Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of violence and murder, suicidal ideation, and the exhumation of a corpse.

Sixteen-year-old Jess Cooper writes in her diary, telling the story of what happened to her before and after her father was murdered. In the recent past, she traveled Canada to live with her father. In the narrative present, she is now stranded at her father’s lakeside cabin as it burns to the ground. Jess knows that winter is around the corner and is aware that she will have to face cold, hunger, wild animals, and the potential of encountering the men who killed her father.

The narrative shifts to the past and describes Jess’s journey to meet her father. After over 10 years of no contact, Jess studies his photograph and memorizes it on the flight to Alaska. When she gets off the plane, a gruff-looking man named Griff is waiting for her and takes her to see her father. Griff walks quickly, making it difficult for Jess to keep up; she still deals with a leg and foot injury from the car crash that killed her mother.