Surprised? I am too. I didn't expect to have stopped writing for two years (actually three?), honestly. I just realized that one day, there were readers who were waiting for an update and its killing me to know that I can't - not yet at least. Be patient, I really am going to finish TU and all my other works its just at the moment, I'm dealing with things that are more than I can handle.
I'm actually just finishing the story before I update. That's my plan, write all of the chapters so that I can update systematically and no, no promises as of when. Everybody knows I'm horrible at updating on a deadline.
To answer future questions that a lot would probably be thrown at me, I'll answer them now.
Q: Why a new story?
A: This was actually in the works before TU - a plot bunny that I hadn't invested in due to my writing skills. I can't pull off emotion well back then so when I'm stuck writing for TU - like running into a goddamn wall - I work on this to get the feelings rolling.
Q: Zombies, really? That is so cliche.
A: Shove it, I happen to be one of those people who actually are geared up for a zombie apocalypse. I happen to love the Walking Dead and Zombieland so I had this one coming for a long time.
Q: Is this going to be on-going?
A: No. Call it a test-run of a story. If people like it, I update (albeit randomly, depending on my mood). If they don't well it's not a loss. For now, it's going to stay a one-shot until enough readers have harped me to continue this Vongola-styled Zombie apocalypse.
Q: You gonna disappear on us again?
A: In all honesty... yeah. I'm done giving my reasons because I'm so sick of giving them. It sounds like a load of bullshit excuses so yeah, I'll be gone here and there but no, no story of mine is on haitus until I'm sure I can't write anymore (except for my first shitty story - goddamnit I need to fix that).
I'll answer any further questions by mail or by the comments. Onwards to the story!
Tsuna didn't know how it happened.
He was just attending school like usual, going to the same classes, eating the same place he'd always been and just not talking to anybody. That was his life in Italy. That's right, he lived in Italy. While it was nice that no one picked and bullied him, he was kind of lonely. But knowing his reputation back in Japan, he decided to hold himself back. If people found out what he was before he came here…
Tsuna sighed. Really, he could use a friend. His father didn't come home to their flat so Tsuna technically lives alone. He was ten when his Dad spontaneously waltzed in to their house, gracing his mother with his presence and tried cuddling his son. Tsuna thought well when he kneed the man in the family jewels. Iemitsu thought twice about even touching him anymore. At such a young age he already had distaste for the man. Anyway, Iemitsu had convinced his mother to let him take Tsuna away to Italy, saying that it would be good for him.
Tsuna thought it was more for the man's benefit than his. To his grievance, his mother agreed and here he was. He had lived for four years now in Sicily and he had to admit that he did improve. It was strange but the moment he stepped on this land's soil, Tsuna felt like something was unlocking inside him. He wasn't as clumsy as before and lessons flowed more easily inside his head. He adapted well to Italian culture but he never let his Japanese heritage die. It was if he was born here instead of Japan. Despite the improvements, Tsuna was afraid to make friends.
So he sat there, under the shade of a tree near the school building, eating alone. They day started well, his father didn't call (his face or voice usually ruins Tsuna's day), his homework was finished and he made a Japanese style breakfast. He didn't understand how the world got so shitty in a matter of two hours.
While he was eating his lunch (which was just a sandwich) he noticed a strange man walking outside the school campus. He was staggering around, head bowed and was really pale. Tsuna was thinking about bringing his cell phone out to call an ambulance when the man suddenly dove at a passerby. The sick man then started to eat the person held captive beneath him.
Tsuna dropped his lunch and screamed. He wasn't the only one though; lots of people started screaming and mass chaos soon ensued. He ran back inside school, pushing people back who were curious to see what caused all the screaming. He slammed the door open and his classmates who were still in the room looked at him.
"What's going on outside?" one of them asked him.
Shakily, Tsuna walked towards his chair. "There was some guy outside… he was sick."
"That's it?" they snorted and turned back to their conversations.
