"If the apocalypse comes tomorrow, I'll meet you in the pub." Roxanne is malnourished, Charlie is pretending, Claudia is complicated, Simian is undecided. Wolfgang is a bucket of jokes being kicked down the stairs. The shaggy-dog subplots of Northern cities are rudely interrupted when the North Atlantic Drift is dislocated and the country is thrown into chaos. Leaving their beloved Sheffield in ruins, a motley group of friends set out in search of food, shelter and ultimately a new way of life. They find themselves enthralled, yet at the mercy of a strange new world where modern culture is in decline and a whole new set of instincts apply.