Robert and Janet Allison, a couple in their late fifties, spend most of the year in New York City, but during the summer, they travel to their lakefront cottage in the New England countryside. Usually, they return to the city after Labor Day. This summer, however, they decide to take advantage of the good weather in September by staying an extra month. When Mr. and Mrs. Allison go to the nearest town, which is seven miles away from their cottage, for their bi-weekly shopping trip, the townsfolk are surprised to see the Allisons staying longer than normal, but Mr. and Mrs. Allison don't think much of it. After they finish shopping, the couple returns home, where things start to go wrong. They run low on kerosene, but the man who sells it says he's all out until November; the grocer no longer delivers, so they'll have to go back into town; and their neighbors who provide butter and eggs have left. The following day, the car breaks down. Mr. Allison goes to get the mail and returns with a letter from their son Jerry, but it doesn't seem like a letter Jerry would write. When they try to call a repairman for the car, the phone lines are down. As a thunderstorm brews above, the Allisons run out of kerosene and are now completely isolated from the outside world. Convinced that someone cut the phone lines and tampered with the car, they sit outside together and await their fate.