In the Sahara, Amjad, a smuggler, is about to illegally cross the Algerian–Malian border with his pickup truck loaded with fuel drums. At the same time, further north, a group of palaeontologists is attempting to exhume the fossils of the first representative of humankind. Professor Noun of the University of Algiers and Artemis, a young Greek palaeontologist, are convinced that Homo ergaster occupied the central Sahara two million years ago. Meanwhile, Faune, a former French intelligence officer, is recruited by a multinational company to rescue one of its employees kidnapped by jihadists. He sets off into the desert, hoping to make contact with the abductors. Master of the track, Amjad believes he can escape the growing dangers of the desert—arms traffickers, jihadists, military convoys—but is caught by armed men who steal his truck. A manhunt begins, as futile as it is perilous. Under the ever-watching eye of a drone, Amjad slowly disappears into the desert. Artemis, too, will not complete her mission. A sandstorm, a detour, and armed men on motorbikes lead to her capture by a terrorist group.