Railing Codex

风很大，能听到沙子打在车身有如雨下的清脆声响。沙土弥漫之间，前窗望出去的路狭长且不知去向。
手机信号很微弱，只有GPS导航图上标志着我们这台车的小蓝点在慢慢朝着指定路线移动。前后左右目之所及全是沙漠，路也只是其中勉强看得见边界的一溜沙土。
警报来了——
「国家气象局：沙尘暴警报！此区域直至下午5:15都有遭到沙尘暴袭击的可能。如遇可视性瞬间骤降的情况，请立即停车求生！视线模糊时，务必停靠路肩，熄灭车灯，脚离刹车。婴儿、老人及有呼吸道系统疾病的人，请提前做好准备。」
“这路哪有路肩？”Y听完我转述的警报，坐在驾驶座上嘀咕，他紧紧把住方向盘的双手在冒汗。
我们继续龟行地开着。忽见右前侧有情况。
是一辆又大又长的货车翻倒了，司机和两个穿着制服前来救援的人站在车尾忙乎，看我们经过便微笑示意，好像在说：今天的天气真是绝了。
“居然有那么大的车会翻倒，”Y说，“我还以为这条路很窄。”

The wind is so strong, the sand hitting the car sounds like the swish of a rainstorm. Amidst this diffusion of sand and dust, the road ahead viewed from the windshield looks narrow and long, leading to parts unknown.
 
Cellphone reception here is very weak. Only the GPS navigation shows the blue dot of our car slowly moving along the designated route. There’s endless sand in front and behind us, to the right and left, everywhere the eye can see. The road itself is merely a current of sand and dust whose contours can be made out if you strain hard enough.
 
Then the alert comes—
 
“National Weather Service: DUST STORM WARNING for this area until 5:15PM. Be ready for sudden drop to zero visibility. Pull Aside, Stay Alive! When visibility drops, pull far off the road and put your vehicle in park. Turn the light off and keep your foot off the brake.”
 
Hearing the alert I relay, Y mutters from the driver’s seat: “Is there even a shoulder on this road?” Sweat beads on his hands that are tightly gripping the steering wheel.
 
We crawl onwards, turtle-like. Occasionally we catch a glimpse of something happening up ahead to the right.
 
A big, long truck has overturned. The driver and two people in uniforms who’ve come to his rescue are busying themselves at the back of the truck. When they see us pass by, they smile at us as if to say, Some weather we got today.
 
“I didn’t know that a truck that big could flip over,” Y says. “I thought this road was too narrow for that.”