Valerie Rye is a former history professor and freelance writer traveling through a postapocalyptic California. Having lost her husband and children to a global pandemic that strips humans of their communication abilities, she struggles with severe grief and suicidal ideation. Though the illness destroyed her ability to read and write, her left-handedness indicates she is among the less impaired, as she retains her ability to speak.

Obsidian is a large, neatly bearded man who patrols the chaotic streets in a Los Angeles Police Department uniform. Despite the collapse of all government institutions, he acts as a public servant and peacekeeper. He communicates through gestures and cannot speak, but he retains the rare ability to read, which he hides to avoid provoking deadly jealousy in others.

Two toddlers, a little boy and a little girl, who live in the ruined streets of Los Angeles. Unlike the vast majority of the population, they possess highly coveted communication skills that make them targets for the violently impaired. They offer a rare glimpse of possibility in an otherwise bleak environment.

Rye's next-door neighbor is a man who completely abandoned the courtesies of civilization following his bout with the illness. He rarely washes and relieves himself openly, having traded his physical protection to two women in exchange for their ongoing presence. He actively pressures Rye to join his household as his third partner.

An enterprising man who uses a rare functioning bus to make a livelihood by trading rides for valuable items. Like many of the more heavily impaired survivors, he struggles to control his emotions and expresses his intense frustration through wild gestures when his business is interrupted.

A woman desperately attempting to evade an armed man in the streets. Her complete silence during the pursuit indicates she might be one of the less impaired survivors who carefully hide their communication abilities to avoid inciting deadly envy from others.

A violently aggressive survivor who attacks a fleeing woman. He shouts in garbled, unintelligible words, exhibiting the uncontrollable rage and jealousy typical of those who suffer the most severe intellectual and emotional impairments from the global illness.