In a zombie-infested California, a woman must face a deadly cult to help a friend in need in this dystopian sequel to Aftertime.
Civilization has fallen, leaving California an unforgiving, decimated place. Cass Dollar beat terrible odds to get her missing daughter back. Yet as the first winter approaches, Ruthie retreats into silence. Flesh-eating Beaters still dominate the land. And Smoke, Cass's lover and strength, departs on a quest for vengeance that can end only in disaster.
Now the leader of the survivalist community where Cass has planted roots needs her help. Dor wants to recover his own lost daughter, taken by the Rebuilders. Soon Cass finds herself thrust into the dark heart of an organization promising humanity's rebirth—at all costs.
Bound to two men blazing divergent paths across a savage land, Cass must overcome the darkness in her wounded heart, or lose those she loves forever.