Tsuna would like to think he was sick and what happened was just a spur of imagination. He knew he shouldn't have watched Shaun of the Dead last night, despite knowing it had a humor genre to it. He sat there, when a sharp pain stuck him in the head. He needed to leave now, were his thoughts. He shot up from his seat, took his bag and opened the door again. Quickly, he headed straight back down to the entrance of the school and the sight that greeted him there almost made him faint.
People were strewn about in pools of blood, their flesh ripped from their bones exposing their organs in the inside. One was curled over a body and Tsuna had to cover his mouth to keep himself from puking when he saw it was eating. His legs shook and cold sweat ran down his pale face.
"This can't be happening." He said in Italian. People started screaming from the inside and Tsuna whipped his head around to see it walking towards him. It was a teacher, he recognized with horror. Blood ran down her shirt front and there was a gaping wound on her neck. Her eyes were pure white and blood dripped from her mouth.
"Signora?" He called out weakly. Her eyes immediately locked in on him and he could only watch as she came closer, moaning and groaning. He stood there, rooted on the spot. He didn't know what spurned him but he held his backpack out when she lunged for him. With a startled yelp, they fell to the ground.
She clawed at him, sinking her teeth in the backpack's material. Tsuna could see clearly now that this… thing had every intention of devouring him. He screamed when it pushed down on him. Feeling the rush of adrenaline in his veins, he shoved her away got back to his feet. Leaving his backpack, he ran.
It was like a scene from a horror movie. People were screaming, everything was on fire and those… zombies were devouring everyone.
Town didn't look so pretty either. Everything was just chaos. Cars were overturned, windows were broken, the air was thick with smoke and fear, and there was blood everywhere. Corpses and bodies all hung about. A crowd of people passed him, all running away from a pack of ravenous zombies. Tsuna didn't need to think twice before running to the side and into an alley.
In hindsight he probably should have taken note that he could be in more danger in enclosed spaces. He passed by a dumpster when a hand snatched his ankle. He yelped when he fell and looked down to see a face-mutilated zombie having a hold on him. He kicked it in the face with his other foot while screaming bloody murder. When it let go, he scrambled back up.
Like a horror movie, the sound of his screaming attracted the attention of the hungry zombies. They started shuffling inside the alley and Tsuna ran. The alley was a one-way route that ended with a tall wall. His breaths came out raspy as he frantically searched for another way around.
He looked up.
The emergency ladder hung above him but he couldn't reach it. There was a dumpster nearby and he quickly went to push it. The zombies were terrifyingly close as he desperately pushed. He could barely get it to move. He was half-way there when a zombie lunged at him. He dodged and it crashed against the dumpster. The dumpster was close enough to the ladder and Tsuna quickly climbed atop it. The zombies started swarming him like an ocean of flesh-eating undead piranhas.
With a burst of courage that he didn't know he had, he leaped high at the ladder. He grabbed tightly to it and rushed to get up. He kept climbing all the way to the rooftop where he collapsed under the afternoon sun. Panting heavily, his body shivered and trembled under the stress and fear he experienced.
He lay there for a while, trying to calm his frantic beating heart while screams echoed all around. Eventually, the shivers stopped and he got back on to his feet rather shakily again. He walked towards the edge.
Below him was nothing but a scene of horror. He wasn't dreaming. He averted his eyes from a gruesome sight of four zombies catching who he recognized was a clerk in a nearby convenience store.
Sinking down to the ground, he stared blankly into space until he started to cry and he didn't stop till he couldn't cry no more. When his tears dried, Tsuna scrubbed his face with shirt despite it being slick with sweat. How could something like this happen? What was the government even doing? What should he do now?
Going back to school was a huge no-no so Tsuna decided to go back to his flat and wait for his Father to come home or the police to rescue him. That's right, that's what he should do. To do that though he has to go at least six blocks before night falls and Tsuna really didn't want to go back out there again. Actually, there are a lot of things that Tsuna didn't want to do, such as leaving safety. He was still deciding if he should leave or not when the door to the roof burst open and woman came screeching though.
Tsuna choked when a horde of zombies began rushing through the door and on to the roof. A tattered and bloodied woman limped towards him, screeching "Help me!"
