William Chapman is a seventeen-year-old tribesman living on Lake Murray in the Great State of South Carolina. Centuries ago, civilization nearly collapsed during the Great Crisis, humankind's first contact with extraterrestrials. Now, Dixie stands as the last bulwark of the Old American Empire, constantly threatened by enemies both foreign and domestic.William's life is upended by war and the Blight, cruel raiders from the wastes. The refugees of this conflict must fend for themselves as the few balkanized central authorities that remain are powerless to protect the populace. William's family has one chance of survival -- his uncle's delivery business. But in order to survive, he'll have to face the very dangers that drove him from his home.