Car park

The fourth level of Backrooms, after the poolrooms: “Behind the door: the car park under the store. Sodium light, empty bays, an engine idling somewhere.” Pale concrete with a teal band, columns striped yellow and black on a six-metre grid, and every free space against a wall painted as a numbered bay with a wheel stop. Pipes tick along the ceiling.

Some rooms drop to a half-level down a ramp, and some end at a loading dock with roller shutters and three steps down. Cars wait under dust sheets; nearly half of them have the engine running. There are trolleys, roll cages, a pay station with a dead screen and a barrier whose arm is stuck halfway. After the car park the exit leads round to the showroom again, stranger each time.