Calmness
I wonder if people would really be as calm as that town was.
I don't know if I would call them calm. Just...resigned. The people are aware that everything they knew is gone forever, things will never be how they used to be. Anthropology has shown that when a culture-pattern gets destroyed the shock is too much and people are liable to slip into apathy, not caring what happens to them. They lose the will to live. It's happened many times before to various civilizations. It happened to tribes of Native Americans when colonists came from Europe and disrupted the way the Indians lived.
Here is a quote from the plague novel "Earth Abides":
"Take away family and job, friends and church, all customary amusements and routines, hope too - and life became walking death."
Not everyone was calm.
Remember the Supermarket owner who was demanding justice and payment for his broken store window and stolen goods who then threatens he will take the law into his own hands?
Then there was the role Gary Bayer played in the church scene where he is outraged that the authorities aren't telling the truth about what these people can expect when they exposed to high rad dosages.
People were angry that the main character allowed her son to save a spot in line for her.
The thing is if you look at places that have been devastated through the years whether by hurricane or tornado or tsunami you will find similarities where everyone looks to the government to help and if they're not there they may become angry but there are also leaders who stand up and begin to organize ways to assist the most needy and people begin to work together to help each other.
I agree that there may be more outrage than was shown but presumably this was a rather close-knit suburb where people knew each other and cared about each other more than large cities where people don't know their neighbors.
Slaves who love their chains will never be set free.
There's the burial pit scene, where the mother curses whoever was responsible. But they would mostly have to conserve their energy.
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