The rumor of a refuge in the Northern California lava tubes proves to be fact, but getting there is impossible. The infected roam every city, town, and countryside. The new government's military is transporting all survivors to holding centers where life is tenuous. In the Danbury home, Natalie and Coltan hear the only real news of the escalating carnage over a police scanner as their town and the surrounding burgs quickly fall to ruins. There is no escape either, for Mario and Rosa when a scientist and her small army in the tiny enclave of Baker Creek capture them for experiments. However, one teenage boy who escaped Baker Creek stumbles upon the refuge. He has a grisly tale to tell them, and a future awaiting him that he could never imagine. All discover there are greater forces-supernatural forces-working through them; one trying to protect them while the other is determined to destroy them.