The truck owner abandoned the mobile base and strode toward the man guarding the passenger door.
Zeyu saw him reach for the handle, then the other man catch his arm. A gust sent them stumbling against the truck while the owner’s companion hurried over with the metal bar.
"The road immediately outside is clear," Jingwei told Zeyu. "I can see as far as the opposite curb. Get us through the gate, and we’ll check again before you turn."
Zeyu eased forward. The gate bowed beneath the bumper, dragging across the concrete until a sharp crack came from one of the posts. He held the wheel steady while the panels twisted outward, still chained together.
Something struck the building behind them, and Qinghe made a low sound.
"What happened?" Zeyu asked, resisting the urge to look at the rear display. "I need to keep watching the entrance."
"The owner’s down," Qinghe answered. "The man from the truck hit him, but they’re clear of us. Keep going."
The left panel folded away, pulling the other with it until there was room to pass. Jingwei watched the fence side while Shichen guided Zeyu past the opposite post.
A long scrape traveled down the trailer. Zeyu felt it through his seat, but Shichen was still telling him he had room. He kept moving until the last wheels were clear, then stopped with the cab partly out on the road.
On the rear display, the owner’s companion bent over the fallen man. The man with the bleeding nose was running toward the recessed doorway.
"He’s got the owner’s keys," Qinghe said. "He must have taken them when he went down."
The man struggled with the lock. His hands slipped twice before the door opened, revealing a dim room. He looked inside, then shouted toward the truck and waved for the woman and child to follow.
Other people saw the opening and tried to take advantage of it.
The injured woman’s companion tried to lift her while those crouching beside the shutter struggled to their feet. A woman reached the smaller door first, pushing past the man with the keys before he could bring his family across the yard.
The owner’s companion straightened and raised the bar.
"Shut that door!" he shouted, starting toward them. "Get away from there!"
Zeyu had to turn back to the road. Jingwei had found the center line, and a break in the dust showed an empty stretch to their right.
He began the turn carefully, watching the trailer follow them away from the broken gate.
The shouting continued through the speakers until the building disappeared.
For several yards, the headlights showed enough pavement to follow. Zeyu drove slowly, keeping his foot ready over the brake. Nobody tried to speak while he worked out where the road went.
Then a red reflector appeared in the lights.
He braked and waited for the dust to thin. A bus stood across most of their lane, its rear window coated in dirt. Beyond it, he could make out another vehicle and people moving between them.
A man emerged beside the bus carrying a bundle against his chest. He crossed through their headlights without looking up, heading toward a low concrete opening beside the road. Another person followed close behind.
Someone farther ahead was shouting. Jingwei raised the outside volume until the words came through.
"Leave the bags!" the unseen person called. "Get them away from the fuel!"
Orange light flickered beneath the bus.
Hanchuan saw the fire before he could tell where it had started.
Flames bent beneath the rear of the bus, briefly lighting the pavement before the wind flattened them again.
A man staggered away from an open luggage compartment with a plastic container in his hand. He dropped it when someone shouted at him, then disappeared around the bus.
"Back up, Zeyu," Hanchuan said. "Give it some room. We don’t know what else they’re carrying underneath."
Jingwei checked behind them while Zeyu shifted into reverse. The headlights swept back across the people crossing the road.
A woman stopped in the light, clutching two shoes against her chest. One looked large enough to be hers. The other belonged to a child.
She opened her mouth as though she meant to call out, then looked toward the bus and ran.
Beside Hanchuan, Zhiyi had turned toward the window. Her cushion had slipped during their turn out of the yard.
He supported her elbow and eased it back beneath her arm, letting her settle before withdrawing his hand.
"Are your ribs hurting more?" Hanchuan asked quietly. "You’ve been holding yourself away from that side."
"They’re uncomfortable," Zhiyi replied. She adjusted her arm on the cushion, then glanced at him. "That helps. You had it in the right place."
He left it where it was and kept his arm behind her shoulders. There was little else he could do while they were moving, and he disliked having to wait for her to tell him whether it was enough.
Zeyu stopped reversing.
"There are people behind the trailer now," Jingwei said, checking the screen again. "We’ve put some distance between us and the fire, but I can’t go farther without making them move."
Hanchuan looked toward the bus. A hand dragged across the dusty rear window, leaving four dark streaks on the glass.
"People are still inside," Qinghe said, leaning forward. "Can they hear what’s happening out here?"
The woman with the shoes reappeared beside the bus. She struck its side and shouted a name that the wind broke apart before it reached their speakers.
Jingwei pressed the microphone button.
"There’s a fire underneath the bus," Jingwei called. "You need to get out. Don’t wait to collect your belongings."
Several faces turned toward their headlights. Someone near the rear began hitting a window with an object Hanchuan couldn’t identify.
At the front entrance, a man in a pale shirt caught a woman’s bag as she came down the steps. She tried to pull it free, but he held on.
"Leave it!" the man shouted. "You haven’t paid for that. Keep moving!"
Someone pushed from behind her. She released the strap and stumbled into the road, dropping to one knee. The man threw her bag toward the smaller vehicle and turned back to the bus.
Hanchuan leaned forward for a better look.
A minibus waited beyond it with its side door open. Another man stood at the entrance, checking people’s hands and bags before allowing them aboard.
"They’re moving them into that one," Shichen said. "It looks like they’re trying to get another load away."
"Watch who they’re letting on," Hanchuan replied as an older man approached empty-handed.
The attendant held out his palm.
When the older man shook his head, he pushed him aside so a woman with a full backpack could climb in. The older man stayed close to the step until another shove knocked him against the bus.
Hanchuan had seen arrangements like this before. A ride became more expensive when walking stopped being possible. The passengers could see the fire as clearly as the men collecting payment could.
"Is there room to pass in the opposite lane?" Hanchuan asked Zeyu.
"I can get beside the bus," Zeyu replied, studying the windshield while Jingwei changed camera views. "But I need to see what’s beyond the front before I commit. If there’s another vehicle there, we’ll be stuck alongside it."
"Keep looking," Hanchuan told him. "We’ll move when you can see a way through."
Zhiyi’s fingers closed around his wrist. He turned toward her immediately, but her attention remained on the rear windows.
"The passengers at the back aren’t moving forward," Zhiyi said. "They heard the warning. Something is preventing them from reaching the door."
Hanchuan followed her gaze. One person pressed folded clothing over their face while another tried to climb across a seat.
Qinghe leaned closer to the screen.
"There’s something across the aisle," Qinghe said. "Jingwei, can you enlarge that? I can’t see what they’re trying to get past."