6. Alley might let you out into a more open area.
"Alright, let's go," you say. You run across the street once more, Jesse behind.
The fog seems thicker in the alleyway, maybe due to the enclosed space. You shoulder through the embankment at the alleyway entrance, feeling the chill as tendrils cling to your upper body and legs.
Your eyes adjust to the new density and you're able to see perhaps ten to fifteen feet in front of you. Boxes and garbage bags line the sides of the alley, some spilled open, their inscrutable contents laying like guts on the ground. You walk past them, your pulse quickening.
As you go deeper into the alley, you begin to hear a soft sound from up ahead. At first, you thought it was an echo of your footsteps on the cold pavement, but as you draw closer, you can tell it's from some foreign source.
Thump.
...
Thump.
"What is that?" Jesse whispers behind you harshly.
"I don't know," you say softly over your shoulder. "It's coming from up ahead."
Jesse comes to your side, readying her rifle.
"I thought you said it doesn't work on Faceless," you say.
Jesse just shakes her head slightly in reply. Her knuckles are white where she grips the weapon.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The noise is rhythmic, occurring about once every three seconds. As far as you can see in the mist, the walls of the alley continue straight and unmarked. There's the lower end of a fire escape above you on the right, but it's far too high to reach.
"Should we go back?" you ask.
Jesse shakes her head again. "Those Faceless will have closed in by now. We've got to keep on this way, find an exit, or a way into these buildings."
Thump. Thump.
You continue forward. Weird shadows dance in the corners of your vision, tricks of the mist and fog. A Faceless monster turns out to be another overturned cardboard box. You swallow, listening to the odd thumping sound get louder and louder as you move forward slowly, willing one leg after the other to keep moving.
Ahead, a solid block of shadow on the left jerks slightly in time with the thump. You jump a bit, then squint into the mist. The rectangular object is a dumpster. Closed, the top a pale gray, the sides a deep green. From the front what looks to be an old, red-green stain runs from the lip to the ground, pooling in a mass of congealed... something.
Thump. The dumpster jerks again, like it's been kicked. Beside you, you hear Jesse swallow.
*********************************
1. Investigate the dumpster.
2. Move past it, keeping as far to the other side as possible.
3. No fucking way. Turn back. You'll take your chances with the monsters you know.
*********************************