Cary Dressler is a carefree young man spending a solitary evening getting high and watching a movie at Drive-In Rock.
Drive-In Rock is a hangout spot in Deerfield Park near the Thickets and is often crowded on weekends but Cary is there alone on a Thursday night.
The Magic City drive-in theatre is struggling to compete with modern cineplexes but provides Cary with a place to watch movies and smoke weed in peace.
Cary has finished a long shift at Strike Em Out Lanes and is unwinding by watching "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and smoking marijuana.
Carrie plans to smoke a bit more, enjoy a Kit Kat bar, and then ride his moped carefully home.
Despite getting lost in the movie, Cary suddenly hears a voice nearby and investigates, curious but wary it might be his imagination.
He discovers a woman in a wheelchair next to a van with a dead battery on Red Bank Avenue, with a man who is supposedly her husband.
The two seem to be projecting their voices theatrically, hinting at the possibility of a setup but Cary doesn’t realize this until later.
Feeling obligated to help, Cary makes his way down to them, offering assistance after the man indicates he needs help pushing the wheelchair back into the van.
Cary, still high, does not notice anything amiss and doesn’t feel the needle as it is inserted into his neck while he is pushing the wheelchair.