Two hours later Sarah’s situation hadn’t changed, except that she had progressed from worry to full-blown panic. Her plan to be self-sufficient had come back to bite her—she’d never taken her parents up on their offer to pay for her cell phone, and she couldn’t afford one on her own. Now she was stuck in the Utah desert without a phone. Not that it would probably do much good anyway, she thought, I bet there’s not a cell tower for miles.

She sat on the shady side of the Honda, which had become a 2,000-pound greenhouse by 2:00. It struck her as bizarre that so few cars had passed by on an Interstate highway, and it angered her that not a single one stopped to help.

Sarah didn’t want to leave the car, but she knew it would be cold soon. She knew from her map – she was at least smart enough to have that , she thought wistfully – that the nearest towns were St. George and Cedar City, forty miles in either direction.

Still, the prospect of walking terrified her. But what choice did she have?