"I was sixteen years old when the world came to an end. Instead of a breathtaking display of explosions and clouds shaped like grey mushrooms, it came in the form of a virus, something vulgar and vile, something one human being should never do to another. The virus was deadly. It leached into the skin, invisible and probing, and it took people down very quickly. They'd start with a sniffle and end with a gasp, and then pretty soon there'd be one less of us left on the planet." The world outside Ember Paine's window has gone mad. After a horrific virus wiped out the majority of the population, terrorists march door-to-door hunting down the survivors. When Ember's ten-year-old sister is kidnapped from their yard, she must leave the safety of her home, setting in motion a series of events that will bring her to the brink of tragedy. She has to find Elizabeth before the bad men discover her gift. If she doesn't, it could mean the end for all of them.