The apocalypse isn't what it used to be. As the number of resources dwindles, survivors are getting more desperate. People are getting more violent. The world is getting darker.

Dragged away from the Magic Kingdom by the same Red Caps that helped Bloom hunt him down, Patrick Deen comes out of his injury delirium somewhere on the North Carolina coast, one thousand miles from Ben. One thousand miles from home.

To get back to Fort Doom, he'll lead a ragtag crew across a cruel and forgotten country. When they meet the charismatic Roman Marwood, they'll join forces to try to make it to the Gulf . . . but it won't be smooth sailing. Lunatic scientists, sadistic pirates, casual-Friday cannibals, and slavering dusters choke the landscape, and even Patrick might not have the wits to navigate that gauntlet.

He used to understand the world. But now that world is broken.