In 2038, only 38 million people are left on earth. Most of them live in small, heavily armed communities, fearful of outsiders who might bring with them the deadly Flu.

Ceej Kane lives with his uncle and his Survivor sister, Harryette, in an abandoned hotel on the rim of the Grand Canyon. His quiet, boring life suddenly becomes a desperate adventure when Uncle and Harryette disappear. Ceej and his only friend, Tim, set out to search for them, but are attacked by the Kinka, a renegade band of half-mad Survivors who deliberately spread the Flu to make more of their own. Worse yet, it appears that Harryette has joined the Kinka!

Forced to flee deep into the canyon, a narrow land of ghosts and ancient secrets, Ceej and Tim meet Bella, a mysterious Hopi girl, the last of her people, who tells them of the Sipapuni, a mystical portal that might be their way out of this Flu-ravaged world.

But first, they must return to the rim in a final, desperate effort to save Uncle and Harryette from the Kinka--if she wants to be saved.