Okay. Hullo. Just a little something I wrote. I wanted to post it to see people's opinion but I doubt it'll get a great feedback so I doubt I'll continue it. I get these little plot bunnies and I can't get rid of them until I type them but I rarely ever finish them. I seriously need to invest in a filter for my mind! Lol. Anyways, tomorrow I think I'm gonna post another story (not pokemon) as well, which I doubt I'll continue either. Who knows. Just beware, I'll probably delete this sometime next week if I don't like it. However, if people like it I might get the inspiration to continue. I have the second chapter already written so I might post the second and after that delete it. Sorry, I just like to give warnings. I hate the summary, by the way.

Summary: The apocalypse has come. Only the strong can survive in this world. A group like no other is drawn together and as one they must make it out alive. But as zombies thrive in the millions, what hope do they really have of escape?

Disclaimers: I obviously don't own Pokemon nor the song at the start which is 99 Red Balloons by Nena. Also, I don't own the pic. that is the cover thingy. It's a picture of Eevee from Pokemon.

Pairings: I'm not sure. Do you want May with Drew (Contestshipping) or Ash (Advancedshipping)? DawnxPaul (Ikarishipping), LeafxGary (OldRivalshipping), MistyxAsh - maybe (Pokeshipping). Tell me if you want AshxMay, AshxMisty or DrewxMay, kay. I'm leaning towards Contest though... I think.

Warning: Incase you didn't read my earlier message, I have a funny feeling that I'm going to end up deleting this in a week-ish so beware, kay. Erm. Also a bit of gore with the zombies.

Fortitude

In The End

You and I in a little toy shop,

Buy a bag of balloons with the money we got,

Set them free at the break of dawn,

'Til one by one they were gone.

Back at base, bugs in the software,

Flash the message 'Something's Out There'

Floating in the summer sky,

99 red balloons go by.

The sky was black, the sun just beginning to rise over the horizon. There were stars littering the dark sky and the white crescent moon was still visible this early in the morning. The breeze was bitter and sharp, cutting at her skin and goosebumps springing forth across her skin at it's icy caress. She was surrounded by tall, old tree's that seemed touched the sky with their high branches which stretched up to run their brittle fingers through the stars and milky-way. A rickety old fence lay before her, half of it already hanging off the edge of the steep cliff, pieces of rock crumbling every so often.

Scattered across the ground, hidden in the green slivers of grass was a pump, it's tube long and thin. It was beginning to sink into the wet, muddy ground, along with the tires of her large, red truck. Littered across the trunk of it was glass from smashed beer bottles and rope. The trunk door was down and the girl sat across it.

Next to her, tied to a pole on the truck was what looked like a hundred balloons, connected to the truck by thin, white thread. Beside the girl, lying against the hard black plastic that was the floor of the trunk was a shining, silver knife. It blade was sharp and the handle was carefully carved mahogany wood.

The girls brown hair billowed in the wind and her clothes ruffled. She was leaning back on her two palms, staring up at the sky with half-lidded blue eyes. But if you looked past the relaxed, blissful vibe her posture sent out in waves, you'd notice the way her back was rigid and her muscles tense, as if ready to spring into action at a moments call. Her thin legs swung back and forth, suspended in the air as they hovered over the ground.

Almost as if a timer went off and startled her, she jumped. Using her hands for leverage she leaned back up. Her pale hand stretching out, fumbling to grasp the knife, she seized the wooden handle, careful of it's blade. She smoothly stood to her feet in the back and glided over to the balloons. There were so many, all bungled up together and bouncing off each other. She grabbed onto the strings, her small, slim hand barely able to hold them all together. In one swift motion, her other hand came across in a fluid swiping arch as she slashed just below her hand. Abruptly the bottom half of the strings snapped backwards and fell to the floor lifelessly, now dead as their purpose of holding the balloons to them was served. Her arm rose with the pull of the circle balls of helium. For a moment, she almost thought they'd pull her off the ground. A faint smile formed across her face at the thought. Away. From here. That would be heaven.

But it was not to be as her feet remained firmly planted on the ground.

