277

You are about to pick up and inspect one of the empty cartridge cases when you hear something moving above you. Immediately you dive to your left, acting purely on instinct, a reflex that saves you from being caught beneath a heavy rope net dropped from the roof to the sheriff’s office by two thin-faced punks. It falls, smothering the ground where, only seconds before, you were standing.

The silence is shattered by a riot of noise as a dozen clansmen rush out of the surrounding buildings, screaming and brandishing an assortment of weapons. Escape is your only thought as they start to close in, and swiftly you jump to your feet and race towards an alley that runs alongside the sheriff’s office. Bullets ricochet off the wall as you turn the corner, urging you to quicken your pace, but you are brought to a sudden halt when you see that the alley is a dead end. With a howling, bloodthirsty mob in hot pursuit, you search desperately for a way out.

You can see only two routes that offer an exit from this alley. One is an iron staircase—the rusty remains of an old fire escape—that leads to the roof of a warehouse; the other is a door at ground level that leads into the same building.

If you wish to climb the staircase to the roof, turn to 173.

If you decide to enter the door at ground level, turn to 81.