Fred is a Black man living in a 1940s American city who works for a woman named Mrs. Wooten. He is currently a fugitive, having been wrongly accused and beaten by police into signing a false confession for a murder he did not commit. Hiding in the city's subterranean sewer network, he struggles with extreme dread, exhaustion, and the surreal environment beneath the streets. Cut off from society, he begins to observe the surface world from a detached perspective.

Lawson is a police detective in the unnamed city where Fred lives. Operating with profound racial prejudice, he and his partners rely on assumptions rather than concrete evidence to enforce the law. He represents the corruption inherent in the city's justice system, using physical violence and psychological intimidation to force suspects to sign written confessions.

Murphy works alongside Lawson and Johnson as a city police officer investigating a recent neighborhood murder. He participates directly in the violent interrogation techniques that drive Fred to seek refuge underground. Like his partners, he represents the discriminatory law enforcement system that targets Black citizens without cause.

Johnson is a member of the police force assigned to the murder of Mrs. Peabody. He operates as part of a tight-knit trio with Lawson and Murphy, using brute force and racial bias to close cases quickly. He displays a complete lack of interest in finding the actual perpetrators of crimes, focusing instead on securing fast confessions.

Thompson is a security guard employed to watch over a jewelry store in the city above the sewers. He keeps a photograph of his family nearby while he rests during his night shift. He is entirely unaware that he is being watched from the shadows, leaving the business vulnerable to intrusion.

Mrs. Peabody is a white woman who lives next door to Fred's employer. Her recent murder prompts the local police force to immediately arrest and frame Fred Daniels, altering the course of his life entirely. She exists in the narrative primarily as the catalyst for the violent police interrogation.

Mrs. Wooten is a woman living in the city who employs Fred Daniels. Her physical proximity to her neighbor, Mrs. Peabody, places Fred in the general vicinity of the crime. This geographical coincidence provides the police with a convenient excuse to target her employee.