Like all parts of the novel, the Prologue is written as a poem in present tense narrated by the protagonist, Maddie. The prologue takes place over three years after the events of Chapter 1. After the prologue, the novel flashes back in time and progresses in a linear fashion from that point forward.

In the Prologue, a teenage Maddie explains that for three years, she has been surviving on her own with no parents or human company. Only a dog keeps her company. She spends her time scavenging for food and supplies and seeking solutions to living with no electricity or running water. She is still waiting for her parents, and other humans, to return.

Maddie arrives home, and her mother fusses at her to take her shoes off; the rules are different at dad’s house. Maddie’s mom gives her some vegetables for a snack, though Maddie secretly ate a Twinkie earlier—now that Maddie is in middle school, she sometimes lies to her mom and gets annoyed by her.