The girls hands trembled with nerves as she quickly grabbed the cans of food beneath the counter. She didn't like being out alone, but knew someone had to watch the camp. Her chest was thumping and her breath came in short gasps, she kept hearing what seemed like footsteps but when she turned, there was nothing there. Marinette, you're just being paranoid. You already checked the area, there's no zombies nearby. Just hurry up and you'll be back to Alya before you know it, She thought, giving herself a mental pep talk. The wind howled through the blasted out windows, the glass that once filled them having been shattered long ago. Marinette shivered and wrapped her jacket around herself, but the cold seeped through to her skin anyway.

The winter months were going to be difficult, it was only autumn and she was already this cold! That's why Alya had sent her out in the first place, she knew they needed to stock up on food before all the animals went into hibernation. Alya was always like that, planning ahead. That's how they had survived all this time when the dead began to rise up, Marinette knew she would've joined the hordes of corpses a long time ago if Alya and her weren't together when this all had gone down. She shuddered at the memory of it. The terror that had swept the streets, the panic, the death… All of it was awful but Alya somehow managed to remain calm as the undead swarmed through the streets of Paris. The minute she heard the news she went over to Marinette's house and helped her barricade her parent's bakery. Alya had known the streets would be clogged with traffic, so there was no hope of getting out of the city for awhile. They had waited in there for a month, and watched with horror as the people of Paris died and came back in a never ending cycle. Every day they would hear banging on the door and would shrink back in Marinette's room, waiting for the barricade to inevitably collapse. But by some miracle it didn't and within a month things cleared out enough for them to escape. They'd been on the run ever since as a team.

Marinette reminisced over all of this as she scavenged, her hands deftly grabbing water and food and placing it neatly inside her backpack. She stood up after clearing the counter out, and moved on to the next one. She opened a drawer and almost squealed with delight at what she saw. It was a bottle of painkillers, something that was a very rare and coveted commodity these days. When you were constantly running for your life, pain was simply a constant state of being. Having just an hour of relief would be utter heaven to anyone who had survived this long. Just as she was about to pick up the pills like ambrosia, Marinette heard the unmistakable click of a gun turning off the safety behind her head.

"Drop. The. Pills." A male voice said behind her. The tone was emotionless and cold, and Marinette tried not to show her fear. Slowly she put the pills down, grabbing her knife out of her belt sheath with her other arm as subtly as she could, her hands shaking violently. Her heart was pounding out of her chest completely now, beads of sweat forming on her forehead and behind the goggles she wore. The pills touched the table, the noise like thunder in the silent room.

"There we go. Now turn around slowly." Swallowing, she prepared herself for what to do. Tightening her grip on the knife till her knuckles turned white, she ducked and whirled around, hearing the gunshot go off right where her head had been. Within seconds she had a knife held to her attacker's throat, and pushed him up against a wall.

Staring back at her were crystal green eyes framed by messy blonde hair and a pair of black goggles similar to her red ones. Now his eyes were wide with fear as she pressed the cold sharpened blade against his thumping artery, and he gulped.

"Drop. The. Gun." She said, mimicking his tone. He glared at her, his eyes tiny jewels of hate, and the clang of the gun dropping echoed around the room like a ghost. "Good. Now I'm going to take your gun and the pills, and leave. If you follow me, I will not hesitate to blow your brains out or slit your throat, whichever is your preference." She smiled sarcastically at him, and his frown deepened.

"Fine I won't follow you. I just need those pills more than you." He said, his voice full of contempt. They were so close she could feel his breath on her face, feel his chest move in and out calmly. He didn't seem to be lying.

"What do you mean? We all need painkillers as much as the next guy. Everyone has that one friend or family member who is in 'terrible pain' so you feel sympathetic and give them your loot. Then you find them a week later overdosed in a ditch with all the pills gone, so don't waste your bullshit story on me." She told him angrily. They stared each other down for a moment more, and then he sighed in defeat.

"Okay. You're right, we probably need the pain pills for similar reasons. You found them first so I suppose I'll let you have them." He huffed. She stared at him, unsure if he was tricking her or not.

"Not much of a choice when I have a knife to your throat. Now when I bend down to grab your gun don't move a muscle or else this knife is going in your groin." She said flatly, laughing internally at his shocked expression. He nodded hesitantly and she bent down, keeping her eyes trained in his the entire time. She noticed he seemed young, almost about the same age as her in fact. That surprised her, everyone who was her age was dead by now. Death had claimed many, the younger people seeming more willing to step into Death's relieving grasp than others. She grasped the cool metal object in her hand, the weight of the pistol surprising her. Then she slowly stood back up, and he watched her with fascination, examining her as she was examining him.

Marinette was aware she looked like a mess, but frankly she didn't care. Her black pigtailed hair was very greasy and her pale skin was covered with soot and dirt. She and Alya tried to bathe as often as possible but lately the rivers had been much too cold to step foot in. She noticed the boy was dirty as well, but seemed very attractive from what she could see of his face.

"You're young." He said in an astonished tone.

"You are too." She replied casually, standing up to face him.

"How old are you?" He had a sense of wonder in his eyes, as if she was the first young person he'd seen in months. Who knows? Maybe she was. She pondered whether or not she should lie to him, but realized age no longer mattered that much.

"I'm sixteen. You?" He hesitated, probably wondering the same thing she was.

"Seventeen. The only other person my age I know right now is my best friend." He sighed as he said this, clearly wishing for things to change. Marinette had given up on that long ago, accepting the new world the way it was. The mood between them had shifted, they were no longer hostiles battling for supplies, but rather two kids trying to survive in a dying world.

