Massive Retaliation (1984) Movie Script
(bright upbeat music)
Now is the time for your loving, dear
And the time for your company
Now when the light of reasons fails
And fires burn on the sea
Now in this age of confusion
I have need for your company
For I am a wild and a lonely child
And the son of an angry land
And now with the high walls raging
I would offer you my hand
For we are the children of darkness
And the break of a foul command
It's once I was free to go roving in
The wind of a springtime mind
And once the clouds I sailed upon
Were sweet as light upon
Then why have the
breezes of summer, dear
Been laced with a grim design
Now is the time for your loving, dear
And the time for your company
(game beeping)
- [Child] Wow. Look out!
Bam! No, that one.
- Shit!
(child giggling)
- My turn, my turn!
- My turn, my turn!
- Come on.
I'll tell Mom that you
said the S word again.
- What S word?
- Shit.
- (laughs) You just said it too.
- No fair!
- Hey, guys. Be cool.
I've got enough to do without
listening to your shit.
- Suzy's been teaching me English saddle.
She's real nice.
I can trot and she said
maybe this weekend,
I can sit at canter.
- While not considered as serious
as the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis,
the world nonetheless holds its breath.
This gung-ho diplomacy
has, many observers feel,
gone beyond a point where
either side can gain
any bargaining chips
with the OPAC nations.
In a related development,
Pope John Paul II issued a
statement today from the Vatican,
urging both the President
and the Soviet Premiere
to take any steps necessary
to avert escalation of the situation.
- [Secretary] There's a
kid for you on line two.
It's not Harry.
- Junior or senior?
I think it's Eric Briscoe.
He's taking the kids up
to the cabin a day early,
get them out from underfoot.
School vacation.
I'll take it.
Hello, Eric.
- Hello?
- Is there something
interesting on the wire?
- I'm not sure.
I was just about to take it into the boss.
- I'll take it. May I see?
Thank you.
- Sorry to bother you, Mrs. Tolliver,
but Harry forgot his backpack.
- All right. I suppose his
head is still attached.
- Yes, ma'am, but it rattles.
- [Jackie] How are the rest of the kids?
- Yeah, we're fine, but I think everybody
in the world left early
for Fourth of July weekend.
- (sighs) Well, all right.
I will bring the backpack,
and you drive safely, and
I'll see you tomorrow.
- [Eric] You want to talk to your son?
- No. No need.
I'll see you tomorrow.
(reporter chattering)
(ominous music)
Hello?
(suspenseful music)
- [Lee] Tie that off.
(heart monitor beeping)
(suspenseful music)
- [Lee] Dr. Briscoe.
- Lee? Jackie.
There's an unconfirmed
report on Reuters wire
that the Russians are planning some kind
of an evacuation drill.
- I see.
- Between that and the
Oman maneuvers, I thought-
- [Lee] Very wise.
The patient has been told
how we handle this kind of emergency?
- Right.
- [Lee] Inform the families by all means.
I'll meet you at midnight.
Right, and thank you for being so prompt.
(suspenseful music)
Celia, would you close?
(suspenseful music)
(heart monitor beeping)
(birds chirping)
- Honey?
Which one of these do you want me to pack?
Honey?
Which one of these do you want to wear?
- [Kirk] I don't care, pick one.
- Lois, Lois, wear the blue one.
It accentuates your thighs
and I love you topless.
How can I ignore the girl next door
Doris Buehler, we give
her back when we're done.
(speaking gibberish)
- The steak, Harry, the steak.
Not the neck.
- This stake.
- The yellow.
- The stake, please, no, no.
Not the stake, please.
(phone ringing)
No, Van Helsing, no! (groaning)
- Oh, hi Jackie.
Yeah, he's here.
(reporter chattering)
What?
(suspenseful music)
Okay.
Kirk?
It's Jackie for you.
- [Kirk] For me?
- Ah ha, my wife.
I knew it would come to this.
- Hello?
Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bull frogs jump
From bank to banky with the knee high
Oh, oh, with a knee slapper dilly
And a curve ball
(crickets chirping)
(suspenseful music)
- [Kirk] Are you ready?
- Just go ahead, we'll catch up.
- [Kirk] All right, don't screw around.
- Tell them to drive safe.
- [Kirk] And drive safe.
- [Harry] Yes, Lois.
- Did they leave yet?
- [Harry] I told them we'd catch up.
- (sighs) You didn't say anything
to make the neighbors suspicious, did you?
- Honey, they are the neighbors.
- Oh, Harry.
God dammit, why can't you
take anything seriously?
(suspenseful music)
What's this?
- That's something I thought I would need.
- Mission High, Varsity, All City 1964?
(sighs) Right, Harry.
You really need this.
(suspenseful music)
(match whooshing)
(gentle music)
- Hello?
- [Lee] Honey, you've got to pack now.
One suitcase, the bare essentials.
- Lee, we can pack in the morning.
I thought tonight we'd-
- Baby, it's an emergency.
Every second counts.
Pack, don't panic, pack.
I'll tell you about it in the car.
We'll be safe at the ranch but
first we've got to get there.
Oh.
(glass tinging)
- Oh god, the carpet.
- [Lee] Leave it.
- [Marianne] Lee, it will ruin it.
- [Lee] Leave it.
(suspenseful music)
- [Reporter] Response to the
rapidly escalating tension,
cancellation of the President's
Camp David holiday comes
on the heels of the report
that Russian troops are massing
on the Russian-Arabian border,
and that Moscow itself is involved
in a huge civil defense drill.
Western newsmen have been quarantined
in the American Embassy in Moscow,
but it's expected they
will be released shortly.
- [Kirk] Hi, fill it up unleaded, please.
- Got to be cash in advance.
- Okay, how much?
- $20 a gallon.
- The sign says a buck 44.
- Oh yeah, that was yesterday,
today it's $20 a gallon.
- That's illegal.
You can't charge more
than the posted price.
- Okay, so arrest me.
Now do you want the gas or don't you?
- [Lois] Give him the money, honey.
If things keep escalating like this,
they'll just be scraps of paper.
- I haven't seen the others, Doc.
The kids came through a couple hours ago.
They stopped just long enough
to fill up their radiator.
Your son's getting big.
- He's a good boy.
- Clark's, Wanda, let's move it.
Jack's sausage is getting cold.
- Oh yeah? That little thing?
Jack's sausage has been cold for years.
- Shot you down, sucker.
- In flames.
- It's okay, Wanda.
This sausage is gonna rise again.
- Oh yeah?
Well, you'd better hurry up
because the end of the world is coming.
- Be coming before Jack does.
- We're gonna conquer the world anyway.
We're gonna kick some Russian ass.
- Nuke Moscow, that'll teach them.
- We ain't got the balls.
- Says who.
- Says 20 bucks.
- Hey, shut up.
Turn up the tube.
- This is Jim Patton in New York.
Foreign news services have
reported just moments ago
that American and Soviet carrier groups
in the Gulf of Oman have exchanged fire.
While neither belligerent government
will confirm these reports,
observers on the scene have
reported seeing blinding flashes
of light and large mushroom
clouds beginning to form.
- Oo-ey!
- [Jim] All radio communications
from the immediate area-
Sh.
- Have ceased.
Both carrier groups are known
to carry tactical nuclear weapons
in the one to 15 kiloton range.
This is Jim Patton in New York.
- Geeze, Brady, you're a prophet.
- 20 bucks, Johnny.
- Screw that.
Figure I've got about
20 minutes left to live,
I'm spending my money on
a piece of ass. (yelling)
(Lois screaming)
- Save a piece for me, Johnny!
(men groaning)
(dramatic music)
(engine roaring)
(upbeat music)
(tires screeching)
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
(engines roaring)
(quiet tense music)
- Thank God.
- [Kirk] You said it.
- [Lois] Where's the van?
- I'm sure Eric's parked
it by the bunk house.
Let's not wake up the kids.
Let's unload and set up.
Harry, you get the
fence signs from storage
and put them on the gate.
Kirk, you activate perimeter security.
Jackie, you set up the radio gear.
Lois, you get-
- I'll check the kids.
- Okay, check the kids. Come on.
(computer beeping)
(crickets chirping)
(hammer tapping)
- [Reporter] Mobilization,
national guard units
in all 50 states have been activated.
(radio crackling)
- [Reporter] Phenomenon known
as electromagnetic pulse
which is believed to have
disrupted all communications
within a 300-mile radius
of the Gulf of Oman.
(radio crackling)
- [Man] Have arrived
without surgery. Only-
(crickets chirping)
(gentle music)
- [Lois] Oh, this is where
you've been hiding all summer.
(gentle music)
(crickets chirping)
God.
Oh dear God!
No. (gasping)
(steam hissing)
- Damn.
- Wow, I got green.
- Mine's bigger than yours.
- No it's not.
- We passed the junction
about three miles back.
Sign said Lincoln, five miles.
- Yeah, I see it.
- Well, I can go on my bike
and see if I can find a pump.
- At 1:30?
- [Eric] Maybe there's
an all night gas station.
- Wait until morning.
- No, I'll go now.
That way we'll still meet Dad
and Marianne and everyone.
- [Kimmy] They won't get
there until afternoon anyway.
- You can't trust them.
Maybe they'll leave early.
Then I'd really be in for it.
- [Kimmy] It's not your fault.
It's the dumb water pump.
- Yeah? You tell dad.
- Okay. Get going.
- Hey, where are you going?
- Yeah, where are you going?
- Kimmy's in charge now until I get back.
You guys listen to her, get
in the van and lock up tight.
I'll be back before you get up.
- Is this a somber party?
- Slumber party, dumbo.
(gentle music)
(traffic whooshing)
- [Kimmy] So the big
chief of the bear clan,
puffed long puffs on his pipe.
He stood listening for a moment
to the small sounds of the night.
"So," he said to his son,
"You want to know how that
trail of dust got in the sky?"
- [Lee] We cannot risk it.
- We barely got here.
- Our kids didn't get here at all.
- Lois, we all share your concern
but we've been over this ground for hours.
Let's not just sit here.
Let's finish unpacking.
It will take our minds off...
It will give us something to do.
- Honey, we'll go as soon as it's light,
but Lee's right, we
should stay on schedule.
In fact, right now, we
should be stocking the barn.
- Stocking your anus.
Geeze, Kirk, am I gonna
have to shit on schedule?
This whole thing started
off as a vacation.
- [Lee] But it's not. Enough talk.
Let's unpack.
(crickets chirping)
- Jackie.
Were you going to sleep in here?
- Well, I thought I would.
- Oh.
- That's okay, I'll go
to a different room.
- No, no look I can move.
It's just, well Lee and I used
to use this room when, uh.
- Oh, that's okay honey.
Lots of men sleep with their secretaries.
Ah. This is interesting survival gear.
(both laughing)
- It was a gift from Lee.
I'm not sure who he thinks he married.
- This would be a real
good time to find out.
- You and Connie were
friends, weren't you?
I mean, the survival thing,
it was gonna be the six of you.
- [Jackie] Lee can marry
anyone he wants to.
- And divorce anyone he wants to?
- Whatever keeps him young.
Look, I'll, uh, I'll find another room.
- [Kirk] They could be on Highway 115
and they might have taken a shortcut,
there's no way we could find
them this time of the night.
If the kids are here, they'll
have to go all the way around.
- Oh, there you are Marianne.
Come out to the barn and help me,
I've got to unpack the guns.
- Oh Lee. No.
