- Mark: A 17-year-old young man who survived the onslaught of the Flare and finds himself living with his neighbor Trina and war veterans Alec and Lana, along with a few others in the Appalachians. After a Berg releases the Flare virus that kills everyone but the four, Mark embarks on a journey to take revenge against those who ordered the execution.
- Alec: A war veteran who came to rescue Mark and Trina shortly before a giant tsunami caused by the melting polar ice caps hit New York City. He and Lana have since become the two teenagers' companions since a year before the novel begins.
- Trina: Mark's neighbor and love interest who was with him when the Flare first hit the Earth and has since lived together with other survivors in a small village in the Appalachians.
- Lana: A war nurse who has a close relationship with Alec. The two accompany Mark and Trina ever since the onslaught of the Flare and the immediate tsunami that devastated New York City. She is the first of the four to succumb to the Flare virus.
- Deedee / Teresa: A 5-year-old girl whom Mark, Alec, Trina, and Lana, find in a deserted neighboring village. She is immune to the Flare virus, a status which is demonized by her fellow villagers. Due to this, Mark decides to send her to the Post-Flare Coalition (PFC) base in Alaska, where she would be renamed Teresa Agnes. A grown Teresa is also shown in the prologue of the novel, where she becomes a witness to Thomas being delivered to the Maze.
- Anton: A worker for the PFC who tells Mark and Alec about the way the Flare virus is spread. He also tells them that he and his coworkers plan to move to the PFC base in Alaska, which gives Mark the idea to send Deedee there.
- Bruce: A worker for the PFC who had a hand in releasing the Flare virus in return for food for him and his coworkers. He complains about the restrictions put into the cure for the virus by the PFC base in Alaska.
- Jed: A bald and earless man who is part of the villagers of Deedee's village. He prevents Mark and Alec from being killed and recounts to them about the Flare virus which destroyed his village two months and three days before. He subsequently dies due to the virus.
- Toad, Misty, and Darnell: Three survivors of the Flare who are together referred to as "The Three Stooges". They live alongside Mark, Alec, Trina, and Lana, in the makeshift village in the Appalachians. Darnell is the first casualty of the Flare virus released by a Berg to their village. Misty is found to be infected just after Mark and Alec return from hijacking the Berg. After Toad puts an end to her misery, he is infected too and Alec kills him out of mercy.
- Baxter: A 13-year-old boy who was part of the original group of survivors who survived the tsunami that hit New York City, alongside Mark, Trina, Alec, and Lana. When they camped out at the Lincoln Building, Baxter was killed by a man called Boss. He only appears in flashbacks.
- Boss: A scavenger who ambushed Mark, Trina, Alec, Lana, Baxter, Toad, Misty and Darnell in the Lincoln Building. After killing Baxter, he threatened them to give him supplies. Mark managed to kick him off to the waters and took control of his vehicle. His female companion then committed suicide. He only appears in flashbacks.
- John Michael: The current chancellor of World in Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department (WICKED), the company that approved the population control suggested by Katie McVoy to eradicate half of the world population using the Flare virus. He is mentioned in a letter found by Mark in Randall Spilker's workpad.
- Randall Spilker and Ladena Lichliter: Two members of WICKED who disapproved the method suggested by Katie McVoy to kill half of the population by the VC321xb47 virus, seeing that its mutation is unpredictable. They are only mentioned in correspondence letters found by Mark in Spilker's workpad.
- Katie McVoy: A member of WICKED who suggested to chancellor Michael a form of population control by killing half of the population with the VC321xb47 virus, referred to as the Flare virus; thus, she is indirectly responsible for most of the events in the series. She is only mentioned in a letter in Randall Spilker's workpad found by Mark.
- Thomas: A 5-year-old boy immune to the Flare virus who is taken by WICKED from his willing mother in the epilogue of the novel. A member of WICKED decides to name him after Thomas Edison after seeing a light bulb in his house. A grown Thomas is also mentioned in the prologue of the novel from the point of view of Teresa, just before he takes his entry to the Maze.
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