In 1954 Louisiana, Chris Dixon makes love to a prostitute when his brother, Wayne Dixon, interrupts to warn that three men, including the woman’s pimp, are pursuing them. Chris quickly follows Wayne out the apartment window, clothes in hand, and the brothers run across town, stopping only for Chris to dress. Upon discovering their car has been towed, they walk through the night to an impound yard and spend most of their money to collect the vehicle. Back on the road, the brothers stop at a diner, but when police officers come in to eat, Wayne escapes through the bathroom window. After Chris pays for his meal, he jumps in the car and the brothers race off, stiffing the waitress for Wayne’s bill. Although the police give chase, Wayne has rigged their vehicles with a chain and the officers are left immobilized. Further along the highway, the brothers pick up twenty year-old Jenny Scott, who is hitchhiking in a ball gown. Chris tells Jenny that he was accused of assault with a deadly weapon, but the judge offered him a choice between jail and military service. When Chris selected the armed forces, Wayne re-enlisted so they could remain together. Wayne explains that they are on a road trip to enjoy their last two weeks of civilian life. Meanwhile, Macon County Deputy Reed Morgan buys a rifle for his ten year-old son, Luke, to celebrate the first day of hunting season. When Chris and Wayne’s car breaks down at the local gas station, Hamp, the owner, says the brothers need a fuel pump but refuses to take a credit card. Brandishing a rifle, the brothers attempt to trade the weapon for a pump, but Hamp says he doesn’t need the gun. Instead, the men negotiate a $5 temporary fix and Hamp says it will keep them on the road until they reach a station that accepts credit cards. As they wait for Hamp to service the car, Jenny changes in a “white only” restroom and Deputy Morgan pulls into the station for a beer. Outside, two outlaws, Lon Hawkins and Elisha Gibbons, nervously eye Morgan as Hamp pumps their gas. However, Morgan is preoccupied with the brothers, who are clearly out-of-towners. After noticing their Illinois license plates and checking their identifications, Morgan hassles the young men, explaining that anyone carrying less than $10 is considered a vagrant. When Chris promises to leave town as soon as the car is repaired, Morgan drives away but reports the brothers’ vehicle to the police dispatcher. That night, as the three companions wait for Hamp to finish the repairs, Chris and Jenny kiss. Elsewhere, Morgan picks Luke up from military school and praises him for being ranked Lieutenant. The boy explains he cannot go hunting with his father because he promised to play ball with his friends, but Morgan is displeased when his son acknowledges his African American companions. Meanwhile, Lon and Elisha break into the Morgan home. As Lon takes Morgan’s wife, Carol, into the bedroom, he sees the deputy’s uniform and becomes agitated, remembering how he was once tortured by police officers. At the same time, Chris, Wayne and Jenny get back on the road, but the car breaks down in front of Morgan’s house. While Wayne sleeps in the car, Chris and Jenny cuddle in the barn and make love in a water tank. When Lon and Elisha drive away, they are pulled over for broken taillights, but Lon shoots highway patrolman, Deputy D. Van, dead. Deputy Bill gives chase and collides with the outlaws’ vehicle. At the police station, Deputy Bill pressures the men to sign confessions and shoots Lon in the hand when he refuses. Meanwhile, Morgan and Luke return home and when Luke discovers his mother’s body, Morgan fires his rifle at the brothers’ car. After calling the police dispatcher for an ambulance and alerting Deputy Bill to the crime, Morgan leads Luke on a chase through the woods, hunting Chris, Wayne and Jenny. When Jenny is shot and falls into a lake, Wayne returns fire and yells to Morgan that they are innocent. Pulling Jenny out of the water, the three companions barricade themselves in a boathouse, but as Chris slips into a boat to get help, shots fire and he disappears. When Wayne and Jenny call to Chris, the boathouse is barraged with bullets and they are killed. Pursuing the trail of his colleague, Deputy Bill finds Morgan’s dead body and discovers Luke in the boathouse, repeatedly cocking his empty rifle. Meanwhile, Chris resurfaces and sees Luke crying in Deputy Bill’s arms. Sometime later, back at Hamp’s service station, Chris’s car is repaired. As somber townspeople look on, Chris drives into the distance.