Later, when her symptoms become worse, Veronica leaves, presumably to die. William also begins to suffer from radiation sickness, and when he is near death and Sarah begins to weaken she leaves the house, bundling Catherine up against contamination. She gathers food for her from the house of the town farmer and takes her to the remote home of Johnson. Johnson has been prepared for the war, and appears unaffected by radiation sickness. During the time of the nuclear fall out Sarah has to take on the role as a mother due to Veronica saying that she is going to give up but Sarah refuses to let Veronica give up on herself.