An experimental nerve gas is accidentally released from a defense plant in Alaska, and the aging process of everyone over 25 is speeded up to such an extent that they are doomed to die within a matter of days. As alarmed reactionary elements in Dallas turn Texas into a police state, Coel and Cilla, both under 25, set out to find a new life. After their car is stolen by a modern-day Billy the Kid, they realize that many of their own generation are simply repeating the patterns and prejudices of their elders. Eventually teaming up with four other young people, they head for a hippie commune that has been set up in an old Indian pueblo in New Mexico. After stopping at a rock concert presided over by FM Radio, the group is captured by Jason and the Nomads, a fascistic football team that is planning to destroy El Paso. The group escapes and runs into the militant middle class, led by Marshall McLuhan, who accuse them of being unwashed hippie anarchists. Fleeing once again, the group finally reaches the commune. They concede that their setup is not ideal, but they recognize that it is at least a beginning. Jason and the Nomads reappear and threaten the pueblo. Despite the commune's repudiation of violence, their leader, Quant, decrees that they must defend their home. Suddenly lightning strikes, the earth opens up, and from it come many people the family met during their journey. From an Army truck, which has driven between the opposing lines of the pueblo dwellers and the Nomads, there emerges a procession of legendary youth heroes: John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Che Guevara. Edgar Allan Poe, accompanied by his raven, appears and gives his blessing, as God is heard talking with Christ about the new world.