EPILOGUE: THE WORLD BEFORE – Kim Hilts recalls being nine-years-old when, over breakfast with her parents and 16-year-old sister Allie before school, news broke of a devastating fire at nearby Arcon Pharmaceutical, a human gene engineering lab.
Chapter One – Allie – Allie Hilts wakes up to news of a sex video posted online featuring her best friend Brit that was leaked by Brit’s boyfriend Damon.
Chapter Two – Allie – At school, Allie is shocked at how easily Brit forgives Damon for the video. Allie notices that her own boyfriend Jared feels as though he has an intense fever. As the school day progresses, Allie observes boys behaving more athletically and aggressively. When Jared bizarrely confronts Allie about having sex, Allie again notices the heat from his skin and takes him to the nurse, where fifteen boys with bulging veins and oozing bloody pus are already waiting. The nurse warns Allie that paramedics have not yet responded to whatever outbreak appears to be affecting male students and suggests Allie should go home.
Chapter Three – Allie – Allie assaults an emo girl who calls her a slut for being friends with Brit. Sent to the office, Allie sees Principal Sabian is distracted by a television news report about the Arcon chemical fire. Panic suddenly sweeps the school. Allie is horrified to witness teachers Mr. Roundy and Mr. Barks savagely attacking and mutilating the principal while consumed by animalistic rage.
Chapter Four – Allie – Allie escapes the school as feral men and boys begin savagely chasing and slaughtering women and girls. Allie makes it home to find her father viciously beating her mother to death. Allie is forced to shoot her father to rescue her younger sister Kim.
THE WORLD NOW – Kim briefly recalls the three-year period between the Arcon outbreak and the present day.
Chapter Five – Allie hunts and kills three ferals, draining their blood to use for masking her skin’s scent before sheltering in an abandoned Target store.
Chapter Six – While hunting again, Allie is disturbed to discover ferals are now roaming in larger packs.
Chapter Seven – Allie captures a feral and narrowly escapes a pursuing pack before returning to West Staten, a fortified farmhouse housing female survivors.
Chapter Eight – Dr. Zeman – Former Arcon scientist Dr. Zeman briefly recalls how Allie became a scout at West Staten before reflecting on her current research into developing a serum that might reverse the feral virus. Allie delivers the newly captured feral to Dr. Zeman as a test subject and Doc names it Jacob Roman.
Chapter Nine – Allie watches Kim act in a gender-swapped production of “Sleeping Beauty” alongside other children at the compound. At the celebratory reception afterward, Allie upsets her younger sister by suggesting Kim should spend more time on survival training instead.
Chapter Ten – Allie takes over guard tower duty from Kayla and observes a cunning feral she nicknamed ‘Scarface’ organizing a large group of ferals. Allie has an awkward conversation with her roommate and girlfriend Holly that causes Holly to become concerned about Allie’s diminishing empathy.
Chapter Eleven – Kim – Kim reflects on how her sister Allie continually lives in the present, remaining predominantly focused on survival preparedness.
Chapter Twelve – Allie tries ignoring Holly while going about her daily routine. Allie is also openly critical of her sister’s poor shooting ability during target practice.
Chapter Thirteen – Dr. Zeman – Dr. Zeman reflects on Scarface’s unique feral characteristics while examining her other test subjects. Doc then unsuccessfully tries persuading Allie that Kim should remain in the theater troupe. Doc next recalls her husband Rich, a fellow Arcon researcher, whom she killed at his direction when he became the first person infected. She also recalls being rescued by Jacky Barnes, West Staten’s head of security, and being on the phone with her 13-year-old son when he turned feral.
Chapter Fourteen – Jacky – Allie interrupts Jacky while Jacky is with her girlfriend Emma in the armory to debrief them about her recent run. Jacky becomes concerned when Allie mentions observing new ferals amassing nearby and moving in organized patterns. Jacky radios her ex-girlfriend Naomi at Huguenot station and verifies that they too have observed an uptick in new feral activity.
