When Perry Jacobs jumps a train, his journey takes him through some of America's darkest territories... and the darkness of his own soul. After doing time for burglary, Perry is a changed man. The horrors he witnessed inside a system where only the most brutal survive won't be easy to shake. He and his best friend Cedar jump a train to recapture some of that innocence they felt during their childhood. But the train is as dark a beast as the one younger Perry thought had given his brother cancer. What should have been a short, monotonous trip turns into a nightmare. When Cedar insists they save a young woman being raped by two escape convicts, they end up being accused of her death. Cedar is gravely injured when they try to jump another train and makes Perry swear he'll go back home and tell his father the truth. Perry's journey takes him through small towns run by brutal deputies and train camps run by equally brutal drifters. With every lawman in the country looking for him, Perry's friendship is put to the test when he's forced to choose between the woman he loves and fulfilling an impossible promise. All with the belief that his very survival comes at the price of a moving train set on ending his days.