The city, or what was left of it, was in ruins. Light poles in the ground, the windows of the houses, burst, and the pavement of the streets, shattered. Clouds of dust raised around the crumbling walls, as a vestige of the thousands of people who had tried to escape the impending end, most without success. The laughter of children in the park, the talk of the elders in the cafes, the words of love between lovers on the streets: everything had been erased in an instant with the arrival of the zombies. Nobody believed, indeed, that such a thing would happen, and nobody really knew, what their origin was. But there was something that the few survivors knew: the world would never be the same.

Gilbert, in many ways, was lucky. His younger brother had several weapons stored in the basement, so that both could defend themselves without a hitch at the time of the attack. It was disconcerting, but both managed to annihilate the zombies around them and escape. Several walking corpses were behind the masses of people fleeing, but a great part stayed in the city, and therefore, it was dangerous to stay there. However, Gilbert refused to leave. Not because the city was very meaningful to him, no, of course not. He had been in that city about a year, since he and Ludwig were German immigrants who constantly moved from one place to another. No. If there was a reason that Gilbert wanted to stay, it was just to make sure Elizabetha was fine.

"Gilbert, you have to understand. She won't be here. She surely fled with the rest of the citizens. Once we have a way to communicate, I promise you we will-" Ludwig stated, trying to drag his brother along.

"There won't be any. All lines are down! Why you can rescue Feliciano and I cannot look for her?"said Gilbert, as he struggled violently to escape his brother's arms.

"It's different! He found us first! For the love of God, Gilbert, you're not going to find her! We have to go, Feliciano is alone in the shelter, and is also sensitive..."

"Do you think I care that his brother tried to eat him? So what if she is going through the same thing right now? Please West, let me go!"

"Forget about it! Elizabetha is strong, I'm sure she'll know how to defend herself and…"

A groan came to the ears of the two brothers. Almost instantly, Ludwig released Gilbert, who reached down to take the gun he had dropped minutes earlier, and shot the undead without a second thought. Before Ludwig realized what had happened, Gilbert ran with the gun in his hands as fast as he could. Perhaps the younger brother was stronger, but certainly the elder was faster. He continued to run without stopping until Ludwig's screams were lost in the distance.

Gilbert stopped for air. His feet throbbed with pain. He knelt on the rubble of a building, and almost without knowing why, began to sob. What was he doing? It was pathetic. He should be looking for Elizabetha instead of whining like a baby...

Gilbert wiped his eyes and stood up. The avenue was deserted, so he could go through it smoothly. Was it right to shout the name of Elizabetha? He did not think that zombies would be so smart to a track a sound. Or maybe he was underestimating them.

He must have been walking for an hour and half. During the course, he realized that there were more zombies than he thought. They might be coming back. Each time he had to shoot anyone, he was thankful that he has taken several cartridges. Or at least he did until he came to a small park, where he met about six zombies.

A cartridge ended when he had shot the third. At the very second when he was changing, the other three were above him. One backed when he threw him on the side, and another was wiped out by hitting him with the handle of the gun. When he set out to end the last one, the wounded one lunged at him. Gilbert waited to feel the teeth stuck in his neck but instead he heard a shot and felt the body falling on him. Still excited by the adrenaline rush, he was prepared to point to the second roamer, but when he turn a second shot thundered the air and the living dead fell with its skull shattered.

Gilbert turned, looking for the source of the shooting, and still a little scared. The dust in the streets of the metropolis yet formed a dense fog that clouded his vision. A swing gently rocked in his side, because of the resonance. Further, a figure with long hair and a dress slowly approached, with what appeared to be a .50 Barret in her hands.

Both froze a moment, and in a second the two ran dodging the debris that was in the way. Gilbert threw the gun at his side, at the right time when the two met in a violent, but warm hug. They took a couple of laps, lost balance, and then tried to recover.

