming, cage-rattling chimp. Little do they know that it's been infected with a virus called Rage or that it will repay their kindness by attacking them. The ape's blood and saliva transmit Rage to the human population, turning the infected into angry, twitchy, blood-spewing maniacs who exist only to tear human flesh apart, thus further spreading the infection.