Reluctantly, she released her hold on the balloons. They hovered just above her for a moment - just a moment before they began to float away, into the unknown. They mingled with the stars and the moon's light reflected upon them so each ballon had it's very own sky. Their strings whipped around as the wind took hold of them and slowly, they began to grow farther and farther away, fluttering over the land below. Untouchable, unchangeable, unstoppable. Nobody could reach them. Free.

She resumed her position on the drop-down-door of the truck and watched them until they were no longer visible. Even when they were gone, she remained. As if waiting for one of them to come back to her so she would no longer be alone. Just below the liquid sapphire of her eyes was a look of envy. At what? Who knows.

The ninety nine red balloons were gone now to watch on from above and the girl who freed them stayed, even when the sun rose and day began.

XxXxXxXx

A young man walked down deserted streets alone. The shops that bordered the road were all in shambles. The glass on the outside was broken from scavengers and the doors had been broken down and taken. The insides were even worse. Racks were thrown over and supplies torn to bits by the desperate nation. The money from the cash registers was stolen long ago even though he doubted it would make a difference in this world. Who was there to give the money to? You just took what you needed nowadays, if you could find it, that is.

But despite the fact that it looked empty, the man - no, teenager was being very cautious. His steps were soft and made barely a sound as he crept along, trying to keep to the shadows. His hair was jet black and a hat covered the unruly locks. His warm brown eyes were narrowed in concentration as he tried to listen for any indication of the enemy nearby. He pulled a loose gray jacket closer to himself for warmth, under it a black t-shirt and light blue pants. Around one shoulder was the green strap to his backpack.

Shockingly, attached to his waist was a long dagger that he slipped through his belt loop but that was only for an emergency. He didn't plan to let them get that close. It didn't take long for him to reach an alleyway where he spotted them. They were feasting upon the body of a young girl. It was too late to save her now, she was long dead. They must be starving, he realized. Normally they just ate some of the body so it could become one of them as well. He doubted the thing could even walk now.

They were so into their devouring they didn't even notice him - something which he was grateful for. He took a step back, prepared to leave as he had came; quietly, when his foot caught upon a piece of rubble from one of the collapsed buildings and with a yelp of surprise he went down, landing on more rubble which stabbed at his back.

Immediately three pairs of white eyes turned on him. Their pupils and eye color were no longer visible and it made him shiver (it always made him shiver!), especially seeing the red veins that seemed to bulge in the eye, giving them the appearance of being bloodshot; If only. Once their eyes caught on him, they staggered to their feet. One was missing an arm and had a hole in it's stomach. Another had it's head nearly fully severed, hanging on to it's neck by a thin string of tissue. The last was missing a foot and had one eye gorged out. Their nails were long and sharp, their teeth black and pointy, and their skin a sickly pale yellow.

To him, they still looked very, very hunger and apparently, in their eyes, he was their next meal. He quickly scrambled unsteadily to his feet and thrust out his hands. As he concentrated, his finger began to tingle, almost as if they had pins and needles but in a tickling kind of way. With a loud crackle, lightning shot from his palms and burst outwards. As some of the bolts hit the zombies, they immediately began to burn, their pale, pale skin turning black and bubbling, melting. They screeched, a once sharp, ringing sound but now it was only hoarse and gurgled. They fell trembling to the ground where they continued to twitch.

The boy quickly turned to leave, their screams no doubt would attract more of the horrid creatures. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the one from earlier - the one they had been eating - begin to rise but barely made it halfway up before it collapsed. Both it's legs were fleshless and it's stomach was almost non-existant. It then began to drag itself along by it's arms, desperate to do the only think it knew; kill humans. It was pitiful.

The boy ignored it. There was no way it could get to him. He turned and briskly high-tailed it out of there, not wanting to linger around any longer. His stomach growled in hunger but he gave it no mind. All the shops had already been emptied. There was no more food. He needed to reach the next town where hopefully there'd be someone - anyone.