"Are you crazy? Are you seriously crazy?! Why did you do it? Why the hell you came back?!You should have gone off! Do you understand me?!" Elizabetha was screaming with her voice broken as she tried to take a breath between each sob. Gilbert buried his face in her hair to wipe the tears, and to simply feel it again.

"And leave you here? No way, I couldn't go without you, and you know it!"

She took Gilbert's face in her hands, looking with despair.

"Gilbert Beilschmidt, you're an idiot! You are the dumbest person I've ever met! Never do that again! Did you hear me? Never!"

He nodded, dazed, and put his face close to Elizabetha. He kissed her lips. He felt that he had almost forgotten what love was. Although it was a relatively wet and salty kiss, due to tears of both, it was a sign of hope. That in the world there was still something beautiful to live for.

When they separated, Gilbert smiled at Elizabetha, trembling with fright and excitement.

"West has found a refuge, Liz, in the outskirts of the city. We can be safe there while we think what to do. Apparently there are several people there, and there is food and armored walls and..."

Elizabetha interrupted Gilbert by putting a finger in his mouth. The two were silent for a moment. He, surprised, looked ahead, and saw a zombie approaching Liz. She, without even flinching, raised her gun and shot the zombie three times.

"We'll get used. And please, do not drop your gun again; you are going to get both of us killed."

He smiled and bent down to pick up the gun. Elizabetha had always been very good at defense, and now it was proved once again. He knew immediately that, with her, that disaster couldn't be that bad.

"The shelter is northwest; West said something like that. Oh gosh, he's going to kill me."

"And rightly so. Finally, if is northwest, we can go for that division to get there faster. I think that's the division, actually. We have to be prepared; those things are walking all around the city."

"What? But I haven't found almost any. Let's say, up to a dozen. I think everyone has gone looking for more victims."

"Well, believe it or not, it seems that there is a wave coming toward us from the east. I happened to be there, and all I had on hands was a frying pan."

"Don't tell me that you defended yourself with a frying pan."

"In an emergency, anything can be useful. As I walked I found this Barret .50 near the body of one of my neighbors."

"Isn't that the guy who liked guns, Vash?"

Elizabetha nodded, somewhat self-absorbed.

"I think he was attacked by his own sister. I had to shoot a small walker that was close..."

They walked a few minutes without saying anything. Gilbert kicked a rock that rolled to hit the body of a young Russian who used to live nearby.

"What will become of the world now?" the albino spoke, still staring at the body, dumbfounded. Elizabetha shrugged.

"That's a good question. For now we have to get to the shelter, and then we'll decide what to do."

No more than fifteen minutes passed when they saw in the distance a zombie horde, formed by at least twenty units. They were far away enough so that both had time to prepare. Elizabetha loaded his Barret and Gilbert put the cartridges in an accessible location. His hands were shaking, but he was not ready to die now that he had found Liz.

"Is this the wave that you mentioned?" Gilbert asked.

"Sort of. Apparently it consists of several hordes like this."

She waited a few moments so they will come a little closer, and then shot one of the corpses who were in front. The others started to freak out and began to move faster towards them.

Gilbert pointed to one of the closest, and pulled the trigger. He smiled.

"We will deal with this, and with many more, together."

She took his hand for a moment, before taking it back to the gun.

"Together."

Both learned to get rid of zombies fast. Elizabetha moved quickly among the undead, firing at anyone who came too close. Gilbert wasn't behind, he was skilled with the shotgun and agile to change the cartridge when needed. At one point, a zombie followed Liz to the back of a car, and she did not realize until it was too close. Gilbert rushed to open the trunk of the car; Elizabetha got the message and turned away in order to not be hit by the trunk. The walker fell, and Liz pushed it inside the trunk, just in the time that Gilbert closed the door hard to rip the zombie in two.

"You know? We make a great team" exclaimed Gilbert when he approached her to kill the last zombie that was about to stab Liz.

"I do not think we'll have problems if we find another horde. But let's go fast, it is better not to."

