The Last Stop in Yuma County

The story is set at a remote desert location in the eponymous Yuma County of Arizona state during the 1970s. A travelling salesman of kitchen knives stops at a filling station when fuel in his car runs low and is informed by Vernon, the station and motel attendant, that the station's pumps are dry. Vernon also says that there are no other filling stations for over 100 miles (160 km), but that a refuelling truck is expected to arrive any minute. On the radio the salesman hears about a bank robbery earlier that morning in Buckeye, where the robbers managed to get away with approximately $700,000 in a green Ford Pinto with a damaged rear end. Charlotte, a waitress at the nearby diner, is dropped off by her husband Charlie, who is the local sheriff; she opens the diner and welcomes the salesman in. In conversation with Charlotte, he mentions that he's on his way to Carlsbad, California for his daughter Sarah's birthday.