Oliver's first glimpse inside of a dimensional pocket was... underwhelming.

Weeds and small plants grew in the numerous cracks scattered throughout the paved road under his feet. Twisted pieces of plastic, broken glass, and crushed cans littered the narrow road before him, strewn about at random between the brick walls of the buildings to both sides, their bricks faded and mortar crumbling after years of neglect. A single door led into both buildings- both boarded up, though the wood appeared warped and worn with age. Only the second floors of the building had windows, and much of the glass had been broken and knocked out...

Glancing behind him, past the glowing spiral of the portal, there was only another wall- a dead end alley.

"I hope that's not some sort of omen..." He muttered softly to himself as he shrugged the bow off his shoulder.

"Let's move up to the corner and check the road." Jane said softly to the three of them. "There wasn't anything there when I was here earlier, but that could have easily changed."

"Best not to assume." Oakheart agreed easily, his sword already in hand.

The group started forward, all of them careful not to step on anything that may crackle or crunch underfoot- until they knew what they were dealing with, stealth was the plan. Though it was only a few hundred feet to the end of the alley and the road ahead, the distance seemed to stretch out under their slow and cautious steps.

Halfway down the alley, Oliver's steps unconsciously slowed as an odd sensation sent a chill down his spine- a feeling so small he barely noticed it at first. But, with each step, the feeling grew stronger. Momentarily closing his eyes, he focused on the sensation. Whatever it was, it felt... hostile, and dangerous- though probably only a minor threat; it certainly felt less dangerous then the first time he met Eve, though definitely more hostile.

But it was his nose wrinkling at the horrid stench that made him speak up...

"Stop."

His quiet command instantly brought the group to a halt, and he opened his eyes to find them all staring at him curiously- and with a touch of concern.

Waving the three of them back to him, he waited for them to gather close before he spoke, his voice even softer than before. "There's something around the corner- to the right, I'm pretty sure. Probably whatever it is we're here to kill."

"You sure about that?" Eve asked, clearly skeptical. "Because all I can see is a brick wall right now."

Jane directed a stern glare at Eve, before shifting to look at 'the Devil'- her own skepticism clear in her eyes as she studied their mysterious companion. "What is it you think is around the corner? How far away is it? And how do you know that something is there?"

"I don't know what it is, just something... hostile. And dangerous." Oliver sighed, having expected some reluctance to believe what he said- not that he expected explaining it would really clear things up much. "Less dangerous than Eve, I'm pretty sure, but that doesn't really tell us much. And how far... I can't be sure of an exact distance, but..."

Turning slowly, he pointed in the vague direction he felt something- though, from their perspective, he was just pointing at the building beside them. "It's in that direction. Not sure exactly how far, but... either near the front of the building, or out front of it; maybe... a hundred feet from the corner?" He shrugged helplessly at his own vague explanation.

"Ok, but how do you know?" Jane pressed, staring into his eyes.

"That's... hard to explain. I can kind of just... feel it." Oliver answered slowly, unsure how to explain it more clearly. He didn't really understand this weird ability to sense things, other than it related to his Spirit Attribute- and he certainly wasn't going to tell them about the System.

"That, and the absolutely rancid smell." He added after a second, his nose scrunching up in disgust.

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"I don't smell anything." Eve said after cautiously sniffing the air- and even Oakheart seemed to agree with her, though he didn't say anything.

"He's right." Jane said suddenly, snorting softly to clear her nose. Seeing a pair of curious looks directed her way, she explained softly. "As a werewolf, my nose is more sensitive than yours... And whatever it is smells rotten. Like, literally-"

"Rotten meat." Oliver supplied with an understanding nod- it really was a terrible smell.

"How did you even pick up on that?" Jane asked, a tinge of frustration in her voice. "I barely noticed it after you mentioned it!"

"Sixth sense, I guess. I kind of interpret things I sense in terms of colors and smells..." Oliver shrugged, only to receive a skeptical look in return. Sighing in annoyance, he shook his head at the agent. "Agent Doe... You are a werewolf that hunts down supernatural criminals, and you know that magic is real. Is something like a sixth sense really so far fetched?"

A hint of pink crept into her cheeks at the rebuke, and Jane shook her head slightly. "I guess not, though it is fairly uncommon, from what I know."

"So, what do we do, boss?"

Jane's eyebrows rose slightly at being called 'boss', and she glanced at the Devil once more. While the word almost sounded like a thinly veiled barb directed at her, the lack of humor- or anything else, really- in his voice made her question that assessment. "Boss?"

"Well, you are the leader of this team." He shrugged slightly, before a touch of amusement slipped into his tone. "Though, if you prefer, I can try something different. Do you prefer 'Mistress' or 'Commander'?"

"Though, fair warning, you would have to clear it with my wives before I can call you Mistress- which isn't really possible at the moment."

Eve giggled, thoroughly enjoying Oliver playing up his 'Devil' persona, as Jane's blush deepened, earning her a glare from everyone involved- except Oakheart, who simply looked on in amusement.

"Boss is fine." Jane huffed, not meeting his eyes. "And let's try to keep this professional, ok?"

"What, can't get your freak on with a guy without running a background check first?" Eve snickered at the taller woman's discomfort.

"We have a job to do." Jane said, not responding to the obvious provocation. "We'll move up to the corner and take a look, then decide how to deal with whatever is there."

With the simple, rough plan laid out before them, everyone just nodded and moved back into position before starting down the alley once more. With each step, the feeling Oliver got from whatever it was got clearer and clearer- unfortunately, so did the smell...

And, just before they reached the corner, he was able to tell... that it wasn't just one thing there, but rather three of them, clustered together. Thankfully, that also meant that the sense of danger he felt was from the group, and that each one was even less of a problem individually- he was fairly confident, at least.

Leaning close to Agent Doe when they paused at the corner, Oliver pressed his lips nearly to her ear as he whispered.

"Three things, not one. Close together, so I couldn't tell them apart at first. They feel... weak, individually."

Eve and Oakheart nodded like they heard him as well- which, considering it was likely they both had superior hearing to a human, made sense to Oliver.

Jane, however, stiffened at his sudden proximity, only relaxing after he leaned away again. Nodding sharply to him, her eyes quickly scanned the road for any other threats- not so much doubting his ability to sense things, but more to be sure they hadn't missed anything.

Slowly, the group of them peaked out around the corner of the building. Cracked pavement extended out into the distance, lined with run down buildings of all shapes and sizes- a few collapsed, some little more then burnt out husks... One impressive building, just few blocks away, was likely once a massive skyscraper; Less than a dozen floors remained standing, the rest having somehow fallen across several nearby buildings- from the scorch marks on the remains of the structure that were visible even at this distance, Oliver guessed something big had happened there... Though he had no real idea as to what exactly happened...

Abandoned cars littered the roadway, many with shattered glass and flat tires. Just around the corner from them, a beige van sat partway onto the sidewalk, likely pushed there by the impact of the large red SUV that sat nose to crumpled nose with it...

Past the apparent car crash, past the dirty broken glass of the empty convenience store and what may have once been a cafe of some sort- judging by the slightly rusty metal tables and chairs with their broken umbrellas...

Maybe a hundred feet down the sidewalk was the dead body of a middle aged man, his stomach ripped open and blood splattered liberally across the pavement...

And crouched around the body were three figures, their skin a sickly gray... and rotting... as they ripped flesh and organs from the body to gnaw on...

"It really is an Apocalypse City..." Oliver barely breathed as he stared at the horrid scene. "A Zombie Apocalypse City."

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