Title: Bittersweet Memories

Author: YamixYuugiLover

Pairing: A bit of Tallahassee/Columbus at the beginning, middle, and end.

Rating: T; PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own Zombieland, or any of the characters that I play with as shown.

Warnings: Tallahassee being angsty, cursing, blood, death, Tally killing zombies, and some rather cute father/son moments. Oh, and it's VERY sad. /Hands out tissues/ Yeah, I'm evil like that. X3 Oh, and Buck is around 5 to 6 years old in this fic. Cause the Tallahassee spawn is so adorable. :3

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

No one really knew or questioned the man known as Tallahassee when it came to asking how he survived the first few months of the start of the zombie apocalypse, but that was the way he wanted to keep it; not even Columbus knew what horrors he went through before they met each other. In fact, Tallahassee preferred to keep such a story to be kept hidden and never to be spoken of, for it only made him depressed as hell when he thought about it.

So when the girls decided to have a toast to celebrate surviving the apocalypse for a year during dinner one night, the older zombie hunter felt old, painful memories flash through his mind as he absentmindedly raised his own cup with the others, only to set it down afterwords. Tallahassee was lost in his own world that he didn't notice that Columbus was gently shaking him, frowning when Florida didn't respond to any of his comments.

"Tallahassee? Is everything okay?" Ohio replied with concern laced in his voice. He didn't like the lost glazed look the Southerner was sporting now. He grew even more worried when the cowboy stood from from the table and left without saying a word to the others, not even looking back when he slammed the door shut behind him.

Florida stomped towards the shiny black Cadillac that was parked in the driveway and decided that he needed to sort out his thoughts before he went back in to face the others, so he hopped into the Cadillac and made himself comfortable in the backseat. Tallahassee scrubbed his face with a hand as he reached into his back pocket and got out the wallet he and his son made over a year ago, and sighed when he opened it to look at the picture of a smiling Buck.

"I miss ya, Buck." Tallahassee muttered under his breath, feeling his vision blur a bit while more painful memories invaded his mind. The zombie hunter blinked back the tears as he pulled his hat a bit down, so that it covered his eyes with shadows. Tallahassee let his hand rub the tip of the cowboy hat for a bit longer than usual, smiling a bit when he remembered the day he got the hat, along with the promise that he and Buck made with said hat.

~A year ago~

"Woah! Hold on Buck! The store isn't going anywhere, son..." Tallahassee chuckled as Buck beamed a smile at him, and continued to pull his father towards the huge colorful toy store that was now a few feet away from them. Tallahassee allowed himself to be dragged into the store, grinning when his son stopped for a moment and made a face at the girly section of the store.

"Daddy, why do they have so many girly things? They aren't as fun like the toys I have at home..." Buck asked, blinking his blue eyes at his father.

"Well son, that's because there are lots of little girls that are around the same age as you that like to play with toys as well. Though granted they favor dolls more than anythin', which is why they probably aren't fun at all for ya." Florida ruffled Buck's blond hair a bit, smiling at the pout the little boy made at his father's playfulness.

Buck made a grab for Tallahassee's hand and pulled him towards the section that he was determined to find the new toys he always wanted. But before he got there, he caught sight of a bin that had all kinds of different hats in it. With a grin creeping onto his face, Buck steered towards the bin, looking back at his father who had a confused look on his face.

"Buck, I thought you wanted some toys, not a hat..." Tallahassee said, watching his son smile at him while looking at him thoughtfully, then turning to dig into the wide assortment of hats.

"Aha! Found it!" The little boy cried out happily, looking at the big brown cowboy hat with glee. He faced his father again, and this time held out his arms in a gesture that meant he wanted his father to pick him up and hold him for awhile with the cowboy hat clenched in his hand.

Tallahassee reached out and lifted his son up in his arms with small grunt. "You are growing up to be a big boy, Buck. Might have to stop feeding you so many Twinkies." He said proudly, grinning at as his boy punched his shoulder playfully.

"I'm gonna be just like you when I grow up, daddy! So I have to keep eating Twinks to be big an' strong!" Buck exclaimed while using this chance to put the cowboy hat he found on his father's head. It fit him perfectly, and it reminded Buck of the cowboys he always see on T.V. every night.

"Now daddy is a cowboy!" Tallahassee chuckled at his boy's imagination, and was a bit surprised when the little blond headed boy took his hand and wrapped his little pinky finger around his own finger.

"Dad, promise me when you wear this hat, you'll make all the bad guys go away? And protect the good people?" Buck looked up at his father and smiled when his father answered yes to his question and shook their combined fingers as a promise between father and son.

"Okay, Dad! Now we can go and get that new toy I wanted..." With a sigh, Tallahassee let his boy down and but didn't move to take the hat off. After all, if this made his son happy, then so be it. He was willing to play the 'good' cowboy for his son.

~End of memory~

Florida grunted in surprise when he felt someone crawled into his lap and hugged him, wiping away the tears that now stained his face. He made no move to acknowledge the person, for he knew in the back of head who would be so bold as to do something like this.

