So Far...

The Road begins after some unknown apocalyptic event has happened. The first few pages of the novel begin to explain the landscape: ash, isolation, and a long road to travel. You could say the novel alternates between two settings: the road and it ventures away from the road into houses or other possible food sources. Although The Boy and The Man suffer from exposure to the elements and starvation, they don't encounter too much danger early on.

That changes about a quarter of the way into the book. A group of  people the characters refer to as "bad guys" wake up The Man one morning. The Man tries to get The Boy and himself out of sight but they run into one of these "bad guys" who wandered off from the main group. The "bad guy" tries to take The Boy hostage (or kill him) but The Man, takes action and shoots the "bad guy" in the forehead saving his son. They escape unharmed, but a little scared.

Another really frightening event happens soon after. The Boy and The Man have run out of food and need to find some supplies. They start searching around houses they normally wouldn't explore. And they end up seeing something horrifying: a basement full of human captives being held as livestock. Whoever is living in this house is eating their way through a store of human that they had locked up in the cellar. The Man and The Boy quickly leave the house and almost get caught by the gang that lives in the house.

Not to long after our heroes have a string of good luck. Even though they nearly starve sickness begins to set in, they don't have any run-ins with evil people. Right when they're both on the verge of starvation, The Man finds an apple orchard and a well, this fed and hydrated them for awhile.

As seems to always happen, though, their food supply quickly runs out and they find themselves hungry once again. This leads to their major discovery: a bomb shelter full of canned goods and supplies. They spend a couple days here eating. But because they're sitting ducks if anyone happens to come along, they leave.