WHEN Marty awoke, he noticed his mother nearby. "Mom." he said, "Mom? Is that you?" "There, there." she said, putting a cold compressor on his forhead,"Just relax. You've been asleep for almost five hours now." "I just had the worst nightmare." he said, "I dreamt that rock-and-roll was dead and everyone was dressed like it was the 1950's." "Well, you're safe and sound now." she said, "Back in the old McFly household." "That's a relief, mom." said Marty. "And don't worry about your concerto at the conservatory tonight." said Lorraine, "We talk to Dr. Easter about this morning and he understands." "Concerto at the conservatory?" exclaimed Marty as his eyes popped wide open, "Dr. Easter?" Marty sprung up from his bed and looked around as the lights went on. Looking at his mother he saw that she was wearing the same outfit she wore before he passed out. "Mom." he said, "It can't be you. I must be still dreaming." "Oh it's me, Marty." said Lorraine, "How are you feeling now?" "Fine, mom." said Marty, "But what the hell does Dr. Easter have to do with me passing out. He's a music instructer at the college." "Well, he did help you with your piano playing." said Lorraine. "Piano playing?" exclaimed Marty, "Mom, I play guitar." "Guitar?" exclaimed Lorraine, "Marty. Where did you get that idea?" "I had that idea for a long time." said Marty, "You've seen me play at rehersals with the Pinheads." "Pinhead?" exclaimed Lorraine, "I've never heard of them before in my life. Who are they?" "It's my rock band." said Marty. "Marty." said Lorraine, "Rock-and-roll died out almost thirty years ago. You're a concert pianist." "It can't be." said Marty getting out of bed. "Marty." suggested Lorraine, "You're not feeling well. You should stay in bed." "Mom." said Marty, "I'm not staying anywhere until I get some answers. What happened? How did rock-and-roll die out? How..." Marty stopped in midspeech. He looked at the top of his burough. The picture of him and Jennifer was gone. There was supposed to be another picture somewhere in his room, but that was gone too. "Mom." he said, "What happened to those pictures." "Pictures." asked Lorraine, "What pictures?" "The pictures of me and Jennifer." said Marty, "And there was another picture of Jennifer somewhere?" "Marty." said Lorraine, "Who's Jennifer?" "Jennifer Parker." said Marty, "My girlfriend." "Marty." said Lorraine, "You don't have a girlfriend." Marty was looking around in disbelief. "This is nuts." he said, "Mom. I do have a girlfriend. Her name is Jennifer Jane Parker." He gave Lorraine the address of her house. But Lorraine said "Marty. The Jandicks live there." "The Jandicks?" said Marty, "It can't be." "Marty." said Lorraine, "Get some rest." Realizing that in convincing his mother he would need some rest so he could get a hold of Doc, Marty said "Okay, Mom." After that, Lorraine left. At once, Marty dialed Doc's house. But all he got was a recording saying "The number you dialed is either disconnected or no longer in service." Marty hung up. Then getting his clothes back on, Marty got out throught his window and out through the side to the garage. Opening it, Marty saw his truck and got in.
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First Marty drove into town and stopped at the coffee shop that he and his band was supposed to perform tonight. In looking around, he had seen more girls in dresses on a Saturday than he had seen in a lifetime. And they were the old fashioned type. Like out of the '50s. Turning his attention to the front door of the coffee shop, Marty noticed that the flyer advertising the Pinheads was gone. Knocking on the door, Marty got the woman who ran the coffee shop. "Ma'am." he said, "The flyer that supposed to advertise my band tonight. What happened to it?" "What band?" asked the woman. "The Pinheads." said Marty. "Never heard of them." said the woman, "Now just run along, young man." "Wait." said Marty, "We had an agreement." "What agreement?" asked the woman. "The agreement to have the Pinhead perform here tonight." said Marty, "We were booked here months in advanced." "Young man." said the woman, "I don't know who you are but if you don't leave soon, I'll call the police." Then, Marty recalled what happened before he passed out at home. Could all of this have anything to do with me performing at that festival in 1957? he asked himself, That same performance that prevented the Beatles from being formed? Not wanting to cause further trouble, Marty said "Alright." After that, he went back to his truck. He was ready to start the motor when he heard some big clock ring. It sounded like it came from the courthouse. Marty got out and ran out the front of that building. It was the clocktower. The hands were moving again and it was ringing. Turning around, he saw the same clock tower lady that he and Jennifer ran into a year ago. "Hey ma'am." he said, "When did the clocktower started ringing again?" "Clocktower?" asked the lady. "Yeah." said Marty, "The one that was struck by lightning thirty-one years ago." "Oh that." said the lady, "It was replaced twenty-one years ago." "It was?" asked Marty, "But that can't be." "Young man." said the lady, "I'm very busy. Will you excuse me?" "But what about the Beatles?" asked Marty, "They're the ones who pitched in to save it." "Never heard of them." said the lady. As she did, she left. Marty turned back to the clocktower saying to himself Jennifer. Then, he spied the newspaper stand and read the headlines. It read:
NUCLEAR THREAT IMMINENT
Marty read on. It said that the negotiations between the US and the Soviet Union was far apart now. That nuclear attacks were now unavoidable. Worrying about Jennifer, Marty got back into his truck and drove to her place.
