Plot

In a post-apocalyptic USA, a doctor/scientist infected with a new strain of parasite ends up in a small desert town, trying to find a cure.

Paul Dean has created a deadly parasite that is now attached to his stomach. He and his female companion, Patricia Welles, must find a way to destroy it while also trying to avoid Ricus, his rednecks, and an evil government agent named Merchant.—Josh Pasnak <chainsaw@intouch.bc.ca>

Set in the year 1992, ten years after a limited nuclear war as destroyed most of the USA, scientist Paul Dean has developed a new form of leach-like parasite which can grow to large portions every time it eats. Then, evil government agents storm his lab and he's forced to flee deep in the nearby desert and pursued by a "merchant" (government agent) intent on reclaiming the last two parasites Paul has. The first is in a silver container, the other is in Paul's abdomen. Paul seeks shelter in a small desert town populated by scavengers which threaten his work, while one local girl, Patrica Wells, forms an alliance with Paul to help him find a way to kill the parasite within him without killing himself, as well as find a way to kill the other one which gets loose and will soon multiply into many thousands unless killed soon.—matt-282

In the year 1992, ten years following a world-wide atomic devastation, a man in a suit spills a parasitic specimen on Dr. Paul Dean (Robert Glaudini). As the scientist is strapped to a gurney, an organism grows inside him and rips his body apart. Realizing the vision is a nightmare, Paul awakens in the front seat of his ambulance van and drives away.

A day or two later, Paul arrives at a desolate, mountain-top village. When he encounters two men raping a woman (Cheryl Smith), he shoots at the rapists with a laser gun and sets the woman free. She yells unintelligibly and escapes with one of her attackers. An old man thanks Paul for chasing the rapists away and introduces himself as Buddy (James Cavan). As Buddy prepares coffee, Paul develops a fever and excuses himself from the premises. Outside, he fights with the captive girl's attacker, killing him by piercing his stomach with a pipe.

Paul drives to the small desert town of Joshua and stops at a gas station marked with an "X" logo (for the XYREX corporation) that matches the one on his van. He gives the station attendant a handful of silver coins in exchange for $105 worth of fuel (unleaded gasoline costs $40 per gallon). Paul then asks for directions for a motel and he his directed to a decrepit boarding house owned by Miss Elizabeth Daley (Vivian Blaine). Paul attempts to give her cash for a room, but she refuses, asking instead for his gold ring or silver coins (paper money is worthless in this post-nuclear society). Upstairs in his room, he sets up his scientific equipment and falls asleep until Miss Daley knocks on his door. Once awake, Paul opens his shirt to inspect a wound festering above his navel.

Meanwhile, Mr. Wolf (James Davidson), a clean-cut member of the "Merchant" corporate organization, drives around looking for Paul. Wolf arrives at the Joshua gas station to fill the tank of his dark-colored sports car that runs on methane (liquid methane costs $35 per gallon). When the attendant questions his method of payment, the man presents a silver credit card bearing the X logo.

In Joshua, Paul visits the bar next door to the boarding house and exchanges his digital wristwatch for a cup of canned soup. A gang of young rebellious outcasts and their leader, Ricus (Luca Bercovici), enter and bully Paul until a young woman named Patricia "Pat" Welles (Demi Moore) arrives to deliver a bag of lemons for the bar owner, Collins (Al Fann). Ricus tells Collins about the "X" tattoo on his arm which he obtained while working for the Merchant corporation in the suburbs.

In the boarding house, Miss Daley briefly sneaks into Paul's room and inspects the medical equipment and scientific books about parasites. She quietly leaves just before Paul arrives back. Feeling sickly, Paul returns to his room and injects a fluid into his throbbing wound.

Back at the bar, Ricus advances on Pat, but Collins comes to her defense wielding a gun. The gang discovers supplies in Paul's van, raid his room, and take him captive to a warehouse. One of the gang, Zeke (Tom Villard), opens the canister and unknowingly releases the parasite that has been ailing Paul. Ricus and his gang brutally beat Paul unconscious. The scientist awakens hours later to find himself in Pat's care.

Meanwhile, Wolf travels back to the small mountain town where he confronts and severs Buddy's right hand with a laser beam gun for lying about Paul's whereabouts. Wolf then travels to Collins' bar and drinks a glass of lemonade made from Pat's lemons. He questions Collins about a man that he is looking for, and Collins directs Wolf to Paul's room. After looking around Paul's room, but finding nothing of importance to him, Wolf leaves.

Paul awakens again and insists on returning to town for his equipment. Pat tells Paul that she could have moved to the city following her father's death, but she was afraid of being enslaved in a Merchant work camp.

Wolf returns to the gas station to ask about Paul before barging into Miss Daley's boarding house and demanding a room for the night.

In the warehouse, the gang members surround Zeke, who lies with a large, leech-like creature attached to his chest. The parasite gnaws on Zeke's collarbone, but Ricus is unable to cut it loose.

Outside, Wolf watches as Paul picks up his supplies and drives away with Pat. As he follows them into the desert, the gang stops him and attempts a robbery. Wolf uses his laser gun to intimidate them, and escapes.

As Paul and Pat carry his equipment to her house, he explains that he sustained his infection after creating a new strain of parasite for the government, which was working with the Merchants. He expects the dormant parasite to grow, and needs the specimen from Zeke's body for research. If the organism reproduces, the specimen will release thousands of parasitic spores into the air.

The next morning, Ricus finds that the parasite has disappeared after killing Zeke. When Dana (Cherrie Currie) awakens to find the wormy creature in her sleeping bag, she attempts to sneak away, but it latches onto her leg with its teeth. The gang bring her to Miss Daley's boarding house, where she and Collins suggest finding Paul.

As Paul leaves Pat's house to look for the mutating parasite, Wolf attacks Pat in her garden for refusing to reveal Paul's location. Just then, Ricus arrives and knocks Wolf unconscious, but discovers the house is empty and leaves. When Paul returns, Pat describes her attacker, and Paul identifies him as Wolf, a government liaison. Paul now realizes that he can kill the parasite with high-frequency sound waves, but he must first extract a sample from the growing specimen now attached to Dana.

In the boarding house, Dana dies, and the creature attacks Miss Daley. She convulses until her body decomposes and the parasite bursts through her skull. Pat and Paul enter the room and wrangle the parasite to inject it with a fluid. Collins descends to the basement, where he is attacked by Wolf. Although Ricus attempts to stop Wolf, the Merchant kills him.

As a radio transmitter produces high-pitched sonic waves, the parasite in Paul's abdomen breaks free from his flesh. It jumps on Pat's arm, but dies before it can puncture her skin. Wolf tackles Paul as he runs upstairs to kill the larger parasite; the creature sinks its teeth into Wolf's face, and he tumbles over the balcony onto a gasoline tank outside. Pat shoots at the tank, causing it to explode. Pat, Collins, and Paul watch as the flames consume Wolf's corpse and finally destroy the parasite.