The Last Man is narrated by an Englishman named Lionel Verney, and takes place from 2073 to 2100, during which time he witnesses the beginning, middle, and end of a pandemic so deadly it appears to kill every single human on Earth except for him. By the end of the novel, Verney’s entire family and his closest friends have perished. In the second part, the plague—an airborne virus with no clear pattern of contagion—makes its first appearance amid