The waterless flood - a man-made plague - has ended the world. But two young women have survived: Ren, a young dancer trapped where she worked, in an upmarket sex club; and Toby, who watches and waits from her rooftop garden. Is anyone else out there.

By the author of The Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace

The sun brightens in the east, reddening the blue-grey haze that marks the distant ocean. The vultures roosting on the hydro poles fan out their wings to dry them. the air smells faintly of burning. The waterless flood - a man-made plague - has ended the world.

But two young women have survived: Ren, a young dancer trapped where she worked, in an upmarket sex club (the cleanest dirty girls in town); and Toby, who watches and waits from her rooftop garden. Is anyone else out there?