Frank Carden (Freeman) is a freelance hitman who gets arrested by some Washington state cops and is turned over to the feds for transport. Carden escapes into the woods with the help of some cronies, only to be re-captured by Ray Keene (Cusack), a former cop who is hiking with his teenaged son Chris (Anderson). Keene forces Carden to hike towards the authorities while his gun-toting associates come searching.