- What do you mean?
- Honey, I don't like killing.
- So? Shoot to maim.
It's just another survival
tool, like the mines.
Superior fire power will prevent anybody
from even trying to take
what we've got in here.
Now come on out and help.
- [Kirk] I can help, Lee.
- Don't worry little lady.
It won't come to killing.
This ain't a John Wayne movie.
(Marianne laughs)
(crickets chirping)
- [Kirk] Let me try that, Lee.
- You learn that in Vietnam?
- No, I wasn't in 'Nam.
Picked it up in basic training.
I spent six months active
duty. Coastguard Reserve.
Tell you the truth, I wasn't too concerned
with the war one way or the other.
I just kept my nose clean,
did what I was told.
- Glad you're in my army, boy.
(crickets chirping)
- [Kimmy] Freeze, I've got a gun.
- Yeah, right, and I've got a laser beam.
- How did it go?
- I froze my butt off.
There's a part store, but it's closed.
I'll have to go back in the morning.
- [Kimmy] It is morning.
- [Eric] Don't be logical.
(gentle music)
- It's not the kind of thing
you talk about every day.
I mean, I think I can
handle the idea of dying,
but the idea that no one
would be around afterwards.
Ever.
- No one?
No thing.
Nothing.
No animals, no trees.
Every living thing.
(rooster crowing)
(gentle music)
(birds chirping)
(gentle music)
(birds chirping)
- [Kirk] Averages out
to 2500 calories each
which should be more than
enough for a healthy adult
with vitamin supplements
and freeze dried foods
and hydroponic vegetables,
we'll do pretty well.
- It's more than pretty.
- [Lois] What about the kids?
- 1,800 each.
- [Lois] It still sounds
like rationing to me, Kirk.
- [Kirk] It is, but nobody
is imposing anything,
it's just about consensus guidelines.
(Marianne laughing)
(all laughing)
- [Harry] Can I have some butter?
(birds chirping)
- [Reporter] With unofficial
evacuations reported
throughout the country,
particularly from areas perceived
to be strategic targets,
airports, military bases-
- I think it's light enough.
- [Reporter] Manhattan
cab drivers are calling it
the worst traffic jam they-
- A few of us could go.
- [Reporter] Have ever
seen as residents pour out
of the metropolitan New York area.
- Let's just wait until noon
and then we'll ask Lee, all right?
- I thought we were gonna vote on this?
- [Reporter] Refusing to
call it an evacuation.
- We will, but we put Lee in charge.
- Will you turn that thing down?
- [Reporter] Wide spread
looting in Detroit, Miami
and certain areas of Los Angeles.
- I just thinking he's
putting too much faith
in a 17-year-old boy.
If it was one of our sons-
- Oh, that's unfair.
- Well then where is he?
- I don't know.
(phone ringing)
- Hello, Eric?
- [Eric] Hello? I was looking for Susie.
- Eric, this is Mrs.
Fredericks, where are you?
- Oh, God, is my dad there too?
- Yes, we're all here, where are you?
- [Eric] Look, I'm sorry,
but the water pump busted.
- [Jackie] How the little
kids are. How are they?
- [Eric] I came back on my
bike to this little town.
- [Jackie] Where are they?
- [Eric] We had to stay overnight
on the side of the road.
- [Lois] Little town, what town, Eric?
- [Eric] Lincoln.
- [Lois] Lincoln, a town named Lincoln.
- What's that? What's it near?
- And there's a parts store but-
- Wait, don't all talk at once.
What, Eric? No, not you, honey.
Eric, how are the other kids?
- [Eric] They're okay.
You know, they're asleep in the van,
it's like a big game to them.
(all chattering)
- Come here immediately.
Don't stop and pick up anybody, promise?
- [Eric] Yeah, sure, what's up?
- There's, there might be a war going on.
- [Kirk] Don't tell him that.
- The Americans and the
Russians are fighting
and it could get really bad.
You know it's safe up here.
Your father's put a lot of work into this.
- [Eric] Yeah, I know. Are you sure?
- Yes, I'm sure.
So listen, how long will
it take you to get up here?
Fix the pump, and get up here?
- [Eric] Oh, no time at all.
- [Harry] Just tell him
to come straight up.
- Sh!
- Come straight up.
- [Eric] All I have to do is buy it.
- All right, but listen.
Just drive straight here, sweetie,
and don't pick up anybody, all right?
- Okay, bye.
- And Eric?
- [Eric] Yeah?
- Take care of our babies. Bye-bye.
- [Kirk] It's okay.
- Hey, they're safe.
They're safe.
(all laughing)
(gentle upbeat music)
- Do you got a water pump
for a '69 Dodge van, V8?
- Morning, son. Awful early to
be in such a rush, isn't it?
- Yeah, well I need the pump. You got one?
- What model again?
- '69 Dodge van.
- Be a minute or two.
- Will you hurry, sir?
- I didn't rush through my first 76 years,
ain't too eager to rush
through my next 76.
- [Eric] Need helping finding it?
- I didn't need any help stocking it,
don't need any help finding it.
Buying that too?
- [Eric] No.
- Looks like it's all there.
- Great, that's it.
- $167.95.
- I'll take it.
Here.
- Lee Briscoe. Got any other ID?
- Well, it's my father's credit card,
but I have my driver's
license and my school ID, see?
The name's the same. I'm Eric Briscoe.
My mom named me, she liked Eric.
- Sorry son, names don't match.
- No, no, see, my dad gave me permission.
- How am I supposed to know that?
We get too many phony credit cards.
- Oh, come on, look.
Library card, Explorer Scouts. YMCA pool.
- You can pull cards
until you turn vermilion,
but if you don't have a card
with your name on it
it ain't legal tender.
Besides, if there really
is a war going on,
what good's credit?
You got any cash?
- No, Megan wanted cotton candy,
and then they all wanted cotton candy.
And then hot dogs and then...
Look, I got a van full of kids up the road
and there's a war.
- Son, there's been a war
being fought every day
somewhere in the world since World War II.
Somewhere about as I
start to lose interest,
and by Afghanistan, I
was downright apathetic.
I'm not going to take-
- Just sell me the pump.
- Your card with your name on it.
- You can call my dad.
- Now how am I supposed to know
who's on the other end of the line?
Don't! Hold it.
(birds chirping)
- [Reporter] Marching on
that city's federal building.
Malibu, California-
- Lee.
- [Reporter] Lead in panic earlier today,
after reports that a Russian submarine
was spotted off shore.
- [Lee] Okay, let's check it out.
- [Reporter] Injured in a series
of automobile accidents.
- Jackie, back up.
- [Reporter] In other news, the joint-
(birds chirping)
- Hi. Hi, remember me?
I'm Susie Barker.
The Fredericks hired me
to look after the horses
and take care of the kids.
You're Dr. Briscoe.
We met a while back.
Is Lois around?
- She's busy. Can I help you?
- Uh, could I come in?
It's getting weird out here.
- [Lee] We thought it might.
- Well, could I come in?
- Sorry, no. And I have
to ask you to move on.
This is private property.
- What is this? I can
get the sheriff you know.
- To do what?
- Look, could I just come in?
Mrs. Fredericks will vouch for me.
- Sorry, I have to ask you to leave.
(car horn honking)
- Lois.
Lois.
Lois.
- This is only the horn wires.
If I take out the
distributor, you're on foot.
And if things are as bad as
you say they are out there,
you won't get very far.
[Susie] You cold son of a bitch.
(gentle music)
- Huh?
- What?
- You smell that?
- Oh, gross.
Stinky, stinky Megan
Stinky, stinky Megan
Stinky, stinky Megan
- What's going on?
- Megan wet the bed.
- I told mom she was too young.
- I am not.
- I don't care who wet what.
Shut up all of you.
- You're not my mom.
- Yeah.
- I wouldn't want to be,
but I'm in charge until
my brother gets back
and I'm meaner than he is.
Good.
Now let's get some water
and help Megan wash out her sleeping bag.
- [Child] Oh, gross.
(emergency broadcast alarm blaring)
- The radio. Jackie!
Jackie! The radio.
Maybe it's the kids on the on the CB.
- [Jackie] No, no, it
doesn't have the range.
- [Lois] Let's try, come on.
- [Announcer] This is not a test.
Repeat, this is not a test.
- It's the AM.
- [Announcer] This is the
emergency broadcast system
operated by the authority of
the United States government,
and with the cooperation of
broadcasters in your area.
I repeat, this is not a test.
You are requested to stay tuned
to this station for emergency information.
Pursuant to executive order 11490,
the President of the United
States has authorized
the implementation of the
emergency broadcast systems.
At 11:00 Eastern Daylight Time,
the President of the United
States signed an executive order
declaring a national emergency.
The federal emergency
crisis relocation program
is to be implemented immediately.
This means the systematic, orderly
and non-panicked relocation
of our population,
from urban to rural host areas.
Host area destination cards are available
at your local station or federal building.
- Evacuation. They're
evacuating the cities.
- [Announcer] We now switch
to you local EBS authorities,
who will provide regional
information on evacuation plans.
- Got to hand it to you.
- [Announcer] Please leave your
receivers on and above all-
- You've been right about this thing
all the way down the line.
- I'm not very proud of it.
- [Announcer] Reasonably,
and without panic.
- [Kirk] Hey, what are you doing?
- We've got to get the kids.
I've looked it up on the map
and there's a back road we
can take to the cut off.
- We can't risk it.
- Risk it? What are we
involved with all this for.
- Lois.
- What are we surviving for?
Aren't we involved in
this for the kids as well?
- For God's sake-
- I think she's right,
what is the point of all of this?
- Don't panic, dammit, any of you.
The point is we haven't
got enough information yet.
What is evacuation going to do?
Can we travel?
What kind of fire power do we need?
- We're gonna go, but first we've got
to monitor the local broadcast,
find out what the hell
is going on out there.
- [Jackie] All right,
maybe I can get something
on this radio.
- [Reporter] Information to
the Los Angeles base. The-
(suspenseful music)
- [Lee] Can't travel in LA on a good day,
it must be hell down there now.
(suspenseful music)
(engine roaring)
- [Marianne] No, no, stop.
(dramatic music)
- Where is she?
- She went right through the
field, toward the meadow gate.
- Oh, god, the mines. Go without.
- She's got all the car keys.
- The old pickup truck, it's in the barn.
(dramatic music)
(keys beeping)
(suspenseful music)
- Come on, baby.
Eight, four, seven, six. Don't panic.
(suspenseful music)
I can't turn the mine field off.
- [Jackie] Do you have it?
- No, get the manual.
- Why did we ever decide to
put mines in here anyway?
- What mines? Kirk's got 'em off for sure.
- It's the seven.
The seven won't come up.
I should have cleaned the contacts.
(suspenseful music)
- [Jackie] Give me this.
- Alternate code, in the back section.
- Can't you reprogram this?
- Hurry.
- [Kirk] That's what I'm trying to do.
(suspenseful music)
- Oh my god, Lois.
- [Marianne] Oh my god.
- Oh my god.
(somber music)
- [Harry] Son of a bitch!
- Don't move her, Harry. Watch her neck.
Any pain there, any pain?
- No.
- All right.
(suspenseful music)
You're all right. Can you walk?
Just hang on to me now.
You're okay here.
- She looks okay.
- At least she's walking.
(Lois moaning)
- Fear not, fair damsel,
I shall retrieve your map.
(suspenseful music)
(explosion booming)
- Harry!
