Darian Barber leaves his prosaic job as a mechanical engineer to take a new job at a specialized secret laboratory built into a mountain in Montana. It is there that he meets and falls in love with Bently "Bet" Bell, the lab director. He also meets the acerbic James Reed, who, though Darian is in a constant struggle with him, proves invaluable in what is to come.
Through deception and his own naivety, he exposed the location to a powerful individual who then destroyed the lab, murdering dozens of people. The few survivors, who are immediately branded as the culprits, then set out on a fear-driven escape to learn who destroyed the lab and why, while trying to keep themselves out of the crosshairs of the well-connected Tom and his henchmen. Through it all, Darian attempts to regain Bet's trust.