The USA has fragmented into a group of smaller, competing nations, some at war with one another. Most people struggle to continue life as close to what they knew as possible, but that proves difficult as things once taken for granted become harder to enjoy. Tom Forsythe, once a high-flying bureaucrat, has fallen down the ladder of success when his father-in-law and patron is disgraced after antagonizing the wrong people. Tom, his wife Madeleine and their son Lyle retreat to his childhood home in the country, hoping to make new lives for themselves. Tom quickly confronts the fact that things are not the way they used to be and that survival is even tougher than he imagined.