A rapid acting rabies virus spreads through Massachusetts. Infected people succumb to the mental incapacitation of the disease within an hour of being bitten and violently attack others. The uninfected battle a modern-day zombie apocalypse.

Rather than telling a broad story, the author chooses to focus on two characters.

Happily married Natalie is eight months pregnant when she and her husband are attacked. Only Natalie survives, but her arm is bitten. Panicked for both her own survival and her baby’s, she calls her friend, Dr. Ramola “Rams” Sherman, a pediatrician who is headed to a hospital to battle the epidemic.

Thanks to Rams’ intervention, Natalie receives a vaccine, but no one knows if it’s too late or even if it’s effective against this strain. When the hospital becomes overrun by infected, Rams and Natalie race to find safety for Natalie’s unborn baby, but they must battle the disease, other infected, vigilantes, and a government desperate to control a deteriorating situation.