The film's background is the Algerian War and Alain Delon plays Thomas Vlassenroot, a deserter of the French Foreign Legion in Algeria during the 1961 uprising. When a former lieutenant who now works for the OAS proposes to him to kidnap lawyer Dominique Servet (played by Massari), Thomas agrees. Caught giving Dominique water, Thomas goes on the run after a shoot out with his OAS colleagues, who subsequently begin to hunt them down.