The dilapidated concrete road was a web of cracks, sending clear jolts through the vehicle's chassis.
The black wheels crunched over gravel, making a sound that set one's teeth on edge.
Lu Chao looked out the car window. The roadside weeds had clearly been cut back, leaving sparse stubble less than a foot high, like a scalp scraped clean by a razor.
"We're here."
Suddenly, Chen Xiao spoke in a low voice. Lu Chao shifted his gaze forward.
At the end of the concrete road, a roadblock of dark wood and barbed wire blocked their path. Dozens of sandbags were piled up on either side and draped with camouflage netting, forming two simple guard posts, one taller than the other.
A large, rust-covered searchlight stood next to the guard posts, with two old, army-green pickup trucks parked behind them.
Seven or eight heavily armed men in old leather or patched jackets watched them with guarded expressions, clutching automatic rifles from behind the sandbags.