"I-I-I…" he stuttered wildly as he stumbled backwards. She quickly latched on to him and using his body as a wall between the undead and herself.
He looked around wildly for anything to get out of this situation. There was absolutely nothing as the dead began to swarm the roof at an alarming rate. They backed off till they were at the edge of the building when the woman burst out sobbing.
"I don't want to die!"
Well that's nice, Tsuna didn't want to die either but you don't see him sobbing grossly on another person's shirt. The only good thing about this shitty situation? The zombies were slow. At least they couldn't run, he thought. But where? Where can they run? An idea popped into mind. It was crazy, possibly could get them killed or break their legs but what else could they do? There wasn't a weapon in sight!
He whirled around and grasp the lady by her shoulders.
"We gotta jump."
"What?" She exclaimed.
"There's another building beside this one that we can reach. They can't follow us," Tsuna explained. She shook her head, near hysterics.
"I-I can't do it!" Tsuna tried not to shout in frustration.
"Miss, there's not enough time. Make up your mind or die here!" He knew that if she wouldn't move a second later he would have dragged her in vain but it still hurt him to say it. That seemed to do the trick though as the woman gave him a look that said no, she did not want to die.
"Okay?Okay." They ran to the other edge of the building. He looked at the other roof, seeing it clear of zombies. One look with the woman and they nodded. Moans and groans were slowly reaching them and Tsuna took a deep breath before getting a running start. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and with a leap that he could have sworn he never could do, he landed on the other building hard. He rolled till he stopped, where he lay there wincing at the pain. There was a thud and something hard hitting against the concrete that made Tsuna scrambled to his feet. The woman had made it as well, scrawled on the roof top however he saw something that made his blood run cold.
Her pants had ridden up to show a bloodied bite mark on her left ankle.
He backed away, hand on his neck where she was so close to before.
He was so close. So close to becoming one of them.
"A-Are you alright?" He found himself saying. Despite having brushed with death more than once that day, he still found himself to worry over others.
He didn't need to though, because a puddle of blood grew where her head had hit the floor. His worry morphed into horror and he quickly went to her side to turn her over.
Her eyes were wide and glassy as she stared up at him. Literally alive for five minutes after meeting him and she was already dead. With shaking hands he took her pulse and found none. Knees weak and the urge to throw up, Tsuna fell on his butt, staring at the corpse before him. How could this happen? He despaired.
She must have landed badly, his mind supplied. Must have landed head-first. He shuddered, feeling cold. He was so caught up that he didn't notice the woman's fingers twitching or when the head lolled to the side to see him just sitting there like a duck. He only noticed when an arm reached out to grab him.
He screeched and skidded backwards until he banged against a deck chair. The woman-turned-zombie crawled to him, dragging it's bloodied body and leaving a trail of torn clothes, blood and skin. Tsuna had one response left in him. Fight.
His hands curled around the chair behind him. When the zombie was close, it reached out to him. He hit it across the face with such force that the chair broke and the zombie momentarily stunned. He quickly stood up and held the broken remnants of the chair to his chest. It turned it's head back to him and he let out a sob because the one side of its face had caved in.
He never wanted to hurt anybody.
It began to stand and Tsuna, feeling so conflicted, had tears running down his face as he shoved the broken chair through its face. The broken leg went straight through the eye socket and out of the back. It dangled for a bit and like that, the body crumbled. Unmoving and for the second time that day, Tsuna retched.
Like it? Hate it?
Review!
As anyone can see who had read my previous works, my writing has improved and I'm very proud of it though I'm not the greatest, I feel very accomplished. Future chapters for TU and Family Tales are going to be written this way actually and no, I will not change the previous chapters to suit my writing style now. I'm going to leave them as a reminder of how much I've grown. Can you believe that?
If this story does continue, its going to rely heavily on it's characters relationships. I've always been a sucker for bromance (brotherly love, not yaoi goddamnit) and I love the Giotto and G bromance ever since it was introduced in the manga. Here, Tsuna and Hayato will be mirroring that because I love characters that can express all forms of love. Romance, I believe, isn't the strongest form of love.
I don't need no shoujo here, I have a different story for that.