Tom

The day the creatures arrive, Tom is at Greg's house with other survivors. When Malorie goes down in the street, pregnant and surrounded by death, he runs out and pulls her inside. Greg, who owns the house, is there with Douglas, Cheryl, Lucy, Felix and Charlie. No one knows what's out there, only that looking kills.

In the house, Tom is one of the calm ones. He helps cover the windows and set the rules: no one looks outside, and anyone who goes out wears a blindfold.

Tom and Malorie grow close. He talks about life before the outbreak and says he'll see the world again someday. Malorie thinks hope is dangerous. Tom thinks surviving is pointless without it.

He goes on the grocery run in a car with blacked-out windows, steered by GPS. Charlie stays behind to save the group. They come back with food and a cage of birds, which become the house's alarm: they flutter when the creatures get close.

The night Malorie and Olympia give birth, Gary uncovers the windows and the house turns into a massacre. Douglas, who wanted Gary gone, had been locked in the garage, and Gary lets him out just as the creatures come in. Tom stands between Gary and the babies. They fight over the gun, and Tom kills Gary. Then he goes to Malorie and tells her it's all right. Of the full house, only the two of them and the babies are left.

Tom and Malorie spend five years together raising Boy and Girl. He tells the kids stories about trees and mountains they've never seen, and Malorie fights with him over it. She wants the kids to learn fear; he wants them to learn to dream. On the radio, Rick tells of a refuge downriver.

When they head out for food, survivors who have already seen the creatures attack. Tom takes them on to buy the family time. He kills the attackers and then takes off his blindfold, looks at the creatures and kills himself. Malorie leaves with the kids, who will one day carry his name and Olympia's.

In Josh Malerman's novel, Tom leads the house and dies the night of the births. The movie gave him five more years with Malorie and the kids.