Dr. Lear
He is the designer and head of the super-soldier program. Having conducted research for years on less vulnerable subjects, he moves on to persuade these death-row inmates to consent to be injected with a serum. When they won't comply with the program, they are locked away again for research purposes, and Lear moves on to children. He dies when Babcock breaks them out.
Brad Wolgast
FBI agent Wolgast is charged with retrieving Amy from the convent. He defends her with his life and becomes her caretaker after the contagion spreads. Eventually he dies of radiation poisoning, after having served Amy for years.
Amy Bellafonte
Amy is the protagonist, the only character to carry over between both sections of the book. She is six-years-old when introduced, living as a charge in a convent. Because of her age, she responds differently to the serum, narrowly escaping the violent side-effects. Surviving the contagion and aging at a fraction of the normal rate, she becomes a leader among the survivors. Devoting her life to ending the spread of the contagion and defending humanity, she utilizes her insider knowledge and extreme strength to outwit Babcock and consequently all the virals.
Sister Lacey
Lacey is a nun at Amy's convent. When she hears the girl is being taken away, she insists on accompanying as her guardian. At the research complex, she is exposed to the serum and also ages more slowly than a normal human and gains above average strength. She sacrifices herself to kill Babcock.
Babcock
He is a murderer, one of the death row subjects. Having an especially strong reaction to the serum, he develops psychic abilities which he then uses to help his fellow eleven subjects escape and to enact revenge on the researchers. Decades later, he dominates the country, running an elaborate organization of virals and fellow subject survivors. He possesses an insane bloodlust.
