Bundeswehr Captain Andreas Kreutzer deserts and sets off for Denmark. In Puttgarden, however, he is met by two military police officers who escort him onto the train back to Munich. On the way, the two bank robbers Ross and Schweiger board the train. They feel threatened by the soldiers and shoot them. When the train stops, Kreutzer is forced to flee with the two gangsters. Schweiger is shot dead and Kreutzer finds himself in a bizarre twist of fate with Ross.