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Description
The musty smell of decay perused the air as a single shaft of light beamed though the collapsed ceiling, illuminating the minute particles of dust floating in the air. The house itself was a sad sight indeed. Barely still standing with only half a roof, it showed all the signs of being abandoned. The kitchen was almost completely crushed beneath the pipes and rubble that had once formed the floor above. In other rooms large pieces of furniture lay where then had fallen, scattering their shattered contents across the floor. For years the still silence of the place was broken only by distant groans of shifting rubble and the occasional rat. However, the scratchy sounds that could now be heard were not caused by any rat.

Elsie sighed and dragged a hand through her course hair. Today had been slow. Perhaps it was because she was tired and stressed, but she had found absolutely nothing of any decent value. Leaning back she dumped her rear end unceremoniously on the ground and rubbed her tired eyes. Grampy had been coughing again last night. Though it didn’t sound like anything particularly bad this time, it was highly likely to develop into something worse. The truth of the matter was if that did happen she simply did not have the funds to deal with it. That was why she had decided to venture a little closer to ‘the hole’ than she would have liked. This area was completely deserted, so she had hoped less abandoned knickknacks had already been snatched up. Unfortunately there were very few for the exact reason why no one lived here. Something had shook the ground here (presumably whatever had formed the giant hole in the ground) to the extent that everything had been damaged to the point of being worthless.

Digging in her pocket, Elsie pulled out the single bottle opener that she’d managed to uncover from the bombsite that had once been the kitchen.

“Well I guess it’s something, eh TikTak?” She said, addressing the splotched grey rodent perched on a piece of broken pipe nearby. At the sound of his name, said companion raised his head from the large woodlouse he had be snacking on and turned to look at her, ears alert and nose twitching . TikTak had stuck around with Elsie ever since she had rescued him from an angry Tom cat at the edge of the city ruins. Coming to the conclusion that she didn’t have any food he turned back to his measly morsel.

Elsie pushed herself to her feet and brushed herself off, eyes watering slightly as she dislodged a huge cloud of dust. She turned, planning to check another room of the house, but froze when her eyes fell on TikTak. He was sat back on his haunches, back ramrod straight, with his head perfectly still. His large ears flickered slightly, listening to distant sounds too faint for the human ear. Elsie had long since learned to trust TikTak’s senses over her own. It was one of the main reasons she had lasted this long scavenging the treacherous ruins.

Three grey rats suddenly shot though a gap in the wall. Elsie jumped and then sighed in relief as she released her tense muscles. For a moment there she was worried the rest of the house was going to collapse with her inside. Two of the rats skittered past her, whilst the third approached TikTak, head low and ears plastered back.

Elsie leant on the fallen fridge, watching the interaction with amusement,

“Family of yours?”

The intruder squeaked suddenly and dashed after its companions as another two rats entered through the wall. Make that three... five... nine... sixteen...

“That’s a lot of cousins!” Elsie squealed, stepping back as an entire wave of rats swarmed through the kitchen. Glancing over to TikTak’s perch she realised that he had already abandoned ship, joining his kin in their mad rush to escape... something.

Staggering against the veritable wall of struggling furry bodies, Elsie waded across to where she had last seen her hockey stick. Wincing slightly as she stubbed her toe on it, Elsie reached down and heaved her weapon from beneath the flood, shaking off the few rats that still clung to it. Turning she joined the flow of the crowd, desperately attempting the impossible task of not stepping on anything. She had no idea what they were running from, but if whatever it was could freak out this many rats enough for them to brave being out in the open city, she wanted to be as far away from it as possible.

Description
The musty smell of decay perused the air as a single shaft of light beamed though the collapsed ceiling, illuminating the minute particles of dust floating in the air. The house itself was a sad sight indeed. Barely still standing with only half a roof, it showed all the signs of being abandoned. The kitchen was almost completely crushed beneath the pipes and rubble that had once formed the floor above. In other rooms large pieces of furniture lay where then had fallen, scattering their shattered contents across the floor. For years the still silence of the place was broken only by distant groans of shifting rubble and the occasional rat. However, the scratchy sounds that could now be heard were not caused by any rat.

Elsie sighed and dragged a hand through her course hair. Today had been slow. Perhaps it was because she was tired and stressed, but she had found absolutely nothing of any decent value. Leaning back she dumped her rear end unceremoniously on the ground and rubbed her tired eyes. Grampy had been coughing again last night. Though it didn’t sound like anything particularly bad this time, it was highly likely to develop into something worse. The truth of the matter was if that did happen she simply did not have the funds to deal with it. That was why she had decided to venture a little closer to ‘the hole’ than she would have liked. This area was completely deserted, so she had hoped less abandoned knickknacks had already been snatched up. Unfortunately there were very few for the exact reason why no one lived here. Something had shook the ground here (presumably whatever had formed the giant hole in the ground) to the extent that everything had been damaged to the point of being worthless.

Digging in her pocket, Elsie pulled out the single bottle opener that she’d managed to uncover from the bombsite that had once been the kitchen.

“Well I guess it’s something, eh TikTak?” She said, addressing the splotched grey rodent perched on a piece of broken pipe nearby. At the sound of his name, said companion raised his head from the large woodlouse he had be snacking on and turned to look at her, ears alert and nose twitching . TikTak had stuck around with Elsie ever since she had rescued him from an angry Tom cat at the edge of the city ruins. Coming to the conclusion that she didn’t have any food he turned back to his measly morsel.

Elsie pushed herself to her feet and brushed herself off, eyes watering slightly as she dislodged a huge cloud of dust. She turned, planning to check another room of the house, but froze when her eyes fell on TikTak. He was sat back on his haunches, back ramrod straight, with his head perfectly still. His large ears flickered slightly, listening to distant sounds too faint for the human ear. Elsie had long since learned to trust TikTak’s senses over her own. It was one of the main reasons she had lasted this long scavenging the treacherous ruins.

Three grey rats suddenly shot though a gap in the wall. Elsie jumped and then sighed in relief as she released her tense muscles. For a moment there she was worried the rest of the house was going to collapse with her inside. Two of the rats skittered past her, whilst the third approached TikTak, head low and ears plastered back.

Elsie leant on the fallen fridge, watching the interaction with amusement,

“Family of yours?”

The intruder squeaked suddenly and dashed after its companions as another two rats entered through the wall. Make that three... five... nine... sixteen...

“That’s a lot of cousins!” Elsie squealed, stepping back as an entire wave of rats swarmed through the kitchen. Glancing over to TikTak’s perch she realised that he had already abandoned ship, joining his kin in their mad rush to escape... something.

Staggering against the veritable wall of struggling furry bodies, Elsie waded across to where she had last seen her hockey stick. Wincing slightly as she stubbed her toe on it, Elsie reached down and heaved her weapon from beneath the flood, shaking off the few rats that still clung to it. Turning she joined the flow of the crowd, desperately attempting the impossible task of not stepping on anything. She had no idea what they were running from, but if whatever it was could freak out this many rats enough for them to brave being out in the open city, she wanted to be as far away from it as possible.