Crashout

Convict Van Duff leads a large-scale prison breakout that ends with heavy casualties. The six survivors, including Duff, take shelter in a forgotten mine near the prison as the escape unfolds. Duff is wounded but survives, setting up the plan to access his hidden loot.

Duff proposes that the survivors help him reach the money he hid from his last bank robbery in exchange for a share of the loot. The men reluctantly agree, bound by survival and the promise of wealth. Tensions simmer as trust among the group is tested.

The six prisoners begin a long, arduous journey toward the mountaintop stash. They move by foot, car, train, and truck, using whatever means they can to push closer to the money. The route winds through harsh weather and hostile terrain.

On their way, the group interacts with various locals, including a farm woman and a kidnapped doctor forced to tend to Duff. A chance encounter with a young woman on a train adds further moral complications. These encounters reveal character and raise the stakes.

Joe Quinn contemplates running off with the young woman on the train, potentially abandoning the gang. However, when the radio blares his description, he realizes he cannot drag an innocent person into their criminal life. He must choose between escape and loyalty.

As the group closes in on the goal, Mendoza is shot by a motorcycle cop after a robbery, proving how the law keeps closing in. Monk Collins survives a violent encounter but is later set ablaze by a man they had beaten earlier, intensifying the group’s peril.

Luther 'Swanee' Remsen begins to unravel, slipping into madness. In his deteriorating state, he kills Billy Lang, illustrating how the internal rot within the group mirrors the external danger. Duff is forced to act in self-defense to stop Swanee.

With two members dead and the rest incapacitated or untrustworthy, Duff and Quinn survive the brutal trek toward the mountaintop. The journey narrows to a deadly, desperate scramble for the money and survival.

Duff and Quinn reach the mountaintop stash and recover the hidden money. The moment marks a grim culmination of their harsh trek and sets up the final conflict between the two survivors. The wealth represents both salvation and doom.

Duff betrays Quinn, leaving him for dead in a murderous act of self-preservation. The betrayal shifts the balance of power and sets up the final confrontation and Quinn’s solitary fate. Quinn survives the attempt, but the debt to Duff’s treachery weighs on him.

Quinn discovers Duff frozen to death the next morning, still clutching the money. The betrayal has cost both men dearly, and the stash remains untended while Duff’s plan collapses with his death.

Quinn, the last surviving member, chooses to give himself up to an approaching search party. He expresses relief at the arrival of help, acknowledging the value of civilization even as he has endured brutal circumstances.