This is pretty good. It makes you wonder what the bird was looking at. It also makes you wonder why the bird and the people fall out. I hope that you write another part to this to tell why because you are leaving a lot of things to question... but other than that ... nice work

 It's definately a mystery alright. I can't figure out if the bird died from the stench or if the stench came from it because it was dying. You certainly describe well. I actually cringed, imagining myself in the middle of a deserted road with an intolerable stench filling my nostrils, made worse by the intense heat from the sun. While it is a good story, it doesn't explain much. What is the stench? Why was it so awful, it would make a person fall over or pass out? Or make a bird fall down dead, for that matter? Readers love a good mystery, but they also like it to be solved, or at least leave clues so that they can do it themselves.

It was an interesting read, though.

 The only flaw i see in this is that it's not clear what happened.  If that was just the way you wanted to end it, i take that back.  Another page would help, but then it's good so maybe you should leave it alone.

  You do a fine job with suspense.  You engage the reader from the start and make them want to read all the way through.  The tire iron and the frustration it symbolizes keeps the story real and tangible, as does the eagle's behavior, all before something fantastic is about to happen.

 hi, wild--

wow--vivid! this feels like a first stab at a story idea. a great beginning with lots of potential, but unfinished. please tell us what that stench was! you use several senses to bring the reader directly into the story, which is valuable. you also do a good job of 'showing' us what happens. i felt like i was right there, watching this girl.

a great example:

She could faintly see the soaring shape of a bird. An eagle, she imagined, because of the screeching sound mixed in with the wind.

 

 i know smell is one of the more difficult senses to describe, but if you could describe the stench using specifics we'd have an even more vivid picture of what's happening.

you do a great job of pulling your reader in and keeping them there--now finish this story!

thanks for your writing and for inviting feedback--i enjoyed your work!

 This is definitely a "hook". It leaves the reader out there subjected to so many questions. This is where you make the promise to your reader about what you will deliver by the end. It also leaves you many directions in which to write to see which one pans out better. There is, why the two were on the side of the road in the first place ( I mean besides the flat tire)? Maybe something they did that "Karma" was balancing out.  What was the significance of the bird ~ and it's connection to the nauseating feeling?

This is definitely something you should explore in every possible direction and see which one pans out more to your liking.

However....

Another whiff of the stench. This time stronger. It wasn’t her imagination. She knew it now because she heard a gasp for fresh air from the man fighting the flat tire. Her disgust at the unsavory aroma turned to fascination as she watched the eagle’s flight become erratic.

I am not sure that an overwhelmingly foul stench could be overcome by the fascination of an erratic bird. I think human nature would take over and she would be more focused on the man behind her and her own danger than the bird. IMO ~ this interferes with the ability to stay captivated by the story. In fiction the famous saying is that you have to "suspend disbelief", but the other side of that is that you have to suspend it in a way that is "believable".

Another point would be that there would be other symptons, depending on the true nature of the "stench", either psychomatic or real, to other parts of the body. Warning bells that would go off.

And finally, the last line bugged me and it took a while to figure out why because it was such a simple little thing....

With her face pressed up against the burning highway stretch she faded away.

It should read: "With her face pressed up against the burning stretch of highway, she faded away."

I hope this helps.