(Marianne sobbing)
(pensive music)
- How's Harry?
- Shattered his foot and his ankle.
Lee's a good doctor.
He says he'll recover.
The ah, what do you call
it. The mine was a dud.
Otherwise it would have killed him.
- Yeah.
- Are we doing the right thing, Kirk?
(pensive music)
- Ask Lee.
- I know his answer. He's always certain.
(gentle music)
Lee was never in the service.
He says he was just between wars,
just too young for Korea,
just too old for Vietnam.
What is it, about men and war, Kirk?
- I don't know.
- Does every generation have to fight one?
- I don't know.
I don't know.
- [Officer] You cooled down, kid?
- [Eric] Look, I'm sorry.
How long before I go to court
or before I can make a phone call?
- Phones don't work, priority
calls only, government rule.
As for a judge, I don't
think you'll be needing one.
- Huh? Look, I've got rights now.
You've got to give me a trial.
- If you insist, but I
thought I'd just let you go.
- What?
- Hell, Wilford don't
want to press charges
and I ain't got time to look after you.
The world's going to hell out there,
you think I want to look after
some kid thieving auto parts?
Besides, you've got
kinfolk to get to, right?
- [Eric] Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.
- [Dispatcher] 482.
- [Dispatcher] 482.
- It's all here.
- Want to sign this receipt?
(radio chattering)
- Look, there isn't any way
you could make him sell
me that pump, is there?
- You don't ask a lot do you?
Look, let me tell you something,
the world may be crazy
as a pig on loco weed,
but that don't mean I can tell any man
how to sell his property.
Until the Russians get here
and hang out their shingle,
and got forbid I see the
day, this is still America.
And America means a man can sell his goods
any way he chooses, all right?
Now, get out of here.
(phone ringing)
Sheriff's office.
You just sit tight, Shirley,
there ain't no commies on Main Street.
I don't care what the parson's wife said.
I'm the Sheriff, I'd know.
(suspenseful music)
Hell, Shirley, there's lines halfway
around the block in Center Market.
You can't expect me to bust
in on all those people.
(suspenseful music)
(phone whirring)
Anyone, fightin' word, fightin' words
(car horn blaring)
(upbeat music)
- Ma'am, odd numbered plates today.
Yours ends in 4.
It's the last number.
Would you just make a U-Turn
and come back tomorrow?
Ma'am, if we get out of this one alive,
I'll sign a letter to your congressman.
(radio chattering)
Hey kid.
- [Eric] Me?
- [Officer] Yeah, kid
generally means minors.
- Yes, sir.
- Where are you going?
- I have a van full of kids up the road.
Do I need odd numbered plates?
- No, but let me see your
host area destination card.
Host area ID.
It gives your evacuation destination.
You do have one?
- Look, I'll get one
when I get to my family.
I've got a van full of kids waiting on me.
- [Officer] I'm sorry,
but you've got to go back
to your home city and obtain a card,
otherwise you can't travel.
- Look, I've got a van full of kids-
- [Officer] You've got to get a card
or you've got to get arrested.
(radio chattering)
Hey, Joe, you've got to
count on these cards.
Hey, stop!
(upbeat music)
(tires squealing)
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
(tires whooshing)
(upbeat music)
(officer groaning)
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
- [Announcer] The United States
government has taken over
all communication linkups.
- [Kirk] What's this?
- [Announcer] However the BBC was able to-
- Short wave.
Radio is full of evacuation information.
You can't get any real news.
- [Announcer] In some cities,
local government officials refuse
to implement evacuation plans.
(birds chirping)
- Is it gonna work?
- Yeah, is it gonna work.
- Quit copying me.
- I'm not.
- [Kimmy] Shut up you guys.
- Do you think your dad likes blue ones?
- Nah, he's too cool.
(engine puttering)
(children cheering)
- [Megan] Yeah.
(alarm blaring)
- Lee, someone's coming.
- That's Virgil Griffin's truck.
(quirky music)
What the hell does he want?
(bright quirky music)
(Virgil burping)
- Throw that thing away,
we're on official business.
- Maybe Doc up and died in there.
- Maybe we could get
custody of his old lady.
- (laughing) I'd, I'd,
I'd like to get custody
of some of that.
(both laughing)
- What do you think happened over there?
- I don't know.
Why don't, why don't we go try
to get your cousin's airplane,
and, and, and then we can fly over?
(imitating plane droning)
- Oh, shut up, Ernie!
Just you let me do the
talking, I'm the deputy.
Hi, Doc.
- Hello, Doc.
You didn't, you didn't say
nothing about being social.
- What brings you up here?
- Ah, I thought somebody needed a tow.
- Well, official business, Doc.
Sheriff Klauson deputized
me and a few others.
Expecting trouble in town.
A lot of city folk pouring in.
I guess you heard there's a war on.
Well, Old Swede, he sold
all his gas in town,
and the sheriff, well, it ain't no secret
we helped you stash 1,000
gallons up here last summer.
- And?
- And the sheriff
deputized me to come and,
what you call it, appropriate
some for the town emergency.
- You know, I'd certainly give it to you
if you had something official,
but, uh, under the circumstances.
- [Virgil] What the hell are you gonna do
with all that gas anyway?
- Son of a bitch, never did
anything for this town anyway.
- Shut up, Ernie.
It's your last word, Doc.
- A word from Sheriff Klauson might help.
- He's dead.
- [Virgil] Ernie, for Christ' sake,
will you shut your God damn mouth.
- That before or after
he deputized you, Virgil?
- You wait, you son of a
bitch, you just hold it.
(bright music)
(guns firing)
- [Lois] You didn't have to fire, Jackie.
- Yes, I did.
- They fired at me, she
did the right thing.
- [Kirk] You were out of range.
- It's done. They're hostile.
We mount a guard tonight
and nobody misses weapons
practice tomorrow.
- Can't we negotiate? Can't
we just give them some gas?
- Yeah, that seems practical.
- Doesn't anybody understand
what we are doing here?
Doesn't anybody realize why we are here?
Why we're safe?
- No, Lee, maybe we're stupid.
- Precisely because we are not stupid.
Because we were smart
enough to see this coming.
Smart enough to fix up a
place that was isolated
from major target areas
and fall out patterns.
Because we have our
gas, our food, our guns.
Because some of us had the foresight
and the balls to want to survive.
Can you tell me what in the
hell is wrong with that?
Look, (sighs) just
hang together until the children arrive.
- If the kids don't get
here by noon tomorrow
they probably won't make it.
- Oh god.
- Kirk.
- That is not a possibility, Kirk.
My son is a survivor.
And unless I get more
support from my troops,
he'll be the only one.
(announcer speaking in foreign language)
- [Marianne] At least take a nap.
Let me hold you, honey.
- I don't need to sleep.
I used to go 72, 96 hours
during my internship.
- [Marianne] Honey, that
was almost 30 years ago.
- I can still do it.
If you want to sleep, go ahead.
You wouldn't take a watch anyway.
- Come to bed.
We need to talk.
You need your sleep.
- On the contrary,
somebody's got to stay awake.
(Marianne sighs)
(gentle music)
- They told me I shouldn't
try to have another,
but God we wanted a girl.
She was a broached birth,
poor blue little baby.
- I've thought about
having babies. (laughs)
But I'm afraid.
- Afraid?
- Of this.
Exactly this. Bringing a
baby into this kind of world.
- Having them die from the bomb?
- Having them not die.
- [Kirk] Dammit.
- [Announcer] Driving in Poland
and strikes by soldiers and
other war-torn countries.
- Boy, this, Jackie, could you bring me
some light over here?
I can't see a damn thing.
- [Reporter] Continue their-
- Oh no, this disk is damaged,
we should have made a backup.
You never think.
(gentle music)
(match whooshing)
- [Harry] Must be it.
Must be a God damn bomb.
- No, Harry. I think the
lights go on, not off.
Real bright light.
- Very cheerful.
- (laughs) Hey, we count on you for jokes.
- [Reporter] From the Israeli-
- Kerosene for lights.
Should use electricity only
for the radios and computer.
- If it works.
- Why shouldn't it work?
- The minefield program disk is destroyed.
I had to deactivate the entire system.
(radio chattering)
- Sorry, Kirk, but good.
- The alarm system still works,
but I don't know how reliable it is.
- [Jackie] Shit.
- [Reporter] A complete failure.
(dramatic suspenseful music)
(sausage sizzling)
- [Kirk] Is that on the
list? It's way past dinner.
- No, Harry was hungry.
I figure he needed his strength to heal.
- Well maybe he's not gonna heal.
Maybe we should start thinking
about saving his portions.
I shouldn't have said that.
(gentle music)
- I'm hungry.
- [Kimmy] You're always hungry.
- I'm starving.
- [Eric] I told you, we're not stopping.
- Why can't we stop?
- [Kimmy] 'Cause Eric said so.
- Harry, I've got some candy you can have.
- Jackie?
- Yes?
- [Marianne] Could you try
the kids on the CB again?
- I just tried them a half hour ago.
If they're not in range
they're not in range.
- I just thought that-
- Thought what?
That I'm not trying hard enough?
That I'm a shitty mother.
Somehow because I don't cook
and because Harry and I
don't get along so well.
Because I spend more time
at my job than at the PTA.
That somehow I'm less
of a wife and a mother?
- I didn't say that.
- Let me tell you, Lois Fredericks.
I'm tired of your opinions.
We were supposed to be
able to have it all.
Well I went and I got it.
I'm tired of your jealousies
and your intimations
that I can't handle this.
- Wait a minute.
You made your choice and I made mine.
- Jackie, that's what the
women's movement is all about.
Choices.
- (scoffs) The women's movement.
I'm on the God damn front
lines of the women's movement.
Here you are getting
ahead lying on your back.
(Marianne scoffs)
You two want to use the radio?
You go right ahead.
If you can figure out how.
- Cute.
Okay. (sighs)
(gentle music)
- [Jackie] Harry?
You asleep?
- I am.
- [Jackie] How are you feeling?
- How's everybody out there holding up?
- (sighs) I'm really worried about Kirk.
He, uh, he's plugged into those machines.
They're only machines.
- Did you ever know him
to be any different?
- No, I guess not.
- [Harry] You're worried about the kids?
(gentle music)
- Harry, I never wanted it to be
this way between us.
When I met you, you were
so big and funny looking
and so good.
And I loved you very much.
- [Harry] I can change, honey. (sighs)
- I can change, honey?
What, Harry? Brands?
(alarm blaring)
- [Kirk] Some kind of
scaling ladder, I think.
- How many people?
- [Kirk] I can't know that.
- Let's go, Kirk.
We'll bring our weapons.
- Warning shots. We don't know who it is.
- We can guess.
Jackie, I want you at the
front door, Lois at the back.
If you don't get three
flashes like this, shoot,
and not just to warn, Lois,
because it won't be us.
All right? Let's go.
(suspenseful music)
(owl hooting)
- [Kirk] What is it?
- Sh! Sounds like something
about 50 yards that way.
(owl hooting)
(suspenseful music)
- I think I see it.
- Shh, listen.
Over there.
(gun firing)
Damn.
You hit something.
Let him lay, if he can get back,
it'll be a lesson to the others.
- Lee, I hit somebody, I'm gonna check.
- It's too dangerous, head back.
- Lee, I hit someone.
- [Lee] Come on.
(somber music)
- [Kirk] Lee, it wasn't my fault.
(gun firing)
They're shooting back.
