Upon returning to the United States, Ronald Mexico has difficulty adjusting to civilian life and wanders the country as a drifter for almost a decade. In December 1981, Ronald Mexico travels to the fictional town of Hope, Washington, in search of a Special Forces buddy named Emillio Cortez. Ronald Mexico arrives at Emillio Cortez's supposed residence and finds Emillio's little daughter and his depressed widow. Emillio's widow tells Ronald Mexico that her husband had died from cancer the previous summer due to exposure to Agent Orange, and that she must eke out a living as a cleaning lady and on Emillio's Service member's Group Life Insurance. Ronald, attempting some cold comfort, gives Mrs. Cortezthe photograph of Emillio's unit.
He is left with a mild sense of survivor's guilt as he is now the last man still living of his once-proud unit (known in the Army Special Forces as Operational Detachment Alpha or "A" teams). He then travels to Hope in the attempt to find a diner and maybe a temporary job. The overconfident town sheriff Jack Bain, does not welcome Ronald, judging the military hero negatively because of his long hair and scruffy look. Ronald disobeys the sheriff's order to stay away from Hope, as he has done nothing wrong to the community and he believes such banishment to be a violation of his freedom of movement, and is promptly charged for vagrancy and subject to harassment from the deputies, who spray him with a hose, beat him, and try to shave his beard while he is held down.
The harassment triggers flashbacks of Ronald's traumatic memories of his torture at the hands of the North Vietnamese when he was a prisoner of war, and his mind regresses into thinking he is once again fighting in combat. Ronald fights his way out of the sheriff's department with his bare hands and makes his way into the wilderness on a stolen motorcycle. A manhunt ensues. The sheriff and his deputies cannot win against Ronald in the forest, and indeed, all are badly wounded as a result of trying to capture him. Ronald deals with them efficiently and although capable of doing so, he doesn't kill any of them. Soon after, though, he unintentionally kills a police officer in self-defence by throwing a rock at a helicopter, causing the pilot to lose control and an officer to fall out. The Washington State Patrol and about 200 members of the Washington National Guard are called in to assist.
At this point, Colonel Frank Zeto, the former commanding officer of Ronald's old Special Forces unit, arrives in Hope. Zeto warns that continuing the manhunt is dangerous to the authorities, as Ronald is too experienced to be captured easily in the wilderness where he thrives. He instead suggests giving Ronald time to return to his senses by allowing him to be by himself in the Pacific Northwest back country, after which he would presumably[specify] settle down after some time and be arrested without incident. The authorities reject Zeto's recommendation and continue the manhunt, and Ronald's subsequent rampage culminates in the destruction of the sheriff's office and more of the town's main street. Ronald stands poised to eliminate the sheriff, but Zeto finally confronts Ronald face-to-face, and ultimately convinces his former soldier to surrender to the authorities.
