A group of five journalists document the imminent Nazi invasion of Paris. The photographer, Lucci, is in the city center, hoping to capture the ground invasion, while the others wait in an abandoned hotel. Lucci races back to the hotel, and upon his arrival, the group jumps into their car and drives out of the city. Bern, the group's only woman, is headstrong and the object of all the men's desires. Bern fancies Viktor, the Russian journalist, who she befriended in Spain, but she and Parnell, the married British journalist, are sleeping together. As the journalists head for Tours, they encounter a group of injured refugees in the middle of the road. Many of them have critical injuries from bombings, and the journalists jump out to interview the wounded. They quickly find out that Tours is unsafe and decide to drive towards Bordeaux instead. That night, although they want to keep driving, the car runs out of gas. They see a house down the road and find a man, equipped with a rifle, willing to take them in. They offer to pay for his hospitality, along with gas and food, and he agrees. Once inside, they eat and become acquainted. The man, Nicolas, was a POW in Germany during World War I, and during his time there, he became sympathetic to the Nazis. Now, he is a full supporter of the Nazis. As such, when the journalists offer him francs and pounds, he refuses. He asks for German Reichsmark, but when the journalists admit they don't have any, Nicolas asks Bern to sleep with him as payment. She refuses immediately, and Nicolas has his son imprison them in his barn. As a day passes, the group begins to starve. Frank, the American journalist, has a meltdown and as Bern comforts him, he asks her to sleep with Nicolas. Viktor, while defending Bern, faints from hunger. The men continue to berate Bern until she finally agrees. Nicolas invites them back into the house, gives them food and gasoline, and then the men wait in the car, while Bern goes upstairs. She walks outside a few hours later, limping with a cut on her lip, and climbs into the car. The group continues on to Bordeaux.