A wandering drifter, religious fanatic Gaunt, accidentally sees the rape/murder of a black woman, Marie, by farm boy Ted. The boy's father, Link accuses Gaunt of committing the crime and attempts to get his son to kill both Gaunt and another witness, Marie's mute son. The two victims escape, pursued by father, son and town sheriff Cal into the woods where Gaunt kills Ted and is wounded by Link. With an infected wound, the delirious Gaunt relives his past in flashback, revealing that he was one of the Enola Gay crew members responsible for dropping the atom bomb on Hiroshima.