Grant had smashed Vicksburg and cut open the heart of the Confederate States. Still, the war raged on. But for some, the fighting was over. Men like Captain Evan Payson, a Union Army surgeon wounded saving others' lives, and John Davis, a Confederate prisoner of the hated Union army. Now, two desperate soldiers have struck a deal: in exchange for his freedom, Davis will carry Payson home to die in Texas.
But between the bloodied waters of the Mississippi and the dust of El Paso is a land of dangerous outlaws sowing death wherever they go. As Davis and Payson push into Texas, they discover that their fighting days are not done. Because in a lawless land, two enemies have found one cause: staying alive. And their only chance of doing it is to stand and fight together.