Where Have All the People Gone
On a camping trip in the Sierra Nevada mountains in central California, a father (Peter Graves) and his two teenage children are exploring a cave when they experience an earthquake. After emerging, they hear from a ranch hand who was outside that there was a bright solar flash prior to the earthquake. He soon falls ill and dies, whereupon his body turns to a powdery substance. As the family comes down from the mountain to the nearest town, they discover that everyone has turned to the powdery substance inside their clothing, and there are few survivors.
Most, out of fear and survival, are out for themselves, but as they try to make their way home to Malibu (where the mother had returned earlier from the camping trip), they find two people that need their help, as well as a man who invites them to be neighbors.
They face dangers ranging from wild dogs, who seem to have been driven mad from the solar flare, to a gunman who steals their car. They rescue a woman (Verna Bloom), and later a young boy whose family was killed by two men who stole their car. Besides the physical journey, they struggle to overcome the emotional trauma of the events.
They find their way home and find a note left for them by the mother. They are informed that a virus starting after the solar flare is responsible for most of the deaths, and that some people have a genetic resistance. Jenny almost commits suicide by attempting to drown herself into the ocean waves, until she is rescued. After initial grief, they later continue with a hopeful outlook, by moving into Northern California.
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