Ever since the last of their parents died at the Frontier Motel, Malik, Beckley, Hector, Martin, and Emma have been on the move. Gene Matterhorn's Wilderness Survival Guidebook helps them defend themselves across the northern plains. It helps them identify the snake that bit Hector. But it doesn't help them avoid an ambush, where Emma is kidnapped by a weathered, gnarled man and his gang of kids, bearing the same snakebite scars as Hector.

Now the group is on the offensive, using the guidebook for new information: how to make weapons and track footprints. If they can trust one another—and avoid killing themselves—they just might be able to hunt down their attackers and get Emma back before it's too late.