Set in 2040, in this stand-alone sequel to Who Shall Live, Azura only wants to save her daughter, Noam, from the virus. After escaping the dying forest, she and Noam are captured and quarantined in The Pure House, a palace where they impregnate the few uninfected women. With the help of a handsome rebel, Vic, she and her daughter run off to Spreaders Island, ruled by a group trying to breed a pure red heifer as commanded in the Bible in Numbers 19. Their mangled attempts to produce a magical potion from the heifer's remains attract a wild assortment of escapees from the mainland and, unknown to the others, an underground colony of snakes. Each tries to steal the concoction until it is hidden and lost. Azura, Noam, and Vic return to the mainland with the last known sample of the concoction. The danger is great. They flee with the authorities close on their heels. Will the sample cure the virus? Will the three find a sanctuary in a world as twisted as a maze? And who has the remaining concoction?