Abandoned Malls Are Freaking Creepy

Sweetheart waited a safe distance away as Mossy excitedly charged towards the large doors, and barely blinked when the huge amicabot crashed right through them, the damaged chains that had been holding the entrance closed shattering as if they had been made of glass rather than metal.

Strolling at a leisurely pace towards the no longer barricaded front doors, Sweetheart adjusted the messenger bag that already held a small amount of scavenged materials she had found laying around the mall when she and Mossy had circled the large structure to make sure there weren't any easier ways to enter the building.

Unfortunately, it seemed this mall in particular managed to stay quite intact, even if the huge amount of plant life crawling its way through the building still gave an appropriately abandoned feeling to what must have once been a lively area.

A tile shifted under her foot, Sweetheart barely able to catch herself against a wall before glaring pointlessly at the damaged flooring that made her trip. Just because her casing was sturdy enough to not dent from most impacts didn't mean she wanted to actually test it.

Continuing further in, watching where she was going more closely this time, Sweetheart joined Mossy to look over the middle centrepiece of the mall.

What once was a giant fountain with several statues spouting water was now mostly rubble, with only two of the carved pieces keeping more than maybe one and a half limbs, although one was missing it's face and some fingers, while the other had it's entire head lopped off with both forearms and the end of their tail no longer anywhere to be found.

Although, as Sweetheart looked closer at the murky water that had managed to stay within the damaged basin, she's pretty sure she could spot what seemed to be a hand. The sheer amount of overgrown weeds that had sprouted from the cracks in the flooring made it hard to identify anything though, so it could just be a weird plant formation for all she could really make out.

Turning to Mossy, she suggested splitting up to search through the many sections of the mall more efficiently. If she needed his strength to get through to an area she could tell him about it when they meet back up in two hours. Mossy handed her a hard hat with a flashlight on it to match the one he puts on as well, which reminds Sweetheart that this isn't his first time searching through ruined buildings. It was exactly what he had been doing when they met, after all.

As the two walk in their separate directions, the light from Sweetheart's new headwear illuminating the large amounts of dust floating through the air, it hits quickly just how creepy the atmosphere is when alone. Cracked tiles, some being destroyed or outright gone to reveal packed dirt underneath, weeds poking through to reach across the floor, climbing up the walls and over the torn posters advertising something or other, that Sweetheart tried to read only briefly before giving up, the ash and dust having stained any paper that had survived too much to make out more than a hint of the original printed colour.

Crossing through the open entrance to what had probably been a coffee shop, broken glass crunching under her feet, she got to work searching for anything even potentially salvageable, mainly only finding some amazingly intact mugs and probably safe bags of coffee beans. She didn't try moving the bags, since dragging them along the ground would only cause the glass shards to tear through them, but reminded herself to mention them to her scavenging partner later, and carefully stored any decently sized ceramics in a sturdy box that was securely closed and put back in her bag.

Moving on, Sweetheart managed to set a good pace searching through the stores, usually not spending too long in each one. By the time she gets to the toy store, her bag is bulging with everything she'd picked up, and she stares blankly at the store for a while, thinking over how to approach searching through it.

The store seems to have gotten the worst of the devastation, the ceiling having caved in and buried most of the stock under heavy rubble, with only the random action figure or bracelet making kit that had somehow gotten flung outside the devastation area showing that what she was looking at had once been a vendor for toys.

Deciding to at least climb some of the rubble to see if there's anything worthwhile before heading back to the ruined fountain, Sweetheart carefully clambered over the uneven chunks of former ceiling, standing atop the pile to scan for anything that would be worth carrying.

She spins in a slow circle, not seeing anything interesting- an arm's sticking out of the rubble.

Sweetheart's thoughts blur as she entirely focuses on the limb, then she crashes down, tripping over the uneven ground, but she scrambled forward, picking herself up to rush forward again. All she could feel was fear and confusion and hurt and maybe some anger and something else but she wasn't sure when everything was too much and she couldn't focus and she desperately tugged on the arm.

When it didn't budge she shoved any rubble she could reach to the side, although she couldn't actually see anything other than that damn arm, everything blurring around her because how long has she been buried in there, just hoping someone will help without actually knowing if anyone would ever find her because she couldn't feel anything beyond being aware of the flashing warnings in her mind warning about the damage she couldn't do anything about because she was trapped Trapped TRAPPED-

Something grabbed her, pulling her back from helping Helping she needed HELP but it pulled her away and there were words but she can't hear because she needs to HELP because she's buried under her own home and NO ONE IS HELPING-

Sweetheart stared at... he had a name... he's green... Greeny? It ended with a Y. Maybe. But he's looking at her with the kind of worried face that reminds her of her family so she looks away before it makes her sick. She realises she's cold... but it was so uncomfortably scorching hot and humid a while ago, so that can't be right...

Taking in her surroundings, Sweetheart only grows more confused, especially when Greeny asks her to tell him five things she can see. Her muddled mind can't find a reason to not do so, so… well, she can see... him, moss, a flower, some glass, and a hard hat.

She can hear... Something dripping, rustling leaves, Greeny's questions and some creaking.

Answering his other questions about feeling (cold air, cold tiles, oh I'm wearing a bag), smelling (I can't. That's broken) and another about seeing (one more thing... my legs. I can see my legs?), Sweetheart figures out that she's not currently freshly freed from being trapped under her home. Mossy gently explains that they are in a mall, because they were looking for salvageable parts, and she had seen a life sized doll's arm that brought forward bad memories.

Sweetheart could only feel embarrassed. Apparently Mossy had come running when he heard her screaming, which she hadn't even been aware she was doing, and had to drag her away to make sure she didn't damage herself trying to dig out the plastic toy, holding her until her emotional centre maxed out and her safety shut down activated to make sure she cooled down to a manageable level.

The two of them left the mall, Sweetheart on Mossy's back as he reassured her that with how packed both their bags were they'd have to have headed back anyway, and it was totally understandable how she reacted, besides that place had seriously creepy vibes anyway, does she want to hear about the cool things he found though?

She half-listened the whole way, completely drained. It always sucked when her memories came forward just to screw her over. But at least she has friends. And a bag full of cool stuff. Take that, traumatic mall- she has your stuff now.