Fact1: Carson vows to live long enough to exact revenge against wife and accomplice, Fact2: Gerry does not mention broken leg, Fact3: because temperamental alcoholic has acted at times, Fact4: Joe is startled by sight of Carson being found by old prospector driving jalopy, Fact5: Elby gives food and well water to Carson
Output: During a trip to the Mojave Desert, millionaire Donald Carson III, having broken his leg falling off his horse, has been abandoned and left to die by his adulterous wife Geraldine and mining engineer Joe Duncan, a man shes known for just a few days. Gerry and Joe leave the injured man a blanket, a canteen and a gun before driving off, supposedly to seek medical aid. As the hours go by and Carson realizes the truth of his predicament, he vows to live long enough to exact revenge against his wife and her accomplice. Carson is reported missing to police lieutenant Mike Platt and to Dave Emory, who is Carsons lawyer and business manager. Gerry does not mention the broken leg and claims her husband wandered off. Emory then states that he is not too concerned yet because Carson is a temperamental alcoholic who has acted irresponsibly at times in the past. The lovers fly to Carsons mansion in Los Angeles knowing that Carson is at least 60 miles from where they told the police to look. They expect him to succumb to the desert heat or to shoot himself with the gun. Far more resourceful than they anticipated, Carson manages to make a splint, then crawl his way to an abandoned mine, where he uses timber for a makeshift crutch. He finds sustenance from the meat of a cactus and attempts in vain to shoot a rabbit with the gun. He later succeeds in shooting a deer, butchering it, and hanging the meat to dry, assuring his survival. When it rains, after Carson has been gone a week, Gerry and Joe are relieved because it has permanently covered any tracks they left. Carson is presumed dead by the law. Joe flies a plane over the region, just in case, and spots a fire Carson has made. Knowing now that he is alive, Joe drives back into the desert to finish off Carson once and for all. Gerry waits in the car while Joe stalks his prey. Just as he catches up with Carson and aims his pistol at him, Joe is startled by the sight of Carson being found by an old prospector driving a jalopy. Returning to his own car, Joe discovers that Gerry has run it into a large rock, which ruptured the vehicles oil pan. The damage now makes it impossible for them to drive out of the desert. Joe suddenly realizes that her real intention was to leave him when she moved the car. Joe angrily walks away, and leaves Gerry to fend for herself. In his desert shack, Elby the prospector gives food and well water to Carson, who says revenge is what sustained him up to now, although it no longer seems as important. Elby returns outside to the well and is struck from behind by Joe, who spotted the shack during the night. Joe shoots at Carson but misses him. The two men then engage in a desperate, brutal fistfight. A toppled stove causes the shack to catch fire. With both men inside barely conscious, a recovered Elby is able to drag Carson to safety while Joe perishes in the blaze. The next day, as Erby drives Carson to the nearest town, they see Gerry walking by herself on a long, remote stretch of desert road. Erby stops his dilapidated car next to her, and Carson calmly tells Gerry that she can either wait for the authorities to come find her or ride with them now. She gets into the car.