Deadlock

A heat-battered Kid wanders a sun-scorched desert with a metal suitcase, a machine gun, and a bullet wound in his arm. He collapses from exhaustion, setting the harsh tone and stakes of the journey. The desolate terrain frames his precarious situation at the story's start.

Charles Dump, a former mining supervisor living in a desolate compound nearby, discovers Kid and steals the suitcase full of money. He leaves Kid alive but abandoned, showing his ruthlessness and self-interest. The encounter introduces the central conflict over the money.

Dump returns to the scene, either to finish off what he started or to confirm Kid is dead. Kid regains consciousness and, at gunpoint, compels Dump to drive him to safety. A tense, uneasy partnership forms as they move away from the crash site.

Dump settles into a deserted compound with Corinna and her mute daughter Jessy. He deduces that Kid robbed the town bank and has chosen to walk out rather than catch a train to lie low. The trio's fragile cohabitation sets up the power dynamics to come.

Dump refuses to remove the bullet from Kid's arm at first, hoping the injury and infection will kill him. Kid endures the wound as a mark of his vulnerability and the price of the heist. Jessy's influence eventually pushes Dump toward medical action.

Kid warns that his partner, Mr. Sunshine, will come to collect the money, signaling an upcoming confrontation. Dump remains largely unconcerned, misjudging the threat and Kid's resolve. Tension tightens around their uneasy alliance.

Mr. Sunshine arrives, and Dump tries to bluff him while intercepting his gun, only to realize the weapon is unloaded. The three men begin a dangerous game of words, each testing who holds the leverage. Old loyalties dissolve into suspicion and greed.

Dump makes an early-morning bid to escape with the money, but the robbers interrupt his plan. The pawnshop-like danger of the money fuels a sharper, more chaotic dynamic among the trio. The power shifts keep escalating toward a final reckoning.

Dump tries to leave town on a freight train but is beaten off by a security force, foiling his escape. The pursuit pushes him toward the open desert and stronger confrontation with Kid and Sunshine. The money looms as the central prize driving every move.

Walking through the desert, Dump is intercepted again by Kid and Sunshine, who hunt him in his own truck. Mr. Sunshine fatally runs Dump down, eliminating one rival in the struggle for the loot. The desert terrain becomes a graveyard for one schemer.

That night at the camp, Kid and Mr. Sunshine divide the money, and Kid spends the night with Jessy. The fragile truce collapses into a cold arrangement as the lure of the money remains strongest. Trust has all but vanished.

The next day, the men depart the compound, and Jessy trails after them in the hope of joining or gleaning something from the journey. Her presence hints at a possible survival or rescue, even as greed again takes the lead. The landscape remains a hostile backdrop for alliances.

On the road, Kid tries to give Jessy a gift but spots Sunshine cocking a gun, realizing he is being double-crossed. Suspicion replaces any remaining trust as Kid and Jessy rethink their escape. The dynamic shifts toward a defensive, protective stance.

Sunshine discards one of the guns and drives away, telling Kid to use the remaining weapon on himself. Kid and Jessy are left behind as Sunshine pulls ahead with the money's fate uncertain. Betrayal cements the break between the former partners.

Sunshine opens the metal case only to find it weighed down with bricks and a note that reads 'Sorry old man.' He returns to the camp, slapping Kid and demanding the money before shooting both Jessy and Corinna in vengeance or calculation. Kid turns the tables and shoots Sunshine dead, leaving him alone in the vast emptiness to confront the unresolved question of the money.