“The outside.”

From Lex Thomas’ Quarantine: The Saints.

A terrible virus has infected all the students of McKinley High, making the students deadly carriers to adults, so the school was placed under a military-controlled quarantine. Once the teens finish going through puberty, the disease kills them within minutes, so the military has set up a “graduation” door to outdoor quarantining for the older students. For 18 months, brothers David and Will have managed to stay together and alive from the other killer, powerful cliques by hiding out and eventually creating a strength-in-numbers group of outcasts called the Loners. When David ages out of the school, Will is stuck alone in the school with friend and fellow Loner Lucy, when a new group known as the Saints arrives they seem to act as a peaceful bridge for all the regularly-warring student groups. The dwindling number of Loners removes the group’s safety, so Will and Lucy disband the group as the members all join other more safe groups. However, the new peace quickly crumbles through the school, and the student body is placed in more danger than before, which leaves Will fighting to stay alive long enough to graduate.

The second book in the series easily builds a world that is grittier, deadlier, and more intense.  Thomas draws readers in from the first page and the thrilling story doesn’t let up until the very end.  The violent content of the story will make it difficult for some readers to engage with as it shows the rapid downward spiral of the students from civilized society to Lord of the Flies-like carnage and dysfunction, but The Saints provides the perfect fix for fans of edge-of-your-seat post-apocalyptic thrillers.