The Postmortal

John and Ernie get a request from the Department of Containment to kill an insurgent who was responsible for making and setting off a bomb that killed five people. They travel in an armored vehicle to the compound where he is staying, discussing world events such as the national gasoline shortage. Unhoused people try to break into their vehicle, but the heavy protective surfaces make it impossible to penetrate.

They arrive at the target’s house. Ernie chases him outside, and John shoots him in the stomach, and then tries to perform an exit interview as he dies. John convinces him to transfer his assets to his daughter before shooting the man a second time.

John returns to his home compound and walks in underground tunnels to connected compounds in search of lunch. He spots a woman with dyed red hair who looks like Solara Beck, whom he has been hunting for the last 20 years. He chases her through the market, using his end specialist credentials to part the crowd. In a parking lot behind the market, they have a brief shootout before John pulls her off a fence she is trying to climb. She escapes his grip and runs back into the market, showcasing superior athleticism. He catches her and drags her outside, questioning her about her many aliases.

John promises that he does not want to kill her; he just wants to know about the day Katy’s died. Solara was dating the domestic terrorist Randall Baines at the time and served as a lookout for him, doing what he said because he was violent. John is surprised that his urge to kill her is gone, replaced with sympathy. He suggests that she try to tell the police that she was not a part of the bombings, but she believes she will be killed by the people who continue to follow Randall Baines’s cause. John offers to help her fake her death, but they are interrupted by Matt telling John to “sweep” an area. Solara goes with him.

John takes Solara with him to hunt for people infected with the sheep flu. They enter a forest and pass by various groups of people who have received the Skeleton Key vaccination, including a woman who claims the flu developed because of angry ghosts. They find the encampment of sick people. Solara watches as John identifies the living from the dead. He interviews each person, asking about their loved ones and if they can afford the sheep flu vaccine. Those who cannot are euthanized.

John and Solara go back to their vehicle and drink beer. John shares that his sister died of the sheep flu, which he believes she contracted while waiting in the hospital with him during his heart attack. Her husband and son were also euthanized because they were infected. Solara shares that her family was abandoned by her father when she was four, and her biological mother died by suicide when she was 14. Solara also watched her adoptive mother die of the sheep flu, just as John watched his sister.

John rents a hotel room, and the two spend the night in separate beds. He wakes up at three in the morning and tries to figure out the best way to fake Solara’s death. He dozes until she wakes him up while she changes into one of his spare shirts, giving him a glimpse of her birthdate scar, which was branded onto her by Randall. His followers are going to find her on her 80th birthday, which is the following day. John offers to house her in his compound, but when she presses him about his romantic interest, he claims that he has none.

He escorts her from the room with a gun held to her back, and he begins recording their interaction. She pretends to escape from his grasp. They run into the hotel kitchen and stage a fight, clearing the area. John goes through the usual questioning procedure, and then injects her with a saline solution that looks like the euthanasia drug. She pretends to die, and he ends the recording, and then drags her limp body to his vehicle. Matt calls to congratulate John on catching her. John ends the call and takes Solara home.

John gets toiletries and clothes for Solara. They watch a movie about the Arctic War, which killed 10 million people and caused Alaska and Canada to be annexed by Russia. During the war, soldiers who had been given prototypes of the Skeleton Key vaccine became ravenous, gorging on food and even eating people alive.

In the film, an American supersoldier is interviewed and expresses that during his 50 tours of duty, he has grown so accustomed to the violence and bloodshed that he can’t imagine living another way. The Arctic oceans are filled with dead animals that could not survive the increasing water temperatures.

When the documentary ends, Solara expresses a morose outlook on the future and then reveals she is 14 weeks pregnant. The Skeleton Key vaccine cured her previous infertility.

John and Ernie travel to their next job. John is now more aware of pollution than he was before. He thinks of Solara, who dyed her hair brown and now reminds him strongly of Alison. News breaks that China has bombed Russia.

