>>5575559-You land hard on a pair of disconcertingly squelchy garbage bags, one ruptures, dispensing its vile, wriggling contents-
-You roll away and stumble to your feet, brushing off loose gravel and several damningly sticky pieces of what you hope is chewing gum, rasping for breath you glance around-
-You are in a side alley, running between the magazine office and a three story apartment complex-
The alley is quite dank and grimy, seemingly it is primarily used for storing the dumpsters used by the local businesses-
- To your right the alley opens out into the street you were in previously, that path is still mostly obstructed by time-warping haze.-
-To your left the alley continues for a while before turning sharply north and south-
-Technically it’s not a T-intersection but a crossroads, however the alley westward is blocked by a tall chainlink fence-
-Your eyes snap over to a nearby dumpster, noting the wheels installed on its base for ease of movement-
-The fence isn’t an insurmountable obstacle, you mentally catalogue it as a mild inconvenience and move further down the filth-encrusted passage-
-Shouts from the street reverberate down the alley towards you, following the noise you turn right at the fence-
-The alley extends for a couple dozen meters, containing nothing more stimulating than a toppled garbage can, before being somewhat ineffectively obstructed by the bulky frame of a police van-
-Over the roof of the vehicle, the angled sprawl of shopping complex looms-
=Def: “The placement of isn’t coincidental. This van was driven onto the sidewalk and purposely parked as close to the building as possible.”=
=Sha: “This blockade is even less of an obstacle than the chainlink fence. It’d be trivial to crawl under or over it.”=
=Def: “It logically follows that such a meagre vehicular barricade would be guarded, maybe somebody is keeping watch from the other side.”=
-Another chorus of shouting ring out from the supposed ‘safe’ zone, a feminine shriek of alarm overshadows the din momentarily-
=Dep: “They’re probably preoccupied.”=
-Testing the door's handle, you confirm that the police van has been locked, then take a step back to peruse your options-
-You can either crawl under the van or climb over it, neither approach will be very taxing but it will be fairly conspicuous for anyone that happens to be looking your way-
-Alternatively, you could double back and seek a different way in-
