***THINK ABOUT THIS***

Mark gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white. The road was a ribbon of cracked asphalt stretching through an endless, empty desert. No signal, no other cars, and a family trip that was now officially a nightmare. His son, strapped into his booster seat in the back, started to cry. His wife, Maya, tried to calm the boy, her voice tight with panic. He popped the hood, the metal hot enough to sting his fingertips. The sight was worse than he'd imagined. A tangle of melted wires, a cracked block, and an oily sheen over everything. The engine was completely destroyed. Just then, a semi-truck rumbled past, its slipstream rocking the car, highlighting his family's vulnerability on the side of this isolated road. "It's gone, Maya," he said, his voice flat. "The whole engine is shot."