Hugo sat quietly in the gray-black pickup truck, leaning on the back of his chair, motionless and looking out the window.

The dusty pine forest undulated as far as the eye could see, the weeds beneath the bushes baring their teeth and claws, the scorching sun casting a halo on the grey green, but without the tenderness of the West Coast, the scorching golden light seemed to kill the life that remained in the air. Dust particles floating in the air lurk in the gloomy forest like a devil in a nightmare, ready to attack passers-by who let their guard down.

Occasionally, a mottled dark red billboard could be seen on the side of the road, pasted with an advertisement for a real estate agent in the city not far behind, but the bright smile was ugly because of a large patch of rotten moss on his cheek. A slight glance reveals a mess of wires and a pile of abandoned railroad tracks around the billboard, along with a few rotting logs.

The distance of the woods is not long, but in a few tens of seconds, the obstacles on both sides of the car are thrown behind in an instant, and the whole field of vision is opened, and the large fields fill the sight, but at this time the fields are a barren scene, there are no rice fields, no crops, only scattered weeds stretching their branches and leaves on the dry land. A gust of wind blew, raising up a patch of sand, making it impossible to open your eyes, even the woods a little farther away.

Hugo stretched out his arm, and the wind completely wrapped it in an instant, and the boiling air passed through his fingertips, but he did not have the pleasure he imagined, because the dry air mixed with sand and dust was constantly rubbing against his skin, and the hot sun danced on his skin uncontrollably, as if he wanted to tear the skin through wounds, and then melt the flesh until the white bones were exposed.

Joseph, who was preoccupied with driving, glanced at Hugo with some unease, and then looked at the road ahead of him, which was completely deserted, not even a living animal could be seen, let alone people, and there were no vehicles on the road, as if it were traveling in the desert. But the slightly changing scenery on both sides reminds the driver that this is not a desert. But for Joseph, he would rather drive in the desert, because the surrounding scenery reveals an indescribable dilapidation, which makes people feel uncontrollably depressed.

"It's less than a mile away." Joseph tried to break the silence in the car, but as soon as he spoke, it was as if he had been evaporated by the scorching sun around him, and dissipated into the air in nothingness.

Hugo didn't look back, just answered "En", and then didn't say anything more, and the sound that came out of the car was calm again, and he could only faintly hear the faint sound of the wind blowing outside the window under the scorching sun, extinguishing all the vitality around him little by little.

After a long silence, there was finally a trace of life on the horizon, and in the distance you could see a wooden tower with a white background and red strokes, and the figure of a person seemed to be moving on the tower.

Closer to it, you can see that on the right side of the tower, there are layers of barbed wire fence extending into a wall, just like the barbed wire fence built by the nobles in the past to keep their prey in captivity.

On the left side of the tower is a toll booth-style passage, right in and left out, with people standing tall on both sides, and if you look closely, you can see the machine guns hanging from their necks, which do not look like toy guns at all.

The whole building was wrapped in the yellow sand and heat waves, as if the mouth of a sleeping beast was slightly open, waiting for food to be automatically delivered to the door, and after entering, it could not get out. The giant beast lay on the barren yellow earth, and little by little it consumed all the vitality in its vicinity, even the air became viscous, and the movement of a raised hand was full of heaviness and irritability.

Joseph slowed down and drove towards the entrance on the right, but there was no one around, only Joseph and Hugo, like the only survivors of the apocalypse. The lettering above the toll booth gradually became clear as it approached, "Louisiana State Penitentiary", the tattered blood-red lettering was decadent because it was stained with yellow sand.

The car stopped at the entrance of the toll booth, and in the middle of the pavilion stood three uniformed staff, and two gunmen came up next to them, and a young man in the pavilion looked over, saw Joseph in the driver's seat, and turned back to the two gunmen and said, "It's okay, it's Hugo and Joe." ”

The two gun-wielding guards stopped, smiled and waved at the car, then backed away.

