Chapter 13 – Buried Past
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Chapter 13 – Buried Past.

“Do you know anything about using a sword?”

What, that blunt thing on your back? Hold onto it and swing?’

Yeah, last time that hadn’t ended so well. He had kind of hoped that perhaps Spectre might have some data that would help him train to use it without getting hurt in return, but it wasn’t to be so it appeared. Guess it was just trial and error till he found a proper teacher. No getting into fights between now and then then.

“Any idea how this actually ended up down here?”

Probably due to the Shattering. It rearranged the world after all...’

Another thing that he had no concept of at all. At least in campaigns you always had the source books to give you some background on the world and kingdoms in which you found yourself. Here it was if he was starting with a blank page.

Chris stood in front of the South Mall, staring up at the faded sign on the second story facade. Wherever they were, or possibly wherever it had come from, as they weren’t necessarily connected, they had spoken English. There was some comfort in that, in that perhaps everything wouldn’t be foreign to him. It was even possible that up above somewhere could be the remains of home, but he suspected the chances of that being very slim. Angel, whatever it was, had been trying to move him elsewhere, and that would imply away from home.

They had explored the vicinity of the cave, and found nothing. Walking around its perimeter had revealed no exits, at least not that he could reach. They had spotted a few openings quite a fair way up the sides of the walls, but the walls of the cave were not easily climbable, and he could not fly, so they had no way of investigating whether they were just small pockets or actual tunnels that would lead him out of this place. All that they had found was just lots of glowing patches of the moss/algae that gave the cave its ambience, and the occasional patch of moss on the ground. No, even given his hunger he was still not keen on trying to eat it. He did not fancy an earthen diet.

Which of course just left the building, which really was out of place here. Yet here it was. Though it had looked dark inside from a distance, now that he was right in front of it, he could tell that the glowing moss/algae also grew in patches inside of the structure as well. Not in all rooms, but definitely in some and in the main entrance area. There was also debris in this area, up against the wall, parts of the mall that hadn’t disappeared with time. Rummaging through the scraps, most of which was unrecognisable, he finally found what he was looking for. A mostly intact plastic stick with a flat head. They’d always said that plastic was bad for the environment, as it didn’t break down very quickly, and it looked like they were right in this instance. He seemed to recall someone saying it could take anywhere from 20 to 1000 years, depending on what it was and the conditions it was in (thanks university for what would normally be somewhat useless information), and down here didn’t seem too damp and definitely out of the sun, so he’d guess even longer. What he held was likely the remains of a broom, and while it had partially degraded, it’d serve its purpose.

If he was going to explore the mall, he needed an additional source of light beyond what the infrequent patches of moss inside it was providing. So he was going to take some in with him. There was still no way he was going to touch any of it, but hopefully he’d be able to get some to stick to the broom. Walking back to the wall of the cave where there was a patch of it within reach, he used the broom head to scrape some of the moss/algae off the wall and onto it. It came off the wall easily enough, though he panicked a bit as some of it tumbled off the head, barely missing him as he quickly stepped to the side, landing on the ground beside him with a squelch. Most of it actually seemed to stick to the broom head, and bringing it back down to eye level and giving it a gentle shake confirmed that it would stay there, at least for the time being. It also retained it’s glow, which was the entire point of the exercise, but for how long was a different story.

Turning, he headed back to the entrance of South Mall. He was quite surprised, but with all the walking he was doing, he had found the heels very comfortable and easy to walk in. He had expected some pain after a little while, given that they were made of some metallic alloy, and you know, they were heels, but no, there must be something else to them, perhaps even a little bit of magic, because he was inclined to say that they were the most comfortable pair of footwear that he had ever had. His clothes too, but that was a slightly different story. Least to say, even given the circumstances, he was feeling very comfortable right know with how he was dressed. Practical for the circumstances, probably not. But comfortable and happy.