(crickets chirping)
- [Lee] He thought it was
gonna be a picnic. Shit.
He was with me.
He bought the mines,
he designed the system.
(Marianne screams)
- [Jackie] Jesus.
- [Lois] Susie.
Lee, get your bag.
Lee, get your bag.
- I can't.
- What?
You can't what?
- My skills for our people.
- Oh. This woman is my friend.
She's teaching our children how to ride.
She's badly hurt.
- We have been over this.
We agreed that some hard
decisions might have to be made.
We agreed that a kind of
triage might be necessary.
We agreed to survive.
There is just so much food, Lois,
so much medicine, it is not for outsiders.
- [Lois] You're crazy.
- [Marianne] I didn't agree.
- [Lee] You married me.
- That's another issue.
This woman's hurt.
Give her my share of the medicine.
- You may need it.
- Lee, I may not want to survive.
Give her my share of the medicine.
- We can't.
- We can. Marianne hasn't
voted her share yet.
- But we need a surgeon.
- Hell with him. I was a nurse.
I can take out a bullet.
- Look, dammit, we agreed. No outsiders.
What if our kids need
medicine when they get here.
I want to vote on this medicine question.
We agreed to certain
principles of conduct.
- Principles? Don't doctors take an oath?
- You don't understand, Lois.
We can't save the whole world.
- He's right. How many
other Susies will show up.
Think about it, Lois, Lee is right.
- Honey? Can you make her move?
- Yes. Get his bag.
- I vote yes.
I'll help.
- Christ.
- Get a blanket.
- [Announcer] Without
historical precedent.
Even the Just War
Doctrine by Thomas Aquinas
could not have created the uproar
for today's papal signal.
With this message which
virtually excommunicates
any Catholic who takes part
in this present conflict,
the Pope has sent his
783 million followers
on a moral collision course
against the two largest
governments in the world.
It is a bold
and desperate political
maneuver on (indistinct).
(announcer speaking in foreign language)
- Things weren't supposed to be like this.
Everything was supposed to work.
- Honey, life works.
We just can't always control it.
(birds chirping)
(gentle music)
(engine puttering)
(birds chirping)
(gentle music)
- Lois.
You've been taking such good care of me.
- I hope, we can make
some sense of all this.
(gentle music)
I'm so sorry.
We never knew.
I thought,
when I was young,
our parents always had a year
supply of food in the attic.
Preserves, hummus, pickles in jars.
Seemed so natural when Lee proposed it.
Then, the guns, shelters.
It just got out of hand.
You never think to ask where it's going.
- I know.
It's so easy just to let it all pass by.
Like when (indistinct),
thousands of people that died.
I don't feel anything.
I'm numb.
This is too big to handle.
All those people,
halfway around the world.
(pensive music)
But now, I sure as hell
feel something for them.
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Roll your teacher overboard
And listen to her scream
(kids screaming)
(gentle upbeat music)
- Country cousin, this is city slicker.
Country cousin this is city slicker.
Anyone there? Daddy?
- Turn off should be soon. Anything yet?
- No, are we in range?
- We should be. Maybe there's sun spots.
- Trillions of brothers in the
cosmos and I get Carl Sagan.
(Eric laughs)
(gentle upbeat music)
- You and I need to talk.
- In a minute, have some breakfast.
- Now.
- Wait a minute.
- [Lois] What?
- Be quiet. I hear something.
- Let's go.
(plane engine droning)
(bright music)
- [Lois] Flying too low?
- [Lee] Those rednecks
were here yesterday.
Family owns the airfield.
- Oh shit, the reservoir.
(engine roaring)
(bright music)
Land of the free
And the home of the brave
- [Kimmy] Country cousin,
this is city slicker.
Anyone there?
Where the heck are you?
- [Reporter] Meanwhile,
administration policies.
Observers are unsure whether the action
will have any practical political impact.
There is a growing number of reports
of acts of civil disobedience
in West Germany, Italy and Spain.
And indications of peace strikes
in the United States and the Soviet.
- Kirk, you were supposed
to buy an analysis kit.
- What's the point, Lee?
We can't hide anymore.
There's no place to run.
- [Marianne] How much
bottled water do we have?
- We were counting on the reservoir.
- [Marianne] How much?
- About a weeks worth.
- Hey. Look, it's the kids.
(Lois screams)
- I told you. I told
you, Eric's a survivor.
- [Kirk] Come on, honey. Hurry.
Hurry up, get in.
(gentle music)
(engine roaring)
(all cheering)
(birds chirping)
- That's about far enough.
Don't be stupid, Doc.
Partners got a gun on the kids.
(suspenseful music)
(birds chirping)
You got one damn minute
to see those kids are okay
and then we're gonna talk eviction.
- Dad. Am I glad to see you.
- Daddy, how are you?
- Eric, what happened?
- Uh, we were, the water pump broke.
- Eric was great, Dad.
He got arrested, got a water
pump, and he got past the high-
- Kimberly, when I want to hear from you,
I will address you.
I want my son to tell me
why he arrived here with
these vermin in his van.
- They had guns.
- He didn't have any choice, Dad.
- Eric.
I want to hear from Eric.
- [Eric] Dad, I did the best I could.
(hand slapping)
- Daddy.
- A man.
I thought I sent a man
out with those kids.
Somebody I could be proud of.
What am I gonna tell him out there?
That my son couldn't cut it?
- Dad, I did-
(hand slapping)
(Eric sobbing)
- Stop that damn crying.
- Hey asshole, you're supposed
to check on these kids,
see if they're all right.
We just got them calmed down.
Listen, you've got a half
hour from right now to pack up
and get the hell out of here,
or we're gonna start
losing one of these kids
every 20 minutes that we're kept waiting.
(birds chirping)
- Well, there's got to be a plan
where we can both keep the kids
and get back here and stay safe.
- What plan?
- I don't know. Lee
will think of something.
- [Marianne] We women quit
doing our own thinking?
- It's just two of them.
We could rush the van.
- How many kids do you want to lose, Lee?
- There's got to be acceptable loss here.
Suppose we lose one child.
- Am I going crazy? This is insane.
- Lee! Lee, it's your kids.
- Every action requires risk.
I spend day after day
telling people about risk.
Should I have this operation, doctor.
What about the complications.
Suppose he dies.
You still don't understand
survival, do you?
The patients who live are
the ones who want to live.
They don't give a damn about the odds.
They hang on, despite the odds.
- Lee, you're talking about babies.
You have no right to
jeopardize their lives.
- Look, Lois, you're a parent.
You make decisions for your
children like that all the time.
What about Carl's operation?
- Whose child is it acceptable to lose?
Yours? Lois'?
Mine?
- Yours?
- Mine.
You don't just marry a man
when they come with kids.
- You're wasting time.
- We need Harry in on this.
- You're right, come on, let's get him.
- I don't know, Lois.
Asking me to inject a little
sanity into this group,
isn't that kind of like
asking the Three Stooges
to do your plumbing?
- Harry, you're smarter than you look.
- Compliments will get you everywhere.
- Well I think the war just
should never have existed
because it's so horrible.
(pensive music)
- I don't want bombs to kill us.
- You won't even feel it.
- It won't happen, it can't.
- Megan, are those guys going to kill us?
- No. No way.
You must be warm in that bag.
- I'm okay.
- Come on, get out of that
bag, come over here with us.
- No. I mean, I'm okay.
- (laughs) He wet his pants.
- [Peter] Harry!
- [Kimmy] Come on stupid, nobody cares.
- Come on.
- I sure don't.
(birds chirping)
(quiet tense music)
- I don't know what you're talking about,
that's not gonna work.
- Oh my god. The half hour is up.
If we can't make a decision,
let's at least get down there
and we'll think of something on the way.
- All right, now look.
We're gonna take the high
ground near the meadow gate
where we won't be as vulnerable
and we can still watch the van.
- [Lee] Let's go.
(gun firing)
- You didn't have to do that.
You nearly scared them
half out their wits.
- They're gonna be more than scared
if their daddies don't get out here
in the next 30 seconds.
- Right, right on time.
- [Virgil] What the hell are they up to?
Son of a bitch.
(gun firing)
- What are we gonna do now?
- Shut up and let me think.
If they're shooting,
I don't want to be sitting
next to this tank of gas.
Who knows how they shoot.
- Well, they're, they're not
gonna fire at their own kids.
- I wouldn't put it past that Doc.
We'll be a lot safer over there.
Then we can cover this van
and still be far enough away from it.
- [Ernie] Good thinking.
- We'll grab the girl for cover.
(Megan screaming)
- All right, your little
bastards, stay here.
We've got you covered.
If you try to get out, we're
gonna shoot the gas tank.
And, uh, you know what happens then.
- [Carl] No.
- [Kimmy] That was a
rhetorical question, Carl.
- [Ernie] Watch.
(glass crashing)
(gun firing)
(steam hissing)
So stay put.
Except you.
- [Kimmy] They've got Megan!
(gun firing)
- I don't know, Virgil,
I'm losing a lot of blood.
- It's your own God damn fault.
- Serves you right, you know.
- Shut up, you little brat.
- [Virgil] It's nothing but a little cut.
- (groans) I just, I just wish we were,
I just wish we were out of here.
- Not until we got what we came here for.
- Ah, whatever that was.
- [Joe] This is Joe Stevenson in New York.
An immediate cease fire
was declared moments ago
in a joint announcement released
by the White House and the Kremlin.
Both nations have agreed to continue
around the clock negotiations
to further deescalate
the world wide crisis.
I repeat, the White House and
the Kremlin have announced
an immediate cease fire.
It is believed-
- Thank God.
- [Joe] That a world wide outpouring
of peace demonstrations-
- I've got to tell them.
- [Joe] Riots and mass desertions-
- They'll stop. For
the kids, they'll stop.
- [Joe] From combatant forces leaders
from both the United States
and the Soviet Union.
- It's over.
- [Lois] Stop, Harry, watch out.
- It's over!
- Wait, what is he saying?
- Harry, stop!
- Stop.
- It's over.
- What are they up to now?
- Stop! It's over.
- Stop Harry.
- [Megan] Daddy.
(gun firing)
- Harry!
- Oh God.
- You shot him, you shot him.
- [Jackie] Will he live?
- [Lee] If I can get the bullet out.
- It's over. It said on the radio.
The war is over.
- Fine, Harry, it will be all right.
- Of course it's a trick.
The Russians know English,
they're broadcasting in English.
- No, no, I heard.
- All right.
- It's propaganda, Harry.
Just waiting for us to lower on guard
on everything we've
got here and then wham.
- But maybe?
- No, no, no maybes.
No maybes.
(guns firing)
(women gasping)
- We can't just sit here.
- What are we gonna do without guns?
(gun firing)
- None of you understand.
Goddamn suburban panty waists!
Jackie knows them. I can teach Jackie.
We've got food. We'll live.
Drop that, Kirk.
- I was planning to.
It's over, Lee.
It makes no sense.
- Makes no sense.
That's what they taught you
in the Coast Guard, Coast Guard, eh?
God damn big hero. Understands war.
- You're right.
I understand war, and I
know when they're over.
This one's over.
It was over for us before it began.
- [Lee] God damn traitor.
There will be no cowards in my army.
(gun firing)
(blow thudding)
(ominous music)
- No, wait.
Stay back.
- [Megan] Daddy, daddy.
