Jackson County Jail

Dinah quits her advertising job after a confrontation and decides to restart her career in New York City. She begins a cross-country drive from Los Angeles. While on the road she picks up Bobby Ray and his pregnant girlfriend Lola, who turn on her that very night by robbing her of her car and purse.

Bobby Ray and Lola rob Dinah, stealing her car and purse. She seeks help at an empty bar, where the bartender Dan Oldum tries to rape her; she defends herself. A policeman arrives, Oldum lies about the attack, and Dinah is arrested and taken to Jackson County jail.

The next day Dinah shares a jail cell with Blake, a drifter. Sheriff Dempsey explains he must verify her identity before anyone can be released. Blake is told he faces extradition to Texas for a murder charge.

That evening Deputy Hobie assaults Dinah in her cell and rapes her. After he finishes, she grabs a wooden stool and beats him to death. Blake reaches through the bars, frees them both, and they escape in Hobie’s pickup.

Sheriff Dempsey pursues them, leading to a fatal head-on collision with a drunk driver that kills both the sheriff and the other driver. Blake and Dinah flee the scene in Hobie’s pickup, heading into the hills.

Blake takes Dinah to a run-down barn in the hills where his friends help her clean up and change clothes. Bakersfield police move in and demand surrender, but Blake’s friends open fire with machine guns to cover their escape in the pickup.

Driving through pastures, they find an empty ranch house to hide in for the night. They learn they are both wanted for Hobie’s death. Dinah wants to turn herself in, but Blake argues that corrupt local cops and lack of evidence would seal her fate, so they remain fugitives.

The shotgun-wielding rancher confronts them. Blake knocks the shotgun from the man's hand, and during the struggle the rancher wounds Blake with a scythe. Dinah shoots or knocks the rancher out, and they escape in the rancher’s pickup with the shotgun.

A police helicopter spots the fugitives and relays their location to Fallsburg police, who set up a roadblock using a tractor-trailer. Dinah drives toward the roadblock and is wounded in the shoulder as gunfire erupts around them.

Blake tries to help Dinah escape during the gunfight, but he is fatally shot by the pursuing police while he sacrifices himself near the town parade. He dies lying on the American flag as the crowd in Fallsburg continues on.

The Fallsburg police chief arrives with the wounded Dinah in the back seat and drives her toward the town jail, leaving Blake’s body behind. Dinah stares at Blake’s dead form, realizing her life will never be the same. The film ends on a bleak note as she is taken away.

In the final moments, Dinah’s fate is sealed by the legal system and the loss of her partner in crime. The story closes with her heading to jail, life forever altered by the cascade of violence and corruption she experienced.