Twenty-five years after the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano and the massive war that followed, the scattered, dwindling remnants of the human race are forced to eke out a primordial existence while the supply of a drug vital to their survival is controlled by a group of greedy Oligarchs. For those born before the disaster -- called the Prelapsarians -- the future looks hopeless. But there are some who choose to resist.

In the south of Russia, a band of retired mercenaries, led by the formidable Andrei Evgenyevich Myshkin, seek to undermine the Oligarchs' power. Their ardor is invigorated when they join forces with Ani Ohanyan, a headstrong, idealistic young smuggler with a dream of a brighter future and a penchant for getting herself into trouble. Together, their quest takes them across the Caucasus Mountains, through the ruins of once-prosperous cities, and to the shores of the Caspian Sea, faced along the way with backroom intrigue, fierce battles, and brewing tension that threatens to turn them against one another. But amidst their trials, the greatest struggles they face may be against their own demons.