In the 27th century, ten-year-olds Sammy and Cal work digging tunnels beneath the streets of the underground city of Pierpoint. When two huge rats attack them, Sammy is wounded, but their boss refuses to give him any time off to heal. With a bleak future ahead of them and Sammy's infected wounds getting worse, the boys decide to run away. Their escape incurs the wrath of their boss and his boss, who sends out a team of professional hunters to bring the escapees back. The hunter's philosophy is to shoot first and ask questions later. It's only a matter of time before they find the two runaways.

Sammy and Cal luck out. They come upon the Gallantiers, a group of young people from the Earth's surface led by Rex Zenoline, a former military captain and an escapee from underground. Rex and the Gallantiers have journeyed to Piepoint to attempt to rescue the boys and girls from the deplorable living conditions in that city's orphanages and bring them to Earth's surface. They ask Sammy and Cal to join forces with them, and the two boys gladly accept.

The hunters track down Sammy and Cal and find them with the Gallantiers. With their lethal weapons drawn, they begin closing for the final kill. Can Rex and the Gallantiers, along with Sammy and Cal, save not only the boys and girls they came to rescue but themselves as well? By using their wits and their courage, they are about to find out.