Smooth-featured Steve Randall (Steve Brodie) is a model of optimism-a gainfully employed WWII vet married to a pregnant beauty (Audrey Long) and living in a city that reflects his dreams of prosperity-until, that is, he is unwittingly dragged into a warehouse robbery. When the heist goes sour, sanguine Steve finds himself pursued by a gang of goons, led by a darkly determined Raymond Burr. Desperate sends Steve and wife fleeing to the countryside, a supposed haven from big-city woes. But in Mann's grim vision the heartland can't resist the spread of urban blight.