The world has entered a breathing space following the ravages of COVID-19. Since medical science conquered the pandemic with a cheap and easily administered vaccine, the world has rebounded swiftly and gratefully into boisterous prosperity.
But now a new and even worse catastrophe has emerged after stalking humanity unsuspected for decades. A new disease, APSS (Acquired Prion Sociopathy Syndrome) has resulted from a mutation in a prize bull imported from Switzerland in 2007.
Zoe and Brian are twenty-something Silicon Valley tech workers. During the early days of the epidemic, before its true impact was suspected, they had gotten tested to take advantage of a two-for-one dinner offer at local eateries for those showing a certificate of testing. To their horror, Brian tests positive. Although Zoe tests negative, the method of spread is still uncertain. As the gravity of the crisis deepens, the government ramps up Infection Control Squads to incarcerate and quarantine the infected.
When a military detachment arrives one morning to sweep their complex for carriers, Zoe and Brian go on the run. Their goal is one of several sanctuaries that rebels have set up in remote areas. After they are attacked, one of the attackers gets them to Destination Hope, the sanctuary.
But something is not safe in sanctuary. Instead, they find a cultish, shadowy research facility funded by the government, conducting experiments on living (and sometimes unwilling) subjects to find a cure faster since they are not hobbled by medical ethics and protocols. Brian and Zoe are now prisoners at Destination Hope—not only of their hosts, but of the unsurvivable Mojave. With Brian confined in the sprawling complex, Zoe pretends to accept the researchers’ goals. Playing for time, she integrates herself into the life and work of the facility.
When Brian refuses to remain at the facility as a human guinea pig, Zoe chooses to leave with him, and they drive off into the magnificent, deadly desert. Did the radical treatment he was subjected to succeed? And will human society survive this latest cataclysm and enter a future worth inhabiting?
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