What fuels evil brutality? Richard is fortunate to be the new summer intern at SunDog Petroleum, an oil production company that operates in the Bakken Formation oil fields of North Dakota. In recent years the state has been enriched by new technologies for recovering fossil fuels, hydraulic fracking in particular. Farmland owners with mineral rights found themselves to be millionaires overnight and an economic boom is in full swing. Indeed, the oil money has attracted many other businesses and entrepreneurs but not everyone is around for black gold. A couple of environmental activists picket the front of SunDog's headquarters. Del is from the west coast and she has lots to say about the activities of oil exploration and production companies. The tranquil farmlands that surround the small town of Grimsby provide a contrast of natural beauty with the black steel shapes of the mechanical wellheads. It is a dangerous job, statistically, but Richard is more concerned about finishing his shift so he can go back to Minneapolis for his weekend break. There are few encounters with people out in the surrounding countryside and it is a lonely job, driving his red company pickup along the trafficless gravel roadways. But life changes quickly for Richard as well as for those whom could not foresee that the placid prairie life entails more than just the harvesting of crops.