Chapter Fifteen – While on a scouting and supply run, Allie observes a pack of seven unfamiliar ferals chasing down a sick horse. Allie hides in a gas station and comes face to face with Scarface, who knocks Allie unconscious.
Chapter Sixteen – Allie wakes to find herself being dragged by Scarface and several other ferals. Someone with a machete saves Allie by killing the ferals and sending Scarface fleeing into the woods, but Allie does not see who it is. Allie recovers and makes her way back to West Staten.
Chapter Seventeen – Dr. Zeman – While having her wounds stitched, Allie discusses the worrisome new feral behavior with Jacky and Doc.
Chapter Eighteen – Allie – Allie tells Holly about the mystery savior she refers to as ‘Machete Girl.’ Holly tells Allie how she survived the initial outbreak. Allie makes Holly promise to take care of Kim if anything happens to her. Holly and Allie begin kissing, but Allie has a haunting flashback to her high school boyfriend and abruptly pulls away.
Chapter Nineteen – Allie returns to the feral attack site and finds a note left for her by Machete Girl. Allie leaves her own note arranging a meeting with Machete Girl the next day.
Chapter Twenty – Allie – Heartbroken, Holly moves out of Allie’s room. Kim asks Allie about Machete Girl.
Chapter Twenty-One – Machete Girl doesn’t show up to Allie’s meeting. When a pack of 15 new ferals approaches, Allie hides and finds a map left by Machete Girl directing her to a new meeting spot.
Chapter Twenty-Two – Allie travels to a nearby town and meets Machete Girl, who turns out to be a bearded man in his twenties named Sam. Astonished at finding a male seemingly immune to the virus, Allie insists that Sam return with her to West Staten. Sam vehemently refuses and the two of them violently fight until a nearby noise stops them. After the distraction, Sam vanishes.
Chapter Twenty-Three – Allie – Allie wonders to herself who Sam is and how they might be able to come to trust one another.
Chapter Twenty-Four – Because Sam threatened to disappear forever if she told anyone about him, Allie decides to keep Sam’s existence secret when she returns to West Staten, leading to a tense confrontation with Jacky. Jacky also mentions that she continues to be unable to contact any of the other camps.
Chapter Twenty-Five – Allie goes back to where she met Sam, coaxes him out of hiding, and captures him in a trap. Sam tells Allie how he was previously an imprisoned test subject at another camp until it was overrun by ferals in a coordinated attack. Sam warns that the ferals are now organizing an attack on West Staten, and Allie needs to let him go so he can show her what is really going on.
Chapter Twenty-Six – Allie frees Sam. Sam takes Allie on the road in his ATV. During the journey, they each notice they are attracted to one another.
Chapter Twenty-Seven – Sam takes Allie to a ruined camp and shows Allie a map. Sam explains that ferals have been migrating en masse from the south, possibly looking for cooler climates to compensate for their elevated body temperatures, while destroying camps along a line. Sam warns that Huguenot just fell and West Staten is next. Sam insists that Allie needs to let him go so he can find a safe camp in the south. He also suggests that Allie should leave West Staten before it is overrun by hundreds of ferals. Allie explains that she has to protect her sister and cannot flee West Staten alone. With darkness falling, Allie and Sam take shelter for the night.
Chapter Twenty-Eight – Allie – Allie and Sam spend the evening getting to know each other and growing closer.
Chapter Twenty-Nine – In the morning, Allie and Sam return to their meeting spot and regretfully say goodbye to go their separate ways.
Chapter Thirty – Allie returns to camp and, without mentioning Sam, convinces Jacky that everyone must evacuate. Jacky adds that Dr. Zeman’s latest feral vaccine appears to be working.
Chapter Thirty-One – Jacky – Jacky stresses over whether fortifying the camp or fleeing is the best course of action.
Chapter Thirty-Two – Allie – Holly extends an offer of reconciliation. Dr. Zeman notices that Allie’s aura appears more alive. Doc confirms that Jacob Roman is responding well to her new serum.