He wouldn't have noticed them, had they not moaned roughly. He twisted around to find a mob of them chasing him. They were hobbling along, dirty hands reaching towards him and their mouths were left agape. They clawed at each other in desperation to reach him. Their brains were rotten but they had the basic instincts. They were drawn to each other because they would be stronger in numbers. The boy quickly turned and ran. The mob was quite fast but thankfully, he was faster. He quickly found an abandoned building. He speedily climbed up a dumpster and through a broken window. He could only hope there would be no more zombies inside. Thankfully, it was abandoned by both human and zombie.

With a heavy sigh, he sunk down onto the cold, concrete floor. He was utterly exhausted. There was never much time to sleep when you were on your own - the threat of attack was too high. He barely got three hours a night. Closing his eyes, he remembered his mother. She had fled with whatever villagers that were left alive to the coast to hopefully get a boat out of the country. Their town was one of the first to be attacked by the disease and soon, the infection was the least of their worries. Once you were bitten, you were a goner.

He could only hope she was still alive.

Just as he was about to doze of, a loud crash sounded from one of the rooms nearby. Now alert, he quickly got to his feet. He quietly shuffled along until he found a door in the pitch dark. It wasn't morning yet so there wouldn't be any light for a while yet. He gently opened the metal door and mentally cringed when it groaned.

"Who's there!" A voice demanded. He assumed it was a girl from the higher pitch of it.

"Sorry." He whispered. "I came to the building to camp out for a while. I didn't know it was occupied." He could barely make out a figure in the darkness but he noticed her arms fall down softly. She dropped something then with a sigh of relief and it banged against the ground sounding like metal. He winced at the thought of her hitting him with what he guessed was a metal bar.

"No. It's fine." She replied. "I didn't know if it was a zombie. Can't be too careful around here." He nodded to her despite the fact that if he couldn't see her, she probably couldn't see him either. She sat down on something - a chair, most likely - that creaked slightly. "Sit down. There's a chair in that corner."

"Thanks." He replied. He could barely make out where her arm was pointing and he walked in that direction until he bumped into a wooden object. Using his hands to identify it, he grabbed the chair and dragged it a bit closer to her.

"I'm Misty, Misty Waterflower." She introduced, holding out her hand to him. He reached out to grasp it, groping the air for a moment before he found her hand and shook.

"Ash Ketchum. Nice to meet you, Misty."

"Same. Are you alone?"

"Yeah. Heading to the coast. You?"

"No. I've got a friend. She's gone out to look for some food. She should be back soon, actually."

"That's nice. Not often you see many people nowadays. You're the first I've seen in over three weeks."

"I know what you mean!" She sighed dramatically. "It's horrible and lonely, although I'm lucky. I met the girl a couple weeks ago and we joined together. We were heading in the same direction."

He looked up at her. Still, he was unable to make anything out. "Where's that?"

"Well, it was to Washington, but I'm not so sure anymore. It seems like a long ways away but I heard there were boats going from there to Europe. Apparently, this... disease hasn't hit there yet. My sisters are already in Europe and my friend said her mom was on her way last time she spoke to her. With all the lines down, it's hard to get in contact with anyone."

"Tell me about it!" Ash moaned. "Honestly, I'm heading to the nearest coast I can find but I've already gone to the other side. No boats are leaving there anymore... No one left there's alive. The towns are so empty now!"

"Actually, I've heard of a town called 'Tonesring' that apparently is Zombie free and open to any survivors but I have no clue where it is and I doubt it'll stay that way for long. The zombies'll get in eventually, they always do." Misty sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Would you like to join us? I mean, the more people the harder it will be to get us and if were heading in the same direction..."

"Well, it would be nice to have another two sets of eyes. It hard to sleep when you could be attacked at any moment. So, if your partner doesn't mind that would be great! Either of you know how to hotwire a car?" He grinned at her as light began to shine in the room from the single window in the room. It brightened them up and finally, he could see her. She had bright orange hair held up in a sloppy side-ponytail. Her eyes were a dark blue color that reminded him of the ocean. She wore a light yellow beli-top over a red tank-top and a pair of jean shorts. Her shoes were a pair of white runners and he could see the chain of a necklace around her neck but it was tucked into her shirt so he couldn't view the rest.

"Unfortunately, no. We've been walking or biking anywhere we went, which was a real nuisance. I take it you don't either?" She grinned at him. In the corner of the room, against the wall was what looked like a mallet and he shivered at the sight.

