John Madoc has only ever known two things: the world is desolate, and the draft is inevitable. After an anomaly known as The Truth wiped out most of the U.S. population, Manhattan was sealed off by a force field generated from the Freedom Tower. To protect the last survivors, every eighteen-year-old boy is drafted to serve as the last line of defense should the Barrier ever fall.

John has never trusted the draft - not since his father's presumed death. When he turns eighteen, he's sent to a facility at the edge of the city, where he's forced to endure training under a ruthless military regime. There, survival depends on obedience. And obedience means following orders - no matter what. But when John and his best friend, Ethan, are separated from their unit during a routine supply run, they stumble upon a discovery that fractures everything they've been told about the war, the Barrier, and the outside world. And at the center of it all may be the key to finding out what really happened to John's father.

As John begins to unravel the truth about his father and the lies holding the draft together, he's faced with an impossible choice: fight the war he's been destined for or risk everything to break free.