Maple Street, U.S. A...
A suburban community on a pleasant Saturday afternoon.
But in a few moments, everything will change...
for the residents of Maple Street...
as they discover that the monsters they fear...
may already be among them.
OK, so, holiday decorations up after Thanksgiving...
and down on the sixth of January.
Great. Is there any other business?
I'm... I'm a little confused about the decorations.
People are just going to put up anything they want?
No, no, no, look. Everybody gets to decorate...
it's just that you get to decide...
whether you want snowmen or, say, wise men.
Oh, but it's so nice...
when all the houses look the same.
If everybody used white lights...
and maybe a wreath on their door...
with some nice red ribbon?
Yeah, what shade of red? Tomato or fire engine?
I'm glad to see you're enjoying yourself, Will...
but the rest of us...
actually care about how the neighborhood looks.
Yeah, well, let's not drag this out.
Some of us would also like to go home...
and watch the football game.
I'm sorry. It's just that...
when Brent and I lived on the base...
everything was so uniform.
I'm sure the base was nicely decorated.
You're not living on the base now, Phyllis.
Anyway, we're a little short on numbers.
Can we really make a decision without a quorum?
My opinion, they don't care enough to show up...
they get no say in the matter.
It's not that they don't care.
It's the soccer finals this afternoon.
Over half the families in the neighborhood...
have kids that are playing today.
I know it's a radical idea...
but we could reschedule the meeting.
My kids are in the soccer final, too, and I'm here.
These meetings are on the third Saturday of each month...
and that's been...
Set in stone?
Agreed upon.
Now, Holly will type a notice about the decorations...
and we will notify everybody.
Any other business?
Yeah, the... the new family at the end of the street...
that fence they built...
The chain link fence.
Well, it's unsightly and unfriendly.
Yeah, well, that family's a weird bunch.
Did you guys notice...
they were the only ones on the block...
that did not fly a flag on Veteran's Day?
They just moved in, Dylan.
Maybe they hadn't unpacked their flag yet.
Come on, Will.
There were plenty of flags on sale down at Home Depot.
They could have picked one up.
And you notice they're not here?
Maybe they're at the soccer game.
No, their kids aren't on the team.
I got the list when I tried to make this lug...
join the league.
No new names.
So, they aren't at the game...
and they couldn't be bothered to show up here, either.
Did anybody invite them?
Has anybody even talked to them?
I wanted to include...
a "welcome to the neighborhood" in the newsletter...
but nobody came up with their name.
I'm sure that if we make them feel welcome...
they'll be more than happy to participate.
OK, um, I will send them a note.
Now, if there's no other business...
Hey, my game died!
Aah!
What was that?!
You're traveling to another dimension...
A dimension not only of sight and sound...
but of mind.
A journey into a wondrous land...
whose boundaries are only that of the imagination.
You're entering...
- Was that an earthquake? - No, a sonic boom.
A sonic boom might shatter a few windows...
but it wouldn't knock out power.
Whatever it was knocked out power...
to all the houses on the street.
Did the power go out before the boom?
What difference does that make?
Well, sound has to travel.
Whatever it was could have happened miles from here.
Maybe a transformer blew.
We had a generator on the base...
for emergencies like this.
What about that thing with the cell phones...
before he power died? That was weird.
Yeah, mine's still not working. Anybody else's?
No. Nothing. Not even any little dots.
This is just like /D4/
/ndependence Day, the movie with Will Smith.
Aliens invade the world and blow everything up.
Can it, Jason.
Brent called me this week to warn me.
He said we went on Orange Alert 2 days ago.
What the hell does that mean?
Brent, he's overseas.
He says there's been chatter on the terrorist networks.
He says we have to be watchful.
There's a difference between watchful and paranoid.
People are getting reported to the government...
for buying pita bread.
Maybe they should be reported.
I mean, if somebody had been paying attention...
when Timothy McVeigh bought all that fertilizer...
Explain to me how buying pita bread...
is gonna help you make an explosive device.
It's not how they use it.
It's that they use it.
In my opinion, you know...
shows, you know, they're not from here.
Why would a terrorist...
want to attack our neighborhood?
