On a routine drive from Los Angeles to home located in a residential complex outside of Edwards Air Force Base, factory worker Gene Courtier makes the mistake of picking up a hitchhiker. That hitchhiker is part of a three man robbery operation, they seemingly not averse to killing him if things don't go the way they want. With that initial robbery not going according to plan the first strike against Gene, the three decide on a Plan B, which entails holding him and his family of his wife Doris and their two adolescent children Debbie and Steven hostage at their home overnight. It is during this standoff that the Courtiers learn of the general nature of the three, there being one trigger-happy one, a Lothario, and a seemingly more reasonable one who does not want to get involved in any crime involving murder. With three guns held against them, the Courtiers try to figure out how to get out of their predicament, while the three work toward the one thing they all agree on, and that is the want for money from the Courtiers, the initial robbery turning to a plan for a couple thousand dollars, to a third plan for a couple hundred thousand dollars.
—Huggo