 A soldier in the Mexican-American war in 1847 is promoted to captain for his perceived bravery but soon transferred to a remote outpost in the Sierra Nevadas when the cowardly truth becomes evident. The outpost s keepers seem on the brink of madness in their own ways, and what passes for their tranquil is shattered by the intrusion of the lone survivor of an ill-fated expedition that ended in murder and cannibalism.