Bobby’s whole life has been about surviving in the aftermath of the First War. The Folks taught him about the Creepers. Ol’ Randy taught him how to kill them, how to hide from them, and how to protect himself from their bite. But Ol’ Randy never told Bobby the truth of his existence. After sneaking beyond the Settlement’s razor wire fence Bobby, and his brother Ryan, are bitten. Life as he knows it should be over, he should be dead, he should be a Creeper, a rotting member of the undead, and so should his brother.

But they’re not. When their blood is tested the boys’ secrets are revealed and their world comes crashing down around them.

With Ol’ Randy’s help, Bobby escapes. Alone and in enemy territory Bobby must come to grips with what he is, with what Ol’ Randy has kept from him all these years. He’s a child of science, a beacon of hope in dark times. Bobby struggles through the ruined Colorado landscape, but before he can move on he must settle his past and save the only father figure he has ever known. To do that he’ll need an army and the world is rife with not so fresh recruits.