(gentle music)
(birds chirping)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(pensive music)
(gentle pensive music)
(gentle upbeat music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(bright upbeat music)
Now is the time for your loving, dear
And the time for your company
Now when the light of reasons fails
And fires burn on the sea
Now in this age of confusion
I have need for your company
For I am a wild and a lonely child
And the son of an angry land
And now with the high walls raging
I would offer you my hand
For we are the children of darkness
And the break of a foul command
It's once I was free to go roving in
The wind of a springtime mind
And once the clouds I sailed upon
Were sweet as light upon
Then why have the
breezes of summer, dear
Been laced with a grim design
Now is the time for your loving, dear
And the time for your company
(game beeping)
- [Child] Wow. Look out!
Bam! No, that one.
- Shit!
(child giggling)
- My turn, my turn!
- My turn, my turn!
- Come on.
I'll tell Mom that you
said the S word again.
- What S word?
- Shit.
- (laughs) You just said it too.
- No fair!
- Hey, guys. Be cool.
I've got enough to do without
listening to your shit.
- Suzy's been teaching me English saddle.
She's real nice.
I can trot and she said
maybe this weekend,
I can sit at canter.
- While not considered as serious
as the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis,
the world nonetheless holds its breath.
This gung-ho diplomacy
has, many observers feel,
gone beyond a point where
either side can gain
any bargaining chips
with the OPAC nations.
In a related development,
Pope John Paul II issued a
statement today from the Vatican,
urging both the President
and the Soviet Premiere
to take any steps necessary
to avert escalation of the situation.
- [Secretary] There's a
kid for you on line two.
It's not Harry.
- Junior or senior?
I think it's Eric Briscoe.
He's taking the kids up
to the cabin a day early,
get them out from underfoot.
School vacation.
I'll take it.
Hello, Eric.
- Hello?
- Is there something
interesting on the wire?
- I'm not sure.
I was just about to take it into the boss.
- I'll take it. May I see?
Thank you.
- Sorry to bother you, Mrs. Tolliver,
but Harry forgot his backpack.
- All right. I suppose his
head is still attached.
- Yes, ma'am, but it rattles.
- [Jackie] How are the rest of the kids?
- Yeah, we're fine, but I think everybody
in the world left early
for Fourth of July weekend.
- (sighs) Well, all right.
I will bring the backpack,
and you drive safely, and
I'll see you tomorrow.
- [Eric] You want to talk to your son?
- No. No need.
I'll see you tomorrow.
(reporter chattering)
(ominous music)
Hello?
(suspenseful music)
- [Lee] Tie that off.
(heart monitor beeping)
(suspenseful music)
- [Lee] Dr. Briscoe.
- Lee? Jackie.
There's an unconfirmed
report on Reuters wire
that the Russians are planning some kind
of an evacuation drill.
- I see.
- Between that and the
Oman maneuvers, I thought-
- [Lee] Very wise.
The patient has been told
how we handle this kind of emergency?
- Right.
- [Lee] Inform the families by all means.
I'll meet you at midnight.
Right, and thank you for being so prompt.
(suspenseful music)
Celia, would you close?
(suspenseful music)
(heart monitor beeping)
(birds chirping)
- Honey?
Which one of these do you want me to pack?
Honey?
Which one of these do you want to wear?
- [Kirk] I don't care, pick one.
- Lois, Lois, wear the blue one.
It accentuates your thighs
and I love you topless.
How can I ignore the girl next door
Doris Buehler, we give
her back when we're done.
(speaking gibberish)
- The steak, Harry, the steak.
Not the neck.
- This stake.
- The yellow.
- The stake, please, no, no.
Not the stake, please.
(phone ringing)
No, Van Helsing, no! (groaning)
- Oh, hi Jackie.
Yeah, he's here.
(reporter chattering)
What?
(suspenseful music)
Okay.
Kirk?
It's Jackie for you.
- [Kirk] For me?
- Ah ha, my wife.
I knew it would come to this.
- Hello?
Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bull frogs jump
From bank to banky with the knee high
Oh, oh, with a knee slapper dilly
And a curve ball
(crickets chirping)
(suspenseful music)
- [Kirk] Are you ready?
- Just go ahead, we'll catch up.
- [Kirk] All right, don't screw around.
- Tell them to drive safe.
- [Kirk] And drive safe.
- [Harry] Yes, Lois.
- Did they leave yet?
- [Harry] I told them we'd catch up.
- (sighs) You didn't say anything
to make the neighbors suspicious, did you?
- Honey, they are the neighbors.
- Oh, Harry.
God dammit, why can't you
take anything seriously?
(suspenseful music)
What's this?
- That's something I thought I would need.
- Mission High, Varsity, All City 1964?
(sighs) Right, Harry.
You really need this.
(suspenseful music)
(match whooshing)
(gentle music)
- Hello?
- [Lee] Honey, you've got to pack now.
One suitcase, the bare essentials.
- Lee, we can pack in the morning.
I thought tonight we'd-
- Baby, it's an emergency.
Every second counts.
Pack, don't panic, pack.
I'll tell you about it in the car.
We'll be safe at the ranch but
first we've got to get there.
Oh.
(glass tinging)
- Oh god, the carpet.
- [Lee] Leave it.
- [Marianne] Lee, it will ruin it.
- [Lee] Leave it.
(suspenseful music)
- [Reporter] Response to the
rapidly escalating tension,
cancellation of the President's
Camp David holiday comes
on the heels of the report
that Russian troops are massing
on the Russian-Arabian border,
and that Moscow itself is involved
in a huge civil defense drill.
Western newsmen have been quarantined
in the American Embassy in Moscow,
but it's expected they
will be released shortly.
- [Kirk] Hi, fill it up unleaded, please.
- Got to be cash in advance.
- Okay, how much?
- $20 a gallon.
- The sign says a buck 44.
- Oh yeah, that was yesterday,
today it's $20 a gallon.
- That's illegal.
You can't charge more
than the posted price.
- Okay, so arrest me.
Now do you want the gas or don't you?
- [Lois] Give him the money, honey.
If things keep escalating like this,
they'll just be scraps of paper.
- I haven't seen the others, Doc.
The kids came through a couple hours ago.
They stopped just long enough
to fill up their radiator.
Your son's getting big.
- He's a good boy.
- Clark's, Wanda, let's move it.
Jack's sausage is getting cold.
- Oh yeah? That little thing?
Jack's sausage has been cold for years.
- Shot you down, sucker.
- In flames.
- It's okay, Wanda.
This sausage is gonna rise again.
- Oh yeah?
Well, you'd better hurry up
because the end of the world is coming.
- Be coming before Jack does.
- We're gonna conquer the world anyway.
We're gonna kick some Russian ass.
- Nuke Moscow, that'll teach them.
- We ain't got the balls.
- Says who.
- Says 20 bucks.
- Hey, shut up.
Turn up the tube.
- This is Jim Patton in New York.
Foreign news services have
reported just moments ago
that American and Soviet carrier groups
in the Gulf of Oman have exchanged fire.
While neither belligerent government
will confirm these reports,
observers on the scene have
reported seeing blinding flashes
of light and large mushroom
clouds beginning to form.
- Oo-ey!
- [Jim] All radio communications
from the immediate area-
Sh.
- Have ceased.
Both carrier groups are known
to carry tactical nuclear weapons
in the one to 15 kiloton range.
This is Jim Patton in New York.
- Geeze, Brady, you're a prophet.
- 20 bucks, Johnny.
- Screw that.
Figure I've got about
20 minutes left to live,
I'm spending my money on
a piece of ass. (yelling)
(Lois screaming)
- Save a piece for me, Johnny!
(men groaning)
(dramatic music)
(engine roaring)
(upbeat music)
(tires screeching)
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
(engines roaring)
(quiet tense music)
- Thank God.
- [Kirk] You said it.
- [Lois] Where's the van?
- I'm sure Eric's parked
it by the bunk house.
Let's not wake up the kids.
Let's unload and set up.
Harry, you get the
fence signs from storage
and put them on the gate.
Kirk, you activate perimeter security.
Jackie, you set up the radio gear.
Lois, you get-
- I'll check the kids.
- Okay, check the kids. Come on.
(computer beeping)
(crickets chirping)
(hammer tapping)
- [Reporter] Mobilization,
national guard units
in all 50 states have been activated.
(radio crackling)
- [Reporter] Phenomenon known
as electromagnetic pulse
which is believed to have
disrupted all communications
within a 300-mile radius
of the Gulf of Oman.
(radio crackling)
- [Man] Have arrived
without surgery. Only-
(crickets chirping)
(gentle music)
- [Lois] Oh, this is where
you've been hiding all summer.
(gentle music)
(crickets chirping)
God.
Oh dear God!
No. (gasping)
(steam hissing)
- Damn.
- Wow, I got green.
- Mine's bigger than yours.
- No it's not.
- We passed the junction
about three miles back.
Sign said Lincoln, five miles.
- Yeah, I see it.
- Well, I can go on my bike
and see if I can find a pump.
- At 1:30?
- [Eric] Maybe there's
an all night gas station.
- Wait until morning.
- No, I'll go now.
That way we'll still meet Dad
and Marianne and everyone.
- [Kimmy] They won't get
there until afternoon anyway.
- You can't trust them.
Maybe they'll leave early.
Then I'd really be in for it.
- [Kimmy] It's not your fault.
It's the dumb water pump.
- Yeah? You tell dad.
- Okay. Get going.
- Hey, where are you going?
- Yeah, where are you going?
- Kimmy's in charge now until I get back.
You guys listen to her, get
in the van and lock up tight.
I'll be back before you get up.
- Is this a somber party?
- Slumber party, dumbo.
(gentle music)
(traffic whooshing)
- [Kimmy] So the big
chief of the bear clan,
puffed long puffs on his pipe.
He stood listening for a moment
to the small sounds of the night.
"So," he said to his son,
"You want to know how that
trail of dust got in the sky?"
- [Lee] We cannot risk it.
- We barely got here.
- Our kids didn't get here at all.
- Lois, we all share your concern
but we've been over this ground for hours.
Let's not just sit here.
Let's finish unpacking.
It will take our minds off...
It will give us something to do.
- Honey, we'll go as soon as it's light,
but Lee's right, we
should stay on schedule.
In fact, right now, we
should be stocking the barn.
- Stocking your anus.
Geeze, Kirk, am I gonna
have to shit on schedule?
This whole thing started
off as a vacation.
- [Lee] But it's not. Enough talk.
Let's unpack.
(crickets chirping)
- Jackie.
Were you going to sleep in here?
- Well, I thought I would.
- Oh.
- That's okay, I'll go
to a different room.
- No, no look I can move.
It's just, well Lee and I used
to use this room when, uh.
- Oh, that's okay honey.
Lots of men sleep with their secretaries.
Ah. This is interesting survival gear.
(both laughing)
- It was a gift from Lee.
I'm not sure who he thinks he married.
- This would be a real
good time to find out.
- You and Connie were
friends, weren't you?
I mean, the survival thing,
it was gonna be the six of you.
- [Jackie] Lee can marry
anyone he wants to.
- And divorce anyone he wants to?
- Whatever keeps him young.
Look, I'll, uh, I'll find another room.
- [Kirk] They could be on Highway 115
and they might have taken a shortcut,
there's no way we could find
them this time of the night.
If the kids are here, they'll
have to go all the way around.
- Oh, there you are Marianne.
Come out to the barn and help me,
I've got to unpack the guns.
- Oh Lee. No.
- What do you mean?
- Honey, I don't like killing.
