Fallout

The post-attack narrative resumes. Upon awakening in the shelter, Scott realizes that Sparky has wet their shared bed. Unwilling to humiliate his younger brother by announcing his accident, Scott curls up and thinks about the consequences of nuclear war. He wonders what will happen to the group without water and questions how long they might be able to survive in the shelter. He also speculates as to how the societal rebuilding might take place. Scott decides that if they truly are the only people left on the planet, then Ronnie will be the one to have babies with Paula because he is taller and more athletic than Scott. After a while, Scott’s father awakens, and Scott tells him quietly about Sparky’s accident.

The narrative shifts to the previous July. Sparky and Scott watch their father and a few workers begin construction of a new addition to their house, which will include the playroom and the fallout shelter. As the hole grows deeper, Scott and Sparky ask their father about the shelter. Scott has a simplistic, uncompromising view of the world and believes that all “Americans were a good, peace-loving people” and “Russia had an ugly leader who most likely wasn’t even married and only wanted to destroy America” (64). When his father confirms that he is building a bomb shelter, Scott wonders whether or not this is a bad thing.

In the shelter, Scott and Sparky sit naked, wrapped in a blanket, as they do not have any dry clothes to change into. Scott’s father informs everyone that the group must use a bucket topped with a toilet seat to relieve themselves, with the waste dumped into a metal garbage can. Mrs. Shaw demonstrates its use, but Paula, despite her desperation, refuses to use the contraption until her mother blocks her from everyone else’s view. Scott volunteers to use it as well in order to help Sparky and Paula feel more comfortable with it. Eventually, everyone in the shelter uses the toilet, including a very reluctant Ronnie. Just then, they hear the sound of water gurgling from the pipes.

The narrative shifts to a moment earlier that summer. Scott’s father tries to explain the realities of nuclear war and the likelihood of surviving such an event. Suddenly, their mom reveals that their father isn’t going to build the shelter; Scott and Sparky are.

In the shelter, Scott’s father takes a sip of the water and gags at the taste. However, he says that the water is probably safe to drink for now. Mr. McGovern declares that they will probably have enough water for all their needs, as no one else is around to use it. This comment deeply upsets Paula.

For dinner, they all eat Spam, crackers, and stale bread, washing it down with Tang. Scott catches Ronnie’s eye and realizes that his friend wants to talk, but Scott still feels angry about their fight from the night before. Scott’s father tries the radio again but reveals that he never tested it to make sure that it worked before the bombs dropped.

The pre-attack narrative resumes. The workers have not spent long digging before the hole in the backyard comes all the way up to their chests. Feeling sorry for the men who must work in the hot sun, Scott goes to the kitchen to retrieve some iced tea for them. The men are grateful, and when Scott returns inside for refills, he finds his mother struggling to hide her own anxiety.

In the shelter, Mr. and Mrs. Shaw, as well as Mr. McGovern and Scott’s father, sit silently around the single table. Scott’s father asks whether the children want to play a game, but when Scott goes to retrieve one, Sparky pulls the blanket off, revealing Scott’s nakedness to the room. Scott is particularly embarrassed to realize that Paula has seen him naked. He sits on his wet clothes to warm them and is eventually able to cover himself, even if his clothes are soaked in Sparky’s urine.

Ronnie wants to play checkers with Scott, but Scott is still resentful over the fight and over Ronnie’s reaction to Scott’s nudity, so he refuses and thumb-wrestles with Sparky instead. The children complain about their hunger, so Scott’s father opens a can of Spam for them, despite the dwindling stores of food. Scott thinks about their situation, and within less than a day, he feels “bored, dirty, hungry, and smelly in [his] pee-stinky pajamas” (84). He wonders whether they will be able to endure the requisite two weeks that they must remain in the shelter.

The narrative shifts to the pre-attack timeline. One Saturday, Sparky comes inside the house and asks why the Shaws are in the family’s backyard, where the shelter is under construction. The Shaws quiz Scott’s parents about the hole, and Scott’s parents reveal that they are constructing a bomb shelter in case of nuclear war. The Shaws quietly leave.

