When a lonely highway is inexplicably closed, five students sharing a ride to a party in the desert find themselves trapped at a recently deserted travel oasis. Refusing to let the new circumstances interfere with their fun, they settle in only to be interrupted by odd, haunting visions of severely mutilated travelers. The gruesome sightings may explain the sudden abandonment of the motel and diner, but the appearance of the retiree with a missing wife confirms their worst fears. He too has seen the dying people - victims of a killer, one that has likely taken his wife - a killer trailing a dark force of decay and rot.