The story is set three weeks after a global catastrophe has wiped out every organism with a Y chromosome, leaving only Yorick Brown and his pet monkey, Ampersand, as the mysterious survivors. The world is depicted as devastated, with streets filled with corpses and memorials honoring the deceased. Yorick, who is in a city now in ruins, spray paints a message on a wall for his missing lover, Beth, hoping she will see it and return.