Chapter 1

On my way to save a life, the ambulance was stopped at the entrance of a remote town.

They claimed the road was built with their own money.

Every outsider had to pay a toll just to pass through.

Knowing the patient was in critical condition, I reached into my own pocket to settle it.

Little did I know, this three-mile road had more than one predator waiting for us.

I begged them to let us through, desperate to save the patient.

The leader of the group sneered in my face.

"Cut the crap. Everyone in this town chipped in for this road. You think a few hundred bucks is enough?"

"There are a hundred and thirty households here. That two hundred was just your entry fee. Now, you owe two hundred per house. That's twenty-six thousand dollars total. Pay up, or you aren't moving an inch!"

I decided to just stop caring.

After all, if we missed the window for treatment, the person dying would be his own mother.

1

It was high noon.

The ER was already slammed, and then the dispatch call came in.

We had to pick up an elderly woman in a nearby rural township who had suffered a sudden stroke.

Since we were short-staffed, the head nurse sent me and a student nurse named Mia.

When Mia heard we were heading to Blackwood, thirty miles away, her face went pale.

I thought she was just worried about the bumpy, long drive.

But when the ambulance reached the town entrance, I finally understood her hesitation.

The road was blocked by a row of heavy wooden stumps.

The driver honked repeatedly, but no one came to move them.

"Who sets up a roadblock in broad daylight? What if there's an emergency?"

I leaned out the window, looking around in confusion.

When I turned to Mia, she didn't seem surprised at all.

She just leaned back in her seat, scrolling through her phone with a sigh.

"What are you doing? Help me move these things. We can't just sit here," I said.

But Mia just shook her head.

"What's the rush? Look, they're coming."

Following her finger, I saw a few elderly women walking toward us.

They were chatting and laughing, fanning themselves with hand fans.

After eyeing us for a moment, the lead woman gestured to the others.

They slowly moved the stumps to the side of the road.

"Thank you so much. We really appreciate it," I called out with a smile.

The smiles on their faces suddenly vanished.

The lead woman walked to the front of the ambulance and sat down right on the pavement.

The others surrounded the vehicle, slapping their fans against the windows.

"Two hundred dollars. Cash only!"