John is a middle-aged widower with two teenage daughters. A former colonel and teacher of military history at the Army War College, John lives in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and teaches history at nearby Montreat College. He is six-foot-four, with a bulky build. 

Though he projects a no-nonsense attitude to his former army colleagues, John is also a doting father. He reflects on his own character as, “Tough, damn good at what I did, well respected by my men, and yet complete jelly when it comes to my girls” (26). 

After the EMP burst hits, John finds himself trying to keep the community from reverting to savage behavior simply to survive. Because of his military and professional background, the town council seeks John’s advice. By the end of the story, he is put in charge of defending the town. Thanks to his strategic planning, Black Mountain’s survival rate post-EMP strike is much higher than anywhere else in the region.

Makala, named after a Hawaiian flower, is an attractive nurse stranded in Black Mountain after the EMP blast: “She was tall, even without her heels on. Five ten or so, slender, blond hair to shoulder length” (76). The former supervising nurse for a cardiac surgical unit in Charlotte, Makala proves invaluable when disease strikes the small community.