"No. I don't. Really sucks though." Just then, there was a loud rap on the door. The person tapped it once, then twice, then once again.

Misty grinned. "Coming!" She called before turning to Ash. "That should be her now." The orange head walked to the door and easily opened it. Bright sunlight filled the room, making Ash wince as his eyes struggled to adjust. Standing in the doorway was a young girl, she looked about their age with long blue hair and dark blue eyes. She wore a light pink skirt and a black short sleeved blouse. Her feet were donned with black uggs.

"Who's that?" The girl questioned as she looked at Ash curiously, head tipped to the side curiously.

"That's Ash. If you don't mind, he said he'd join us in our travels." Misty explained as the other girl walked in with a sack. Misty quickly closed the door behind her and locked it.

The blue haired girl grinned. "I'm Dawn Berlitz! This is going to be so fun!" She plopped down on Misty's chair and began opening the bag. "I got some food from a hotel's pantry. Everything in the fridge had gone bad but I found some tinned fruit and some candy!" She turned the bag upside down so everything spilled out before them. There were about nine tins of pears and peaches, three bags of Doritos, five Twix bars, three Recess Cups, four boxes of Sour Watermelon gummies, two packs of gum and five bottles of water. "It's the best I could find."

"Oh man!" Ash groaned, his stomach protesting loudly. "I'm so hungry!"

"Well, eat up. We probably won't get anything else for a while and this would be a bit heavy to carry with us. We'll save a little and hopefully find a shop to stock up on with something a bit more substantial but for now, we feast!" Misty grinned, already digging in.

They quickly opened a can of fruit each with the can-opener Dawn stole and stuffed their faces with the syrup soaked fruits. Having no silverware, they had to use their fingers but none of them really cared about that at this point. They next hit the chips and some candy. In the end, they were left with three tins of fruit, three twix bars, two Recess Cups, two Sour Watermelon boxes, two waters (although they all had a little left in the bottles they took) one Dorito bag and both Gum packets, although they had each taken out one piece of gum to chew.

"I don't think food ever tasted so good!" Ash moaned in delight as he rubbed his stomach, Misty and Dawn doing the same.

"I know what you mean!" Dawn cried out as she stretched. "Now I'm so tired!"

"We'll stay here for the rest of the day. We can block up the window and sleep a bit. One of us will stay on watch at all times while the others sleep. We should switch ever couple of hours but we should really get out of here by tonight. They'll find us soon." Misty ordered.

"I think they can smell us. It takes a little while but they can catch our scent if were in one place long enough." Ash explained. Misty nodded in agreement.

"Well, I say Misty's first on watch! Ash probably hasn't slept in a while and I just went on a food raid. It's only fair!" Misty sighed but nodded. It was fair.

"But you're next on watch Dawn! You better get up when I tell you to, too!"

"Yes ma'am!"

XxXxXxXx

Ash had never before felt so refreshed. He had slept for over seven hours and God, did he feel good! They were just preparing to leave the little building they had dubbed their temporary home, well, more like sleeping area. They stuffed whatever was left into their bags and set out. Misty's mallet - shiver - she held over her shoulder. When Ash had asked about it, she just grinned and began rubbing it lovingly. Frankly, it freaked him out. He wasn't about to ask again.

The streets, as usual, were empty. No signs of life. The zombies liked to hide in the alleyways, out of sight until they were ready to attack. It didn't take long to reach a freeway. Cars were spread out on the motor way but they were all empty. None of the teens dared to check inside least there be a zombie hidden there in waiting. It was a lot harder to escape when you were in a small contraption.

"So, how old are you, Ash?" Dawn questioned with a smile. Despite Misty and Ash's warning to be quiet, she chatted the whole way.

"I'm sixteen."

"Same." Misty grinned.

"Aww!" Dawn whined. "You're both older then me! I'm fifteen." Ash laughed at her sulky expression.

"So... Ash, where're you from?"

XxXxXxXx

Well, that's it. Thank's a load for reading. If you like it leave a comment, yeah? I might continue it. Anyways, constructive criticism always welcome.

DeathsScarletSecret