Worst Case Scenario

On the bank, the firefighters and R.J. debate how to help Dani and Connor. R.J. grabs a self-contained breathing apparatus that allows the firemen to breathe in smoke. Levon tries to tell him that this gear won’t work underwater, but R.J. insists that he will have enough oxygen to last for a few minutes. He dives into the water, following the line still attached to his truck.

Inside the van, Dani begins to panic as she realizes how hopeless their situation is. The open side of the van is facing down, and the windshield is too covered with debris to serve as an exit point. The door that is facing upward won’t open. Suddenly, Connor points out the window at R.J. On the surface, the firefighters desperately try to radio for help. R.J. resurfaces. He tells them that Connor and Dani are alive and then gets a crowbar and another mask.

At the church, Carla hears the call from Levon for divers and gear. Reverend Michaels comes on the radio and says that members of the National Guard are present. After a few minutes, they receive word that Coast Guard divers are on their way to the bridge.

In the control room, the engineers and Steve watch with “pride” as Matt uses his drone to fly into the basement. Following the blueprint, he moves through the corridors. They tell him that they need to see the basement, where the generators are, and then the subbasement, where the pump is. However, when he gets to the basement, they realize that it has already begun to flood. Everyone panics and starts the protocol to turn on the pumps. At that moment, alarms go off as the first generator fails. Joss yells at them to start the pump, but when they turn it on, nothing happens.

In the van, Connor asks about his family, wondering if they are sleeping. Dani does her best to comfort him, telling him that they are sleeping but won’t wake up. As she struggles to explain, she wonders how much he comprehends about death. R.J. and Boggs appear at the window with an axe and a crowbar. They try to break the back windshield but are unsuccessful. After several tries, Dani sees Boggs motion to his breathing mask and then go back to the surface with R.J. 

Dani feels herself beginning to lose consciousness. She imagines that Bri is there and then reminds herself that she has to help Connor. She looks on as he, too, begins to drift off. She does her best to keep him awake. Out the back window, she sees R.J. return, this time with a handgun.

In the control room, the engineers desperately search through manuals to try to figure out why the pump didn’t start. Finally, they realize that because they are running on generators, only vital systems are operational. In a panic, Ethan sends men to get the batteries to Reactor Two as fast as possible. However, they radio back a few minutes later, telling him that the path to the reactor is fully blocked by debris. Joss begins arguing with Ethan, insisting that he needs to make “the tough choice” (264). He tries to stall, asking how much time is left until the second generator fails, but Joss keeps interrupting him. At that moment, the second generator fails, setting off alarms. Finally, Ethan turns and acknowledges Joss. He tells her that she is right; someone has to go into the radioactive water and start the pump manually.

R.J. shoots at the back window as Dani does her best to keep Connor conscious. R.J. shatters the window and then uses a crowbar to clear away the glass. A Coast Guard diver comes in behind him and continues clearing the glass. The diver gives a breathing tube to Connor and Dani. He takes Connor first, telling Dani that someone will come for her soon. As they leave, they push off the van, causing it to shift and taking away Dani’s air pocket. She struggles to orient herself—now without air.

Ethan informs the people in the control room that someone must go into the subbasement to turn a wheel and open a sluice gate to release the water. He explains that whoever does so will be exposed to fatal levels of radiation. Without hesitating, everyone in the room immediately volunteers. After several minutes of debate, Joss declares that they will do a random drawing. However, Matt soon steps forward and tells everyone that his father should be the one to do it. He tells them that he is “the reason [that Steve is] not volunteering [and] the reason [they’re] not asking him to” (272). Everyone turns to Steve, unsure of what to say. Full of “sadness and regret” but also “pride,” Steve volunteers for the job and says that his son is “the bravest, most selfless” person he knows (272).

In the water, Dani begins to lose consciousness as she sees two divers struggling to reach the van. They finally get oxygen to her and try to move her, but her pants catch on something in the van. As the diver works to cut through her pants, Dani thinks of Marion cutting firewood and envisions sitting by the fire in her living room with Bri. When the diver finally gets her free, he turns to find Dani floating in the water, unconscious, the breathing tube out of her mouth.

On the surface, medics struggle to stabilize Connor. They tell the firefighters that they need to take him to a hospital, but Levon begs them to wait for Dani. The diver brings Dani to shore. She has no pulse, and Levon immediately begins CPR, continuing chest compressions as they transport Dani to the helicopter.