Later, Scott’s mother explains to Scott and Sparky that not everyone will agree with their decision to build a bomb shelter, as some people think that nuclear war is unlikely to happen. As she explains this, she becomes upset and leaves the room. Scott’s father explains that the shelter is also a point of disagreement between the two of them, creating a rift within the family.

In the shelter, Scott and Ronnie’s fathers notice the resentment between the boys. Scott’s father explains to Ronnie’s father that the boys had a fight the night before, but he leaves the boys to explain the reason for their fight to the disapproving adults. Even though they are unwilling to explain what happened, Scott and Ronnie bond and start to grow close again due to their shared secret.

Scott and Ronnie play checkers to distract Scott from his worries about his mother’s injury. Some of the adults go to sleep, but Scott and his father stay up. Scott asks his father whether anybody outside has survived the blast and wants to know whether his mother will recover from her injury. Scott’s father cannot answer either question.

Scott and his father fall asleep at the table. After a while, they are awakened by Janet, who tells them that Scott’s mother has finally opened her eyes. However, her expression is blank, and she does not react to stimuli. This indicates that her brain injury is still severe.

The pre-attack narrative resumes. When school begins, Scott has a new teacher for sixth grade: Mr. Kasman. The principal announces that the school has installed new scratch-proof desks, and Scott witnesses a classmate nicknamed Puddin’ Belly try to scratch something into the new desks.

Puddin’ Belly and Ronnie start to play games with the new teacher. They confront him over his decision to become a teacher, as they believe that only women want to teach children. When Mr. Kasman leaves to go to the office for a minute, Ronnie, Freak O’Nature, and Puddin’ Belly spear sharpened pencils into the ceiling. When Mr. Kasman returns, the boys pretend to have been working, but when Mr. Kasman notices the empty pencil box, he realizes what the boys have done.

In the shelter, Janet recommends turning Scott’s mother over to prevent her from getting bedsores. Mr. McGovern treats Janet with condescension and dismisses her medical knowledge. When they turn to Scott’s mother, they discover that she has soiled her sheets, and Scott feels embarrassed for his mother.

The four children play Parcheesi because they are bored of checkers. Mr. McGovern confronts Scott’s father, sarcastically calling him “Herr Kapitan” because Scott’s father is rationing everyone’s food. Scott’s father demands that the McGoverns and the Shaws thank him for saving their lives, but they protest that if Scott’s father had had his way, they would all be dead upstairs.

After Mr. Kasman goes around the room and knocks all of the pencils out of the ceiling, he keeps the boys inside for lunch detention and invites them to have a conversation with him. The boys discuss their feelings about the Russians, and Mr. Kasman teaches them the definition of the word stereotype. Mr. Kasman also explains who Karl Marx is and defines communism. He encourages the boys to consider alternative perspectives before they stereotype whole groups of people.

In the post-attack narrative, Scott notices that the loudest sound in the shelter is the grumbling of everyone’s stomachs. Mr. Shaw and Scott’s father continue to argue over the food and water; Mr. Shaw wants Tang, and Scott’s father is worried that the group will run out of water. Ronnie and Scott exchange looks; they both feel strange about the simmering tension between the adults. Mr. Shaw mutters that being in the shelter is just delaying their inevitable deaths. Mrs. Shaw rebukes him, worried that the children will overhear this. Later, Mrs. Shaw complains about the temperature of the shelter and criticizes Scott’s father for not including warm clothes in his survival plans.

In the pre-attack timeline, Scott watches as Ronnie crosses the street, sneaks behind Paula, and snaps her bra strap. Paula’s bike crashes to the ground, and she runs home crying. Ronnie and Scott flee to avoid getting in trouble. Scott asks Ronnie why he did this, and Ronnie claims that snapping a bra strap is a way to determine the size of a girl’s breasts. This makes Scott uncomfortable. Ronnie asks Scott whether he has ever seen breasts before and claims that he sometimes sneaks into his mother’s room to spy on her when she changes clothes. Hearing this, Scott becomes even more uncomfortable. Ronnie solemnly asks Scott whether he is willing to die in a nuclear war before ever having seen a naked woman.