Gordon Van Zandt is a man accustomed to hardship and resistance. But now he is running out of options. His still young republic is on the verge of falling apart, and he must find a way to turn the seemingly inevitable defeat into a highly unlikely victory. The presidency that he oversees is not unfamiliar to him, but this time his task proves to be difficult, if not impossible. The remnants of the United States of America are held together by a patchwork of governors and bureaucrats, many of whom are trying to exploit the gaps in the structure for their own advantage. There is a ceasefire with Cascadia, and he must decide whether to negotiate or continue a war that has brought nothing but devastation and misery to both sides. Each person for themselves in a community.