Surviving in the Wastelands is no easy task for 18-year-old Malcolm and his family. The elements of the desert combined with facing the plague and the oppressive Homelands government makes getting by a daily challenge. Water is scarce and the plague is rampaging, and when Mal is pinned between a rock and a hard place, he is forced to go on a daring re-con mission with a stranger to not only save his captured younger brother, but to find out what the government plans to do with people like him in the quickly approaching future.

The fate of the Strays rests entirely on Mals shoulders as he progressively becomes more desperate to not only save himself, but his family and people too. Forced to choose between doing what's best for the entire nation or to stand for what's right with those he loves, Mal ultimately must choose between saving the world or saving his friends and family.