A scavenger at Service Area Six is about to strip a running vehicle for parts. The old man in the cab still has his eyes open and begs someone to give him a lift, but nobody dares break the third rule of the wild roads.
Pei Ye crouches down and checks the truck's spark plugs. He twists one out, cuts the coolant hose, then announces that he's buying the truck. The panels and wheels he took off can go to Old Scar. He doesn't want any money.
He returns to his own yellow-lock cargo truck and turns the key all the way. The starter catches just once. Across the whole lot, eleven vehicles, from a blue minivan to a flatbed tow truck, shut down one after another. Even the tow truck's steady idle dies. All that remains is the wind, the transformer, and a low, sinking hum beneath his truck's chassis.
But the Yellow Lock can go a kilometer on the fuel it takes others to burn through in three. His account has only 470 kilometers left. Will he still save the old man in the cab?
