Sam

Sam lives with her cat, Frodo, in a hospice for terminal patients. Nurse Reuben talks her into joining the group trip to see a puppet show in Manhattan. On the way, objects fall from the sky and creatures attack the crowd. An ambulance explosion knocks her out. When she wakes up, she is in the theater with Frodo, Reuben and other survivors. The army orders silence and bombs the bridges off the island. At night the generator makes noise, Reuben goes to switch it off and is killed. Sam takes Frodo and leaves the theater. The military announces a boat evacuation from South Street Seaport, since the creatures can't swim. The crowd runs, makes noise, and Sam and Frodo get separated.

Sam wants to get to Harlem. In the chaos of the evacuation she loses Frodo, who ends up with Eric, an English law student who nearly drowned in the subway. Eric follows Sam and becomes her companion. She writes poetry, he helps her. The two flee through a flooded station and spend the night in a church.

Sam tells him that as a kid she went to a Harlem jazz club to hear her father play, then ate pizza at Patsy's. Eric takes her to the club and, since Patsy's was destroyed, fetches pizza from another shop. At the river, a boat full of survivors is waiting. Sam hands Eric her cat and her sweater, distracts the creatures with car alarms and stays behind. He boards with Frodo and finds a note from her, thanking him for reminding her to live.

Sam and her cat Frodo are named after Lord of the Rings characters. Frodo was played by two real cats, Nico and Schnitzel.