Charlie Cox is a divorced writer who lives in Los Angeles. Charlie and his daughter Joleen are on their way home from a cross country vacation when they run out of gas in Banco, Nevada; a tiny town located in a remote part of the desert. It's one day before Jolene's 14th birthday. Charlie and Joleen go to Banco's only gas station, which is owned by a friendly Vietnam War veteran named Duckett, but Duckett tells them that he's not expecting to have any gas delivered to the station for at least another day, so they head to the local supermarket to find a phone. Sheriff Bill Childers is in the store, and he advises them to go to the nearby Palomino Guest Ranch and Trailer Park to ask for gas. When Joleen looks behind the counter, she sees the body of the store's owner, Farrell Hovis, who was shot in the head. Sheriff Childers states that the murderer is most likely a drifter. Charlie and Joleen check into the Palomino Guest Ranch and Trailer Park, which is owned by a hostile woman named Agnes Reed. Whilst her father uses the phone, Joleen speaks to Agnes's rebellious teenage son, Jimmy Reed, who she briefly came into contact with earlier at the gas station. A chemistry between the two teenagers is implied. Joleen later meets a sandy-haired boy named Pinky Sears, who is sent away by an angry Jimmy. That night, while Agnes is taking a bath after an argument with Jimmy, she is killed when a hand reaches in through her bathroom window and pushes a small fan into the bathtub water, electrocuting her. Charlie and Joleen meet their neighbors, fellow travelers Louise and Amy, who are also stranded in Banco. By now, it is obvious that a killer is terrorizing Banco. the next day, when Jimmy tries to rape Joleen, she is rescued by Pinky, who Jimmy attempts to drown before Joleen pushes him away and runs off with Pinky. Joleen's diary is later stolen by the killer. Soon after this, Joleen and Charlie agree to car pool with Louise and Amy to leave the ranch, but the murderer, having become obsessed with Joleen, blows up the car, with Amy in it, to prevent them from leaving. When Jimmy tries to rob Duckett's gas station, he is arrested and accused of being the serial killer, but the killer turns out to be one of the people that Joleen least expected.