Since he was old enough to dream, all Antoine Grimm ever wanted was to be a soldier like his grandfather, Big Ben Grimm. Coming from a military family, he has always been taught that there is no greater honor for a man than to serve his country. This is what motivated him to steal his older brother's identity at the age of sixteen and sneak off to enroll in the United States Army. He left in search of the glorious stories he'd heard his grandfather tell, but what he found was the bitter truth that came with war. When Grimm left, he had been a doe-eyed kid with dreams, but upon his return to U.S. soil, the kid he left as has become a battle-hardened soldier trying to cope with post-traumatic nightmares.

When Grimm returns to his home, he finds that not only has he changed, but so has his neighborhood. The drug epidemic has ravaged the streets he grew up playing in and decimated everything in its path, including his family. Unable to sit idle while the community he grew up in crumbles under the weight of pushers, pimps, and addicts, Grimm decides to take a stand.

Reuniting with members from his old army ranger unit, Grimm trades his war one war for another, turning his fury from enemies foreign to those domestic.