Roan, a 15-year-old boy, survives a raid on his village of Longlight where his parents are killed and his sister kidnapped. Wandering through the smoldering ruins of the village, he meets Saint, the leader of a band of men called The Brothers. Saint takes Roan with him where Roan lives for a year, healing from the emotional wounds of his parents death. The Brothers teach Roan how to fight, a skill Road is adept at despite being educated in the ways of peace. Roan finds he is visited frequently by visions where he is urged to prepare to leave The Brothers. Time approaches for Roan's initiation into the brotherhood. Through a series of visions, Roan discovers that The Brothers were responsible for the pillage of Longlight.

Roan severely wounds Saint and escapes on Saint's motorcycle. In following his vision guidese to safety, he meets Lumpy, a boy scarred by Mor-ticks. Lumpy becomes Roan's travelling companion and they make the perilous journey to Fairview where they meet Alandra. As Roan recovers from his adventures, he realizes the purpose of his journey: to save the orphans of Fairview from The Brothers. Alandra, Lumpy and Roan manage to abscond the children across the toxic lake to a land not yet destroyed by The Devastation, thus saving their lives.

When Tommy's girlfriend Sheila breaks up with him, he blames it on Andy, Sheila's acting partner in drama class. Tommy looks for sympathy from his friend Brad, a star hockey player, who urges Tommy to beat up Andy. Andy is on his way to audition for the part of a street punk in a new film when Brad and Tommy catch up with him, humiliate him, and punch him out - but their beating is interrupted when Shane, a gang leader, intervenes. When Andy arrives for the audition, his genuine beaten look impresses the casting people and he gets a call-back.

Meanwhile, Brad's hockey coach demotes him and replaces him with a girl, shattering his dreams of playing professional hockey. Tommy continues to obsess about Sheila, though his military training demands he hide his true feelings. Shane, the gang leader who came to Andy's rescue, starts hanging out with Andy because Andy reminds Shane of his dead brother. He reluctantly helps with character research for Andy's call-back despite Andy's naiveté about gang life.The hard truth hits home when Shane confides that his old gang is trailing him because they resent his leaving.

As things build to a climax, Brad manipulates Tommy into believing he slept with Sheila. Tommy, unable to cope, calls on Sheila to confront her. His anger overwhelms him; he rapes her and is arrested. Shane, fatally wounded by his old gang, seeks out Andy. Before dying, he confesses the story of his brother's death in a gang fight thus explaining his sudden exit from the gang. Soon after, Andy is called back for the audition. Emotionally exhausted by Shane's death, he tells the producers off. Ironically, he gets the part.