Following the Third World War (which results from a failed assassination of JFK) and a nuclear war, the surface of the world becomes essentially uninhabitable by living creatures. It's a wasteland that only few choose to survive in. Those who refuse to live on the surface have created underground homes that replicate what life used to be on the surface--with neighborhoods, cities, and people.

The government pursues things such as genetic engineering and creates dogs who can sniff out people and also speak telepathically with their owners. This allowed them to win wars.

Vic, and his genetically modified dog, Blood have a deal together. Blood is unable to find and forage for food so he trades his ability to locate girls for Vic to find him food. Vic is a teenage boy who mainly hunts for sex, which is rarely consensual. There are not many women on the upper levels of the Earth because during the war, women stayed in the cities while the men fought. The cities were the victims of bombings.

Vic's pact with Blood wavers slightly as Vic begins to attach himself to a girl he has sex with. The girl, Quilla June, ends up turning on Vic because she was sent by individuals who live under the earth--The Downunder--in search of a man to impregnate the females who live there.

The story ends with Vic and Quilla June running away from her family in the Downunder and returning to the surface. However, in a scuffle that occurs, Blood is injured and ravenous for food. Vic likely ends up killing Quilla June and feeding her to Blood because the bond he shares with his dog is his version of love.