Candace Chen narrates, stating that after “the End” came “the Beginning.” Candace has survived an as-yet unknown apocalyptic event and joined a group of eight other survivors, all former white-collar professionals. The group is led by ex-IT worker Bob Reamer. Bob is herding the group west, toward a building he co-owns in Needling, Illinois. There, he plans to establish a haven called “the Facility.” The group feels survivors’ guilt—even before the apocalypse, they suspected themselves of being “cowards and hypocrites [and] pretentious liars” (6) and their behavior in the End has confirmed their suspicions. With few survival skills, they have to Google how to do everything until the internet goes down for good.

Candace then reveals that she wasn’t there for most of the Beginning. She was the last member to join the survivor group. After the apocalypse, she stayed in New York City for as long as possible, alone. By the time Bob found her, delirious in the backseat of a taxi in Pennsylvania, the group was already on its way to the Facility.