10-year-old Nelio is a mortally wounded street kid in an unnamed African port city. After revolutionary soldiers kill his family and most of the people in his village ("to show us they were serious in their struggle to liberate us and help us have a better life"), Nelio makes his way to the city where he joins a gang of homeless orphans, eventually and reluctantly becoming their leader. They have "only one mission in life: to survive," but that's essentially all they can hope for.