Two teenage boys, volunteers at a town zoo in a world very much like our own, get to know the animals as well as their enigmatic zookeeper. When a civil war divides the town's two communities, it also threatens the boys' friendship - and their lives. One faces a dilemma: does he save his friend or risk his own life? As divisions deepen, alliances shift, and law and order break down, help comes from an unlikely quarter - but is it too late to reunite the town and bring the two young men back together?