Ebola

A flu virus surfaces in Mumbai, India, and for several weeks almost nobody worries, since flu arrives every year. This strain is different, though. A portion of those who catch it become enraged, turning violent and destructive. As the illness spreads, the condition, dubbed the Rage, begins to alarm governments worldwide, and everyone agrees it must be stopped.

The president of the United States turns to Mick Delaney, chief executive of the drug maker Immutrends, and asks him to develop a vaccine for the Rage. His research uncovers a far grimmer possibility: the Mumbai Flu will eventually evolve into an Ebola variant, which Mick calls Ebola Air. Spread through the air, it could kill more than 90 percent of those it infects and threaten to wipe out most of humanity.

To prepare for that catastrophe, Mick and his partners, Grant Tracer and Emily Adkins, plan a vast underground refuge in the Montana wilderness. Called the Core, it is designed to shelter up to two hundred people from the pandemic for as long as twenty years. Members will receive a signal when it is time to travel to Montana.

Inside the Core, Mick's team will work to find a vaccine for Ebola Air, while confronting a larger puzzle: how did a flu virus mutate into an Ebola strain in the first place?