Alice Greenly returns home from her first year of college to discover Edward, a wealthy survivalist, has purchased a home on the outskirts of her small town. At first she believes him to be an eccentric - but as atomic war breaks out, it falls to Edward to help Alice and her family to flee the irradiated wasteland that her home state has become. In their escape, they are forced to contend with the privations of post-apocalyptic life and do battle...