Part I, Chapter 1 Summary

In this novel, the protagonist, Robert Neville, is seemingly the only survivor of a plague that has converted the rest of humanity to vampires. Robert's mission is to destroy "the others" before they can infect him.

Part I opens in January 1976. It is a cloudy afternoon, and Robert Neville is inspecting his house for damage. He decides that it is not worth the effort to replace the mirror he has nailed to the door and that he would use garlic instead. He enters his bedroom, which has been converted into a combination bedroom and workroom. After nailing up the loosened plank, Robert walks down his street, Cimarron Street, and views the charred remains of houses on either side of his that he has burned down to "prevent them from jumping on his roof" from adjacent houses.

The protagonist, Robert...