- So? Shoot to maim.
It's just another survival
tool, like the mines.
Superior fire power will prevent anybody
from even trying to take
what we've got in here.
Now come on out and help.
- [Kirk] I can help, Lee.
- Don't worry little lady.
It won't come to killing.
This ain't a John Wayne movie.
(Marianne laughs)
(crickets chirping)
- [Kirk] Let me try that, Lee.
- You learn that in Vietnam?
- No, I wasn't in 'Nam.
Picked it up in basic training.
I spent six months active
duty. Coastguard Reserve.
Tell you the truth, I wasn't too concerned
with the war one way or the other.
I just kept my nose clean,
did what I was told.
- Glad you're in my army, boy.
(crickets chirping)
- [Kimmy] Freeze, I've got a gun.
- Yeah, right, and I've got a laser beam.
- How did it go?
- I froze my butt off.
There's a part store, but it's closed.
I'll have to go back in the morning.
- [Kimmy] It is morning.
- [Eric] Don't be logical.
(gentle music)
- It's not the kind of thing
you talk about every day.
I mean, I think I can
handle the idea of dying,
but the idea that no one
would be around afterwards.
Ever.
- No one?
No thing.
Nothing.
No animals, no trees.
Every living thing.
(rooster crowing)
(gentle music)
(birds chirping)
(gentle music)
(birds chirping)
- [Kirk] Averages out
to 2500 calories each
which should be more than
enough for a healthy adult
with vitamin supplements
and freeze dried foods
and hydroponic vegetables,
we'll do pretty well.
- It's more than pretty.
- [Lois] What about the kids?
- 1,800 each.
- [Lois] It still sounds
like rationing to me, Kirk.
- [Kirk] It is, but nobody
is imposing anything,
it's just about consensus guidelines.
(Marianne laughing)
(all laughing)
- [Harry] Can I have some butter?
(birds chirping)
- [Reporter] With unofficial
evacuations reported
throughout the country,
particularly from areas perceived
to be strategic targets,
airports, military bases-
- I think it's light enough.
- [Reporter] Manhattan
cab drivers are calling it
the worst traffic jam they-
- A few of us could go.
- [Reporter] Have ever
seen as residents pour out
of the metropolitan New York area.
- Let's just wait until noon
and then we'll ask Lee, all right?
- I thought we were gonna vote on this?
- [Reporter] Refusing to
call it an evacuation.
- We will, but we put Lee in charge.
- Will you turn that thing down?
- [Reporter] Wide spread
looting in Detroit, Miami
and certain areas of Los Angeles.
- I just thinking he's
putting too much faith
in a 17-year-old boy.
If it was one of our sons-
- Oh, that's unfair.
- Well then where is he?
- I don't know.
(phone ringing)
- Hello, Eric?
- [Eric] Hello? I was looking for Susie.
- Eric, this is Mrs.
Fredericks, where are you?
- Oh, God, is my dad there too?
- Yes, we're all here, where are you?
- [Eric] Look, I'm sorry,
but the water pump busted.
- [Jackie] How the little
kids are. How are they?
- [Eric] I came back on my
bike to this little town.
- [Jackie] Where are they?
- [Eric] We had to stay overnight
on the side of the road.
- [Lois] Little town, what town, Eric?
- [Eric] Lincoln.
- [Lois] Lincoln, a town named Lincoln.
- What's that? What's it near?
- And there's a parts store but-
- Wait, don't all talk at once.
What, Eric? No, not you, honey.
Eric, how are the other kids?
- [Eric] They're okay.
You know, they're asleep in the van,
it's like a big game to them.
(all chattering)
- Come here immediately.
Don't stop and pick up anybody, promise?
- [Eric] Yeah, sure, what's up?
- There's, there might be a war going on.
- [Kirk] Don't tell him that.
- The Americans and the
Russians are fighting
and it could get really bad.
You know it's safe up here.
Your father's put a lot of work into this.
- [Eric] Yeah, I know. Are you sure?
- Yes, I'm sure.
So listen, how long will
it take you to get up here?
Fix the pump, and get up here?
- [Eric] Oh, no time at all.
- [Harry] Just tell him
to come straight up.
- Sh!
- Come straight up.
- [Eric] All I have to do is buy it.
- All right, but listen.
Just drive straight here, sweetie,
and don't pick up anybody, all right?
- Okay, bye.
- And Eric?
- [Eric] Yeah?
- Take care of our babies. Bye-bye.
- [Kirk] It's okay.
- Hey, they're safe.
They're safe.
(all laughing)
(gentle upbeat music)
- Do you got a water pump
for a '69 Dodge van, V8?
- Morning, son. Awful early to
be in such a rush, isn't it?
- Yeah, well I need the pump. You got one?
- What model again?
- '69 Dodge van.
- Be a minute or two.
- Will you hurry, sir?
- I didn't rush through my first 76 years,
ain't too eager to rush
through my next 76.
- [Eric] Need helping finding it?
- I didn't need any help stocking it,
don't need any help finding it.
Buying that too?
- [Eric] No.
- Looks like it's all there.
- Great, that's it.
- $167.95.
- I'll take it.
Here.
- Lee Briscoe. Got any other ID?
- Well, it's my father's credit card,
but I have my driver's
license and my school ID, see?
The name's the same. I'm Eric Briscoe.
My mom named me, she liked Eric.
- Sorry son, names don't match.
- No, no, see, my dad gave me permission.
- How am I supposed to know that?
We get too many phony credit cards.
- Oh, come on, look.
Library card, Explorer Scouts. YMCA pool.
- You can pull cards
until you turn vermilion,
but if you don't have a card
with your name on it
it ain't legal tender.
Besides, if there really
is a war going on,
what good's credit?
You got any cash?
- No, Megan wanted cotton candy,
and then they all wanted cotton candy.
And then hot dogs and then...
Look, I got a van full of kids up the road
and there's a war.
- Son, there's been a war
being fought every day
somewhere in the world since World War II.
Somewhere about as I
start to lose interest,
and by Afghanistan, I
was downright apathetic.
I'm not going to take-
- Just sell me the pump.
- Your card with your name on it.
- You can call my dad.
- Now how am I supposed to know
who's on the other end of the line?
Don't! Hold it.
(birds chirping)
- [Reporter] Marching on
that city's federal building.
Malibu, California-
- Lee.
- [Reporter] Lead in panic earlier today,
after reports that a Russian submarine
was spotted off shore.
- [Lee] Okay, let's check it out.
- [Reporter] Injured in a series
of automobile accidents.
- Jackie, back up.
- [Reporter] In other news, the joint-
(birds chirping)
- Hi. Hi, remember me?
I'm Susie Barker.
The Fredericks hired me
to look after the horses
and take care of the kids.
You're Dr. Briscoe.
We met a while back.
Is Lois around?
- She's busy. Can I help you?
- Uh, could I come in?
It's getting weird out here.
- [Lee] We thought it might.
- Well, could I come in?
- Sorry, no. And I have
to ask you to move on.
This is private property.
- What is this? I can
get the sheriff you know.
- To do what?
- Look, could I just come in?
Mrs. Fredericks will vouch for me.
- Sorry, I have to ask you to leave.
(car horn honking)
- Lois.
Lois.
Lois.
- This is only the horn wires.
If I take out the
distributor, you're on foot.
And if things are as bad as
you say they are out there,
you won't get very far.
[Susie] You cold son of a bitch.
(gentle music)
- Huh?
- What?
- You smell that?
- Oh, gross.
Stinky, stinky Megan
Stinky, stinky Megan
Stinky, stinky Megan
- What's going on?
- Megan wet the bed.
- I told mom she was too young.
- I am not.
- I don't care who wet what.
Shut up all of you.
- You're not my mom.
- Yeah.
- I wouldn't want to be,
but I'm in charge until
my brother gets back
and I'm meaner than he is.
Good.
Now let's get some water
and help Megan wash out her sleeping bag.
- [Child] Oh, gross.
(emergency broadcast alarm blaring)
- The radio. Jackie!
Jackie! The radio.
Maybe it's the kids on the on the CB.
- [Jackie] No, no, it
doesn't have the range.
- [Lois] Let's try, come on.
- [Announcer] This is not a test.
Repeat, this is not a test.
- It's the AM.
- [Announcer] This is the
emergency broadcast system
operated by the authority of
the United States government,
and with the cooperation of
broadcasters in your area.
I repeat, this is not a test.
You are requested to stay tuned
to this station for emergency information.
Pursuant to executive order 11490,
the President of the United
States has authorized
the implementation of the
emergency broadcast systems.
At 11:00 Eastern Daylight Time,
the President of the United
States signed an executive order
declaring a national emergency.
The federal emergency
crisis relocation program
is to be implemented immediately.
This means the systematic, orderly
and non-panicked relocation
of our population,
from urban to rural host areas.
Host area destination cards are available
at your local station or federal building.
- Evacuation. They're
evacuating the cities.
- [Announcer] We now switch
to you local EBS authorities,
who will provide regional
information on evacuation plans.
- Got to hand it to you.
- [Announcer] Please leave your
receivers on and above all-
- You've been right about this thing
all the way down the line.
- I'm not very proud of it.
- [Announcer] Reasonably,
and without panic.
- [Kirk] Hey, what are you doing?
- We've got to get the kids.
I've looked it up on the map
and there's a back road we
can take to the cut off.
- We can't risk it.
- Risk it? What are we
involved with all this for.
- Lois.
- What are we surviving for?
Aren't we involved in
this for the kids as well?
- For God's sake-
- I think she's right,
what is the point of all of this?
- Don't panic, dammit, any of you.
The point is we haven't
got enough information yet.
What is evacuation going to do?
Can we travel?
What kind of fire power do we need?
- We're gonna go, but first we've got
to monitor the local broadcast,
find out what the hell
is going on out there.
- [Jackie] All right,
maybe I can get something
on this radio.
- [Reporter] Information to
the Los Angeles base. The-
(suspenseful music)
- [Lee] Can't travel in LA on a good day,
it must be hell down there now.
(suspenseful music)
(engine roaring)
- [Marianne] No, no, stop.
(dramatic music)
- Where is she?
- She went right through the
field, toward the meadow gate.
- Oh, god, the mines. Go without.
- She's got all the car keys.
- The old pickup truck, it's in the barn.
(dramatic music)
(keys beeping)
(suspenseful music)
- Come on, baby.
Eight, four, seven, six. Don't panic.
(suspenseful music)
I can't turn the mine field off.
- [Jackie] Do you have it?
- No, get the manual.
- Why did we ever decide to
put mines in here anyway?
- What mines? Kirk's got 'em off for sure.
- It's the seven.
The seven won't come up.
I should have cleaned the contacts.
(suspenseful music)
- [Jackie] Give me this.
- Alternate code, in the back section.
- Can't you reprogram this?
- Hurry.
- [Kirk] That's what I'm trying to do.
(suspenseful music)
- Oh my god, Lois.
- [Marianne] Oh my god.
- Oh my god.
(somber music)
- [Harry] Son of a bitch!
- Don't move her, Harry. Watch her neck.
Any pain there, any pain?
- No.
- All right.
(suspenseful music)
You're all right. Can you walk?
Just hang on to me now.
You're okay here.
- She looks okay.
- At least she's walking.
(Lois moaning)
- Fear not, fair damsel,
I shall retrieve your map.
(suspenseful music)
(explosion booming)
- Harry!
(Marianne sobbing)
(pensive music)
- How's Harry?
