"It's a gruesome way to go." Ryan should know; at eight-years-old, he watched his mother die from the same bleeding disorder that is currently attacking women in New York. Now, as a CDC disease detective, Ryan McGrath is sent to investigate the very malady that destroyed his childhood. Dutifully, he begins tracing the suspicious origin of the illness and tracking the unusual transmission, when suddenly, the city's cluster of cases explodes into a near-global pandemic. While Ryan and his team race to identify the strange, causative pathogen, and contain the seemingly, insurmountable spread, Ryan embarks on a perilous journey-out of state, out of country, and out of self-searching for answers that may be scattered among the stars.