Summary

The prologue takes place during an alternate present day following an unspecified apocalyptic event. The United States is now sparsely populated, and tech infrastructure, such as the internet, has collapsed. The protagonist and narrator, Candace Chen, is a former office worker who has joined up with a group of survivors from similar professional backgrounds. The group’s leader is a former IT worker named Bob Reamer. Bob says that the group should head west to Needling, Illinois, which is near Chicago, as Bob owns a facility in Needling that they could use as a safe compound.

In Chapter 1, the narrative shifts back to before the apocalyptic event. Candace was living in New York City and dating a man named Jonathan, who, like Candace, was in his twenties. One day, Jonathan told Candace that he was tired of the stress of New York City...