"Dammit…"
Grey couldn't help but curse as the acid rain dripped through the cracks in the ceiling, landing on the floor with a persistent sizzle. A loud rumble echoed in the distance, and another pale pink light illuminated the sky.
"What do I do?"
His mind raced, desperately searching for a way to avoid being dissolved by the acid rain. His gaze swept the room, but no ideas came. Then, his eyes landed on the big basin he had used to block the door. A few drops of acid rain fell on the steel, but they simply rolled off, leaving the basin unharmed.
'What is that basin made of? It's definitely not normal metal.'
He cautiously moved toward the door, dodging the falling drops, and reached for the basin. "Wait, if I remove this, my house will be wide open."
The steel basin was the primary barricade, holding the rest of the miscellaneous items together. Removing it would be like inviting whatever creatures were outside to wander in. He was torn, but as the holes in the roof multiplied and the acid rain dripped closer, he gritted his teeth. With a grunt, he unhinged the heavy basin and lifted it over his head.
Just as he did, a fierce wind assaulted him from the now-open doorway. With the basin acting as a makeshift shield, Grey quickly used the remaining items to block the door before crouching low against the opposite wall. He pulled his coal stove and snake meat closer, huddling under the safety of the basin.
The sounds of acid drops hitting the steel and rolling off were a terrifying rhythm, but they were also a source of relief. He remained hunched in the dark until the storm finally subsided, three hours later.
He groaned, shifting his cramped body. As blood flowed freely through his veins again, he waited for a moment to ensure no more drops were falling from the ceiling before emerging from under the basin. He looked up, his gaze lingering on the hole-ridden roof. He could now see the eerie, red-clouded sky through the gaping holes.
'Acid rain in a corroded zone.'
His face paled when he saw the damage to his house. The floor was riddled with scorched holes, smoke still drifting from them. Everything in the room had either melted or was pocked with holes. The barricade he had built was mostly destroyed, melted plastic stuck to the floor and walls. The corroded zone suddenly felt a thousand times more terrifying, and Grey felt utterly insignificant. He shivered, his mind replaying what would have happened if he had been caught in the rain.
He checked his belongings. Thankfully, his pouch, coal stove, and dried snake meat were intact. The basin, however, was beaten and dented, on the verge of deforming. Thirty more minutes, and it might have given way.
'Since my abode is like this, what does the forest look like?'
Breaking his melted barricade, he rushed out, expecting to see a devastated landscape. He was shocked. The forest was surprisingly fine. The trees and their leaves were mostly unharmed, save for a few holes here and there. It was as if they hadn't faced the same calamity he had.
"Of course," he said with disdain, "These trees only grow in the corroded zones. They would obviously have ways to resist the climate."
Grey clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. He had a feeling the acid rain didn't fall on a regular basis, but that didn't make him feel any safer. This was an experience he would undoubtedly never forget.
"So, in the end, I was the only one in peril..."
With a low sigh, Grey went back inside, staring at his wrecked home with obvious discontent. He couldn't stay here anymore. The place no longer provided any real shelter. He had to find a new place to live.
This would have been a hard task, but he remembered the locations of other houses deeper inside the zone. Going there meant leaving the outskirts and heading into the heart of the corroded zone, where the corrosive substance was denser and the chance of mutation was higher. It was a terrifying prospect, but he had no other choice.