They arrive at the compound, and John discovers that they are supposed to euthanize an old woman; the government has started to euthanize the elderly as a way to manage resources. The newly established Senior Management Program is required for all end specialist firms; those who refuse are discredited and killed.

The elderly woman approaches the car and is very kind. John calls Matt, who confirms that she is the target. Matt also tells John that he knows Solara is alive before ending the call. John asks Ernie to drive away, saying that he can pretend John forced him to do so at gunpoint. Ernie agrees after warning John there will be more cases like this.

Ernie drives John back home, where Ernie promises to convince Matt to file John’s termination as a resignation so John can get a head start; other end specialists will hunt him down for rejecting orders. John runs to his compound, where he tells Solara that her file is still open and why he quit his job. Solara presses him about his motivations for helping her; ultimately, John says that he just has an “urgent” feeling (341), which Solara correctly identifies as love. They have intercourse and prepare to flee.

John and Solara drive until their vehicle gets low on energy, and then pull into a different compound to charge it. They buy dinner from a convenience store, and John tells Solara he wants to marry her and be a father to her child, assuring her that she doesn’t have to if she doesn’t want to. Solara reflects on her previous romances, which were mostly with men with older cure ages. She also shares that her twin sister was an organic, someone who refused the cure, and their different ideologies caused a rift that never healed. Her sister has Alzheimer’s now and is in a home.

They hear the news that the United States has sent missiles to Russia. They fight off a growing mob in the convenience store, grabbing what supplies they can before returning to their vehicle. The power in the whole area goes out—satellites and radios aren’t working. They drive, but the roads become clogged with vehicles. Traffic slows. People beat on their windows, trying to get in. Soldiers appear and try to beat their way through the glass to get their food. One shoots at their window, but the reinforced glass only cracks, and the soldier dies from the ricocheting bullets. His companion begins to beat his way through the crack with a gun, but John shoots him. They make some progress on the road as Solara becomes increasingly claustrophobic. John tells her to rest, and they declare themselves married.

Their car is targeted by another soldier. John tries to stand against him but is dragged out of the car by the soldier’s companion. Solara shoots the companion and enters a standoff with the remaining soldier. Their standoff is interrupted by a missile, which explodes to the east and blinds the soldiers. Solara and John run as the effects of the explosion grow, releasing ash and dust into the air.

Solara sprains her ankle, and John carries her. He thinks of all the people who died from the explosion’s impact, including Matt and Ernie. They find a house that seems abandoned and break inside while others flee on the road. In the basement, they find a group of people and settle down to wait. A wave of nuclear wind rushes through the house overhead. Shortly after, another missile explodes.

John, Solara, and the rest of the refugees wait in the basement for the worst of the explosions to pass. After dawn, a boy reports that many people are walking by the house. John wraps Solara’s ankle, and the two venture out into the rain, joining the mass exodus of people. They pass by clusters of corpses, groups of partyers, and the remnants of vehicular crashes. Most buildings have already been ransacked by survivors. A riot breaks out, and many Greenies revel in the violence. John and Solara flee to a Church of Man compound, where John identifies himself as David’s father. One of the guards discreetly drops written instructions to help them get to safety, but as they begin to follow the guidance, John is stabbed by a Greenie.

Solara drags John to the designated meeting point, fighting against the mob around them. They are separated, and John is almost crushed to death. Solara fires her gun in the air, parting the crowd. As they reach a drain where a Church of Man member is waiting, Solara is shot in the shoulder. John drags her to safety. The two are taken into the Church of Man compound, where Reverend Samuel Jeffs waits for them. John convinces the reverend to get Solara medical care because of her pregnancy. Reverend Jeffs reminds John of the many people he killed, underscoring that David is the only reason he was not punished.

At John’s request, the reverend performs marriage rites for Solara and John, then gives them a moment alone. They hold each other as Solara expresses her wish to die with John, but he convinces her to live. A doctor takes her away as another explosion goes off. John prepares a syringe to die by suicide as he comes to terms with his mortality.