When global economic collapse hits a small town in Dufferin County, Ontario, Canada, many residents flee in search of relief while others choose more horrible solutions. The catastrophe overwhelms elected governments as the long distance supply of food collapses and desperate populations fight for meager rations. Some local residents band together to survive, but their efforts are threatened by an elite that sees collapse as a chance to take control. Bloody fighting among ethnic groups and criminal gangs spills out of the cities, engulfing much of the countryside. Threatened by repression and murder, the local progressive leadership seeks allies in order to survive. They join the small, free enclave of Huron Territory, struggling against internal shortages, starvation and the brutal dictatorship that soon dominates most of Ontario. Their story spans decades of resistance, victory and rebuilding throughout the Great Lakes' basin until the shadows of grief and loss give way to the hopes of new generations.