Melody watches in horror as her father is strapped to the corpse of the man he killed. In a post-apocalyptic world where all technology simultaneously, inexplicably failed her village represents one of the only hints of civilization. As punishment, murderers in their community must endure the Rot of the one they killed. But Melody’s father killed their neighbor accidentally, in anger, after their neighbor slaughtered their dog and fed it to his unsuspecting daughter.

With her father exiled beyond the town to suffer the Rot, Melody must fend off the old men hoping to prey on a now-defenseless 13-year-old girl and protect her little brother. It’s no easy task, and Melody realizes she must get her father back to survive the town’s horrors. She encounters the Power of the woods beyond the town, a mysterious collection of spirits, and agrees to trade her little brother if they’ll save her father. Melody hates the deal she must make, but hopes they’ll care for the boy in ways she can’t. She cries as they drag her brother from her, but her father doesn’t come back; Melody has been left to fend off the men of town alone.

She takes a lover to deter the rest. One night, as she lies with him, she wakes to see the face of her father pressed against the window. His head rises up, and she emerges from her trailer to discover he has grown to gigantic form, easily stepping over the town’s fortified walls. He has thrown every man in town who preys on young girls onto one stake in the square. Melody considers joining him in the woods, but decides someone must remain behind in the town to ensure its horrific practices are no longer perpetuated.