James motioned towards a locked up store; a gate blackening out the inside.

--------------

It's a habit that if a mall is around we'll spend most of the day wandering through it. I really had no idea what the place was; all I knew for sure was we were searching the Markham area today. There's usually a lot more loot lying around in the malls than on the streets.

A sign over the store said "Comic Brain" in bold blue.

"Interesting name choice..."

Kiki - "Not the best, but it sends the message."

James pulled out his knife and jimmied it into the lock around the door. A clank echoed through the mall as the lock popped off.

"Why do you wanna waste time here? We could be looking for the necessities you know."

James - "Hey..."

He slipped his fingers through the gap and pushed the gate open.

James - "...sanity is a necessity. A guy can use some reading material every now and then; 'builds brain power."

Kiki - "-which you have been lacking in for a while now."

I snickered to myself as James turned back around; slipping his knife back into his sheath.

James - "Cute...now, lets see what they got in here..."

The light began to shine through the shop. The place looked like a stereotypical comic book store; posters of guys in capes with cheesy titles, display cases showing off over-priced paper. The place looked like it took a hell of a tremor though, since glass and rubble littered the floor. James started pacing in front of a shelf to the left.

"Anything suit your interests?"

James - "Mold...mildew... Arg, dammit. Isn't there a thing here that isn't covered in fur?!"

Kiki - "I never understood the appeal in this stuff,"

I turned to Kiki; slowly flipping through a comic next to one of the broken glass cases.

Kiki - "...millionaires dressed up in bat suits protecting a city full of bone-head courts, teen-acrobatic wonders fighting criminally insane goons, cocky over-powered guys in tights that can only be defeated by a rock."

I move over to her side and start reading over her shoulder as I chuckled a little.

"Yeah, heh, it does sound a little weird when you put it like that."

Kiki - "And what's the deal with radiation? You get exposed to that kind of stuff today and you would be lucky just to get cancer."

James turned his head back to us.

James - "Y'know, I'm kinda surprised you have no idea about this stuff."

Kiki - "I never really got into these kinds of things so forgive me if I seem a little slow."

"Eh, these were never one of my interests either. The movies were where it was all at."

James - "You shitting me? Back when you and me were kids those things were only made of half-assed actors and CGI."

Kiki closed the comic and tossed it on top the display case.

Kiki - "Well if you ask me, who needs this kind of stuff? We're the heroes now."

James - "Yep, the heroes...fighting in our fucked up world against an army of amoral S-O-Bs. Nothing like reality to brighten your spirit, ay?"

I turned to James with my rifle in both hands.

"You done looking yet?"

James - "Ah screw it, these'll do."