Jean Starr tells the tale of her escape from a Skynet death camp in Darwin, California. With more prisoners on hand than their facilities could dispose of in an orderly fashion, the humans had time to form fleeting bonds as they awaited their time to die. Charley Bell was one such young man, and took it upon himself to watch over Jean. Charley sparked a prisoner uprising on the day Jean was selected for the death house by flinging rocks at the watching Endoskeletons. During the ensuing chaos, a fortuitous earthquake helped the prisoners breach the wire. Joining up with ex-army Captain Cleve Andrews, corporate lawyer Lafe McWilliams, and roustabout Sasha Bovic, the five commandeered an abandoned truck and raced away over the Sierra Nevada mountains and into Death Valley. Pursued by six Term