After a series of devastating terrorist attacks deprives America of the pharmaceuticals on which it depends, Aberdeen Childress fights to keep her family and an apartment building full of lost souls sane and safe in a city run by agents of the very drug cartel responsible for the attacks. As the military moves in to stop the chaos, private companies deal with those off their medications and fraudulent faith healers promise deliverance, Aberdeen is forced to deal with the city's tormentors to fulfill her needs, and the needs of the people she loves. In this dystopian America, she must decide if she'll become a heroine and overcome her enemies or give in to the allure of a fraying society and fulfilled desires. Faced with an uncertain future and hindered by her own failing lungs, Aberdeen struggles to maintain balance, to save lives, and to survive in a world where salvation and destruction are intimately linked to chemicals.