There's the reservoir.
That's right.
You see, it's not just for sailing your fancy boat on.
That's the water supply for the whole county.
Well, until I know what's going on...
I'm gonna get my kids from the soccer field.
I'll go with... my kids are there, too.
I'm gonna stay here.
Be watchful.
It won't start.
Nothing happens. It won't even turn over.
I'll try mine.
I think we should walk over to the soccer field.
Who's coming with me?
Tyrone, it's 15 miles.
There's no reason to believe...
the cars aren't working over there.
Maybe everybody's on their way back here right now.
That's easy for you to say, Holly.
You don't have any kids.
Brent told me about electromagnetic pulses.
They cover huge areas...
stop computers from working, stop power from working.
All our cars have computer chips in them.
That would explain...
why my son's game thing stopped working...
and the cell phones.
What causes that, solar flare?
Terrorists!
They'll knock everything out, then invade!
That's it. I'm getting my gun.
Whoa, let's not panic.
Whoa, whoa, no. Come on! Come on!
Now, our cars aren't working, our phones aren't working...
and there's nothing on the radio but dead air...
and what about the explosion? Did we imagine that?!
Let's, OK, let's just...
not go pulling out our guns, OK?
There's no invasion, there's just us.
We're all friends.
Yeah, we are friends...
but what about...
What about them?
What about the newbies? They haven't come out.
The only family that ever put up a fence on Maple Street.
So what?
So it's weird.
Your power's dead, your phone's dead...
your neighbors are standing in the street.
You don't go outside...
to find out what's happening?
Unless maybe you already know.
That is quite a leap to make, Dylan.
I'm sure they're just scared.
Scared people band together.
Maybe someone should go and see if they're OK.
I'll go.
Find out what they know.
I'll go with him.
So, first they move in in the middle of the night.
So?
So they want to keep us from seeing what they're doing.
Who moves in the dark?
Maybe they moved from far away.
Oh, yeah, like, uh...
Like lowa.
Let me do the talking.
Hey, Marshall...
we are not at work...
so do not talk to me like I work on the line.
Sorry.
Dylan, come on, these people are ready to panic.
You and me are the only ones...
with a head for emergencies here.
We don't want these people...
flying off the handle, all right?
Hi, I'm Will Marshall, your neighbor.
I'm just checking to see if everything's OK.
Come on, open the damn door!
What the hell you doing in there?!
What?
Would that make you open the door?
Let's go.
It's so quiet.
It's creepy.
On Saturdays, people have their music cranked up...
football games blaring, or something.
It is weird how they hole up in there.
They just want to be left alone, sweetie.
It's still a free country.
I know that!
Stop acting so smug...
like you're the only one that knows what's going on.
No wonder we don't fit in here.
You act so above everyone.
You want to fit in with people like Phyllis...
who's afraid to do anything unless it's approved...
by a military committee or Dylan...
who's afraid his sperm count'll drop...
if he actually used his brain for 5 minutes?
They're our neighbors.
You wanted to move here, honey. I didn't.
I thought it was a good place to settle in...
to start a family.
It is.
And we will.
We'll keep trying.
I'm scared.
Something little disrupts our life, and...
nobody takes it in stride anymore.
Maybe the way the world is right now...
we can't help but react that way.
But I don't want to be like that.
OK. Let's not be.
I thought we were gonna be doin'...
something useful, like setting up...
a perimeter, finding weapons...
getting ready to defend ourselves...
protect our families!
We don't know yet if we're under attack.
If we haven't been attacked, then where is everybody?!
And why are they just leaving us here...
to fend for ourselves?
The government will do something.
My husband... you know he's a captain.
He'll send someone, and they'll rescue us.
Shut up, Phyllis!
They got their hands full at Ground Zero.
The rest of us are left on our own.
Nobody's coming!
I thought you were gonna help.
Stop patronizing me!
You idiot, you're scaring everyone.
What did you call me?
You don't want me to think you're a jerk...
then stop acting like one.
Dad!
Unhh!
Look.
They've got power.
And a car.
Bet he came back for his family...
'cause he knew it was gonna happen.
Look, they'd have to be pretty stupid terrorists...
to let us know they're the only ones...
with electricity.