Joss, Matt, and Steve walk down the hallway together in silence. At the end, Joss steps through a door and tells Steve that she’ll be waiting for him. Steve turns to Matt and unlaces his shoe. He tells him that his fishing pole is broken because it jammed when he tied the wrong knot in the line. Now, he shows Matt how to tie the correct knot and then helps as Matt does it himself a few times. Matt tells his dad that he won’t know how to unjam the reel, but Steve assures him to ask for help, saying, “People will help [him]. Let them” (280). As Matt begins to cry, Steve hugs him.

In the control room, Ethan relays the plan to Marion. When he finishes, Marion asks who else is going to turn the wheels for the sluice door. Not understanding, Ethan repeats that Steve has volunteered, but Marion tells him that there are two wheels that need to be turned simultaneously. Ethan realizes that Joss plans on sacrificing herself and sprints from the control room.

Ethan catches up to Joss and Steve just as they step through the security doors to the basement. He pounds against the doors and reaches for his badge but can’t find it. He looks up and sees Joss pressing it to the window in the door. He begs her to let him go and save herself, but she simply presses her hand against the window as if “reminding him they’d both chosen their own paths long ago” (282). They stand with their hands pressed together for a few moments. Then, Joss turns and walks away without looking back.

At the church, the group listens as Marion updates them. One of the women asks Reverend Michaels if they should pray. He looks around the church at all the people gathered to help—at the homemade sandwiches and bandages. He turns back to the woman and asks her, “What do you think we’ve been doing all day?” (286). Everyone gets back to work.

Steve and Joss make their way into the basement. The water is ankle deep, and their hazmat suits protect them from exposure. However, the deeper they go, the less safe their suits become. As they look into the flooded subbasement, Joss thinks of her decision never to have children. She realizes that she is glad for it now, as there will be no one to truly mourn her when she is gone. However, she also feels “profoundly sad” as she realizes that no part of her will be passed on.

Steve shines his light into the subbasement. He asks her about the manual switch that could turn the pumps on, but she insists that it is flooded. However, as she looks out at his light, she realizes that debris has diverted the water, keeping a section of the subbasement dry. They see the panel on the wall, untouched. Steve confirms that if the switch works, the water will drain, and she will not have to go into the subbasement. He tells her that they should “try for one happy ending” (292).

In the helicopter, the medics desperately work on Connor and Dani. Connor’s temperature is rising slowly; he is only slightly hypothermic, while Dani’s temperature is holding in the range of severe hypothermia. They repeatedly shock Dani until they finally get a heartbeat.

The pilot tells them that they are eight minutes from the hospital. Shocked, Levon asks why they are so far out, and he is told that they are headed to a pediatric hospital that will have the equipment Connor needs. Levon tells them to go to Minneapolis General Hospital, which is much closer, but the pilot says that they may not have the right equipment for Connor. The pilot tells Levon to make the choice. Levon looks down at Connor—an “orphaned child with no one in the world to advocate on his behalf”—and at Dani—a “single mother raising a little girl to be just like her: kind, selfless, brave” (295).

When they arrive at the hospital, Dani and Connor are rushed inside. Levon holds Dani’s hand, but he is forced to separate from her once they get inside. He stays in the hall and collapses against the wall, looking up at the paintings of the pediatric hospital.

Steve makes his way deeper into the water, feeling the burn of the radiation. When he reaches the panel, the debris shifts and the water rushes in. Sparks fly from the panel, and he flips the switch—but nothing happens. As he struggles with the pain, Joss dives into the water after him. She pulls him away from the panel as her skin also begins to burn, and she realizes that he is losing consciousness.

Encouraging Steve, she makes her way over to the wheels. She positions herself and watches as Steve does the same. Then, they begin to turn the wheels. She isn’t sure if their efforts are successful, and the water continues to rise. She thinks of everyone that is affected by their actions: President Dawson, Marion, Bri, Ethan, Matt, the members of the Waketa community, and everyone else in the world who could potentially be impacted. As she tightens her grip and pulls harder on the wheel, she sees the water level stop rising.

A year later, President Dawson presents posthumous Presidential Medals of Freedom to Steve and Joss. He speaks of Joss’s decision-making and leadership and then directly addresses Matt, conveying the entire world’s gratitude for Steve’s bravery. He then brings Connor on stage, and the boy presents a medal to Dani. Levon cheers for her beside Carla, who is pregnant. Bri, Marion, and Connor’s grandparents are also present.

Matt rides his bike to the river. He ties the correct knot in his fishing line and uses the pole that Levon helped him to fix. He casts into the water, thinking of his father. In moments when his grief becomes overwhelming, he visits his mother in the graveyard, and because his father’s body was too radioactive to bury there, Matt goes fishing as a way to be with his father. He thinks of all the different emotions he feels—the good and the bad—and lets them in, feeling the tears as everything becomes “unbearable.” Just then, he feels a tug on the line and begins reeling in a fish.