Heat radiated off every surface of the Eufaula desert. Sweat dripped down Lucy's face as she stepped into the abandoned ruins. Her hand gripped the handle of her pickhammer tighter as she headed towards the last place she explored. The smooth walls of the abandoned mall still amazed her, as did the tall buildings from the Corrupted Era, which pierced the landscape of the world they lived in, broken shards of the past. She'd traversed the old mall numerous times without anything out of the ordinary happening.
"Unless you count that time, I fell down to a lower level with Qi."
Debris crunched under Lucy's boots. She turned the treasure detector on. The scan erupted across all surfaces. Specks of yellow lights revealed places she could dig for relics, old parts and microchips, which Lucy used in her commissions; a green light revealed a potential buried entrance to another lost room in the abandoned mall.
Lucy stepped forward and swung her tool off her shoulder. She readied herself, intent on singing the tip of her pickhammer into the petrified silt that buried sections of the room, when she heard a familiar ticking sound. Lucy stiffened and stood up straight. "Oh, crap."
Whatever ticked exploded. The floor collapsed underneath Lucy, and she free fell. Pain radiated through her shoulder when she landed. She closed her eyes against the sudden pain.
"Be careful of traps," Unsuur said the other day. "The treasure scanner you builders use currently can't pick them up."
Lucy took a deep breath and sat up. She brushed the dirt off her pants and turned her head to look around. Beams stuck out of petrified silt here and there, and debris from the collapsed floor above littered the floor. She saw nothing which would help her get back up. She stood up and leaned over, taking her pickhammer in her non-dominant hand.
A scratching noise came from behind her. Lucy spun around quickly. More pain radiated from her shoulder. The scratching noise grew closer. Lucy looked around again, this time for a place to hide. At that moment, her mind registered the passageways in the abandoned mall, one behind her and two ahead.
Without hesitating, Lucy darted into one of the two passageways. " Hopefully, whatever that scratching sound was doesn't follow me. "
The scratching sound grew closer. Lucy glanced out into the room she came from, squinting as she did so. Her hand covered her mouth to prevent a gasp from escaping as a giant rat stepped into the room she had just left. The rat wiggled its nose as if sniffing, trying to find her. The rat shifted, the claws on its paws scratching against the floor of the room she had just left.
Lucy turned her head and examined the room she now found herself in. No exit. " Meaning I need that rat to go the other way. "
Lucy swallowed, still looking over the room. While there was no exit, a rather large shelf of some kind leaned against one wall, and a counter stood partially buried. Her finger lifted to push the button on her scanner, intent on finding a concealed exit, when she chastised herself. " Even if I hadn't injured myself, digging out the exit would call attention to me being here. And I didn't bring my weapon down here. I didn't think I'd need it, to be honest. "
She glanced into the room again and saw the rat still sniffing the air. Its head turned, and she saw the creature look right at the abandoned room she'd tried hiding in. " Why did we have to come up with these abominations during the Age of Corruption? "
The rat started moving slowly towards her room. Lucy reacted. She hurried across the room and yanked at the shelf. Doing so hurt, but somehow she managed to shift the frame into the room's entrance as the rat arrived. She braced herself against the ledge and closed her eyes.
A loud thud reverberated through the shelf as the rat hit the blockage, preventing it from getting at her. Her boots slid slightly against loose petrified silt. Lucy quickly back-peddled, so her weight continued to brace the shelf as the rat continued its onslaught. Her eyes glanced around the room again. Her jaw dropped slightly, her eyes sighting her dropped pickhammer lying just out of reach. " Why did this have to happen to me today? Why did I have to end up being giant rat food? "
The sound of a shot rang out from behind her. Then another. Then silence. Lucy continued bracing herself against the shelf. "Are you alright?"
"Unsuur!" Lucy turned her head.
"The rat's dead."
Lucy backed away, letting Unsuur in.
"Let's get you out of here," He said. "And first aide if needed."
