Having narrowly escaped the self-destruction of the last redoubt they jumped to, Ryan Cawdor and his friends find themselves in the southwestern desert somewhere near the border of New Mexico and Texas.

The group sets out South, hoping to find food and supplies, and possibly surviving "freezies" in a cryonics facility that the late Rick Ginsberg believed was located in the area.

That evening the men of the family are revealed to be serial rapists and murderers: the two brothers enter the room housing Krysty Wroth and Mildred Wyeth, plainly stating their intent to rape and kill them, while the father keeps armed watch outside.

Continuing south, the companions link up with a West-bound wagon train, where they serve as scouts and protection against hostile mutants who roam the area.

The pursuit is long and marked by violence, with the companions narrowly evading ambushes and attacks as they pursue Strasser by railcar, then foot, and eventually on rafts down the wild flowing waters of the Grandee.

The fight takes place on a rapidly decaying wire bridge over perilous terrain riddled with quicksand, which greatly hampers both fighters.