Fallout

In the pre-attack timeline, Scott’s family sits together, watching television. President Kennedy is giving an address, announcing that the Soviets have been storing nuclear weapons in Cuba and that Cuba will be quarantined from the American sphere of dominance from that point forward. That night, Scott asks his father if he can stay home from school in case the Russians attack, but his father tells him to stop worrying so much.

In the shelter, Scott begins to feel ill due to his hunger and the thick, acrid air. Mr. McGovern demands to go outside, and Scott’s father doesn’t try to prevent him. However, when Mr. McGovern tries to lift the hatch, he finds that it is blocked by something heavy on the other side. Scott’s father also tries to lift the hatch, but it is completely stuck. With resignation, Mr. Shaw announces that they are all stuck in the shelter.

In the pre-attack timeline, Mr. Kasman discusses the president’s speech from the day before, and in the following discussion, the class decides that if the Russian ships do not turn around and go home, war will commence. When the students wonder why Russia has placed weapons in Cuba, Mr. Kasman explains that the U.S. weapons stationed in Turkey are almost the same distance from Moscow as the weapons in Cuba are to Washington D.C. The discussion is interrupted when a distracted student scratches their initials into their desk, earning a scolding from Mr. Kasman.

Climbing down the rungs of the shelter, Scott’s father claims that the door isn’t fully stuck. Because they are able to raise it a few inches, it is possible to remove whatever is blocking the door. Scott’s father and Mr. Shaw dismantle one of the bunkbeds and plan to reassemble it beneath the hatch to gain the leverage they need to push the door open. In order to give themselves the strength to work, the two men eat the rest of the food. The others implicitly understand that if the door is stuck, there will be no point in rationing food, as no one will ever be able to escape.

The pre-attack timeline resumes. As the school year continues, Scott feels as if a dark cloud is descending, and the threat from the Russians hangs over everything. Scott’s mother continues to grow more distant, spending time on her own and forgetting to cook dinner for Scott and Sparky.

Left to his own devices, Scott goes through his father’s dresser looking for Playboy magazines, as Ronnie has told him that all fathers hide their magazines among their clothing. Scott searches his father’s closet and finds a green box containing a gun and bullets. Scott feels scared because this is the first gun he has ever seen, except for those worn by policemen. Scott reflects on his mother’s distraction and his father’s feverish preparations for war and feels a growing anxiety.

In the shelter, everyone listens to the sounds of Scott’s father and Mr. Shaw working to open the door. Scott, Ronnie, and Paula discuss what they will do when they get outside. Janet states that she will search for her own children. She begins to cry.

When the bunkbed is fully assembled, Scott’s father stands on the top bunk and pushes with all his strength against the trapdoor, but the wood beneath him starts to break, forcing them to devise a different plan.

In the pre-attack timeline, the possibility of war grows more imminent. Scott spends time at Ronnie’s house, playing games and watching television, and tries to control his growing anxiety. Ronnie checks to make sure that his parents are distracted, then pours a glass of his parents’ wine for himself and Scott. Mr. Shaw comes home but allows the boys to continue to drink because he is preoccupied with the coming war. When Scott gets back to his feet, he sways, feeling drunk.

In the shelter, the adults grow more despondent. When Mr. McGovern tries to criticize the choices that Scott’s father has made, Scott’s father yells at him, temporarily shocking him into silence. Scott’s father suggests reinforcing the bunkbed, which will hopefully allow them to push open the hatch, but neither Mr. McGovern nor Mr. Shaw are capable of helping. Janet, Scott, and Sparky all volunteer to help Scott’s father dismantle the other bunkbed and use its pieces to reinforce the first one.

In the pre-attack timeline, Mrs. Shaw notices that Scott has gotten drunk and chastises Mr. Shaw for letting it happen. They all sit down to dinner, but Scott is too drunk to pick up the food with his utensils, and he spills food all over himself and the floor. Ronnie, embarrassed by Scott’s behavior, insists on taking Scott home.

In the shelter, Scott’s father finally manages to disassemble the second bunkbed, and he brings it into the other room to help reinforce the first one. However, he exhausts himself while carrying the boards, and although he tries to get the other fathers to help, they both refuse, resigned to their fate. Everyone sits quietly, hugging their families close. Janet makes one last desperate attempt to convince the neighbors to help, but her plea is met with silence.

In the pre-attack timeline, Ronnie takes Scott home and makes Scott promise not to tell his parents that he and Ronnie drank alcohol. Scott agrees, feeling that the lie is harmless.

After some time, everyone in the shelter decides to make one final attempt to open the hatch. When the first bunkbed is reinforced, Scott’s father asks Scott and Ronnie to help him push on the hatch. The two boys lie on their backs and push with their feet, while Scott’s father wedges his back against the door for extra leverage.

With their combined effort, the door lifts an inch, and Mr. Shaw jams a post into the gap to keep it propped open. Cold air and light filter through the crack, and when Scott’s father tests the air for radiation, he determines that it is close enough to a safe level to risk exposure. However, a foul smell like rotting meat also comes through the gap.

Sending the children into the other room, the adults continue to pry the hatch open. Finally, a heavy object slides off the hatch, and the shelter is filled with natural light. Scott’s father takes a look outside and becomes frightened by what he sees.

The pre-attack timeline resumes. At a friend’s birthday party, Scott learns that a U.S. spy plane had been shot down over Cuba and that the armed forces are being mobilized for an oncoming war. His friend is given a telescope as a gift, and the boys use it to track planets and satellites across the sky.

When Ronnie uses the telescope, he mysteriously points it across the street instead of into the night sky. Later, on their way home, Ronnie admits that he pointed the telescope into Paula’s bedroom. Scott reacts with shock and fury.

In the shelter, the children are made to wait a bit longer as the adults clear debris away from the entrance. Both Scott and Ronnie are aware of the real reason that they must wait, implicitly understanding that the bodies of their neighbors are still in the room above them. Scott’s father drops a package of Oreo cookies and some Ritz crackers down to the children, who devour them.

In the pre-attack timeline, Ronnie wonders why Scott does not want to hear more about what Ronnie saw in Paula’s bedroom. Scott responds that he has the imminent nuclear war on his mind. Offended, Ronnie insults Scott, who returns the insult, and as they criticize each other’s fathers, the fight escalates into physical blows. Scott hits Ronnie, and the two of them fall into the street, wildly swinging and grabbing at each other.

Scott’s father emerges from the dark and breaks up the fight. He sends Ronnie home and demands that Scott tell him why they were fighting, but Scott refuses to tattle on his friend. Scott’s parents clean up his cuts and send him to bed. Scott admits to his father that he and Ronnie were fighting because of the war and the bomb shelter, and Scott’s father compares this incident to the arguments that he and Scott’s mother have been having for the same reason.

In the post-attack timeline, Scott’s father tosses clean clothes down into the shelter, then helps everybody climb out into the open air. The house is destroyed around them, and Scott knows that the lumps under sheets are the bodies of his neighbors. His father encourages him to go outside without looking at them.

Outside, the trees are bare and broken, and debris from the destroyed homes is scattered through the street. Off in the distance, Scott can see a plume of smoke, which indicates that they are not the only survivors of the nuclear war. Mrs. Shaw and Mr. McGovern apologize to Scott’s father for their behavior, and he forgives them. Scott’s father tells Scott that he is proud of him for behaving maturely in the shelter. As the novel ends, Scott smiles as he watches Sparky play in the grass.