An earthquake measuring 9.5 on the Richter Scale splits California into an island with a perpetual dustcloud hanging over it. The survivors of the terrible ordeal have started to come together in the shape of Nick Preston (Dolph Lundgren) an airforce captain, and other fractions of the military, including Sarah McBride and Lucky Simcoe, and have situated themselves in a warfare junkyard, holding weaponry from forgotten conflicts. They are searching for food, fuel and fellow survivors, and a possible path into the next world, while also dodging a violent plague that causes the skin to boil.