Cass Dollar is a survivor. She's overcome the meltdown of civilization, humans turned mindless cannibals, and the many evils of man.<P>But from beneath the devastated California landscape emerges a tendril of hope. A mysterious traveler arrives at New Eden with knowledge of a passageway North?a final escape from the increasingly cunning Beaters. Clutching this dream, Cass and many others decamp and follow him into the unknown.<P>Journeying down valleys and over barren hills, Cass remains torn between two men. One?her beloved Smoke?is not so innocent as he once was. The other keeps a primal hold on her that feels like Fate itself. And beneath it all, Cass must confront the worst of what's inside her?dark memories from when she was a Beater herself. But she, and all of the other survivors, will fight to the death for the promise of a new horizon?.