Author Note:

Sorry that the last chapter seemed kinda short - I'll be sure to make this one longer! Also, I apologize for waiting so long to update!

When she awoke, The first thing Serena noticed was the bright daylight streaming from a group of trees overtop of her. That, along with her massive headache and smell of cooking meat told her 3 things:

She had been moved outdoors to some forest outside of the city, by someone who was still normal - given that she was not dead.

She was knocked out by something back at the Lumiose Shopping District, meaning that she could have been out for a long time - maybe for a few days.

That someone from number one is currently here with her - and her name is Shauna.

Looking up from a cooking piece of meat, Shauna walked over to a now conscious Serena, who was quickly checking her pocket for her precious pokéballs. Once she was assured that her partners were safe, she was greeted with a hug from the brunette.

"Arceus, I thought that freak had put you in a coma or something, Serena!" she exclaimed. " I thought you were fine at first, but by day two, I was starting to get worried!"

Serena struggled to respond to Shauna, instead examining the area around their campsite. It consisted of only two sleeping bags and a firepit, with some unknown Pokémon roasting inside. The only other presence in the area beside the girls was a very large Venusaur, acting as a guard for their safety.

But after a few seconds, all of the questions she had were suddenly released onto her savior. "Wait, day two?! How long was I out, Shauna? How did you get me all the way out here - where even IS here?!"

But at that moment, her most important question was finally realized. "Shauna, where's Bonnie?" She had been crying and shaking the last time Serena had seen her. Surely, Shauna had gotten her - the poor child would have died otherwise! "You got Bonnie, didn't you?"

Instantly, Shauna's joyful grin fell into a strained, disappointed look that made her appear much older. "Serena, I… uh…" Sighing, she sat by the blonde, thinking over her next words. "First off, you've only been asleep for about two days - I was talking about this morning earlier. That one freak messed both you and Venusaur up pretty bad, and given that most Pokécenters are probably both out of any electricity and are crawling with those freaks, I thought our best chances were away from civilization. We're a little off Route 14, and even though we're away from most modern society, it's only by a 10 minute walk - didn't want to get too far away from our main source of supplies."

Looking around at all of their gear, as well as at two large backpacks she didn't notice before, it can easily be implied that a good deal of their stuff was stolen. "Yes, but that still doesn't explain why Bonnie isn't here."

Serena was already starting to remember the past few days events, and knew that it was highly unlikely that she was ever going to see Bonnie again. Still she had to know that the poor kid was alive and not some freaks next victim.

"Serena, I… I'm sorry, but it was already too late for her. She was already gone by the time I was able to save you."

Serena was still in denial, balling her hands in her fists and listening to the embers pop in the fire. "No, she's gotta be alive! I… I promised that she… she…"

All of the emotions she had been holding back suddenly let loose as she began to sob on Shauna's shoulders, not caring how pathetic it looked. "Dear Arceus, Shauna, everyone I know is dead! I feel so freaking alone! Hell, it seemed that everyone in Kalos has either been killed, or is going to kill someone!" Before she could continue stammering, Serena felt a pair of arms embrace her, bringing her face towards Shauna's shoulder.

What she was saying was probably true - it was extremely likely that the three of them were dead in the time period that she had left them. As much as she tried to stop it, Serena suddenly found herself imagining all the ways her friends could have died, all while battling waves of tears as she sobbed on Shauna.

Ash would never have gone without a fight. While he could have been unlucky in the battle with the Freak, it's more likely that he lived past then, only to be killed by another more powerful than he, or by an unlucky event such as a wild Pokémon gone crazy, or a natural event. Bonnie would go first - given that she was at such a weak spot when she was abandoned, she could have either been killed by a freak, or finished her own… changing? (Serena was still unsure what she should call it) At least she was certain what happened to Clemont - somewhere in that city, what was once a kind soul was now a flea sh eating monster.

Slowly, even with her more recent morbid thoughts, Serena was able to stop the tears and pull herself away from her friend. "Sorry about that, I just got worried about all of…" Serena leaned up and made a sweeping gesture with her hands. "All of this crap we're dealing with. On Saturday, the biggest problem i had was finding what dress I was going to wear. Now, I'm thinking about how we may be the last people alive in the country!"

Pulling her closer, Shauna hugged Serena, whispering to her as she tried to calm her down. "I know, Serena, it sucks." "Everything sucks, Serena" and "I cried like this my first night, too." were all semi - comforting phrases that she used to soothe Serena. The last one, though, caught Serena's attention.

"If you're upset, then how come you're not crying?"

"Oh Serena," she looked down at the girl, still holding her in her arms, "at this point, I'm tired of crying."

…..

After a day of rest and relaxation, (all she got besides rest was a cooked leg of some unidentifiable Pokémon, but it was still good,) Shauna deemed Serena worthy of following her to gather supplies from the broken streets of Lumiose. These kind of trips usually involved the girls walking through Route 14 back to what used to be Lumiose City and find anything that can be of use, such as clothes, camping gear, and some of the Pokémon casualties from the First Day. Upon hearing this, Serena immediately wanted out of the trip.

"Serena, I think it's time we had a talk about what MilBurgers are made from," joked Shauna.

"Shaunaaa, I know, but why can't we take some pre-made food from an old grocery or something that's you know…. Not murdered on the side of the road?" Serena was mortified at the thought of returning to the horror land they left behind. All of the chaos and bloodshed was enough to send her shivers right then and there.

"Sorry - I already tried, but everything was either already looted or spoiled due to the fact that no place in Kalos has any electricity. So if we don't do this, we will you know… starve." Patting her already growling stomach, Shauna proved her point. "Food has to come from somewhere, Serena."

Hearing this made Serena gain a newfound recognition of just how hungry she was, making her upset. "Arceus, I hate it when you're right Shauna! Ok, I'll come with you, but should I bring Braxen just in case we run into any of those… things?"

"I've never seen any when I went out," Shauna shrugged, "but we should probably take her just in case we do find those… what should we call those things? 'Things' and 'Freaks' sound off, since they're still human-ish, but everything else that i've thought of sounds dumb."

"What, like 'morphs?' 'Fusions?' 'Specials?'" Hearing these names aloud made both Shauna and Serena to laugh.

"Well, at this point, we should just call them random objects like 'Chair' and 'Table!' Heck, maybe even something like 'Smoothies!'"

"Wait, that could actually work," Serena said, still laughing as she searched for Braxen's Pokéball. As she finally found it, she continued her explanation. "This entire freaking mess was caused by some dumb smoothie company, so why not call them that!"

"I like it, Serena," Shauna agreed, "Smoothies have a nice ring to it!" Grabbing an empty backpack, the girls began to make their way towards the ruins of the city. As they walked, Serena silently prayed that what she was about to see wasn't as bad as what she was currently envisioning. Because if what she thought was going to happen occurred, she doubted that she could last 5 minutes in Lumiose.