Four hundred years in the future, the Earth has turned primitive following a nuclear fire that has laid waste to civilization and nature. Though the radiation fallout has ended, for some unknowable reason every person is born with a twin. Of each pair, one is physically perfect in every way and the other is burdened with deformity, small or large. With the Council ruling an apartheid-like society, Omegas are branded and ostracized while the Alphas have gathered the world's sparse resources for themselves. Though proclaiming their superiority, the Alphas cannot escape one harsh fact. Whenever one twin dies, so does the other. Cass is an Omega burdened with psychic foresight. While her twin, Zach, gains power on the Alpha Council, she dares to dream of equality. For daring to envision a world in which Alphas and Omegas live side-by-side as equals, both the Council and the Resistance have her in their sights.