Orphaned at ten during the apocalypse, Tevy survived his teen years scrounging with the other Brat Pack kids through the ruins of Chicago's suburbs, seeking out canned food and guns. Rippers-humans infected with parasites that produce vampire-like side effects-control the Loop, but at eighteen, Tevy is bold enough to scout deep into downtown and discovers that the architect of the apocalypse, an ancient evil presumed dead for eight years, has reappeared and is building a new ripper army, one that threatens the human cantonments north of the Chicago River. Tevy travels through a dangerous, sparsely populated world, short of gas and ammunition, where defending strong walls at night is essential to survival. His mission is to secure volunteers to aid the Chicago cantonments, but he'll discover competing religions and old enmities among rival outposts will complicate his task. Kayla, a woman who survived the apocalypse by abandoning her dorm in favor of a fortified college building, ventures with Tevy back to Chicago, along the way earning the respect of the volunteer militias during desperate engagements with marauding rippers. But a dark secret and sectarian discord threaten to tear apart the human alliance in Chicago just as the rippers begin their offensive. Tevy and Kayla will need all their speed, fighting skill, and luck to survive chaotic nights of brave stands and frantic retreats. They must learn to trust one another despite following different religions, and they need to keep their growing love a secret. But just as the battle nears the worst, they learn the greatest evil may not lurk with the rippers, but among fellow humans, and that their greatest challenge will be to save one little girl in the face of unspeakable betrayal.