The human race hangs by a thread the thickness of a single gene: RC-714. The gene, which unlocks the millennia of genetic traits stored in junk DNA, gives crops the ability to rapidly evolve and thrive in any environment. But RC-714 is passed on when consumed. Any creature - mammal, reptile, fish or insect - that eats the genetically modified crops becomes a slave to the Change. Bodies morph into unrecognizable abominations. Intellect takes a back seat to ravenous hunger. And all the world's species eat each other toward extinction. Racing against this impending outcome, Peter Crane and his family attempt to reach a laboratory in Boston, where a slim hope of saving the human race from extinction exists. but before heading northeast, they must visit the swamps of South Carolina's Hellhole bay to find a scientist who can help undo the damage done by ExoGen, the corporation that created and unleashed RC-714.