In an unnamed city, a man suddenly goes blind while waiting at traffic lights. His blindness is strange, since he sees only a milky whiteness, and it soon spreads from person to person. The authorities respond by confining the first victims in an abandoned asylum, where order quickly breaks down. The story follows a small group, including a doctor and his wife, who keeps her sight secret. It is a stark and humane fable about fear, power and solidarity, asking what remains of civilisation when its everyday supports vanish. Its characters have no names, which gives the story a universal feel.