Too bad Derek, Cole's new foster brother, shows up. Late one night, Cole overhears Derek's thug friends, but he thinks it's none of his business. A week later, he's caught up in trouble he didn't ask for, with no way out. With his savings, dirt bike, and a backpack of clothes, Cole flees south for Texas where what's left of his real family lives. His funds dwindling, he wonders if leaving Alaska was smart. Two kids lead him into a streetwise world of hobo camps and freight trains, but what awaits Cole in Texas is a different kind of trouble.