With humanity facing a potential extinction event, only North America remains as a refuge for human beings. Even that slender thread is at risk. Cities and towns in the eastern United States are falling, and falling fast, to the hungry zombie hordes. The only barrier protecting the western U.S. is the Father of Waters, the mighty Mississippi River. The American president and vice president are early victims of the living dead. A great many officials and officeholders are dead, "zombified" or missing. The federal government has been decapitated and fractured and the eastern state governments are little better off. Confusion and panic reign. A huge portion of America's military strength is scattered and stranded throughout the crumbling world. The surviving military authorities recall a retired Army major from a small town in Illinois to active duty. Major Devan Sufranski is a recovering alcoholic who lives a quiet life near the Rock Island Arsenal, an active Army facility located on a 946 acre island on the Mississippi River between Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois. Major Sufranski is tasked to take command of the Arsenal garrison. He is expected to prevent zombies from crossing his portion of the Mississippi River while protecting the Arsenal itself at all costs. The protection, rescue and evacuation of civilians east of the river is desirable but secondary. The manufacturing facilities of the Arsenal are crucial to the effort to eliminate the zombie threat. If humans are to survive, much depends upon the Mississippi River. If civilized society is to be reconstituted, much depends upon Major Sufranski and those under his command.