The sliding-door of the railway truck closed with a deafening clang.

So begins Alice's journey. But where's she going? The men who come to her house to take Alice and her grandparents away in the middle of the night will only say that they are being taken "to the east." At first Alice is excited - at last she she will be allowed to play outside after being confined to the basement for so long, and maybe she will be reunited with her parents. But the train ride isn't all what Alice expects. There are no seats or lavatories - only a dark, airless cattle car crammed with people. And as Alice gets to know her fellow passengers, her eyes are opened to the facts of life, the horrors of death, and the terrifying truth about her final destination.