In the years before Asha's birth, the world had gone mad. Fourteen billion people fought for the Earth's last remaining resources. Chaos reigned and pit neighbor against neighbor. Cities were in ruin. No one was safe, and nothing was sacred. The only thing that mattered was survival. Then the Sickness came and overpopulation was no longer the problem. Saving humanity was. Into this dark hour Asha is born, a glimmer of hope for the future. She grows up with her parents and a small clan of survivors in the remote outer reaches of North America. But year after year their numbers dwindle, until Asha is left alone to fend for herself. She is eighteen. The last of her people. Across the globe, a secret sect of the world's brightest minds works desperately to save what is left of mankind. Gabriel, a data analyst at the facility, is willing to do whatever it takes to find the answer, even if it means leaving the compound and risking his own life. He is their last and only chance. But is Gabriel really what he seems? More importantly, is Asha the missing link?