The novel opens on May 18. Alex Morales is working at Joey’s Pizza in New York City and helping a customer, Greg Dunlap, who lives in the same apartment building as Alex and his family. They chat about Alex’s family and how everyone is doing, and Greg mentions a plumbing problem. Alex promises to tell his father, Papi, about the problem as soon as he returns home from Nana’s (Alex’s grandmother) funeral in Puerto Rico. As Alex and Greg talk, Joey, Alex’s boss, is watching a baseball game. Suddenly, the cable goes out. Despite this inconvenience, Alex continues working and doesn’t leave the restaurant until ten o’clock due to short staffing.

As Alex walks home, he notices that the weather is muggy and overcast, as if threatening a thunderstorm. He soon hears sirens in the distance, and while he’s curious, he doesn’t pay them much mind. When he turns the corner on 88th Street, he sees people standing outside of their apartment buildings and pointing to the sky, where he sees nothing but clouds. As he reaches his apartment door, the power goes out. He enters to find his sisters, Briana and Julie, home alone. Bri tells him that Mami (their mother) was called into the hospital, where she works as an operating room assistant.