The story starts with the sudden disappearance of everybody aged 18 or older from the town of Perdido Beach, causing extreme confusion and chaos amongst those remaining in the town. Classmates Sam Temple, Quinn Gaither, Astrid Ellison, and Edilio Escobar discover an impermeable barrier cutting Perdido Beach off from the outside world; the area within the barrier is subsequently nicknamed "Fallout Alley Youth Zone", shortened to "the FAYZ". Unknown to the others, Sam had earlier discovered his superhuman ability to fire light from his hands capable of burning objects when he is afraid; after reading a journal entry by his mother Connie, a nurse at the nearby Coates Academy, Sam begins to suspect a connection to the disappearances and the barrier. While looking for Astrid's severely autistic four-year-old brother "Little" Pete at a nuclear power plant outside of town,
