Panic in Year Zero!

1

- Thanks for the help.

- I'm sorry, Ann.

Sorry.

The kids were supposed to do the loading.

I haven't even convinced them

they're awake yet.

4:
10 in the morning.

Well, that's half the battle.

All this fuss, and for what? Fish.

- And there's the other half.

- Now we can go.

- What time is it?

-6:
15.

Any coffee left?

No, you drank the last of it

about 20 miles back.

See if you can get some music.

Probably all we'll get this early

is farm reports, maybe an exercise program.

Say, that exercise sounds interesting.

You want to park?

- Please, I'm a married woman.

- Come on.

Honestly, sometimes I think

you never got out of high school.

We go that-a-way, partner.

Lightning?

- Hope it doesn't rain.

-It came from behind us.

I'm going to check the windows

on that trailer.

That wasn't lightning.

- What's up, Dad?

-The only thing...

Maybe they're testing. Las Vegas isn't far.

No. Las Vegas is over there.

Los Angeles is in that direction.

- What do you think it is, Dad?

- The radio.

If anything's wrong,

they'll have it on the air.

Can't seem to get anything.

Wait a minute. I thought I heard something.

The time is 7:
12. Now

for the weather report.

Forecast for Bakersfield vicinity,

clear and warm.

High expected today, 90...

- None of the LA stations are on, are they?

- Not even CONELRAD?

Not even CONELRAD.

I'll stop at the first phone.

We'll call home.

Yes, I want to talk to Mother.

Klondike 4-2-1-0-6, Los Angeles, please.

I'm sorry, sir, the lines to Los Angeles

are temporarily out of order.

- All of them? What happened?

- I do not have that information, sir.

No idea at all? How come there's no radio?

I'm sorry, sir, I do not

have that information.

Thank you.

I couldn't get through.

Harry, I'd like to go back home.

Yeah. I guess we'd better.

We've had it, Dad, haven't we?

I thought when it happened, we'd all be--

Get in the car. We're going back.

I read that those clouds go up 30 miles.

Think they're that high?

- I don't know, but they're still rising.

- Looks like they're flattening out on top.

Looks like. But they're still going up.

Idiots.

- Fools.

- They nearly creamed us.

This is the Emergency

Broadcasting Network.

All normal forms of communications

appear to have broken down.

Although there has been

no official statement...

the light flashes

and the resulting cloud formations...

would indicate that Los Angeles

and surrounding areas...

have been attacked by nuclear bombs

or missiles.

I repeat, this is not

an official statement.

In order to conserve power

on battery-operated radios...

bulletins will be broadcast

at two-hour intervals.

Next broadcast at 9:00.

Stay tuned to 640 or 1240...

Good morning.

You just up from Los Angeles?

Newhall. That's on the outskirts.

I saw it.

Took a back road through Saugus.

"Got to beat traffic," I said to myself.

Must have been doing 100.

How bad was it?

I heard LA being torn apart

and watched it being tossed into the air.

- You headed that way?

- Yeah.

You'll never make it.

The roads will be choked by now.

Hurry it up there, buddy.

Picture window in a bedroom blew in

and killed her.

15, maybe 20 miles from the blast.

Killed her, you hear me? Cut her to pieces.

- Step on it. I got to get out of here.

- That'll be $4.10.

- I got no money, I had no time to get any.

- That's too bad, fellow.

I hope I'm wrong...

but there may be a lot of business

transacted like this from now on.

My first customer. Some way to start a day.

Practically pulls me out of bed,

then he slugs me for $4.

Hell, you could have stopped it.

My mother didn't raise me to be a hero,

not for $4.

That guy must be crazy.

If business is getting that tough...

-the price of gas is going up.

- I wouldn't be surprised.

- Fill up my tank, will you?

- Give me some money first.

I don't believe we can get back.

- But my mother's there.

- I don't think we can help her.

We have to go back.

If the wind wasn't from the north,

we'd be hitting fallout.

Another thing, there'll be looting

and worse. Probably started already.

- The authorities--

- How do we know there is any authority?

We can start with one basic fact:

Us. We're still alive, and others like us.

What about Grandma?

Do we just forget her?

Cut it out, will you?

I didn't ask for this, did I?

- What's the matter with everybody?

- Panic. They're panicking.

We'll never make it back to Los Angeles.

We'd better get a bite to eat.

Do you have to eat?

Why can't we just keep going?

Because I've got to talk to somebody.

They'll have a phone here.

We can try calling again.

Rick, Karen, see if you can get

a container of coffee, will you?

- Where's my eggs?

- No more eggs.

- You're lucky you got your sausages.

- The menu says eggs.

- I know, but we're out.

- This joint stinks.

You're no bargain yourself.

Let's get out of here.

There's a phone over there.

Try and get your mother again.

- Got a match?

- Yeah.

- You from LA?

- Yeah, Chatsworth.

- How was it?

- You weren't there?

It's real bad.

Blast woke me up, I went outside.

First one hit Civic Center, I think.

San Pedro and Long Beach Harbor went up

about the same time.

I hear the others were San Diego

and 'Frisco.

I see. Yes, I see.

No, thank you. I'll try later.

-$2.50 for a stack and sausages?

- That's what it says.

- The menu says $1.10.

- That was yesterday's menu.

Report me to the Better Business Bureau.

Eighty-six on ham.

We're out of white bread, too.

- That's my cue.

- What cue?

Same thing happened to me down the road.

These little spots get

used up pretty quick.

People are pouring out of LA

like lava out of a volcano.

Yeah, the second Exodus.

Take my advice,

skip the next couple of towns...

just so you can keep away from these.

- You get through?

- No.

No use waiting around here.

We're going on the trip,

just as we planned.

- The trip? Is that all you can think of?

- I'm thinking of staying alive.

If you're trying to frighten me, you're

wasting time. I'm already frightened.

That's a safe way to be.

Unlock the car.

Look, sweetheart,

two and two doesn't make four anymore.

At the moment,

it adds up to exactly nothing.

For the next few weeks...

survival's going to have to be

on an individual basis.

At the moment, we have to have food...

a way to protect it,

and a way to get more when it's gone.

What do you want to do?

Write off the rest of the world?

When civilization gets civilized again,

I'll rejoin.

It's still here.

You said civilization was still here.

Well, keep your eye on it.

Watch it unwind to a small hard core.

Then someone is going to start

putting it back together.

I want that someone to be us.

Is that wrong? Is that immoral?

We better stock in some more food.

Our best plan is to find some small,

out of the way market...

where they're not sure what's happened.

The towns along the main road

will all know.

There's a turn-off ahead.

We'll try that one.

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