Every time a plastic bag rustled as they moved along, Allistor found himself cringing and wishing for a bag of holding or inventory bag like he got in most RPG games.  The kind that could store twenty or fifty items without adding weight.  And didn’t make any noise when you walked.  He resolved to find a way to check out the ‘open market’ that the system info had spoken about.  Maybe he could buy one there.

They approached City Hall from behind.  There was a small park at the rear of the building, less than an acre of green grass with a gazebo, some mature trees, and a fountain in the middle.  The building itself was surprisingly intact, compared to other buildings in town.  It was clear the titan had stepped directly onto or into the three-story building.  The entire center of it was obliterated, the roof completely gone, and sections of the interior burned out.  But the stone walls on either end had remained.  The east end wall was two stories high, the west end only one.

Unfortunately, the stairway leading down to lower levels was buried under a pile of stone and scorched wood.

Sam took a look, prodding at some of the debris with his foot.  “It would take us days to move all of this.  And I’m not sure it wouldn’t collapse on us.”

Meg was looking at the west wall.  “I… remember there was an old coal furnace down there.  And a coal chute.  One of the kids tried to climb up in it and got all dirty.”  She had been walking toward the outside of the wall as she spoke.  After a while, she pointed to a square section of the wall where the stone was a different color than the rest.  “I’m pretty sure this is it.”

Allistor nodded and stepped in front of her.  He jammed the tip of his spear into the mortar between two of the stones.  Levering it back and forth, he pried out some of it.  Getting closer, he used the sharp point to scrape at the mortar.  When he’d made a deep groove, he shoved the point in again and levered out a stone.

He stepped back so that Meg could take a look.  Behind the stone was a metal plate.  She tapped on it with a knuckle, and a hollow clank could be heard.

“Yep!  I think this is it.”  She turned to smile at him.   With one rock gone, Allistor was able to reach in and pull the others free with his bare hands.  The noise had the others nervously searching the area while he worked.  Within just a few minutes, he had exposed what they now could see was an iron door about three feet square.  There must have once been a lever used to secure it and pull it open, but it had been removed when they covered the door with stone.