"Oh Tallahassee, I'm so sorry...I know it sucks when bad memories arise as well." Columbus continued to babble on while trying his best to soothe and comfort Florida the best he could. He followed Tallahassee quietly after he left them, because Ohio hated that lost look Tally had on his face, so he wanted to try and figure out what was bothering his Tally. At first he watched Florida silently get into the black Cadillac they got from Bill Murray's house awhile back, but then got anxious, and was itching to find out what was wrong with the Southerner.

When Columbus opened the door to the backseat, he expected Tallahassee to yell at him for not giving him his alone time, or even giving him any kind of greeting, but instead he got nothing, not even a usual growl from the older zombie hunter. Ohio quickly hopped into the car and locked the doors, not wanting the girls or zombies for that matter coming around to interrupt him while he tried to comfort Tallahassee.

As soon as he saw the tears on Tally's face along with the wallet that was now slowly slipping from Tallahassee's fingers, Ohio felt his heart drop into his stomach. He automatically crawled into Tally's lap and hugged him with all his might, wiping away tears that he never wanted to see on the Cowboy's face again.

Columbus leaned back just a bit to see that Tallahassee wasn't responding to anything he said or did at all, and he desperately wished for any kind of response from Tally now. He wanted Tallahassee's happy-go-lucky mood back, and would do anything to see smirk or a grin to beam at him.

"Tally..." Ohio whispered, frowning even more when the other shut his eyes and sighed a bit, but almost jumped when he felt a pair of strong arms wrap loosely around him. The ex-college student wrapped his arms around Tally mid section and buried his face in the crook of Florida's neck.

"I know you miss him, Tally. I bet he was a very sweet little boy. I would have loved to meet him." Columbus muttered, tightening his arms around the other. "I bet he was really happy to have such a wonderful father such as yourself. So don't go thinking for a minute that you failed him. Cause you didn't. You'll always will be a hero in his eyes, Tally, and it applies to me as well." Columbus continued on murmuring words of praise and encouragement for Tally, hoping to whatever god there was up there to take care of Buck and to bring make Tally smile again, cause he hated this feeling of hopelessness of not being able to bring Tally back to normal.

Tallahassee quietly listened to Columbus talk, silently grateful for the comfort the kid was trying to give him now. He closed his eyes and tried to bury the past once more and just forget about it, but another memory popped up, and this one was like a a killing blow to his heart and that haunted his dreams at night.

~A year ago~

The news reported that there was a virus that was like the plague spreading around the world, and at first Tallahassee thought nothing of it while he was at work, but as soon as he saw his very first zombie lunging at him a few hours later, he took the crowbar he had at hand and swung it like a bat at the undead cannibal. It was then he realized that Buck could be in danger with the nanny he paid to watch him for that day.

Not wanting to waste time, he quickly left his work and drove straight back home, terror filling his mind and heart as he drove by other people who were either trying to run away from the cannibals or were screaming and struggling to get out of the embrace of said cannibals, which in turn got very bloody afterwords. He ran a few red lights, but he didn't care for the law right now.

All that mattered was getting to Buck and making sure he was safe and sound, away from all the cannibals that were steadily increasing in number. Tallahassee felt hope rise within him as he saw his house just up the street, with no signs of those crazy ass sick people around. He quickly parked his truck in the driveway, and left the keys in the ignition so he and his son could make a getaway to somewhere safe, more than likely to another state or so.

Florida ran towards the door, busting it open as he yelled out for his son. He felt a knot twisting in the pit of his stomach when he got no response, and kept on calling out for his son as he raced upstairs towards the little boy's room. The older man felt like breaking down when he saw that the room was devoid of Buck, so he ran to each and every room to try to find him.

After searching the inside of the house thoroughly, Tallahassee ran towards the glass doors that led outside to the backyard, and figured that Buck must be hiding in the shed or something. He stopped in front of the glass door and stopped mid-way in opening it. To his horror, there was Buck, laying in a pool of blood in the backyard, with the nanny hovering over him and was chewing on what must have been the little boy's intestine.

White hot rage took over Tallahassee as he opened the door and tackled the nanny turned zombie off of Buck's corpse and slammed the zombie up against the shed, then proceeded to throw it harshly on the ground and stomped on it's head repeatedly, until there was nothing but rotten flesh and blood splattered everywhere on the grass.

Florida only stopped in his rage when he saw that the body wasn't moving anymore. He then took one look at his now dead son and lifted Buck into his arms, and broke down crying. "I'm sorry Buck. I'm so sorry!" He mumbled into his son's blood-matted hair, not caring about the blood that was surely staining his clothes now. He lost the one thing he loved the most and now he couldn't get him back, no matter what he did.

