The novel tells the story of Ember Miller and Chase Jennings, two teenagers who are on the run from the government in a post-War dystopian America.

The inciting incident is when Ember and her mother are taken away for noncompliance with Article 5, which pertains to children conceived out of wedlock.

While they are upstairs, the farmer secretly calls the FBR to turn in Chase, who is now an AWOL soldier and Ember, a runaway.

Later in the plot, they come across people and hear that there is a carrier and a whole underground system in Knoxville who will take them to a safe house, so the two start towards their home town.

As they advance, a large group of people seem to turn into a pack of wolves when they see abandoned supplies and food and go after it.

Ember wakes up later to hear Chase and the Resistance talking about recruiting when the topic of what happens to Article 5 breaking victims.

At the Knoxville detention center, Ember meets Tucker Morris who promises freedom in exchange for information on Chase's location.

Ember is asked to enter Tucker's office where she is molested in exchange for information on Rebecca Lansing.

Chase and Ember then meet Sean beside a trash bin on the outskirt of the facility where they drive back to the Knoxville resistance headquarters.

The inspiration for Article 5 came to Kristen Simmons after she saw people protesting against the release of a children's book.