Ron Morgan has come to the city for a holiday but his money and his ID card are stolen, and when the city gates close on Labor Day, locking everyone out until next July, Ron is locked in. He learns the hard way that there are year-round residents of the city after all -- gangs that make their own laws and fight to the death for power and the little bit of money and food they can get hold of for survival.
Ron must join a gang for his own survival, but when he falls in love his determination to get out includes and even stronger determination to take Sylvia with him.
But before he has a chance to try, gang warfare erupts again into death and destruction, and new alliances must be made, taking Ron and Sylvia in separate directions.
This tough, compelling story of the future takes place under Manhattan Dome -- a gray steel framework like a giant spiderweb far above the city, almost lost in the haze of smog that hangs above the streets.