As to the ratings, I should explain a little, so as to not confuse. Holly writes very well, well enough to write novels and sell them professionally and no doubt one fine day she will. Her characterization is perfect. Out of a scale of six, she scores a six here just because her people are so well done, that they seem to me to be, not well drawn characters, but human, with human movements and mannerisms and tones. Dialog was very good, not perfect, but certainly human, not strained or forced but sounding very normal and ordinary and human.
Plot is difficult to rate.
The whole piece centers on the woman and the daughter, their worry and trembling uncertainty and fear. At the end they fall asleep in the truck and the driver doesn't kill them, doesn't rape them or torture them. Maybe movies would play it that way. I appreciate that thought, but I worry about girls hitch-hiking anywhere. Forgive me if I am a little paranoid.