His brows furrowed slightly, but he had no time to spare a thought for it now. All his attention was focused on the engine roar growing ever closer. He stared fixedly in the direction of the sound, unblinking, not daring to even draw a full breath, his heart hammering violently against his ribs as if it might burst right out of his chest.
Three armed pickup trucks crawled past, the dust kicked up from their bodies swirling in the sunlight like rising smoke from a battlefield. Heavy machine guns were mounted in the truck beds, catching the sunlight with a cold, metallic sheen.
When the engine noise of the three armed pickups gradually faded and vanished at the far end of the highway, and the billowing dust slowly settled back down, the members of the squad emerged one by one from their respective hiding spots. After the brief tension, an uneasy atmosphere still lingered in the air. The men adjusted their equipment slightly and continued on along the abandoned highway, their paces steady yet laced with caution.
Chapter 434