An unstoppable event threatens the world's population by attacking the most basic human instinct of all: survival. Elliot Moore is an ordinary man who is trying to save his family from a terrifying, invisible killer. As Elliot discovers the incredible possibility of what is happening, it becomes very clear that no one is safe.

Ray Ferrier is a working class man living in New Jersey. He has become estranged from his family and his life isn't in order. His small town life is shaken violently by the arrival of destructive intruders: Aliens which have come up from the ground, en masse, to destroy Earth and all the humans living on it. As the aliens plow through the country in a wave of mass destruction and violence, Ray must put aside thoughts of himself and come to the defense...

When a plane carrying Charlie Halliday and a sick, Inuit woman, Kanaalay, crashes hundreds of miles from civilization, they are at the mercy of nature's worst. While search parties try to locate the place, Charlie decides to trek overland promising the woman he will return with help. Despite her sickness, she follows Charlie. Kanaalay teaches him the skills he will need in order to survive and he comes to respect her wisdom and her spirit.