After what seemed like forever, Florida got up with his dead son in his arms, and decided to at least give him a proper resting place, and it didn't matter how long it took him to do it. He went back inside and settled his son gently on the couch, taking the blanket from a nearby chair and tucking him in, as if he was still alive. "Don't worry, Buck. Daddy is gonna make sure you get to rest in peace. I love you son." Tallahassee choked out, determined not to break down again as he kissed Buck's cold forehead one last time before pulling the blanket over his head..

He had work to do, and his son still needed him. He went back outside into the shed and got out nails, hammer, and some hardwood boards, and went about making Buck a coffin. A few hours later, the older man smiled sadly as he gently placed his son in the crudely made coffin, making sure to but Buck's favorite toys and blanket with him. "You have fun with the other boys and girls in heaven, alright Buck? Save a spot for daddy up there if you can."

As Tallahassee said a few prayers and hugged his son one last time, he finally put the cover on the coffin, ignoring the tears that were steadily coming down at a fast rate as he picked up the coffin with gentle care and placed it on the ground, then got the shovel from the shed and started to dig a hole that was big enough for his son's body.

When he was done, Florida gently put the coffin inside the hole, and placed one last kiss on top of the coffin before getting out and putting the dirt back where it belonged. All the while the older man couldn't believe he was burying his own son. It was like some horrible nightmare he couldn't seem to escape.

After the little burial was done, Tallahassee went back inside and decided that a nice bath and some sleep would do for now. He felt like shit, and the pain inside him was slowly tearing him apart. Upon going upstairs to his room, Florida grabbed a bottle of whiskey that he hid for a few years right after Buck was born (he didn't want to be an alcoholic father that beats his own son. He loved Buck too much to even think about about harming him), and opened it up with a flick of his wrist. The whiskey burned all the way down his throat, but he couldn't care less.

The Southerner went past Buck's room and straight into his room, where he almost plopped down on his bed, but decided that a shower was needed first before he passes out in hopes of waking from this nightmare he is in. He goes to take a quick shower, and then goes back into his bedroom to find some clothes to wear for the night.

As he gets to his dresser, he notices the cowboy hat Buck picked out for him last week at the toy shop they were in. He picks up the brown leather hat, and is reminded of the promise he made to his boy back in the shop. "Take out all the bad guys...Protect the good ones..."

He puts the hat on, and decides to wear blue jeans and a purple shirt to bed, for he plans to set out and kill all those z-fucks and protect other people, if there were any left for him protect that is. If not, then he'll just keep killing and searching, all the while going back to Tallahassee, Florida to see if anyone else he knew survived this horrific apocalypse.

After two months worth of searching and killing, he was finally making his way through Texas, he finally found one of the 'good guys' buck was talking about. He instantly lets the kid get into his Caddy, but won't let them get too familiar with each other. Buck's death was still fresh on his mind, and he didn't dare let another person get close to him.

But of course, some things just don't go according to plan...

~End of memory~

"Fuck." Tallahassee growled out, blinking the sleep out of eyes as he noticed he was laying on something warm, and was being held down by limbs that were wrapped around him. He looked up, and saw that Columbus had managed to put them horizontal in the back seats last night, and was holding him down with his arms still wrapped around his mid section, while his legs were loosely wrapped around his waist. 'Damn, must have fallen asleep unexpectedly...'

"Spit-fuck. Wake up. Rise and shine, Ohio." Florida said before yawning, and was about to attempt to sit up with Columbus still attached to him but was stopped when the ex-college student let out a yawn as well, smiling when he saw Tallahassee looking at him.

"Morning Tally. You feeling better today?" Ohio murmured sleepily, letting the older zombie hunter sit up so he could curl onto his lap.

"Yeah. Sorry about last night, Columbus. I-" Tallahassee was cut off by the quick, but chaste kiss on his lips, and nuzzled his face into Florida's shoulder.

"Don't say you are sorry. I know you well enough to know that you have bottled up most of those horrible memories, and last night let them out, so you did what any other person would do, Tally; you relieved them and let out your emotions for once. Though I was scared to death when you didn't respond to me at all last night, I knew you'd come through, you always do." Ohio finished happily, loving the way Tally's finger's carded through his hair slowly.

"Thanks, Collie. I appreciate you helping me out last night." Florida mumbled as he gave the younger man a hug.

"Anytime, Tally. Now let's go back inside and get some breakfast! I think Little Rock wanted to try to make us some pancakes from scratch." Columbus smiled as he unlocked the doors and jumped out, happy when Tallahassee got out soon after with a smirk on his face.

"You think if we stay out here long enough, Wichita will burn the house down making scrambled eggs?" Tallahassee joked around, walking alongside Columbus as they made their way back into the house, knowing that as long as they were together, they would always be there for one another, no matter what happens in the future.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Rabbit: Om nom nom. =w= /is shot/ I uh, wrote this cause...We need more Tallahassee/Buck stories out there. :3 I think Tally is a very loving father, thus this was born! The hat idea was adorable in my mind, so I just had to write it out. So whatcha think? Good? Bad? Should I make another one? Please review! And Happy New Years Everyone! :D