The Cycle Continues: Alice in Borderland Novel

27) Eight of Clubs [3] ✮

===Zakū Raisunei===

Here are the facts: Team B wasn't to be underestimated. However, even their brilliance had missing patches for me to exploit.

Apartment B was clever, gathering the bikes that were parked along the halls and using them as a barrier. In total, there were six entrances through the skybridges. Each was blocked with two bikes, the locks tied to the fence and tying the two bikes together, with one raised on its wheel against the stone ledge. Then, they poured wet cement over the bikes and sprinkled some glass shards onto it for good measure. Then, for even better measure, they blocked off each of the bridges with a wall of crates and blocks. On top of each wall was additional cement with glass shards. The stairs were blocked from both the ground floor and the roof.

There were holes in the plan, but they were patched with relative sophistacy. There appeared to be some man in the military, for he carried throwing knives and could climb expertly. With most of the skybridges blocked off or too dangerous to climb over with the crate barriers that towered into the sky, that gave them breathing room. There were only two guards, one on the first floor, and one on the roof, who was the military man. Every minute or two, he would descend down a pipe, climbing down slowly to watch each hall, then climb back up. He did nothing but climb the pipes and stand on the ledges occasionally for rest.

Sneaking through the roof into the stairs while the man was on one of his descents was my first plan, but that was how I found out the top stairwells had been blocked off too. So, I utilized another plan. Taking one of the long wooden planks from the roof, I propped one end on the top of the fire escape railing, and the other end on the stone ledge of the fence. It was level, and I pressed my hand on it, exerting my body's force.

It stayed put. And so, I walked across it when the man was on the roof, keeping my weight balanced, while keeping my eyes averted from the eight-story drop below me. I was aware what happened to the woman that chased Chihaya–being a blotch on the ground was a brutal fate.

I landed, dropping beneath the stone wall, and took the plank off, to ensure no one could see should they notice the fire escape. From the roof, the man would be looking outwards, and wouldn't be able to see the current doors through his lens, so he couldn't tell if someone was robbing the rooms. If he did, he wouldn't be able to get down, so he'd have to jump in from outside the fence, giving me time to escape through the stairs.

My heart raced as my hand enclosed the first knob, counting down the fifteen seconds. It reached zero, and the coins slid from under the gap in the door. One was a B-25, and one was a B-100.

"Not bad." I said, taking the coins and putting them into my inventory. I wasted no time descending the stairs, softening my steps to mask their noise. I gripped the knob of the first door, initiating the timer. The time counted down, and the coin came out–a single B-50. My screen alerted me; someone was taken prisoner. 'What?'

I squinted, focusing on the apartment D lobby. Chihaya and Niko were congregated, talking in a huddled group. Chihaya pulled out of the conversation, drawing his binoculars. When he didn't see me at the fire escape, I waved him down, and he spotted me, signaling for me to come down.

'Come down? And risk exposing our biggest advantage?' I thought, shaking my head. 'Are they crazy?' Either Chihaya didn't see my gesture, or he wasn't relenting, since he continued to wave to me. I sighed, climbing down the steps. When I reached the second floor, I peeked over both corners, ensuring both guards were looking away, before jumping onto the plaza.

I stayed close to the ground, letting the darkness envelop me like a blanket, and jumped over the bushes of apartment D, crouching on the stone wall. "So, Judumai got himself imprisoned?"