Their house could be a beacon...
to show the terrorists where to bomb.
If they're after the reservoir...
Well, then they'd die with us.
But that's what terrorists do.
Brent says we don't understand their methods.
We wouldn't sacrifice ourselves, but obviously they would.
Look, these people are perfectly happy...
to blow themselves up with a bunch of kids.
They could be up to anything.
Hey... Simon and Jeff. Where are they?
Do you think... That guy...
had to drive right by them or...
That's it. I'm goin' up there.
Put the gun away. I'll go talk to them.
They didn't let you in the last time you tried.
Well, I won't leave until they talk to me this time.
Look, I don't think they're terrorists...
but I'm sure we'd all feel a lot better with some answers.
All right?
Will.
It's all right.
I'll be right back.
I think I should go over there.
Give them a minute. They're just talking.
Seem awful friendly to me.
Look, everything's fine.
He's not a terrorist.
He works on the night shift for an electronics firm.
The family has a plan that if there's trouble...
if there's a problem...
he's not home, they don't open the door.
W-what about his car? What about the electricity?
They don't know about it. They don't have...
They don't know why that is. But... look...
Just because they have a car that works...
and electricity doesn't make him a terrorist.
Look, they offered to come outside.
I told them not to.
Not in this environment.
You what?!
What the hell are you doing?
You told them not to?
What are you, their spokesman?!
I told them there was a guy out here...
with a gun who was scared.
Will.
Dad, please!
You know what, Marshall?
You are real quick to defend those people.
Are you one of us or one of them?!
You know Will! He's not a terrorist.
- Holly. - It's them that you want.
We will not take the fall for them.
You think I'm a terrorist?
Huh? Do you? You think I'm a terrorist?
Who's the one with the gun?
Who's the one that's been inciting people...
from the beginning? Who's the one...
with an intricate knowledge of every terrorist bombing?
Huh?
Who's the one that brought up the idea...
of bombing the reservoir?
And what about you, Phyllis?
How come we haven't met your Captain Brent?
Where did you say he was stationed?
This is exactly what the terrorists want...
for us to mistrust each other.
We were in this together, and now we're ready...
to rip each other's heads off.
They haven't set a foot in the neighborhood...
and they've won.
Dylan, if you want to shoot, go ahead.
When this is over, you're gonna be accountable.
- Hey, Dad. - What?
Come here. Look.
W-what is it?
Dylan?
It's a spy camera...
On my house.
The guy over there works at an electronics firm?
He works at night?
He's out here on the street while we're all asleep?
He's the only one that would've done this.
- Holly. - Yeah, and there might be more.
If it's us or them, let it be them.
You said we wouldn't be like this, Holly.
Things are different now.
Hey, I just found this device...
wedged under the shutters.
Want to bet they bugged the phones, too?
They're comin' outta there, Marshall...
one way or another.
There has to be another explanation.
Then why don't you tell us what that is?
- Let's go. - Yeah, let's go.
Don't do this.
Steve...
Dave, come on!
Laurie, please.
Come on out and tell us what's goin' on!
Why aren't they coming out?
That's right!
Didn't you say they wanted to come out, Will?
Would you now?
If I were innocent, I would.
Maybe we should break in!
No good. They're probably armed.
I'll get 'em out.
Let's go, son.
- Yeah! - Come on!
Yeah!
Let's go!
- Whoo! - Come on!
Don't do this!
Stop! Please!
Get them out!
- Burn it down! - Hurry!
- Burn it down! - Smoke 'em out!
Burn it down! Burn it down!
Eat this!
So, in the event of a perceived terrorist attack...
isolated communities will sustain themselves for...
5 hours.
Do you think they meant to leave the power on...
at that one house?
Beats me. Tell you one thing...
if the other civilian security tests went like this...
we're all in trouble.
It isn't enough...
for a sole voice of reason to exist.
In this time of uncertainty...
we're so sure that villains lurk around every corner...
that we will create them ourselves if we can't find them.
For while fear may keep us vigilant...
it's also fear that tears us apart...
A fear that sadly exists only too often...
outside the Twilight Zone.