Rod Sterling's "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street" is a science fiction story about a small town and its residents during an 'alien invasion'. The story ends with the aliens observing the residents 'fighting each other'.
In the given excerpt from Act II, the stage direction shows Steve<em> "stand[ing] defiantly close to the others"</em>. The use of the word <em>"defiantly"</em> implies that he has no worries about what might happen. And considering that the group was approaching him about his <em>"hours"</em> spending working on a radio or something.
So, the word "defiantly" shows that Steve is not afraid to challenge the group and whatever they may ask about.
The passage states Japan makes a lot of cars already. They don't need support from other countries for the cars themselves. The passage goes on to say that there is not much fuel in Japan. That means Japan needs to rely on other countries to get that fuel.
