In the year 2040, politicians no longer receive paychecks but are awarded perks and possessions based on performance. So when Jessie, her brother Alex, and their friends Sam and Hannah are kidnapped-and their abductors don't get the ransom they want-the teens are forced to work together, using their special "Gifts" to stay alive.

The four teens find themselves in an unfamiliar wilderness-which they fear is the dreaded Radiation Zone-as unsettled debts emerge from their past to haunt them. While they battle inner demons, the teens struggle to decide whom to trust as they race against the clock to survive.