A piece of interactive fiction vs. role-playing game, where you get to suggest the next move and influence how the story progresses.
#3. A fall from grace.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005 The lights' vehicle continue to bear down on you and as the source of the light starts drawing nearer and nearer, your gut tells you you're in danger. Grasping the package, you stumble over your own feet and fall fowards, your heart skipping a beat and you pull yourself back up and scramble towards the fire escape ladder.Its a few feet above your head and and you jump up and reach for the bottom rung, a cat startles from the approaching car and runs across in front of you. You jump up again and grab the ladder, your weight pulling it down as you try and climb up, as if you're moving nowhere.
The ladder moves faster downwards than you do up, and you crash on the floor landing on your knees. The jarring crunch of your bones into the tarmac shakes you through, but you're running on adrenaline, and the potentially rational fear of the car still rolling towards your escape route propels you up the wrought iron steps.
Hand over hand over hand over hand, your legs don't seem to be able to keep pace with how fast you're scrabbling upwards, but your mind doesn't seem to care, and you pull yourself upwards. You've no doubt that whoever is driving the car saw you dive for the fire escape, but thinking clearly isn't something you're trying to do right now, and you just know deep within you that up is the only way on.
Hand over hand over hand over air... you hesitate, usually the cold feel of the ladder's rung would be pressing into your palm as you climbed, but you realise you've swiped and grabbed hold of nothing - toppling forwards in the process. Bending double over the ladder you inadvertantly kick with your feet as they are still carrying up and onwards, but it has the effect of simply propelling you forwards through the gap were the rung should have been and you fall further forwards until your centre of gravity is past the point of no return, leaving gravity itself to pull you back down to the road below. You don't have a moment's thought to realise you're dropping before hitting a sack of bin bags filled with food and household waste which burst underneath your weight, but don't provide enough padding to completely break your fall, and you wheeze as the wind is knocked out of you.
You lie staring face upwards, wedged between the wall and the wheely bin, half covered in rubbish, half unconscious. You're just aware enough to sense the car pulling up beside you, two men get out and start to climb the ladder.
"They're climbing the ladder. Christ, they're climbing the ladder, they can't have seen me fall" your mind screams, but your body isn't in any state to respond. You lie perfectly still, unable to do little else.
You are lying behind a wheelie bin, under cover of darkness. Two men are directly above you looking around. A car sits with its engine running next to you. Whilst you wait for your body to come back to use, your mind starts to plot the next step.
Steal the car.
Stay exactly where you are and watch the movements of those around you trying to glean more information about who you are, who they are and why they're trying to get you.
Walk towards the car, check out their reaction. If they go nutzoid, jump in, start the car and run them over. I know it seems extreme, but two people together screams hitmen. And you ain't going out like that. No way, g.
As you lie there in the refuse, nausea steadily mounts. The smell of rancid meat, mere inches from your face, is making your head swim, but you struggle to remain silent.
Next to you the car purrs quietly, while the men climbing the ladder breathe heavily as they ascend. You're tempted to steal it if you can get a chance, the thought of escape from them is the only thing stopping you from vomiting due to the smell. The problem is, is the car empty? Were those two men the only occupants?
Just within arms reach you spot a half filled can of Tennants Extra. You stretch for it, without disturbing any of the rubbish, grab the can, open it up and take an almighty swig. Whatever they might do to you now, at least it won't hurt as much.
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