Courageous Champions: Chika and Lio vs. Cozmo Craine

"You've got to be kidding me."

"What?" I asked as I rummaged through my backpack. "We're out of food and we've got a long journey ahead if we want to get back to the bunker before dark. It's either that or we stop here for the night and continue our search for food tomorrow morning. I say we take this chance. The supermarket is open, after all."

The girl named Chika stared at me with her beady eyes, her mouth slightly agape. She was sitting on an overturned plastic drum next to me in the middle of a deserted city street, the buildings around us in various states of disrepair and decay. The sun was beginning to set behind us, bathing us in its orange glow. I could feel beads of sweat running down my face as I continued searching frantically through my bag, hoping against hope that I hadn't packed everything away already.

"There's nobody around," she said flatly, ignoring my desperate search. "All the people ran away when Cozmo came into power and took over their city." She pointed towards a huge building on the other side of the street, one that looked like it had once been a bank. "That used to be the Cozmo Plaza before he took over, but now it's just another one of his traps." Her small fingers traced along the outline of the building, pointing towards large holes that were carved into its facade and what looked like makeshift bunkers built along its sides. "He has his goons hide inside there during the day and jump out at unwary travelers so they can steal their stuff." She sighed and turned back to look at me.

I had managed to find some crackers in my bag and pulled them out triumphantly as proof of my success. Chika eyed them with disdain from across the street but didn't say anything as she watched me pack them up again inside my backpack. When I was done, I zipped it shut and stood up, dusting off my pants before looking back at Chika who was still sitting on her drum as if frozen in time. The sun had almost disappeared now, leaving us enveloped only by shadows and darkness began creeping in around us like a living thing.

"Come on," I said impatiently as I started walking towards the supermarket doors on the other side of the street. "We'll have to check every aisle if we want to find any food left in there."

Chika finally hopped off her drum and stood up too, following me across the street. We passed by a few more buildings as we walked but Chika didn't seem interested in telling me about them - she was probably tired from carrying most of our belongings for so long already - so we entered the store in silence as she followed close behind me. We headed straight towards one of the shelves with canned goods but found that most of them were empty or broken - just like everywhere else in this place with no one else around to fix things anymore except Cozmo's men who seemed happy enough with simply destroying things instead.

"This is useless," Chika finally muttered after a while as she watched me search through all sorts of cans without finding anything edible inside them. "Let's leave here and go somewhere else instead."

My shoulders slumped dejectedly when she said that but for some reason something caught my eye - something small like a pebble that gleamed brightly against the blackness surrounding us outside - and made me squint my eyes to get a better look at it because there was still enough light remaining for me to see what it was even though it looked like nothing more than a tiny speck from where I was standing. My feet carried me silently across the room until I was standing directly underneath where it had been resting on top of a shelf just above my head lengthwise until then. As I reached up towards it carefully with one hand while keeping my other one wrapped tightly around Chika's arm so she wouldn't run away again, I realized what it was: A can full of golden-colored fish-shaped crackers that looked amazingly delicious despite having been abandoned here for God knows how long without anyone ever touching them except perhaps whatever animal had been gnawing on their edges which explained why they looked so raggedy now after being torn apart by sharp teeth over prolonged periods of time each day until they eventually gave up or someone else showed up with similar intentions for these crackers sooner than later. My heart suddenly swelled with joy when I realized how lucky we'd be if these crackers hadn't already been plundered by animals or scavengers who had happened upon this store first before turning back towards Chika who seemed to have given up already anyway since she was already staring off towards one corner of this room absently while fiddling with something from her own backpack now, her eyes distant and faraway like an empty soul wandering through this world forever lost without hope or direction anymore like most people were nowadays thanks to Cozmo who controlled everything from above his lair high atop a tall building somewhere near here where he lived surrounded by luxuries while everyone else suffered below ground just barely surviving in terrible conditions until they would die out eventually because no one wanted those leftover food rations anymore after having gone without real food for years too many times already so they'd rather risk getting killed by Cozmo's guards who roamed this city at night looting everyone they caught still alive during their nightly patrols instead so they could feed themselves while stealing whatever little possessions they might have left behind when they died later on down below ground where these scavengers would then gather these leftovers together and sell them off cheaply or use them themselves if they could stomach such horrible fare anymore after having practically starved themselves for years too many times already yet still not dying off completely yet because their need for survival made sure that their bodies weren't capable of letting themselves die even though their minds might have given up already too many times already anyway which made sense since those who survived Cozmo's reign had learned how not to let themselves think anymore because thinking only made you more aware of what you were going through which meant remembering your family members who'd died because you couldn't save them fast enough when Cozmo attacked their homes which led you down into this hellhole where you were forced to fend for yourself against others just as hungry as you trying to steal everything you owned before someone else did first or worse yet decide whether you wanted your family members' bodies lying dead next door rotting in front of you waiting for you not just to bury them properly but also whether you wanted yourself dead next door rotting among those same bodies instead wishing you'd done something different before giving into despair when you realized how hopeless life really is now living under Cozmo's rule because nothing works right anymore except maybe killing yourself quickly before finding out how bad death really is too soon after wondering whether life without all these worries would be worth living anymore since everyone needs something worthwhile to fight for otherwise even death becomes something not worth dying for anymore especially if your mind is already dead already anyway which made sense since those who survived Cozmo's wrath became monsters themselves once again deciding whether their lives were worth living anymore regardless after learning how not thinking lead to death too soon because thinking meant remembering all those horrible things that happened leading up to this point in time making people remember how alone they felt knowing no matter what choices they made no one would listen otherwise even if someone did listen most people would just laugh at your pain anyways telling you how stupid you are being unable to find your way out from under this rock which made sense since those who tried escaping ended up getting killed anyway leading everyone else down underneath into despair until they gave up trying altogether realizing nothing worked right anymore especially not life itself which made sense since those trying stealing stuff ended up getting killed anyways when fighting against others who wanted what they had then hid underground waiting patiently until nighttime falling again only now fighting against others stealing everything that belonged rightfully theirs instead letting only those stronger live longer meaning those cowards used guns instead because fists weren't good enough anymore making those weaker give up trying fighting back afterwards knowing nothing worked right anymore anyways so why bother? This is what happens when evil rules over good: Good dies out eventually leaving only evil behind which is why everyone should fight against evil when confronted by it - even if doing so means risking your own life doing so - otherwise evil will rule forever giving evil people freedom allowing them control over life itself until nothing works right at all any longer making everyone afraid afraid afraid afraid afraid scared scared scared scared scared scared scared scared scared...