There are two sets of campers on California's Sierra Madre Mountain. One group is the Blue Legion, a gun-happy squad of teenage boys under the command of survivalist Jake Cannon. The other group, Survival Quest, is a sort of backpacking self-help group led by gentle mountain man Hank Chambers. The Survival Quest group includes smart-aleck Joey, fragile divorcee Cheryl, and alienated convict Gray. Through various exercises and object lessons, Hank teaches his crew how to work together. Jake is harassing the Survival Quest group. When a viciously ill-mannered Blue Legion member named Raider ends up shooting Hank, this angers Jake to no end. While Jake was harassing the Survival Quest group, Jake actually wanted no one to get shot. Jake starts beating Raider up, and Raider responds by shooting Jake and blaming it on the Survival Quest group. Now led by Raider, the Blue Legion plans to kill the Survival Quest members. Cheryl is now in charge of the Survival Quest group, because they think Hank is dead. They work together and race through the wilderness in an attempt to get to the nearest airstrip, while Raider and his group follow them with every intention of killing them.

Harper:
Hey guys, I heard that Survival Quest took old men and girls, but convicts? Shit, what a zoo!