Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long lived a sheltered life in the city of Vale, raised by their grieving father and their supportive uncle. After the tragic deaths of their mothers, the two girls were homeschooled, their knowledge of the outside world limited to what they read in books or saw on TV. Their uncle warned them that leaving the city was too dangerous, though he never explained why.
One fateful night, their uncle rushed out for a work emergency, leaving them alone with their father. In his haste, he accidentally dropped a vile of a strange, black liquid. When their father later cut his hand on the broken glass, he became infected.
Over the next few hours, he was rapidly transformed into an undead monster, driven by an insatiable hunger to kill. The two girls fled, forced out of the only home they had ever known. But during their escape, their father attacked Ruby, infecting her as well.
Now, with a map to their uncle's last known location, the sisters must navigate the perilous world beyond the city walls. Ruby, despite being infected, shows no signs of turning. The bite on her shoulder bleeds black, and she shows some symptoms of the change, but she retains her humanity. She must hide her condition, knowing that anyone who sees her will try to kill her.
Separated from Yang during their escape, Ruby begins a journey to find her sister and a cure for herself and humanity. Along the way, she'll make new allies and face impossible choices in a world that wants her dead. Can she survive long enough to find the answers she's looking for?
~SET IN THE MODERN WORLD~
"I see someone has a specific taste in significant others," Yang said.
"And what do you mean by that?" Blake asked.
"What I mean by that is," Yang got close to Blake that their noses and foreheads were touching, "you like people with a fiery soul. And you're in luck, Blakey."
Meeting on the first day of Beacon, Blake and Yang met on the bus heading to school, which was awkward itself. After trying to start up a conversation with Blake, Yang finds out there was no way she could reach out to her without mentioning a book of some sort. Finally getting her to break out of her shell, Yang develops feelings for Blake. When Yang thought everything was going well for her, she finds out Blake was already in a relationship. Torn by grief, Yang does the only thing she knows how to do: be a guardian for Blake, until feelings come to Yang.