Allison Sekemoto is a jaded individual. How could she not be? She lives on the outskirts of a ruined city in a post-apocalyptic dystopian society ruled by vampires and ravaged by monsters akin to the undead known as zombies. Within the stone walls of her city, humans are treated as cattle...or food. And human food is hard to come by. So when Allie finds a treasure trove of canned food in a shed outside the Wall, her survival instincts kick in and she convinces her friends to risk the dangers of the ruins to haul in the stash.
Yet things go awry when a storm blocks out the sun and the Rabids---vampires gone wrong---attack the raiding party comes to a bloody end. Two of her friends are lost and Allie and Stick run for their lives. Rat goes down first. It wouldn't be much of a loss to Allie---no love lost between them---except that nobody deserves to die by being ripped to shreds---while they were still alive. Yet when Lucas taken, she feels his loss like a whole ripped through her chest and each of his screams both weakens and strengthens her resolve. But it doesn't matter how fast she runs or how hard she fights. The Rabids get her in the end. And as she lay dying, her life force flowing into the dirt from her shredded flesh, Allie finds herself at the mercy of a mysterious stranger. A master vampire, in fact. He tells her his name is Kanin. And he offers her a choice. He can either help her die a swift and final death, or he can gift her with new life...as a vampire.
Now, in order to survive, Allie must become the thing she hates and fears the most. Just as Kanin is draining the last drop of life from her veins, her only coherent thought is "What have I done?"
As Allie begins her new undead life, she has trouble letting go of her human life. And despite Kanin's teachings, warnings and advice, she is bound and determined to hold tight to her humanity. So when she discovers that Stick is still alive, Allie can't resist seeking him out to see how he is---and meeting an evasive, creepy vampire along the way. But her meeting with Stick doesn't go as planned and her trust in him is ill-founded. She soon finds herself at the mercy of the stranger seeking revenge on Kanin and his bloodline, running from the Prince's guard, parting ways with Kanin and killing her first two humans all in one fell swoop.
It's a bit of luck---both good and bad---when she stumbles across a wandering band of humans seeking the illusive all-human colony of Eden. To start, their leader, Jeb, is not exactly Allie's biggest fan---to say the least. And the feeling is mutual. His son, however, is nothing at all like the cold, hard leader of their group. Zeke is warm and insightful. He's friendly and thoughtful. And the biggest difference of all is that he likes Allie.
But it's not exactly easy to be a vampire amidst a bunch of living, breathing, tempting humans all the time, what with her blood lust making her hyper-aware of the blood pulsing right beneath their skin. And with the ever watchful and ever jealous Ruth tracking her every move, Allie finds it harder and harder to make it through each day without feeding, but somehow she manages.
As annoying as being a vampire might be, Allie finds her extra senses do have their uses. Like detecting a wild boar who had been bitten by a Rabid and killing it before it before it could kill her, Zeke or Darren. And in doing so, she inadvertently saves a man's life.
Ironically, it was also this man that brings about her ruin with her newfound friends. As her bloodlust gets the better of her, forcing her to feed, she chooses to do so from a stranger instead of those she now considers her people. Even the ones she doesn't like, like Ruth or Jeb. And especially on the ones she does have feelings for. Like Zeke. However, draining the man's blood weakens him to the point where whatever strength he has is gone and he could no longer fight the disease making him a monster. He becomes a Rabid. And as Allie professes her apologies to the blood thirsty shell of the man he once was, who should come upon her but Ruth. And Zeke.
Allison is driven off, but not killed. The feelings she has for Zeke---the feelings Zeke has for her---are too strong and he can't do it. He lets her go. But not before vowing to kill her if he ever sees her again.
At first, Allie thinks that's it. Fine. Let the humans fend for themselves. Still, is wasn't just Rabids and vampires that are after them. A violent gang of bikers---Raiders---are on the human's trail as well and it isn't the first time Allie has encountered their kind. Nor will it be the last. But the nomads are humans and want nothing to do with her, so she does what any self-respecting vampire does when the blood bags are in trouble.
She follows them.
And it is a good thing she does, too. The bikers attack, taking everyone but Zeke in their vans, leaving the unlucky few dead in their wake. Allie gets there just in time to save Zeke, but she can't save the others. Instead, she promises Zeke she'll help him find them and thus, a tentative friendship is formed.
The two follow the bikers to Old Chicago which now exists submerged in icy water. It would be difficult to handle for a human even if they weren't injured as Zeke is. However, he is determined she not go alone.
They follow the trail to an arena where Darren is sacrificed as entertainment in an effort to get Jeb to cooperate. A master vampire named Jackel believes Jeb is the key to finding a cure for rabidism---the mutation unintentionally caused when a human and a vampire attempted to find a cure. Jeb's grandfather was the human. Kanin was the vampire.
With effort, Allie and Zeke manage to free the others from their water logged cages and Allie sends Zeke on ahead while she searches for Jeb. She finds him at the top of Jackel's vampire tower where she comes face to face with her blood brother. It seems she and Jackel were sired by the same master vampire. She is no match for Jackel, however, and is spared only when Jeb hurls himself at her adversary---while thinking of Zeke, she's sure---and the grappling duo plunge to the ground twenty stories below.
Jackel's tower is not a total loss, however. Circled on a map on the wall is the location of Eden. And it's not very far away. They commandeer a van and get everyone left alive as close as they can. But just as they're nearing the compound of Eden, they're attacked by Rabids. Then saved by a military-like force. They have found their home at last.
But Eden is for humans only and Allison Sekemoto is anything but. She is forced to leave her new friends, which of course, is all right by her.
Kanin is trapped and being tortured by Sarren, the creepy vampire that attacked Allie in the city. Allison doesn't know how, but she knows it's her duty to save him. And Jackel is not as dead as she thought.
Back to New Covington she goes.
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