The two continued to advance towards the road. Elizabetha shot one in the head that was still alive, and then went ahead to shoot one that just seemed to be moving. Gilbert admired her for a moment; still not believing how lucky he was to have her by his side. Her determination, her strength... those were some of the reasons why Gilbert fell in love with her.

After two hours of walking, with a half hour break, Gilbert saw a white flag on top of a bunker, despite the darkness of the night. Both were exhausted, Elizabetha was about to faint. He put his arm around her waist and helped her walk.

"We are almost there, Liz, come on." Gilbert cheered. She looked at him, and leaned her head on the shoulder of the albino.

"Look." she said hoarsely. Someone came out of the bunker. It did not seem to be a zombie. It was rather a tall boy, who seemed nervous. As he approached, Gilbert recognized him immediately.

"Matthew! It's us! Gilbert and Elizabetha!"

"Gilbert? Are you okay? I can't believe it! Ludwig was very worried about you..."

"I know, I know. But we're here now."

Matthew helped both to reach the shelter. As they arrived, Matthew updated them with the situation. They had reached the bunker about ten hours ago, waiting for instructions from the government on the radio. When the signal was cut, they knew that the government had fallen and that the zombies had destroyed the city.

"We have taken shelter here a small part of the survivors. Alfred and Francis helped me bring supplies, and Yao and HELPED the injured. The bunker is Arthur's property; he apparently bought it in case of a hurricane or something. It doesn't matter, it has been very useful but it's not very big. I suppose you will have to sleep on the floor; there are too many beds occupied."

"No problem " Elizabetha stared at the top of the shelter "Why the white flag?"

"Well, that was Feliciano's idea. He thought it would help anyone who needed shelter better identify the bunker from afar."

"And it really helped" Gilbert replied "but if he was asking for peace, I don't think it would do much."

At the shelter, the first thing that Gilbert had to do was deal with the scolding of his younger brother. He was too dazed to hear, and when he calmed down, Ludwig admitted that he had been very brave. He met soon with Feliciano, who greeted him with optimism. Gilbert regretted that he didn't care at first that he had almost been killed by his own brother.

Gilbert was glad to find Francis and Antonio alive in the refugee, while Elizabetha was happy to greet her roommate, Roderich, who had thought dead until then. They dined what little they had taken from the city, and then they went to sleep. They were in the same room with two of his acquaintances, Kiku and Feliks, besides Ludwig and Feliciano.

During the night, Gilbert heard the quiet breathing of those around him. He, however, could not sleep. Too much had happened in one day...

"Hey, Gil."

Elizabetha's voice caught him in a whisper.

"Are you awake?"

Gilbert turned and saw Liz curled up beside her. He crawled toward her, until his body was a few inches from her.

"Yes, here I am. Is something wrong?"

"No. I figured you couldn't sleep."

She rested her forehead against Gilbert's, closing his eyes. He put his arm around her as she put her hands on his shoulders. They intertwined their legs, and the soles of his feet touched.

"I love you, Gil."

"I love you too, Liz."

"When I didn't see you, I was afraid..."

Gilbert tightened Elizabetha against him.

"I know. But I promise we will no longer be apart."

Elizabetha rubbed his face against Gilbert's cheek, and then seemed to fall asleep. He kissed her forehead and closed his eyes as well.

"I am still afraid."

They spent about a week in the bunker, and every night it was the same. Although they slept apart, there was always a moment where Liz and Gilbert rolled toward and ended together. There were cases in which neither they know how, or why, but they would wake up facing each other, holding each other.

In any case, they both needed it.

In the evenings they all developed plans to increase base security, gather more people, deal with invasions, collect more supplies. Because Elizabetha had the sense to warn everyone that a wave of zombies was coming from the east, Ludwig saw an opportunity to create a defense tactic. However, there were several attacks during those days, as prediction of the next threat. Although they could deal with most of the hordes, a lot of people were injured and there were three dead, including Alfred, Matthew's brother. Suddenly, Matthew ceased working with enthusiasm and locked himself in a room of the bunker.