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When he got there, he went to ring the doorbell. He was greeted by Jim Jandick. "Who are you?" he asked. "I'm Marty McFly." said Marty, "I'm looking for a girl who supposed to be here." "You mean Jan's messing around again?" Jandick asked. One look at him told Marty that Jim Jandick was back to his hot tempered self after all the trouble he did of going back into time and what he did to change the man's life around. "It's not Jan." said Marty, "Her name is Jennifer. Jennifer Jane Parker. She and her family used to live here." "I never heard of them." said Jandick, "Now get outta here before I call the cops on you." "Wait a minute." said Marty, "Don't you remember me and Jennifer passing out in front of your house last month?" "Last month?" asked Jandick, "I don't think so." Then, Jan came into view and to Marty's shock, her face was all bruised up again. "Jim." she asked "What's going on here?" "Just some crazy teenager causing some trouble." said Jandick. "Jan." said Marty, "Don't you remember me and..." "Ah ha!" said Jandick turning to his wife, "You've been messing around again." "No Jim." said Jan, "I'm not. I don't even know the boy." "You lying bitch." said Jandick. And he started beating her. Marty busted in saying "You son of a bitch." He pushed Jandick away from her. But Jandick lashed back and started to take swings at him. Meanwhile, the television set was on and there was a special report about the goings on between the US and Russia. All three paused for a moment. The announcer said "...I repeat. If you have a bomb shelter, please go to it now." Marty noticing the two watching backed away and went out the door. Hopping back into his truck, he knew that there was one man he could turn too. So he drove the truck to Elmdale Dr.
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When he arrived, he saw that Doc's home for the past year had reverted back to it's dilapidated form of broken and boarded up windows. Then, a noise was heard from behind. Marty turned, it was the DeLorean. Doc got out of the car saying "Marty. Thank God I found you." "Doc." said Marty, "What the hell happened here?" Doc cut him off saying "Not now, Marty. Get in. We're going to my old place." "Your old..." asked Marty. Not wanting to ask anymore questions than he had asked already, Marty just did that.
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While in the car, Marty noticed a stack of newspapers in it. Apparently Doc was doing some research on what had happened here. In the meantime, Doc was driving towards his old house on John F. Kennedy Drive. The garage, the only thing that was left of the mansion that was destroyed by fire in 1962, was standing again. After they entered, Marty was presented to another shock. There was another Doc Brown. But, this one looked like he's sick and his hair's been falling out. "Doc?" asked Marty. "It's true Marty." said this other Doc, "After I dropped you off at your house last year, I went thirty years into the future and said a dead world." Marty reeled back in horror. Nuclear attacks. he said to himself, This Doc has gotten himself radiated. Then, Marty's own Doc said "That's enough. Marty, I went to the library to make sense of all the madness here. So when I arrived, I borrowed some newspapers." Doc showed Marty the first one. It was dated February 10, 1964. The day after the Beatles television debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. But they were no where to be seen. "Doc." said Marty, "This newspaper. I remember it. My dad went to New York to cover the Beatles arrival here in America. But, what's happened to the article on them?" "Apparently, they never existed." said Doc. At that, Marty realized that he had done something to prevent the Beatles from being formed. "Oh shit." he exclaimed. "And without their existance, rock-and-roll died out." said Doc, "Marty, you heard about the side effects that rock-and-roll left behind as a legacy." "Of course, Doc." said Marty, "The peace movement, the Summer of Love, Woodstock, love-ins..." "Without the Beatles, the was no more rock-and-roll." said Doc, "And without rock-and-roll there was no peace movement, Summer of Love, or Woodstock to spring forth from their roots." Then, Doc picked up some more papers for Marty to read saying "Look what else it caused." There was a headline from November, 1964. It read:
GOLDWATER ELECTED
"Goldwater?" exclaimed Marty, "It can't be." "It is, Marty." said Doc, "And with his election, he carried out his campaign promise to bomb North Vietnam and that got the Russians really mad. They and the US haven't talked to each other for years now. That's why they're so far apart in the peace negotiations. And that's why that nuclear attack will occur within the next two hours." "Next two hours?" asked Marty. The other Doc spoke up. "After encountering this Doc." he said, "I went ahead further in time and found out what time the attack occurs." "Marty." said his own Doc, "We don't that much time. We'll have to go back to 1957 and clear up this misunderstanding with John Lennon." Marty shrugged. Turning to the newspapers there were worse news. A 1974 article saying that the Democrats admitted staging their own break-in at the Watergate Hotel to frame Nixon, the Republican sweep of congress months later, and finally, an article about President Reagan facing impeachment. Apparently, the Republican takeover in congress and the White House had resulted in higher taxes and high unemployment. Then, Marty's own Doc said "And there's something else." "There is?" asked Marty. "Of course." said Doc, "Because the Beatles never existed, they never come to America, they don't tour Hill Valley and stay the night in the Blue Bird Hotel, Jennifer's mother doesn't sneak in to meet them, and her father never meets her mother. And because of that, Jennifer was never born." "Oh no." said Marty. He kept looking through the newspapers. There was one from England. It was dated November 10, 1966. It said that on November 9th, a young man named Paul McCartney was killed in an automobile accident. "Doc." said Marty, "This can't be the same Paul McCartney that was supposed to be a Beatle." "It is, Marty." said Doc. Marty felt sick to his stomache. What have I done? asked Marty to himself. At that moment, the air-raid sirens sounded.