In the blistering heat of the Arizona desert during the 1970s, a wandering knives salesman unexpectedly pulls into a lonely filling station in Yuma County. There, he encounters Vernon, the stoic attendant, who informs him that the fuel pumps are empty, and no relief is in sight for over a hundred miles. As the situation unfolds, the crackling radio announces a bold bank heist that took place earlier that morning in Buckeye, where two shrewd thieves escaped with a staggering quarter of a million dollars in a worn-down green Ford Pinto.
While waiting for help, the salesman is joined by Charlotte, a kind-hearted waitress from the nearby diner, who arrives just in time to drop off her husband, Charlie, the local sheriff. In a moment of normalcy, Charlotte welcomes the salesman into the diner to share a few stories, where he mentions his destination: Carlsbad, California, to celebrate his daughter Sarah's birthday. However, their peaceful exchange takes a dark twist when the same green Pinto that made headlines earlier screeches into view, and with a keen eye, the salesman recognizes it as the robbers' getaway car.
Sharing his suspicions with Charlotte, she tries to contact her husband at the sheriff's station, but the situation escalates rapidly—Travis and Beau, the cunning criminals, are already on their tail. With guns drawn, they compel the pair to pretend as though everything is normal, awaiting the arrival of a fuel truck that’s gone completely astray, having met with an accident miles away.
As luck would have it, when Gavin, Charlie's deputy, stops by for coffee, Charlotte seizes the moment to slip him a message for help, but fate has different plans. In the chaos that ensues, the coffee spills, and her plea goes unnoticed. Meanwhile, the diner becomes a hotbed of unintended alliances and underlying tensions, featuring an elderly couple from Texas, Miles and Sybil, two ambitious young hoodlums, and local rancher Pete.
As Beau and Travis corner Pete for his car keys, a standoff erupts, reaching a boiling point when Charlotte takes decisive action, striking Beau with a knife, which plunges everyone into a chaotic shootout. Tragically, this results in the demise of both Miles and Sybil, leaving the salesman and Sybil as the sole survivors of the madness that has unfolded.
In the aftermath, the salesman stumbles upon the robbers’ loot and contemplates taking it for himself. But his plans are thwarted by the unexpected arrival of a young couple and their baby, who unwittingly walk into the chaotic scene, pushing the salesman into a defensive position that culminates in deadly consequences. In a disastrous turn of events, he accidentally shoots his own gas tank, forcing him to siphon fuel from Pete’s truck for a hasty escape—one that leaves behind a trail of gasoline and a forgotten baby.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Travis grapples with the aftermath of the slaughter. Consumed by rage and seeking vengeance for his wife's murder, he sets off in pursuit of the salesman, whose vehicle eventually sputters to a halt near the wreckage of the refueling truck. The salesman, desperate to delay Travis’s approach, uses clever distractions, including igniting the gasoline trail, leading to a catastrophic explosion that seals the sheriff's fate.
With the wind scattering the ill-gotten gains from the robbery, the salesman stumbles into the unforgiving desert, his wounds too grave to survive. As he succumbs to the encroaching darkness, the vast silence of the dunes serves as a haunting reminder that even the most frantic attempts at survival can ultimately lead to despair.
