In 2087 the world is governed by two opposing sides, the Mads and the Spareds. Both powerhungry, both ideologically ruthless. Three years prior, the Spareds dropped bombs in the old world and created a cataclysmic reset of humankind referred to in this new world as “The Event”. The Mads retreated underground and The Spareds repopulated and controlled the land above. 

In an irradiated desert wasteland, a witty scrappy outsider, Riley Jacobs, seeks to build a new future for herself in this far more dangerous world. There is one major problem that hinders her search; The Mads and The Spareds are after her for reasons she is not privy to. The Mads gang leader appoints Milo Green to lead the capture of Riley. He is loved and trusted within the underground world but indecisive and not related by blood which makes him a wild card. And rightfully so, it takes only the first encounter with Riley to set him on a different path he is unsure how to navigate. Annoyed Riley feels burdened by Milo’s unwelcomed presence but quickly realizes she can leverage his skills for her own survival. The duo set out to make a go of it both unaware of the other’s ulterior motives. The Mads would soon disown him, however, due to his betrayal and the killing of the gang leader’s son.

Riley, being the go-getter and overachieving leader that she isn’t, gravitates toward situations bigger than herself to prove her worth. She trusts no one including her travel partner, and with a cynical view of her past, suffers from withdrawals of drug use prior to the “Event”. As both sides are in pursuit, Riley’s withdrawals become so bad that she begins to hallucinate in the most inopportune times. Seeing things that Milo cannot. Riley becomes drunk with borderline psychosis leaving Milo in some very precarious situations. It’s up to her to put the pieces back together from her past, but some of those pieces might end up staying jagged and she’ll have to decipher which parts are reality. 

Meanwhlie, The Mads and The Spareds have different motives in her capture. The Mads want her ransom and plan to use her as leverage because of her relation to the Spareds’ Leader, to fight back and gain more control of the new world. Often referred to as the “heroes”, The Spareds set up rescue missions to bring Riley back to their headquarters under a different agenda. 

Before the “Event” Riley was given a tattoo with important information hidden within it that could win them the war and give them ultimate power over the new world. This is mute to Riley who doesn’t remember anything before the Event. Amidst the chaos this brings comic relief to the story as she stays oblivious to her past and constantly looks for approval. What the Mads and the Spareds didn’t expect was the strength and bond Milo and Riley would create and the unlikely tribe of misfit refugees that would latch on and impact the future of the New World. Through the most unlikely of people, there will be a change in motion that both sides won’t be able to prevent.