In the drought of the 1930s, Hank vanishes from the Joad farm, and his brother Frank takes the land and forces the sick Luna and her children, Billy and Anne, into a rundown cottage. The siblings stumble upon a cellar that opens onto a modern city in 2026, where near-expiry food is tossed out. They gather supplies to keep their mother alive, and they discover that simple silver jewelry from the 1930s fetches thousands. They trade trinkets for tuberculosis medicine.
A news alert warns that their father will be lost in a 1933 mine collapse, so the children plan to make the police rescue him. Once Hank rejoins them, he battles to reclaim the farm. The family ferries modern goods through the gate and runs a low-price shop for hungry townsfolk, winning their support. They defeat Frank in an election and drive him out, then rebuild the farm alongside kind friends from 2026.