Joseph got out of the car window, took out a stack of documents and handed it over, and the young man took it and smiled apologetically, "The procedure still has to go, sorry." Joseph waved his hand lightly, indicating that it didn't matter, and then the young man smiled and said, "Hey, Clark, good morning." Why are you on duty again today? What about George? ”

The young man named Clark shrugged helplessly, "George saw his father-in-law last night, he was so drunk that he couldn't go to work, but Ellie was so frightened that she called me impromptu in the morning and asked me to come over and take over the shift. ”

"Poor George." Joseph showed a look of regret, took his documents from Clark's hand, and then looked back at Hugo, Hugo handed over a roll of paper, Joseph stepped out of the way so that Clark could see Hugo, "This is for you." ”

Clark bent down and waved at Hugo with a smile on his face. Hugo also showed a shallow smile, "Hey Clark, good morning, are you all okay guys?" ”

Clark turned back to his partner behind him and shouted, "Hey, buddy, Hugo greetings." Then the whistle rang out everywhere, accompanied by a burst of laughter that echoed through the space.

Clark took the paper tube, and Hugo explained, "This is the poster you mentioned last time, I hope you like it." ”

Clark immediately opened the paper tube with joy and said excitedly, "Is this the 'Before Sunrise' poster?" The one signed by you and Charlize? Hugo chuckled, "Charlize asked me to say hello to you on her behalf, and, of course, Jenny." ”

"Oh God, Jenny will be absolutely happy, Hugo, I swear to Jesus, I love you." Clark said with joy, and then turned back triumphantly to show off to his companions, but after taking a step, he realized that there was still something to be done, and he stopped and turned back to the car and said, "You can go in, I hope things will go smoothly today." ”

Joseph and Hugo greeted the guards around them, and then drove slowly into the prison.

Just as the media reporters joined forces to ban the "Death Row Walk", Hugo, as an important party, left Los Angeles early, away from the place full of countless concerns, and began to prepare for the filming of "Death Row Walk".

Hugo has spent the past three weeks in the Angolan prison in Louisiana, not only to understand what kind of state of mind and emotions Matthew is after nearly six years in prison; At the same time, he wanted to know how criminals thought about the death penalty. Including the psychological state of the criminals in the process of being sentenced and committing the crime.

While Miami has always been the most criminal place in the United States, and New York is on par with it, the Louisiana prison is the most burdensome place in the United States, in this land -- not far from Mexico, where it is poisoned. On land eroded by violence and once ravaged by slavery, an average of one in every 55 inhabitants is in prison, and many are sentenced to life imprisonment.

The highest-security prison in Louisiana is Angola, which is also the most famous prison in the United States. Because it was a witness to the persecution of African Americans throughout history, this barren land was deeply soaked in the blood of African Americans.

In the 19th century, the Angolan prison was a plantation for black slaves, a land under slavery rule. After the Civil War, slavery was abolished and the botanical garden was transformed into a private prison. But because it is a private prison, it has been operating and renting out "prisoners" to provide labor, and the slavery system has changed the soup. After the U.S. government took over in 1901, not only did they not reform the brutal private prison system, but they also maintained the system and intensified their profiteering.

In the cruel and degrading conditions of this prison, the prisoners had to endure worse living conditions than slaves, because the prisoners assigned to this prison were "the most heinous prisoners". By the sixties, Angolan prisons were known as the bloodiest prison in the United States for their violent environment.

It was not until the civil rights movement of black Americans in the seventies made a breakthrough that the rights of blacks were treated at least legally fairly, and the situation in Angolan prisons improved. But even so, three-quarters of the more than 5,000 inmates in Angolan prisons are black, and only 200 of them are likely to be released, with most of the rest either executed or dying of old age.

Elmer Patrick Thornier, the prototype of Matthew on Death Row, was held in an Angolan prison, and Hugo was always curious about whether Elmer's turn to nuns for help after six years in prison had anything to do with the prison environment. You know, Elmer was imprisoned in the late '70s and early '80s, and the conditions at that time were still not good.

For the past three weeks, Hugo has been talking to willing inmates in Angolan prisons who are willing to become volunteers, and he has even stayed in prison as long as the prison allows, feeling first-hand the depressingly oppressive conditions. As time progressed, Hugo's words diminished, his feelings fell, and he was already inevitably affected by this prison, which was like an abandoned place of despair, eating away at hope and life little by little.

Today, once again, Hugo and Joseph slowly entered the prison, their heavy feet as if they were walking in a swamp.