"Same for me, my best friend is the only other person I've really spoken to in months." Marinette said, letting her grip on the weapons relax. Looking at him from further away, she saw he was dressed in all black with what seemed to be a pair of cat ears adorning his wavy blonde hair. Many people seemed to do that now, dressing however they wanted since it was the end of the world. Marinette couldn't criticize considering she was wearing red leggings with a black shirt and a red coat with black polka dots like a ladybug. Why a ladybug? She had no idea.

"Where did you live before this?" She asked, wondering if they might've known each other.

"I lived in Paris but was homeschooled." He blushed as he said this, as if embarrassed about this fact.

"I lived in Paris also! But homeschooling, wow that's unusual. My parents owned a bakery, maybe you visited it?" His eyes searched, focusing on if he had ever visited a bakery but to no avail. She didn't know why she would think she would know him, but he seemed familiar nonetheless.

Suddenly they both heard a crash at the end of the room. Immediately they both got into defensive positions and heard the indisputable groan of a living corpse shambling towards them. And it wasn't alone. A chorus of more groans joined it as shadows of bodies began to move by the wall. Marinette's heart began to race as her eyes widened with fear. Her breath began to come in short gasps again.

"We gotta go." The boy said, taking her hand with his leather clad one. She didn't protest although he was a complete stranger, because in that moment they were a team. Fear of death always brought people together in the worst of times, made even the most hateful enemies work together. Because when it came to life or death scenarios, most of the time people had a voice in their head shrieking "STAY ALIVE!". This was one of those times. Looking around, Marinette spotted a blasted out window out of the house they were in.

"There!" She pointed. He nodded and he boosted her up through the small spot. His trust in her was surprising, he didn't know her. She could leave him and keep his gun and not have to worry about him anymore, but she wouldn't do that. She landed on a box placed right below the opening, and grabbed his hand to pull him up. She could hear the groans getting louder as they came closer, their horrid rotting stench wafting around them and making her want to puke. With all her might, she strained her muscles as he clambered through the window. Then with a pop he was through and she fell backwards, landing on the ground rather ungracefully. They laid there together for a moment, their heavy breathing being the only noise as they regained their wits. That had been a close call, at least she was able to keep her backpack and the weapons, even though the pills were still inside. She looked to her companion, and he stared at the sky, seeming calm.

"You okay there?" She asked him, the worry evident in her voice. He looked over at her, and smiled a large grin.

"I'm purrfectly grand thanks to you! I would've been toast if you hadn't pulled me through that window, so thanks." She stared for a moment, shocked he would make a pun at this moment of all times.

"Did you just make a cat pun?" She asked frowning. She had never found puns that particularly funny and rather annoying. He laughed at that.

"Yes I did, I tend to do that sometimes because, ya know, I got the whole cat thing going on?" He said gesturing to the ears.

"I noticed. Why is that anyway?" Although it was commonplace to dress outlandishly now, everyone had different reasons.

"I don't know. Just always felt drawn to cats so when I found this cat headband when I was scavenging for a coat I figured why not? I mean you got the whole ladybug thing going on, why is that?" He gestured to her spots casually. Marinette paused, realizing she had never thought about why she dressed like a ladybug before. It just seemed natural.

"I don't know either, just feels right I suppose." He sat up and smiled at her, his green eyes no longer filled with hate but with happiness and curiosity behind his goggles. She looked up at the sky then, and gasped when she saw the orange and red streaks appearing.

"Oh no! My friend is going to be freaking out that I'm not back yet, I'm sorry I have to go. Here, you can have your gun back." She no longer was worried about him attacking her, the whole reason they had the confrontation was in a room filled with the living dead currently so they had no reason to fight. He didn't know her pack was bulging with food, and he seemed friendly.

"Thank you. But wait, I don't even know your name? And…" He looked down and blushed. "And, well I want to get to know you better. I mean it's dangerous out here, we could like, watch each other's backs while we scavenge maybe?" He scratched his head, clearly very embarrassed. Marinette giggled to herself. She didn't even know him, but for some inexplicable reason she trusted the blonde. Plus it was a tempting offer, she hated scavenging alone. Today had proved her worries right.

"I… I think that's a great idea, I mean after today looks like we could be a good team. We'll meet here in two days at noon, sound good? Hopefully the horde will have cleared out by then. And…" she thought about telling him her real name, but what good were those in this world? No one needed to know who you were, and a name could be a powerful thing.

"Call me Ladybug." She stated proudly, laughing. He smiled at that and an idea alighted his eyes.

"Ok then Ladybug. You can call me Chat Noir." His grin grew and she smiled back, the air between them light and trusting. Marinette then turned around to walk away, feeling his eyes boring into her head. Calling out loudly without turning around, she yelled,

"Nice meeting you Chat Noir!"

"It was a pleasure meeting you m'Lady!" He yelled back. The nickname made her grin like an idiot, and a weight in her chest lightened. She now had something to look forward to besides just surviving another day, she wanted to meet the silly cat again and know him better. She just felt drawn to him for some reason, and in her hopeless reality, she would take any excuse to keep on living.

Notes:

Let me know if you want more of this! This au just came to me randomly when I was trying to think of ideas for my next fanfic and now I really love this idea! Don't worry if you don't like au's I'm also working on another regular fanfic as well (maybe with some Alyanette? Maybe not but don't worry I'm still LadyNoir forever) Thank you so much and thank you all who read and enjoyed The Miraculous School Play! I never thought I'd get that many favorites and reviews! Love you all!