13-year-old Danny Tyme is alone in the isolated mountains of Eastern Oregon after his mother leaves for a two-day trip into town. While chopping wood, he slips, hits his head and is knocked out. When he wakes up, he is lying on the living room floor. Something is wrong; someone is in his house. Danny escapes through a window and takes off running. He is taken prisoner by a boy dressed in military fatigues who marches him to Mama's House, a group home for rebellious teens. There he meets Desiree, a brilliant and volatile girl who takes Danny to a remote part of the forest where they dig up a rusty metal box. Within it lies the answer to a family mystery and the secret to an incredible material that has the power to change the future.