Tanya Gray made a promise to her father on the day the missiles were launched. She promised to survive the unthinkable. Finding refuge inside a high-tech fallout shelter, she, along with hundreds of survivors, tries to cope with unimaginable grief and suffering. Forced to live underground in a sanctuary run by a tyrannical general, Tanya endures death and hardship, but finds love and hope.

Implicated in a plot against the sanctuary's military dictatorship, she and her boyfriend are exiled to die on the surface. Suffering from radiation sickness, they encounter a stranger who offers them a chance to live again--but it will come at a price.