In the year 2140, it is illegal to be young. Children are all but extinct. The world is a better place. Longevity drugs are a fountain of youth. Sign the Declaration, agree not to have children and you too can live forever. Refuse, and you will live as an outcast. For the children born outside the law, it only gets worse – Surplus status. Not everyone thinks Longevity is a good thing, but you better be clear what side you’re on... Surplus Anna is about to find out what happens when you can’t decide if you should cheat the law or cheat death.

The year is 2140. Having escaped the horrors of Grange Hall, Peter and Anna are living freely on the Outside, trying hard to lead normal lives, but unable to leave the terror of the Declaration―and their experiences as surpluses―completely behind them. Peter is determined to infiltrate Pharma Corporation, which claims to have a new drug in the works; "Longevity+" will not just stop the ravages of old age, it is rumored to reverse the aging process. But what Peter and Anna discover behind the walls of Pharma is so nightmarish it makes the prison of their childhood seem like a for in order to supply Pharma with the building blocks for Longevity+, scientists will need to harvest it from the young. Shocking, controversial, and frighteningly topical, this sequel to Gemma Malley's stellar debut novel, The Declaration, will take the conversation about ethics and science to the next level.

When a Pincent Pharma lorry is ambushed by underground activists, its contents come as a huge surprise - not drugs, but decomposing corpses. It appears Longevity isn't working and the drugs promising eternal youth are failing. A virus is sweeping the country, killing in its wake, and Longevity is powerless to fight it.