Nazi hunter Daniel Levitt has come to small town of Fleetwood, Md., looking for the notorious Mueller the Mauler, a concentration camp doctor from WWII. However, something that can do worse than Mueller ever did to his victims is prowling and killing in the Western Maryland forest. Daniel is not hunting it, but it may be hunting him.
Karl Mueller, Daniel's quarry, has also come to Fleetwood. He is seeking one of his former "patients", Eva Lachman. She has been hiding in Fleetwood for years with her twin sons, but Mueller tracked her down. He is dying and wants to terminate the experiment he started with her in 1944.
Victim, abuser, and hunter converge in Fleetwood hunting and avoiding each other, but this can only last for so long in a small town, particularly when the residents are already worried about the brutal deaths nearby.
The Hunt Begins is the second episode in the serial story, Beast, that began with The Past Present.