Sixteen-year-old Annaya Roth is fighting for her life to fit in at yet another new school--and to escape the Dead. Annaya and her mother, Samantha, just moved to the small mountain town of Asherville. The people there are nice enough. They smile and wave--but Annaya knows to not get too close. Samantha is tired of running. She just wants to keep her daughter safe. So, in one last desperate attempt to save Annaya--Samantha moves them to the one place she never wanted to step foot in again.