Isherwood "Ish" Williams is a highly educated graduate student who survives a global pandemic that wipes out most of humanity. Naturally solitary and analytical, he approaches the post-apocalyptic world with a clinical, academic perspective. He is focused on preserving the knowledge of the "Old Times" and restarting human civilization, often placing intellectual value above emotional intuition.

Emma is a calm, emotionally intelligent woman ten years older than Ish. Having lost her previous family to the pandemic, she eventually forms a new life and becomes a foundational figure in the emerging post-plague community. She acts as a grounding force, relying on intuition and practical wisdom to temper Ish's rigid academic ideals.

Ezra is a sociable British expatriate whose extroverted nature proves invaluable to the fledgling community. While not particularly handy or intellectually driven, his strong interpersonal skills allow him to broker compromises and keep the peace among the survivors. He acts as a crucial counterbalance to Ish's intense seriousness.

Charlie is a large, powerful, and charismatic stranger picked up in Los Angeles. While he easily charms most of the community with his storytelling, his arrival introduces severe disruption. His slick demeanor and open defiance of established boundaries present the community with its first major test of law and order.

George is an older man whose practical skills as a handyman make him an essential asset to the survivors. He takes charge of maintaining the plumbing and roofing, keeping the physical infrastructure of the old world functioning. He prefers a laissez-faire approach to the new world and finds comfort in prayer.

Evie is a young girl with an intellectual disability who is taken in by the growing group of survivors. She is largely silent and reliant on the community for protection, making her highly vulnerable to predation. Her presence forces the group to confront their own prejudices and moral responsibilities.

Maurine is an older woman who joins the fledgling community alongside her husband. Like him, she relies heavily on her faith and finds profound solace in prayer as she navigates the post-apocalyptic ruins.

Molly is one of Ezra's two wives in a pragmatic, non-traditional family structure that emerges after the disaster. She helps populate and maintain the growing ad hoc community.

Jean is Ezra's other wife, participating in a polyamorous family dynamic that the community accepts out of the practical need to rebuild the human population.

Joey is Ish and Emma's youngest son and stands out from the other children due to his sharp intellect. Because he exhibits a creative spark and an aptitude for academic learning, his father singles him out as the chosen heir to lead the community into the future.

Richard is one of the eldest boys born to the Tribe. As the community realizes it must proactively plan for the future, he is chosen to undertake a dangerous cross-country journey to search for other survivors.

Robert is another of the elder boys in the Tribe. He accompanies Richard on an expedition across the continent to map the remaining world and seek out other enclaves of humanity.

John is the first offspring born into the newly forming community. His birth marks the beginning of the Tribe's active repopulation efforts and represents the shift from mere survival to building a future.

Mary is Ish and Emma's daughter. As she grows up in a sparsely populated world, her life reflects the pragmatic necessities of the new era, where marriage and procreation take precedence over romantic love.

Roger is another of the early children born to Ish and Emma, contributing to the first generation of survivors entirely raised outside the structures of the Old Times.

Ralph is a young man in the Tribe who marries Mary. Their union is emblematic of the community's shift away from pre-plague romantic ideals toward marriages of necessity and population growth.

Walt is a younger member of the Tribe who quickly adapts to the more primitive technologies his father eventually introduces, proudly bringing home a rabbit shot with a newly crafted bow.

Jack is a member of the Tribe's younger generation. Having no memory of the Old Times, he relies on mythologies about the "Old Ones" to explain the ruins around him. He represents the final transition of humanity back to a society perfectly adapted to the natural world.

Milt is a survivor living in a spacious New York apartment with his companion Ann. Despite the complete collapse of human civilization, he maintains an eerie semblance of normalcy, spending his days drinking martinis and playing cards.

Ann is a survivor sheltering in Manhattan. Like Milt, she aggressively ignores the reality of the apocalypse, preferring to focus on immediate comforts like cocktails and parlor games rather than long-term survival.

Princess is a stray dog who becomes Ish's first companion after the plague. She offers him unconditional affection and helps tether him to his empathy during his darkest periods of isolation.