With his make-shift light held up in front of him, Chris entered the mall, Spectre trotting alongside him. It was strange, even though he wasn’t looking at it, he could always sense where the cat-fox was. Obviously there was some element of truth to this whole bond thing. It was kind of nice. While the bulk of the cave had been bare, apart from the moss and its glowing cousin that was helping to light their way at the moment, and the assortment of stuff that had lay around the outer wall of the mall, the inside of the mall was the complete opposite and it looked like a bomb site, stuff strewn everywhere. Of course, once again, a lot of it was unrecognizable and a shade of its former form, but no matter where he went to stand, there was something there. Broken glass was the most common, crunching underfoot as he started to make his way forward. Perhaps it had all shattered when the mall had ended up here, and as one of longest lasting man-made materials it’s presence made sense. But it still made him feel uneasy as he walked over it. On the other hand it didn’t seem to bother Spectre at all. He was grateful that he didn’t see any skeletons down here, but if it had indeed been over a thousand years then they would have turned to dust as well, excluding the influence of magic he assumed.

From the inside there was definitely no mistaking that this was indeed a mall. He was in the middle of a wide open area, the remains of store fronts surrounding him. In front of him was what was left of the escalators that would have gone up to the first level, though very little of them actually remained, and he wasn’t all that confident on trying to go up them, least they collapse, as a part of one had already. Looking up he could see that in a few places the floor of the next level had also collapsed, so he was going to need to be very careful when walking around up there. Surely modern building standards should have been able to last longer than this, but then again the stress and strain of it being relocated here would have had unknown results on it. Not that it really mattered now. Irrespective, if he wanted to go up, which he was going to, he would use the stairs, once he located them.

“Anything familiar to you here?” he asked Spectre.

More to you than me I suspect.’

That was a no then. He’d expected that response. Making his way to the side of the main area, he walked along the store fronts, looking in at each one, his makeshift torch providing enough light to get a general idea of what was there when the shop didn’t have enough light of its own. He guessed that a lot of them would have been clothing stores, not that there was actually anything clothes left. Which was a pity, but they were long gone. Much of the fittings however remained, though showing their age and likely quite brittle by now. Wooden and metallic shelves, some still on the walls, others on the floor, clothes racks with plastic hangers, mannequins that were best not looked at, and mirrors, some that were still attached to the wall and in a passable condition.

Chris stopped in front of one for a look. The light wasn’t the best, but in this gloom he could actually pass for a girl. His long hair, and the shape of his clothes and heeled boots gave him a feminine appearance. He was actually pleased with his look. Not even close to what he’d like to be like, but a passing resemblance. In proper light it’d be a different story. Not to mention that while his face was smooth at the moment, soon he’d have to worry about facial hair again. That thought left him somewhat depressed, and he turned away from the mirror, walking back out into the main section of the mall. Stupid hair growth.

Three openings down, near the back of the ground floor, Chris found the stairs. Taking a note of their position he did a quick pass by the remainder of the stores, but they were all pretty much the same. An entire floor of clothing and apparel stores. One had probably been for footwear, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if a couple weren’t also dedicated to sportswear, but clothes none the less. Returning to the stairs he made his way up, Spectre bounding its way up with no effort at all. At least the stairs were in good condition.

While the stairwell went all the way up, he stopped off at the first floor. He suspected that if he was going to find a way out of here it would be at the top level of the mall, but given that he was in a world that was no longer what it was, he needed to find something first. What he had seen thus far gave him hope that he would find what he was after, assuming that the mall hadn’t been looted already, but he couldn’t tell either way. The first floor looked to have been mainly focused on food, and he didn’t stay long at that level. He could tell straight away that he wouldn’t find what he was looking for there, and there was zero chance that any food remained there. The stuff that you found in a mall wasn’t intended to last. Actually no foods would have lasted a thousand years. Hopefully he found an exit sooner rather than later, as he really didn’t want to be eating moss.

The second floor was in an even worse state than the first. The open area of the level had more gaps than it did actual floor, Chris having to walk his way carefully around the edge. His nerves were on edge as one section of floor collapsed, sending up a cloud of dust from below, while a few other sections threatened to do so as he made his way around, checking the stores as he went past them, but fortunately he didn’t have to find out how well he’d survive a fall. The shops on this level appeared to have been everything else. Technology stores (Raymond’s Gadgets, really? They called a store that?), a mini supermarket (there was no way he could mistake that, though the second level of a mall seemed like a bad place for one and it hadn’t survived well), hairdresser and massage parlous (nothing of interest there even if it had only been a few days since the Shattering), pharmacies (many of the bottles had survived, but there weren’t as many as he would have expected and the contents would have long expired), random junk stores (okay, it wouldn’t have been junk at the time, but it wasn’t anything of use now), and finally a jewellery store.

