AIDS has been called “the plague of our time,” a righteous punishment for “wickedness,” and has even been assigned more rather than viral causes by some in the medical community. When this narrative opens in 1982, only a select few were beginning to understand AIDS as a worldwide threat, one without a cure and barely any means of treatment. Noah, a registered nurse, is one of the FIVE LITTLE INDIANS; five gay men who share a deep friendship, each afflicted with the deadly virus. He is a grieving witness to their deaths and also to the futile attempts to slow the disease; he is also their chronicler and spokesman. To the reader, he becomes a spokesman for all who are afflicted with the disease.