Dawn of The Dead - Plot

Plot

Building upon the scenario of Night of the Living Dead, the United States (and possibly the world) is devastated by a phenomenon which reanimates recently deceased human beings as flesh-eating zombies, with the causes still unknown. Despite efforts by the U.S. Government and local authorities to control the situation, society has effectively collapsed and the remaining survivors are given to chaos. Some rural communities and the military have been effective in fighting the zombies in open country, but cities are helpless and largely overrun. As evident by infrequent television and radio broadcasts, the subject of what to do about the pandemic provokes heated discussion and considerable discord.

Confusion reigns at the WGON television studio in Philadelphia by the pandemic's third week, where staff member Stephen and his girlfriend Francine are planning to steal the station's traffic helicopter to escape the zombies. Meanwhile, Roger and his SWAT team raid an apartment building where the residents are defying the martial law of delivering their dead to National Guardsmen. Some residents fight back with handguns and rifles, and are slaughtered by both the overzealous SWAT team and their own reanimated dead. During the raid, Roger meets Peter, part of another SWAT team, and they become friends. Roger tells Peter that his friend Stephen intends to take his network's helicopter, and suggests that Peter come with them. The matter is decided when they are informed of a group of zombies sheltered in the basement, which they execute with grim determination.

That night, Roger and Peter escape Philadelphia with Francine and Stephen in the helicopter. Following some close calls while stopping for fuel, the group comes across a shopping mall, which becomes their sanctuary. To make the mall safe for habitation, they block the entrances with trucks to keep the undead masses outside. During the operation, Roger becomes reckless and is bitten, dooming himself to reanimation. After clearing the mall of zombies, the four enjoy a hedonistic lifestyle with all the resources available to them. As time goes by, however, they come to perceive themselves as imprisoned by the zombies, especially since Francine is four months pregnant. Peter offers to abort the child, but Stephen rejects this. The men begin to consider leaving; Stephen, now seeing the mall as a kind of kingdom, opposes the plan, but teaches Francine how to operate the helicopter in case of emergency. Roger eventually succumbs to his wounds, reanimates, and is shot by Peter. All emergency broadcast transmissions eventually cease, suggesting that civilization as they know it has collapsed.

Their ironic salvation occurs when a gang of motorcyclists, having seen the helicopter during one of Francine's flying lessons, break into and start looting the mall, which allows hundreds of zombies inside. Stephen forces a gun battle with the bikers and is shot in the arm; he tries to escape through an elevator shaft, but is cornered by the undead. As the zombies consume some of the bikers shot by Peter, the rest retreat with their stolen goods. A reanimated Stephen leads the undead to Francine and Peter. As Stephen enters their hideout, Peter kills him while Francine escapes to the roof. Peter then locks himself in a room and contemplates suicide. When zombies burst into the room, he has a change of heart and fights his way up to the roof, where he joins Francine. The two then fly away in the partially fueled helicopter to an uncertain future.