He had no idea what the world and civilization on the surface was like, but people had always liked gems and gold, and if anything remained here he might be able to trade it for whatever the currency currently was. There had definitely been looting here at some point, the glass display cabinets smashed in and empty, large pieces of glass lying everywhere. Of course it wasn’t going to be easy, but whoever had been here at whatever point in time had probably had similar thoughts to him. He carefully ran his makeshift torch over each cabinet, checking from both sides to see if anything had been missed, but no, the looters had been thorough. Chris’ heart sunk as he finished examining the last of the cabinets, coming up empty handed. Perhaps there would be other jewellery stores in the mall as well, as it was highly unusual for there to be only one, but they would be in the same state in all likelihood.

Chris started to make his way carefully out of the store when he stopped, noticing that something was amiss, or more accurately, not amiss. All of the locked doors underneath the cabinets at the back were just that. Still locked and intact. A couple looked like someone had tried to pry them open at some point, but failed. Testing the door, he could tell that they had indeed degraded over time, so manoeuvring himself into position as best he could in the tight space (they never really left much space for the staff did they), he gave the door a solid kick with his heeled boot on one corner, the wood cracking and giving way both there and in the opposite corner. Putting the torch aside and crouching down, Chris then managed to pry the door fully off, and retrieving the torch, gave the interior a closer look. The packaging inside had not survived the passing of time, but in amongst what remained there was indeed a small collection of rings. Plain without any stones and in a variety of metals, be it gold, silver, white gold etc, but jewellery none the less. He gathered up all that he could find, a dozen in total, and pocketed them in the small pockets in his weapons harness, pretty much perfect for the job. Relieved at having found something, he continued along, checking the remaining cupboards in the store, and ended up coming away with over a hundred pairs of earrings, rings and necklaces, all stashed away in the harness, Spectre watching him with curiosity the entire time.

“Do you have any idea of what the currency of the land is?” he asked Spectre, on the off chance that the cat-fox knew and to give reason to it for his actions.

No clue.’

And there we are, justified. That also meant that he was now finished with his exploration of the mall, as he was certain that all of the remaining shops would be in a similar state. He did contemplate seeing if there was another jewellery store, but given that he seemed to be the only one who had been here in a long time, he figured it might actually be better to leave anything else here, on the off chance that he somehow lost what he had gathered or ran out and needed some more. Hopefully he’d be able to sort out life and find Rachael well before then though. Not that he had any idea of what the future held. A girl can dream though.

Making his way out of he store and across the unstable floor back to the stairs, managing to avoid any collapsing sections this time, Chris resumed his climbing of the stairs. He very quickly realised that while he had seen only four floors within the cave, the mall was a lot higher than that. Out of curiosity he opened the door to have a look at the sixth floor, to find that it wasn’t all that accessible. When the mall had been shifted here, the floors that appeared within the open section of the cave seemed to have survived as was. For the floors that had appeared in solid rock however it seemed to be a mixture of both, some sections of the floor as they had always been while the rest appeared to just be solid earth or stone, and somewhat randomly so. He dreaded to think what would have happened to any people who were on this floor when it happened and standing in the wrong spot. He closed the door and continued up the stairs. For whatever reason though the stairwell itself was untouched.

Nine floors up and glad to be at the end, the stairs terminated in a solid door. It felt a little warmer too. The door looked aged, with some stains on it as well as on the floor, but overall it seemed to be in good condition. He had no idea if they had climbed up high enough, but he was praying that he was at the surface now. There was no way to tell though, with the door snug in its frame. Relieved to see that the door opened inwards, so it wouldn’t be barred or blocked from the outside, Chris took a deep breath and pulled the door open.

 

Thanks for reading :)

What awaits Chris on the outside, if he's actually there in the first place?

Strange Lands (at least that's what I wrote contents ^^).

Comments always welcome. Next chapter should be out sometime within a week.

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