It’s a wrap on third season of zombie series ‘Z Nation’

Two women crept down an alley in downtown Spokane, looking back and forth warily. One kept a Glock pistol at her side, ready in case she needed to shoot a zombie.

“Z Nation,” the post-zombie apocalypse Syfy show, is nearing the end of filming its third season. The crew set up on Wall Street between Main and Riverside avenues Friday morning to shoot scenes for episode 13, in which two of the show’s heroes continue their search for a cure to rid the world of zombies.

The crew expects to wrap production in Spokane this week and will film the season’s final two episodes in Western Washington, producer Jodi Binstock said.

Spokane will feature more prominently in coming episodes, producer Marc Dahlstrom said. Murphy, a main character who may hold the key to a zombie antidote, establishes headquarters in the old McKinley school on North Napa Street. He was drawn to the city because of fond childhood memories of Expo ’74, Dahlstrom said.

In post-production, the Riverfront Park Clocktower will be superimposed on the school building.

“It’s going to put Spokane on the map for a lot of people nationally,” Binstock said.

Kellita Smith, who plays survivor Roberta Warren, said Friday’s scene showed her breaking into a compound with co-star Sydney Viengluang, who plays Dr. Sun Mei. She was wary of revealing details about the compound but promised season three would be full of “twists and turns.”

Smith said she was excited about her character developing into more of a weapon in the new season. She favors a machete for killing zombies but recently acquired a pistol with a silencer.

“I get to be a little more badass,” Smith said. “I get to acquire a little bit of an army.”

She said she sometimes runs into fans when she’s out in public, and especially likes hearing from couples who watch the show together.

“That’s almost kind of a date night,” she said.

Seattle native Nat Zang, who plays zombie sniper 10K, was also on set, clad in a black steampunk outfit with fingerless gloves, spiked hair and goggles. His goal is to kill 10,000 zombies to avenge his father’s death. So far, he’s up to about 5,000, he said.

Zang said his costume had evolved over the course of the show, with the steampunk attire a recent addition. Cast in the show straight out of high school, he said he likes filming in Spokane because of the parks and green spaces.

“It’s beautiful over here,” he said.

Season three of “Z Nation” premieres Sept. 16 with a special two-hour episode.