- Shattered his foot and his ankle.
Lee's a good doctor.
He says he'll recover.
The ah, what do you call
it. The mine was a dud.
Otherwise it would have killed him.
- Yeah.
- Are we doing the right thing, Kirk?
(pensive music)
- Ask Lee.
- I know his answer. He's always certain.
(gentle music)
Lee was never in the service.
He says he was just between wars,
just too young for Korea,
just too old for Vietnam.
What is it, about men and war, Kirk?
- I don't know.
- Does every generation have to fight one?
- I don't know.
I don't know.
- [Officer] You cooled down, kid?
- [Eric] Look, I'm sorry.
How long before I go to court
or before I can make a phone call?
- Phones don't work, priority
calls only, government rule.
As for a judge, I don't
think you'll be needing one.
- Huh? Look, I've got rights now.
You've got to give me a trial.
- If you insist, but I
thought I'd just let you go.
- What?
- Hell, Wilford don't
want to press charges
and I ain't got time to look after you.
The world's going to hell out there,
you think I want to look after
some kid thieving auto parts?
Besides, you've got
kinfolk to get to, right?
- [Eric] Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.
- [Dispatcher] 482.
- [Dispatcher] 482.
- It's all here.
- Want to sign this receipt?
(radio chattering)
- Look, there isn't any way
you could make him sell
me that pump, is there?
- You don't ask a lot do you?
Look, let me tell you something,
the world may be crazy
as a pig on loco weed,
but that don't mean I can tell any man
how to sell his property.
Until the Russians get here
and hang out their shingle,
and got forbid I see the
day, this is still America.
And America means a man can sell his goods
any way he chooses, all right?
Now, get out of here.
(phone ringing)
Sheriff's office.
You just sit tight, Shirley,
there ain't no commies on Main Street.
I don't care what the parson's wife said.
I'm the Sheriff, I'd know.
(suspenseful music)
Hell, Shirley, there's lines halfway
around the block in Center Market.
You can't expect me to bust
in on all those people.
(suspenseful music)
(phone whirring)
Anyone, fightin' word, fightin' words
(car horn blaring)
(upbeat music)
- Ma'am, odd numbered plates today.
Yours ends in 4.
It's the last number.
Would you just make a U-Turn
and come back tomorrow?
Ma'am, if we get out of this one alive,
I'll sign a letter to your congressman.
(radio chattering)
Hey kid.
- [Eric] Me?
- [Officer] Yeah, kid
generally means minors.
- Yes, sir.
- Where are you going?
- I have a van full of kids up the road.
Do I need odd numbered plates?
- No, but let me see your
host area destination card.
Host area ID.
It gives your evacuation destination.
You do have one?
- Look, I'll get one
when I get to my family.
I've got a van full of kids waiting on me.
- [Officer] I'm sorry,
but you've got to go back
to your home city and obtain a card,
otherwise you can't travel.
- Look, I've got a van full of kids-
- [Officer] You've got to get a card
or you've got to get arrested.
(radio chattering)
Hey, Joe, you've got to
count on these cards.
Hey, stop!
(upbeat music)
(tires squealing)
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
(tires whooshing)
(upbeat music)
(officer groaning)
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
- [Announcer] The United States
government has taken over
all communication linkups.
- [Kirk] What's this?
- [Announcer] However the BBC was able to-
- Short wave.
Radio is full of evacuation information.
You can't get any real news.
- [Announcer] In some cities,
local government officials refuse
to implement evacuation plans.
(birds chirping)
- Is it gonna work?
- Yeah, is it gonna work.
- Quit copying me.
- I'm not.
- [Kimmy] Shut up you guys.
- Do you think your dad likes blue ones?
- Nah, he's too cool.
(engine puttering)
(children cheering)
- [Megan] Yeah.
(alarm blaring)
- Lee, someone's coming.
- That's Virgil Griffin's truck.
(quirky music)
What the hell does he want?
(bright quirky music)
(Virgil burping)
- Throw that thing away,
we're on official business.
- Maybe Doc up and died in there.
- Maybe we could get
custody of his old lady.
- (laughing) I'd, I'd,
I'd like to get custody
of some of that.
(both laughing)
- What do you think happened over there?
- I don't know.
Why don't, why don't we go try
to get your cousin's airplane,
and, and, and then we can fly over?
(imitating plane droning)
- Oh, shut up, Ernie!
Just you let me do the
talking, I'm the deputy.
Hi, Doc.
- Hello, Doc.
You didn't, you didn't say
nothing about being social.
- What brings you up here?
- Ah, I thought somebody needed a tow.
- Well, official business, Doc.
Sheriff Klauson deputized
me and a few others.
Expecting trouble in town.
A lot of city folk pouring in.
I guess you heard there's a war on.
Well, Old Swede, he sold
all his gas in town,
and the sheriff, well, it ain't no secret
we helped you stash 1,000
gallons up here last summer.
- And?
- And the sheriff
deputized me to come and,
what you call it, appropriate
some for the town emergency.
- You know, I'd certainly give it to you
if you had something official,
but, uh, under the circumstances.
- [Virgil] What the hell are you gonna do
with all that gas anyway?
- Son of a bitch, never did
anything for this town anyway.
- Shut up, Ernie.
It's your last word, Doc.
- A word from Sheriff Klauson might help.
- He's dead.
- [Virgil] Ernie, for Christ' sake,
will you shut your God damn mouth.
- That before or after
he deputized you, Virgil?
- You wait, you son of a
bitch, you just hold it.
(bright music)
(guns firing)
- [Lois] You didn't have to fire, Jackie.
- Yes, I did.
- They fired at me, she
did the right thing.
- [Kirk] You were out of range.
- It's done. They're hostile.
We mount a guard tonight
and nobody misses weapons
practice tomorrow.
- Can't we negotiate? Can't
we just give them some gas?
- Yeah, that seems practical.
- Doesn't anybody understand
what we are doing here?
Doesn't anybody realize why we are here?
Why we're safe?
- No, Lee, maybe we're stupid.
- Precisely because we are not stupid.
Because we were smart
enough to see this coming.
Smart enough to fix up a
place that was isolated
from major target areas
and fall out patterns.
Because we have our
gas, our food, our guns.
Because some of us had the foresight
and the balls to want to survive.
Can you tell me what in the
hell is wrong with that?
Look, (sighs) just
hang together until the children arrive.
- If the kids don't get
here by noon tomorrow
they probably won't make it.
- Oh god.
- Kirk.
- That is not a possibility, Kirk.
My son is a survivor.
And unless I get more
support from my troops,
he'll be the only one.
(announcer speaking in foreign language)
- [Marianne] At least take a nap.
Let me hold you, honey.
- I don't need to sleep.
I used to go 72, 96 hours
during my internship.
- [Marianne] Honey, that
was almost 30 years ago.
- I can still do it.
If you want to sleep, go ahead.
You wouldn't take a watch anyway.
- Come to bed.
We need to talk.
You need your sleep.
- On the contrary,
somebody's got to stay awake.
(Marianne sighs)
(gentle music)
- They told me I shouldn't
try to have another,
but God we wanted a girl.
She was a broached birth,
poor blue little baby.
- I've thought about
having babies. (laughs)
But I'm afraid.
- Afraid?
- Of this.
Exactly this. Bringing a
baby into this kind of world.
- Having them die from the bomb?
- Having them not die.
- [Kirk] Dammit.
- [Announcer] Driving in Poland
and strikes by soldiers and
other war-torn countries.
- Boy, this, Jackie, could you bring me
some light over here?
I can't see a damn thing.
- [Reporter] Continue their-
- Oh no, this disk is damaged,
we should have made a backup.
You never think.
(gentle music)
(match whooshing)
- [Harry] Must be it.
Must be a God damn bomb.
- No, Harry. I think the
lights go on, not off.
Real bright light.
- Very cheerful.
- (laughs) Hey, we count on you for jokes.
- [Reporter] From the Israeli-
- Kerosene for lights.
Should use electricity only
for the radios and computer.
- If it works.
- Why shouldn't it work?
- The minefield program disk is destroyed.
I had to deactivate the entire system.
(radio chattering)
- Sorry, Kirk, but good.
- The alarm system still works,
but I don't know how reliable it is.
- [Jackie] Shit.
- [Reporter] A complete failure.
(dramatic suspenseful music)
(sausage sizzling)
- [Kirk] Is that on the
list? It's way past dinner.
- No, Harry was hungry.
I figure he needed his strength to heal.
- Well maybe he's not gonna heal.
Maybe we should start thinking
about saving his portions.
I shouldn't have said that.
(gentle music)
- I'm hungry.
- [Kimmy] You're always hungry.
- I'm starving.
- [Eric] I told you, we're not stopping.
- Why can't we stop?
- [Kimmy] 'Cause Eric said so.
- Harry, I've got some candy you can have.
- Jackie?
- Yes?
- [Marianne] Could you try
the kids on the CB again?
- I just tried them a half hour ago.
If they're not in range
they're not in range.
- I just thought that-
- Thought what?
That I'm not trying hard enough?
That I'm a shitty mother.
Somehow because I don't cook
and because Harry and I
don't get along so well.
Because I spend more time
at my job than at the PTA.
That somehow I'm less
of a wife and a mother?
- I didn't say that.
- Let me tell you, Lois Fredericks.
I'm tired of your opinions.
We were supposed to be
able to have it all.
Well I went and I got it.
I'm tired of your jealousies
and your intimations
that I can't handle this.
- Wait a minute.
You made your choice and I made mine.
- Jackie, that's what the
women's movement is all about.
Choices.
- (scoffs) The women's movement.
I'm on the God damn front
lines of the women's movement.
Here you are getting
ahead lying on your back.
(Marianne scoffs)
You two want to use the radio?
You go right ahead.
If you can figure out how.
- Cute.
Okay. (sighs)
(gentle music)
- [Jackie] Harry?
You asleep?
- I am.
- [Jackie] How are you feeling?
- How's everybody out there holding up?
- (sighs) I'm really worried about Kirk.
He, uh, he's plugged into those machines.
They're only machines.
- Did you ever know him
to be any different?
- No, I guess not.
- [Harry] You're worried about the kids?
(gentle music)
- Harry, I never wanted it to be
this way between us.
When I met you, you were
so big and funny looking
and so good.
And I loved you very much.
- [Harry] I can change, honey. (sighs)
- I can change, honey?
What, Harry? Brands?
(alarm blaring)
- [Kirk] Some kind of
scaling ladder, I think.
- How many people?
- [Kirk] I can't know that.
- Let's go, Kirk.
We'll bring our weapons.
- Warning shots. We don't know who it is.
- We can guess.
Jackie, I want you at the
front door, Lois at the back.
If you don't get three
flashes like this, shoot,
and not just to warn, Lois,
because it won't be us.
All right? Let's go.
(suspenseful music)
(owl hooting)
- [Kirk] What is it?
- Sh! Sounds like something
about 50 yards that way.
(owl hooting)
(suspenseful music)
- I think I see it.
- Shh, listen.
Over there.
(gun firing)
Damn.
You hit something.
Let him lay, if he can get back,
it'll be a lesson to the others.
- Lee, I hit somebody, I'm gonna check.
- It's too dangerous, head back.
- Lee, I hit someone.
- [Lee] Come on.
(somber music)
- [Kirk] Lee, it wasn't my fault.
(gun firing)
They're shooting back.
(crickets chirping)
- [Lee] He thought it was
gonna be a picnic. Shit.
