The world as we know it is destroyed when a regional conflict spins out of control, pulling other nations into the war. Most major population centers are vaporized in the ensuing chaos, throwing millions of tons of dirt and ash into the atmosphere to block out the sun and create a nuclear winter. A new age of lawlessness begins. The void created by the destruction of our central government is filled by local warlords who struggle against each other to provide resources for their people. These clashes threaten to destroy the last vestiges of humanity as the basic needs of food, water and shelter take precedence over everything else. From the ruins of the irradiated wastes emerge the bloodthirsty scavengers and a dangerous new breed of creature known as the Changed, who are intent on the annihilation of the human race. A small group of survivors from Illinois attempts to escape further south away from the deepening cold and increasing anarchy. Along the way, they discover that the true monsters are not the mutants of the wastes; instead the enemy that they must fear the most is their fellow man.