Wheels of Fire 1985

Trace is a wanderer in a post-apocalyptic world where the organized militia called The Ownership claims to bring order by converting scattered settlements into stable, loyal governments. He is joined by his sister Arlie and her boyfriend Bo after Trace rescues them from a dangerous confrontation with a local gang, setting the stage for a journey filled with shifting loyalties and hard choices. The trio moves carefully through a harsh landscape, where every settlement carries the weight of past betrayals, and survival often depends on quick wits and a willingness to bend rules.

Their path collides with a ruthless band led by a fearsome figure known as Scourge Scourge. Trace proves capable, pushing back against the attackers who pursue him, but the confrontation fractures the group: Bo is captured and coerced into joining Scourge’s band, while Arlie is taken as Scourge’s captive, forced into a brutal role. The road continues to grind them forward as Trace crosses paths with another mercenary, a sharp-eyed fighter named Stinger Stinger. In a moment of mercy and grit, Trace saves Stinger from Scourge’s men, and the two decide to fight side by side, their alliance forged in the heat of pursuit and necessity.

Their alliance grows when they encounter the Sand People, a community that shelters a psychic captive named Spike Spike. Spike’s abilities and perspective broaden the group’s options, and she quickly earns a place among the travelers, who now face a broader array of dangers—from marauders to a calculating ownership that seems to have a plan for every move they make. The quartet—Stinger, Spike, Trace, and their new allies—head toward a ruined Ownership fuel convoy, where they rescue the lone survivor and bring him to a community of True Believers, a faction that clings to faith and a stubborn sense of purpose in a world gone cold.

Trace feels the pull of his sister, and he leaves Stinger and Spike in the care of the True Believers while he presses on to find Arlie. But the rescue mission soon collides with a devastating attack: Scourge’s forces strike the True Believers, leaving destruction in their wake. When Trace returns, he discovers that Stinger and the Ownership troops are mobilizing for a retaliatory strike, a plan that could shift the balance of power in the region. The sight of Arlie’s locket on a fallen Scourge soldier ignites a fierce anger in Trace, and he rejects pleas to wait for a coordinated assault. He heads forward alone, driven by a mix of vengeance and a stubborn hope to reunite with his sister.

The journey culminates at Scourge’s fortress, where Trace finally confronts Arlie in a tense and tragic moment. As they attempt to escape, it becomes clear that the Ownership is walking into a carefully laid trap by Scourge. Arlie sacrifices herself, disarming the danger at the cost of her life, just before the fortress is overrun. Outnumbered, Scourge slips away, but Trace closes the chase and eliminates him using Arlie’s car as a weapon, delivering a brutal, symbolic end to the man who tore their family apart.

In the aftermath, Stinger leads the Ownership troops to claim the fortress, but the victory is hollow: he is killed by Scourge’s second in command, marking a grim turn in the ongoing struggle between old loyalties and hard-won survival. The film closes on a world where justice is messy, and personal losses compound a broader fight for a future that remains uncertain, leaving Trace to reflect on what remains after the bloodshed and what it will take to rebuild what was lost.