A prisoner at Five Shadows, a territorial penal institution, is offered the chance, by Karla, to try for acquittal by law, or to gamble on escaping, by Lizann, with a gun. Corey Bowen, sentenced to 7 years for cattle rustling, fails in his first try at breaking out, but wins the admiration of the Apache trackers; his next attempt, timed to dynamiting on road construction, looks promising but he decides for Karla's way and the chance to tell the world about the prison's brutal management. Flying fists and bullets.