Chapter Thirty-Three – Allie – Allie contemplates how best to save the women in the camp while on guard duty. Allie has a tense conversation with Kim about learning to scout for herself. Allie observes Scarface pacing around the fence perimeter in a calculating manner.
Chapter Thirty-Four – While scouting, Allie observes 50 new ferals assembling in a pack. Allie has a surprise encounter with Sam and realizes that he stayed behind to watch over her from a distance. Sam takes Allie to a college sports stadium and the two of them play lacrosse.
Chapter Thirty-Five – Allie – Allie and Sam grow closer during their all-day stadium “date.”
Chapter Thirty-Six – Allie – While walking back to the library Sam uses as his hideout, the couple realizes they are being tracked. Allie disrobes, Sam cuts himself deeply, and they smear Sam’s blood all over Allie’s naked body to mask her scent from the ferals. Allie uses crazy glue to close Sam’s wound once they make it safely to the library. A kiss while cleaning off the blood leads to Allie and Sam having sex.
Chapter Thirty-Seven – On her way back to camp after leaving Sam, Allie is shocked to see Scarface calling off a pack of ferals preparing to attack her. Allie returns to camp to find that Dallas and Leslie, the only two survivors from Hubbard base, have arrived to confirm the feral attacks on other camps and the impending danger for West Staten. Dallas reveals that a third survivor, an uninfected male, also escaped and they have been tracking him ever since. Dr. Zeman stresses that finding this man is the key to survival, as her latest vaccine ultimately killed Jacob Roman.
Chapter Thirty-Eight – Allie – Allie races back to Sam to warn him that the women are actively searching for him. Sam refuses to flee south because he is unwilling to leave Allie. Allie sees Jacky, Emma, and four other women approaching outside.
Chapter Thirty-Nine – Allie exits the library and throws Jacky off of Sam’s trail. Allie joins the group on a scouting mission to find a boat that might be able to transport everyone at West Staten. However, they conclude that too many ferals gathered in the harbor would make it a suicide mission.
Chapter Forty – Allie – Being overprotective as usual, Allie expresses her extreme disapproval of Kim’s insistence on joining the camp’s search party.
Chapter Forty-One – Kim – While searching her sister’s things, Kim finds the map and note that Sam left for Allie and realizes Allie has been meeting someone outside of the camp. Kim decides to turn everything over to the other women.
Chapter Forty-Two – Allie realizes that Sam’s notes were discovered when she finds her bag ransacked. Emma locks Allie in her room. Allie recovers her backup weapons, escapes, and knocks Emma unconscious. Allie confronts Holly, who tells Allie that Jacky is already on her way to find Sam using the map. Allie hurriedly races to the library.
Chapter Forty-Three – Jacky’s team raids the library, but finds it empty. A feral attack knocks Allie from her bike and she is gravely injured by her own machete when she falls. Allie fights off and kills two attacking ferals. Allie collapses from blood loss while making her way on foot to Sam. Sam finds Allie and rescues her.
Chapter Forty-Four – Sam brings Allie back to West Staten.
Chapter Forty-Five – Allie wakes after several days of unconsciousness to find Sam being held captive. The women argue over whether they should hold Sam for testing or send him to the harbor to retrieve a rescue boat. The debate causes Allie to rage, forcing Jacky’s security team to forcibly restrain Allie as well as Kim. The commotion is interrupted by the sound of a warning siren.
Chapter Forty-Six – An army of ferals assembles around the camp perimeter. Jacky begins firing on them with a rifle.
Chapter Forty-Seven – Allie – Doc stitches up Allie’s wounds for the battle ahead.
Chapter Forty-Eight – Kim takes the muzzle off Sam, who then advises her on preparing for the feral attack. Before leaving him still tied up alone in the room, Kim asks Sam if he loves her sister. Sam says yes, but promises to never take Allie away from Kim.
