The Stand is a post-apocalyptic novel about a super-flu pandemic that wipes out most of the world's population, after which the few immune survivors are drawn into a final conflict between the forces of good and evil. The story follows two factions: one led by the benevolent, 108-year-old Mother Abagail in Boulder, Colorado, and the other by the malevolent Randall Flagg in Las Vegas. The survivors must choose sides and form new communities to battle for the future of the world.