The Road: Read and Watch

The Road

A father and his young son journey on foot across a post-apocalyptic, ash-covered United States, some years after an undefined extinction event resulted in societal collapse and the extinction of almost all life on Earth. The boy's mother, who was pregnant with him at the time of the disaster, died by suicide at some point after his birth.
Realizing they cannot survive the winter in northern latitudes, the father takes the boy south along county roads towards the sea, carrying their meager possessions in their knapsacks and a supermarket cart. The father is suffering from a cough. Throughout the novel, he assures his son that they are "good guys" who are "carrying the fire". The pair have a revolver but only two rounds. The father has tried to teach the boy to use the gun on himself, if necessary, to avoid falling into the hands of cannibals.
They attempt to evade a group of marauders traveling along the road, but one marauder discovers them and seizes the boy. The father shoots the marauder dead, and they flee the marauder's companions, abandoning most of their possessions. Later, when searching a mansion for supplies, they discover a locked cellar containing people whom their captors have imprisoned to eat them limb by limb and flee into the woods.
As they near starvation, the pair discovers a concealed bunker filled with food, clothes, and other supplies. They stay there for several days, regaining their strength, and then carry on, taking supplies with them in a cart. They encounter an older man with whom the boy insists they share food. Farther along the road, they evade a group whose members include pregnant women, and soon after, they discover an abandoned campsite with a newborn infant roasted on a spit. They soon run out of supplies and begin to starve before finding a house containing more food to carry in their cart, but the man's condition worsens.
The pair reaches the sea, discovering a boat that has drifted from shore. The man swims to it and recovers supplies, including a flare gun. While the boy sleeps on the beach, their cart and possessions are stolen. They pursue and confront the thief, a wretched man traveling alone. The father forces him to strip naked at gunpoint and takes his clothes together with the cart. This distresses the boy, so the father returns and leaves the man's clothes and shoes on the road, but the man has disappeared.
As they are walking through a town inland, a man in a window shoots the father in the leg with an arrow. The father responds by shooting his assailant with the flare gun. The pair moves farther south along the beach. The father's condition worsens, and after several days, he realizes he will soon die. The father tells the son he can talk to him after he is gone and that he must continue without him. After the father dies, the boy stays with his body for three days. The boy is approached by a man carrying a shotgun. The man tells the boy he and his wife have a son and daughter. He convinces the boy he is one of the "good guys" and takes the boy under his protection.

The Road

A man and his young son struggle to survive after an unspecified catastrophe results in an extinction event, which causes the death of all plant life and virtually all animal life. The man and boy travel on a road to the coast in hope that they can find safe haven, scavenging for supplies in their journey, and avoiding roaming cannibalistic gangs armed with guns.
Years earlier, the man's wife gives birth to their son shortly after the catastrophe and she gradually loses hope. When the man shoots an intruder using one of three bullets they have saved for their family as a last resort, she accuses him of wasting the bullet deliberately to prevent her suicide. Removing her coat and hat in the freezing cold, she walks into the woods, never to be seen again.
In the present, after shooting a member of a gang of cannibals who stumbles upon them, the man is left with only one bullet. Exploring a mansion, he and the boy discover people locked in the basement, imprisoned as food for their captors. When the cannibals return, the man and his son hide. With discovery imminent, the man prepares to shoot his son, but they flee when the cannibals are distracted by the escaping captives.
Further down the road, the man and boy discover an underground shelter full of canned food and supplies. They feast and bathe. When they hear noises above, including a dog, the man decides it is too dangerous to remain and they move on. They meet a near-blind old man, and the son persuades the father to share food with him. Later, the two encounter a campsite with infants' skulls on pikes. They are hurriedly moving away from this campsite when they witness a cheering mob descend upon a mother and her son in a meadow, and flee as the mob murders the two.
At the coast, the man leaves the boy to guard their possessions while he swims out to scavenge a beached ship. The boy falls asleep and their supplies are stolen. The man chases down the thief and takes everything from him, even his clothes. This distresses the boy so much the man turns back and leaves the clothes and a can of food for the thief, who has since disappeared.
As they pass through a ruined town, the man is shot in the leg with an arrow. He kills his ambusher with a flare gun he found on the ship and finds the archer's female companion in the same room. The man thinks the archer and woman were following them, but she claims it was the other way around. He leaves her weeping over the body.
Weakened, the man and boy abandon their cart and most of their possessions. The man's condition deteriorates and eventually, he dies. The boy is approached by a man with his wife, two children, and dog. The wife explains they have been following the boy and his father for some time and were worried about him. The father convinces the boy he is one of the "good guys" and takes him under his protection.