Chapter Forty-Nine – As the feral assault continues, Jacky realizes that Scarface is intentionally directing suicide packs to take out the perimeter’s landmines in order to clear a path to the main farmhouse.
Chapter Fifty – Allie and Doc hear the ferals breach the building. Doc locks herself in her lab while Allie goes to find Sam and Kim.
Chapter Fifty-One – With ferals overrunning the farmhouse and killing the women, Doc finally frees Sam from his restraints. However, Sam sees that Doc suffered a fatal torso wound from a feral attack. Before dying, Doc tells Sam that ferals captured Allie and took her away.
Chapter Fifty-Two – Sam finds Kim, who tells Sam that the ferals took several women in addition to Allie. Sam instructs the remaining women to arm up. He then heads to the harbor, which is where he believes the ferals took the others.
Chapter Fifty-Three – Dragging a sack, Sam infiltrates the hive at the harbor and heads toward a cargo ship where he hears women screaming.
Chapter Fifty-Four – Sam discovers breeding rooms full of captive women, some raped and brutalized for months, who have been forcibly impregnated by ferals. Attempting a rescue, Sam mistakenly turns over a gun and two of the women use it to commit suicide. Sam recovers the weapon and recruits a woman named Marjorie to lead the women to safety. Sam then finds Scarface preparing to rape Jacky in another room while ferals hold back the other West Staten women. Sam takes an Uzi from his bag and mows down all of the ferals except Scarface. Scarface moves to attack Sam, but Jacky kills him from behind by thrusting a rusted pipe through Scarface’s chest. While Jacky and the other women are dispatched to clear the boat of ferals, Sam produces a truck battery from his bag and goes with Allie and Holly to start the cargo ship’s engine.
Chapter Fifty-Five – While Jacky and Marjorie rally the abducted women to fight ferals, Sam, Holly, and Allie make it to the bridge and connect the battery. Holly eventually gets the engine started and successfully breaks the moorings to get the boat moving.
Chapter Fifty-Six – Kim and Emma arrive with the remaining West Staten women in two armored trucks at Bayview Bridge, where they wait to rendezvous with the ship. The ship arrives. Kim leads a firefight against ferals attacking on both sides of the bridge while women are lowered onto the ship via winches. Allie goes up to the bridge to make a stand with her sister while the other women are continually lowered to safety.
Chapter Fifty-Seven – Allie – Sam comes up to the bridge to rescue Allie and Kim while Jacky comes up to find Emma. Against Allie’s vehement protests, Sam forces the sisters to go down together on a winch while he risks his own life to fight ferals in their place.
Chapter Fifty-Eight – Jacky discovers Emma is already dead. Overrun by ferals as the last two women make it down to the boat, Sam and Jacky cut the cables to prevent ferals from descending on the ship. Out of ammo, Sam and Jacky prepare for a final stand with their machetes as they are swarmed by ferals.
Chapter Fifty-Nine – Allie – Heartbroken, Allie realizes Sam is gone. Holly turns the boat around and leaves the bridge.
PROLOGUE: THE WORLD TO COME – Kim reflects on Allie’s difficulty getting over Sam in the aftermath of escaping West Staten. With the ferals migrating north, the surviving women continued south until they found a deserted mansion that they could convert into a fortified camp.
Chapter Sixty – Kim – With Allie pregnant, Kim takes over survival training duties. Allie helps Kim with set construction for a new play. Holly uses textbooks to assume medical duties. Using an ultrasound machine previously recovered by Allie, two of the pregnant abductees are discovered to be carrying feral boys and opt for abortions. A third woman elects to keep her unborn daughter. Holly discovers Allie is pregnant with a son. Because Sam was immune, Allie, Kim, and Holly are optimistic that Allie’s child might be a sign that humanity could continue.
Chapter Sixty-One – Allie – While the other women celebrate Allie’s news, Allie privately decides to name her child Sam.
How someone who sees this in a theater or without a notepad can keep everyone and their relationships straight, I have no idea.