Assigned to the USCGC Surveyor, DC2 Elizabeth Townsend is at the end of her last patrol when the news breaks that civilization has been destroyed. A blood-borne virus has infected the human population with an absolute mortality rate. All of the major cities have fallen; the plague has no cure. After only a week of the Infection, the crew is told, the human race is an endangered species. Once ashore, Lizzy is transferred with several crewmates to a location somewhere in the desert. She is now a ward of the government in a secure, isolated settlement-a cage necessary for survival. But beneath the peaceful exterior of the military compound and its surrounding bases, however, lie secrets that might be more dangerous for Lizzy and the survivors than the Infection itself, and the plague may not be all that is seems...