There is dust on the horizon and dust in the fields. The sky is a burned out shade of white and cicadas haunt the trees and rooftops. It is late September, and Lucy Ashwood has just finished the last unremarkable day of her life. By morning, Lucy finds herself surrounded by the corpses of two men from the MontVida Corporation and one sheriff's deputy. They came to serve notice of genetic patent violations, and to evict the Ashwoods. When the Ashwoods push back, the result is an accidental bloodbath. Unsure where to turn, the Ashwoods seek the help of criminal collective known as the Aggregate. The Aggregate say they will help the Ashwoods...for a price.

Subject to waking nightmares and crippling guilt, Lucy goes on the run. As her visions grow ever more vivid, Lucy begins to suspect there is more to what happened at her home than simply murder. Something malevolent has sprung from the very soil beneath Lucy's feet. It speaks through her pig, Wilbur, through the drone of the cicadas, and through the hot dry wind. When it finally gains a foothold it will force its way through the veil between worlds, Lucy and the rest of humanity be damned.