In the desert of New Mexico, the U.S. Government conducted atomic tests during the 1950s. A small group of people refused to leave their homes despite the urging of the government, and were caught in the nuclear explosions. Their descendants - a horrible, hideous band of mutated sub-humans - has survived to the present day. Just over a half-century later, an all-American family looking for a shortcut to California for a holiday is directed down a back road that is quite literally a dead end. When their vehicle's tires blow, what seems like an unfortunate accident becomes a horrifying nightmare - it was actually a trap! One at a time, these horrible sub-humans emerge from their hiding places to torture & kill the family. However, some of them - and their pets - strike back at their tormentors, and only one group will survive...