Dr. Lou Welcome must stop an epidemic, save his best friend, and uncover a shadowy group known as One Hundred Neighbors that has infiltrated society and is using health institutions as hostages. Attending a national conference in Atlanta with Welcome, Duncan injures his leg while running. Surgeons manage to save the leg, but the open wound is the perfect breeding ground for a deadly microbial invader committed to eating him alive from the inside out. The germ is resistant to any known antibiotic-- and the government scientist tasked with finding a cure has been kidnapped. A shadowy group known as One Hundred Neighbors has infiltrated our society, using our health institutions as hostages... and will stop at nothing to further their agenda.