He was with me.
He bought the mines,
he designed the system.
(Marianne screams)
- [Jackie] Jesus.
- [Lois] Susie.
Lee, get your bag.
Lee, get your bag.
- I can't.
- What?
You can't what?
- My skills for our people.
- Oh. This woman is my friend.
She's teaching our children how to ride.
She's badly hurt.
- We have been over this.
We agreed that some hard
decisions might have to be made.
We agreed that a kind of
triage might be necessary.
We agreed to survive.
There is just so much food, Lois,
so much medicine, it is not for outsiders.
- [Lois] You're crazy.
- [Marianne] I didn't agree.
- [Lee] You married me.
- That's another issue.
This woman's hurt.
Give her my share of the medicine.
- You may need it.
- Lee, I may not want to survive.
Give her my share of the medicine.
- We can't.
- We can. Marianne hasn't
voted her share yet.
- But we need a surgeon.
- Hell with him. I was a nurse.
I can take out a bullet.
- Look, dammit, we agreed. No outsiders.
What if our kids need
medicine when they get here.
I want to vote on this medicine question.
We agreed to certain
principles of conduct.
- Principles? Don't doctors take an oath?
- You don't understand, Lois.
We can't save the whole world.
- He's right. How many
other Susies will show up.
Think about it, Lois, Lee is right.
- Honey? Can you make her move?
- Yes. Get his bag.
- I vote yes.
I'll help.
- Christ.
- Get a blanket.
- [Announcer] Without
historical precedent.
Even the Just War
Doctrine by Thomas Aquinas
could not have created the uproar
for today's papal signal.
With this message which
virtually excommunicates
any Catholic who takes part
in this present conflict,
the Pope has sent his
783 million followers
on a moral collision course
against the two largest
governments in the world.
It is a bold
and desperate political
maneuver on (indistinct).
(announcer speaking in foreign language)
- Things weren't supposed to be like this.
Everything was supposed to work.
- Honey, life works.
We just can't always control it.
(birds chirping)
(gentle music)
(engine puttering)
(birds chirping)
(gentle music)
- Lois.
You've been taking such good care of me.
- I hope, we can make
some sense of all this.
(gentle music)
I'm so sorry.
We never knew.
I thought,
when I was young,
our parents always had a year
supply of food in the attic.
Preserves, hummus, pickles in jars.
Seemed so natural when Lee proposed it.
Then, the guns, shelters.
It just got out of hand.
You never think to ask where it's going.
- I know.
It's so easy just to let it all pass by.
Like when (indistinct),
thousands of people that died.
I don't feel anything.
I'm numb.
This is too big to handle.
All those people,
halfway around the world.
(pensive music)
But now, I sure as hell
feel something for them.
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Roll your teacher overboard
And listen to her scream
(kids screaming)
(gentle upbeat music)
- Country cousin, this is city slicker.
Country cousin this is city slicker.
Anyone there? Daddy?
- Turn off should be soon. Anything yet?
- No, are we in range?
- We should be. Maybe there's sun spots.
- Trillions of brothers in the
cosmos and I get Carl Sagan.
(Eric laughs)
(gentle upbeat music)
- You and I need to talk.
- In a minute, have some breakfast.
- Now.
- Wait a minute.
- [Lois] What?
- Be quiet. I hear something.
- Let's go.
(plane engine droning)
(bright music)
- [Lois] Flying too low?
- [Lee] Those rednecks
were here yesterday.
Family owns the airfield.
- Oh shit, the reservoir.
(engine roaring)
(bright music)
Land of the free
And the home of the brave
- [Kimmy] Country cousin,
this is city slicker.
Anyone there?
Where the heck are you?
- [Reporter] Meanwhile,
administration policies.
Observers are unsure whether the action
will have any practical political impact.
There is a growing number of reports
of acts of civil disobedience
in West Germany, Italy and Spain.
And indications of peace strikes
in the United States and the Soviet.
- Kirk, you were supposed
to buy an analysis kit.
- What's the point, Lee?
We can't hide anymore.
There's no place to run.
- [Marianne] How much
bottled water do we have?
- We were counting on the reservoir.
- [Marianne] How much?
- About a weeks worth.
- Hey. Look, it's the kids.
(Lois screams)
- I told you. I told
you, Eric's a survivor.
- [Kirk] Come on, honey. Hurry.
Hurry up, get in.
(gentle music)
(engine roaring)
(all cheering)
(birds chirping)
- That's about far enough.
Don't be stupid, Doc.
Partners got a gun on the kids.
(suspenseful music)
(birds chirping)
You got one damn minute
to see those kids are okay
and then we're gonna talk eviction.
- Dad. Am I glad to see you.
- Daddy, how are you?
- Eric, what happened?
- Uh, we were, the water pump broke.
- Eric was great, Dad.
He got arrested, got a water
pump, and he got past the high-
- Kimberly, when I want to hear from you,
I will address you.
I want my son to tell me
why he arrived here with
these vermin in his van.
- They had guns.
- He didn't have any choice, Dad.
- Eric.
I want to hear from Eric.
- [Eric] Dad, I did the best I could.
(hand slapping)
- Daddy.
- A man.
I thought I sent a man
out with those kids.
Somebody I could be proud of.
What am I gonna tell him out there?
That my son couldn't cut it?
- Dad, I did-
(hand slapping)
(Eric sobbing)
- Stop that damn crying.
- Hey asshole, you're supposed
to check on these kids,
see if they're all right.
We just got them calmed down.
Listen, you've got a half
hour from right now to pack up
and get the hell out of here,
or we're gonna start
losing one of these kids
every 20 minutes that we're kept waiting.
(birds chirping)
- Well, there's got to be a plan
where we can both keep the kids
and get back here and stay safe.
- What plan?
- I don't know. Lee
will think of something.
- [Marianne] We women quit
doing our own thinking?
- It's just two of them.
We could rush the van.
- How many kids do you want to lose, Lee?
- There's got to be acceptable loss here.
Suppose we lose one child.
- Am I going crazy? This is insane.
- Lee! Lee, it's your kids.
- Every action requires risk.
I spend day after day
telling people about risk.
Should I have this operation, doctor.
What about the complications.
Suppose he dies.
You still don't understand
survival, do you?
The patients who live are
the ones who want to live.
They don't give a damn about the odds.
They hang on, despite the odds.
- Lee, you're talking about babies.
You have no right to
jeopardize their lives.
- Look, Lois, you're a parent.
You make decisions for your
children like that all the time.
What about Carl's operation?
- Whose child is it acceptable to lose?
Yours? Lois'?
Mine?
- Yours?
- Mine.
You don't just marry a man
when they come with kids.
- You're wasting time.
- We need Harry in on this.
- You're right, come on, let's get him.
- I don't know, Lois.
Asking me to inject a little
sanity into this group,
isn't that kind of like
asking the Three Stooges
to do your plumbing?
- Harry, you're smarter than you look.
- Compliments will get you everywhere.
- Well I think the war just
should never have existed
because it's so horrible.
(pensive music)
- I don't want bombs to kill us.
- You won't even feel it.
- It won't happen, it can't.
- Megan, are those guys going to kill us?
- No. No way.
You must be warm in that bag.
- I'm okay.
- Come on, get out of that
bag, come over here with us.
- No. I mean, I'm okay.
- (laughs) He wet his pants.
- [Peter] Harry!
- [Kimmy] Come on stupid, nobody cares.
- Come on.
- I sure don't.
(birds chirping)
(quiet tense music)
- I don't know what you're talking about,
that's not gonna work.
- Oh my god. The half hour is up.
If we can't make a decision,
let's at least get down there
and we'll think of something on the way.
- All right, now look.
We're gonna take the high
ground near the meadow gate
where we won't be as vulnerable
and we can still watch the van.
- [Lee] Let's go.
(gun firing)
- You didn't have to do that.
You nearly scared them
half out their wits.
- They're gonna be more than scared
if their daddies don't get out here
in the next 30 seconds.
- Right, right on time.
- [Virgil] What the hell are they up to?
Son of a bitch.
(gun firing)
- What are we gonna do now?
- Shut up and let me think.
If they're shooting,
I don't want to be sitting
next to this tank of gas.
Who knows how they shoot.
- Well, they're, they're not
gonna fire at their own kids.
- I wouldn't put it past that Doc.
We'll be a lot safer over there.
Then we can cover this van
and still be far enough away from it.
- [Ernie] Good thinking.
- We'll grab the girl for cover.
(Megan screaming)
- All right, your little
bastards, stay here.
We've got you covered.
If you try to get out, we're
gonna shoot the gas tank.
And, uh, you know what happens then.
- [Carl] No.
- [Kimmy] That was a
rhetorical question, Carl.
- [Ernie] Watch.
(glass crashing)
(gun firing)
(steam hissing)
So stay put.
Except you.
- [Kimmy] They've got Megan!
(gun firing)
- I don't know, Virgil,
I'm losing a lot of blood.
- It's your own God damn fault.
- Serves you right, you know.
- Shut up, you little brat.
- [Virgil] It's nothing but a little cut.
- (groans) I just, I just wish we were,
I just wish we were out of here.
- Not until we got what we came here for.
- Ah, whatever that was.
- [Joe] This is Joe Stevenson in New York.
An immediate cease fire
was declared moments ago
in a joint announcement released
by the White House and the Kremlin.
Both nations have agreed to continue
around the clock negotiations
to further deescalate
the world wide crisis.
I repeat, the White House and
the Kremlin have announced
an immediate cease fire.
It is believed-
- Thank God.
- [Joe] That a world wide outpouring
of peace demonstrations-
- I've got to tell them.
- [Joe] Riots and mass desertions-
- They'll stop. For
the kids, they'll stop.
- [Joe] From combatant forces leaders
from both the United States
and the Soviet Union.
- It's over.
- [Lois] Stop, Harry, watch out.
- It's over!
- Wait, what is he saying?
- Harry, stop!
- Stop.
- It's over.
- What are they up to now?
- Stop! It's over.
- Stop Harry.
- [Megan] Daddy.
(gun firing)
- Harry!
- Oh God.
- You shot him, you shot him.
- [Jackie] Will he live?
- [Lee] If I can get the bullet out.
- It's over. It said on the radio.
The war is over.
- Fine, Harry, it will be all right.
- Of course it's a trick.
The Russians know English,
they're broadcasting in English.
- No, no, I heard.
- All right.
- It's propaganda, Harry.
Just waiting for us to lower on guard
on everything we've
got here and then wham.
- But maybe?
- No, no, no maybes.
No maybes.
(guns firing)
(women gasping)
- We can't just sit here.
- What are we gonna do without guns?
(gun firing)
- None of you understand.
Goddamn suburban panty waists!
Jackie knows them. I can teach Jackie.
We've got food. We'll live.
Drop that, Kirk.
- I was planning to.
It's over, Lee.
It makes no sense.
- Makes no sense.
That's what they taught you
in the Coast Guard, Coast Guard, eh?
God damn big hero. Understands war.
- You're right.
I understand war, and I
know when they're over.
This one's over.
It was over for us before it began.
- [Lee] God damn traitor.
There will be no cowards in my army.
(gun firing)
(blow thudding)
(ominous music)
- No, wait.
Stay back.
- [Megan] Daddy, daddy.
(gentle music)
(birds chirping)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(pensive music)
(gentle pensive music)
(gentle upbeat music)
(gentle music)
(gentle music)
(bright upbeat music)