Alyssa Morrow

Alyssa Morrow is the protagonist of the novel. Although she is only sixteen years old, a junior in high school, she proves to be responsible, resourceful, and a natural leader. She becomes the de facto leader of her group, which consists of Garrett, Kelton, Jacqui, and Henry.

Alyssa’s concern for others’ welfare is her primary motivation. During the Tap-Out, however, she is forced to reevaluate her priorities for the survival of her group. Her weakness is that she is too trusting, leading various characters to take advantage of her kindness.

Garrett Morrow

Garrett Morrow is Alyssa’s younger brother. He is a student at Meadow Creek Elementary School. At the beginning of the novel, Garrett is shown to be careless, immature, and unconcerned with adult affairs. However, he eventually learns to take responsibility for his actions and becomes a productive member of their group. For a while, he finds a much needed older brother figure in Henry.

Mrs. Morrow (Mom)

Mrs. Morrow is Alyssa and Garrett’s mother. Like Alyssa, she is a compassionate person and shares their water with the neighbors. During the Tap-Out, she tries to remain optimistic about their dwindling water supply.

Mr. Morrow (Dad)

Mr. Morrow is Alyssa and Garrett’s father. He works as an insurance salesman. Although he is portrayed as a tough and pragmatic person, he does not become angry at his son when Garrett accidentally taints their water supply with bleach.

Herb Morrow

Herb Morrow is Alyssa and Garrett’s uncle. The two jokingly refer to him as Uncle Basil. He lives with the Morrows and drives a pickup truck, which later proves to be indispensable to Alyssa and her group. On the first day of the Tap-Out, Basil moves out in order to help the Morrows conserve their water supply.

Kelton McCracken

Kelton McCracken is the Morrows’ skinny, redheaded next-door neighbor. He is Alyssa’s classmate from high school. Because of his father’s survivalist beliefs, Kelton fosters an interest in anticipating and preparing for doomsday situations. It is in this way that he proves to be useful to Alyssa, whom he has had a crush on since childhood. Over the course of the novel, his relationship with her deepens, and they become close friends.

Richard McCracken

Richard McCracken is Kelton’s father, who works as a dentist. He is the only one in the neighborhood fully prepared for the events of the Tap-Out, having installed solar panels, a surveillance system, and a small greenhouse beforehand. However, his unwillingness to help out his neighbors proves to be his undoing, as they eventually storm and raid his home.

Marybeth McCracken

Marybeth McCracken is Kelton’s mother. Unlike Richard, Marybeth exhibits compassion for their neighbors and tries, unsuccessfully, to convince Richard to share some of their resources with them. Their marriage ultimately ends in divorce.

Brady McCracken

Brady McCracken is Kelton’s older brother. Although Kelton frequently mentions him, he is absent for most of the novel. He is supposedly extremely intelligent yet lazy and unmotivated. Richard and Brady had a falling-out before the events of the novel, resulting in Brady leaving home.

Jacqui Costa

Jacqui Costa is one of the main characters of the novel, alongside Alyssa, Garrett, and Kelton. She is a teenage drifter with no permanent home, often trespassing and squatting in vacation homes along the coast of California. She joins the group after Kelton offers her antibiotics for her infected wound. Out of all of them, Jacqui possesses the strongest survival skills. Although she eventually separates from the group, it is implied that she will reunite with Alyssa after the end of the novel.

Henry

Henry...