Two middle-schoolers, Tamaya and Marshall, take a shortcut through a wooded area to avoid a bully and stumble into a strange, glowing mud that harbors a hazardous organism linked to nearby scientific work; when one of them is injured and the contamination begins to spread, their small town is thrust into quarantine and panic, forcing adults and children alike to confront fear, responsibility, and difficult moral choices as the pair struggle to survive, protect others, and uncover how the crisis began.