The Chevrolet turned out of the Latin community, made two more turns, and Henry drove onto Figueroa Street in downtown, planning to take this road to Sunset Boulevard. That area, near Hollywood, had quite a few shops that bought or sold photography equipment, so at the very least, he could exchange the handheld camcorder for some much-needed dollars.

In fact, Henry could have asked Ross for help again, but he didn’t intend to do so. No matter how close friends are, if you only know how to ask for things, the relationship will inevitably grow distant. Aside from the temporarily borrowed phone, car, and a little over two hundred dollars, he hadn’t accepted any more help from Ross.

Night had already fallen when Henry turned onto Sunset Boulevard. In stark contrast to the decline of downtown, the road here was lined with endless palm trees and towering movie billboards. The constantly flashing neon lights made this road look like a city that never sleeps.

The Chevrolet passed Echo Park, Silver Lake, and Los Feliz, gradually entering Henry’s destination—the Hollywood area.

Today’s Hollywood is no longer the rundown scene of the 80s and 90s. With strong support from the California state government and Los Angeles County, it has regained the glory of its golden age and is now one of the most prosperous commercial districts in all of Los Angeles.

However, Henry rarely paid attention to the sides of the road, his focus entirely on driving. Sunset Boulevard winds and twists in many places, and at its narrowest, it’s only four lanes wide. With countless hairpin turns, blind spots, and in most places no median barrier, collisions happen here all the time.

Just after passing an intersection, flames appeared by the roadside ahead, and Henry quickly slowed down.

“That car is going to explode!”

Shouts came through the open car window. “Damn it, hurry up!”

“Help!”

The Chevrolet slowly drove past. Henry turned his head to look and saw a sedan crashed into a thick palm tree by the roadside. A police car and a fire truck were parked nearby. Police officers were maintaining order, several firefighters were busy at the burning car, and cries for help kept coming from inside the vehicle...

Chapter 5: Headline

The black Chevrolet was moving very slowly. As it passed the accident site from another lane, Henry kept watching. The wrecked car was already on fire, flames roaring out from under the hood and illuminating the area. The firefighters, ignoring the risk of an explosion, were busy putting out the fire, while others were trying to rescue the injured trapped inside.

All of this reminded Henry of scenes he’d seen on TV news, and also of a video stored by another Henry on his laptop. His eyes unconsciously shifted to the handheld camcorder on the passenger seat.

A voice in his mind told him this was extremely valuable news footage and he should start filming immediately.

The car passed the accident scene. Henry hit the brakes, stopped on the side road, grabbed the camcorder, and got out as quickly as possible. As he ran toward the accident, he skillfully turned on the camcorder.

It was as if he had rehearsed this countless times before.

Two patrol officers had already put up yellow police tape, creating a simple cordon to keep people out. Inside the cordon, the fire was somewhat under control, and several firefighters were dismantling the deformed car door to rescue the driver inside.

Just as Henry decided to film the accident, a few other cars also stopped nearby. Apparently, rubbernecking is universal.

Some people walked over, seemingly wanting a closer look, and the two patrol officers hurried over to maintain order.

This gave Henry an opportunity.

As he ran over, he had already started filming with the camcorder. As a film school student with formal training, and with memories left by his predecessor, Henry had some skill in this area. However, due to the poor lighting at night, the footage from outside the police line wasn’t great.

The moment the two patrol officers were distracted by other onlookers, Henry didn’t hesitate to duck under the police tape, quickly took a few big steps, hid beside a fire truck, found a good angle, and used the firelight to capture the scene near the car on camera.

The memories left by his predecessor told Henry that there were plenty of people in Los Angeles doing similar work. Whenever an incident occurred, these guys would swarm in like sharks smelling blood.

So, he had to hurry and film the shots those people couldn’t get.

The fire was dying down, and the footage was starting to blur. Henry glanced to his left at the ten o’clock direction. The two patrol officers were still maintaining order, and the rest of the firefighters were focused on rescuing the trapped driver. No one was paying attention to him.

At that moment, the deformed car door was finally pried open by the firefighters, and a long-haired woman was carried out of the car.