The sudden disappearance of Matthew was one of the reasons why almost no one noticed that the wave was beginning to get to the bunker. When they detected it, it was too close and there was no time to organize. They took all the kids to the basement of the bunker, and the rest of them came out to defend the shelter. The horde was much larger than they had planned, consisting of about 60 zombies.

Elizabetha and Gilbert decided to go to the front. They had their weapons ready, and they had trust. If they had been alone with a group of 20, what prevented them to beat 60 along with other fifteen people? It was more than enough.

Kiku came with a katana and with Ludwig and Feliciano behind him. Nevertheless, the Italian hugged Ludwig and he did not seem willing to separate from him. One by one, Antonio, Francis and Yao also pointed their weapons. Arthur and his brothers enlisted grenades by the left.

"Prepared, Liz?" smiled Gilbert, as they walked to the front.

"More than ever. Come on!" Everyone else began to detonate their weapons. Gilbert ducked the blow of a zombie and plunged the tip of his bayonet in it. Beside him, Ludwig was shooting with his gun. Gilbert spotted Liz among all and followed her as she was loading cartridges and pointing to all the walkers she could. It was a hard work, because of the amount of undead and how strong they had become, but despite this, the resistance was dominating. When Gilbert felt that the horde was beginning to recede, the unthinkable happened: a second horde began to arrive.

"Somebody call Berwald! Tell him that we need reinforcements!" Ludwig shouted as he pushed an undead that was coming towards him. Feliciano went running, looking for Berwald. Yao began to despair and took a second gun so he was firing twice, despite reprimands from Arthur. The mass of zombies that spread was too much for them.

"Francis! Gilbert! Come here, I have an idea!" Antonio called out as he moved a powder keg of the provisions. Both went to meet his friend and helped him load the huge barrel. Francis took a stake and set fire. Gilbert and Antonio placed the barrel horizontally.

"Back!" Antonio warned, and when everyone moved to make a way into the horde, he and his friend pushed the barrel that rolled to the horde. Francis threw the stick into the powder, causing an explosion instantly. The smoke also helped to stun the zombies, but also Gilbert. Suddenly, he found himself looking around.

"Gilbert! Here I am!"

The albino heard Elizabetha in the other side, and walked forward, coughing. When he found her, she suddenly raised the shotgun.

"Down!"

Gilbert obeyed, and went down. Elizabetha shot a corpse that was behind him, and then another. While the German fumbled the floor, looking for his bayonet, he heard three or four more shots, and turned to see another one fall. He felt an arm that pulled him up.

"Gil, come over! Run, run!"

He managed to take his bayonet before departure and he fired against two zombies. As he ran, he saw one zombie that was strangely familiar.

"Kiku?"

The young Japanese, who always remained calm against any attack during that week, had given against the horde, and now was one of them. Gilbert was stunned when he saw him, but he gingered up when he came roaring, ready to kill him. Elizabetha was the first to fire against him, and she continued shooting until he stopped moving. The albino turned to see, dumbfounded, as she turned to pull his arm once again.

"Why...?"

"That was not Kiku, Gilbert! We cannot have them leniency only because they were our loved ones!"

Gilbert paused for breath, and to kill two more zombies. Back to back, Elizabetha and he began to wipe all the undead that surrounded them. However, it seemed that for every zombie they shot down, two more appeared. However, a couple of shots were heard closer, and in a moment Antonio reached and helped them to get rid of the zombies that were coming up. Gradually, between the three the progress was much greater, and every zombie that jumped towards them fell moments later.

They were making it.

"Keep it up!" Gilbert shouted, above the guttural grunts. He blew away the head of one of them that was at his side, and immediately thrust the point of the bayonet to another in the throat. His heart was beating very quickly, and felt the heat over his face. He turned to Elizabetha, who, standing on the remains of a pedestal, finished with three zombies at once. When she stepped back to reload his gun, she looked at him. She smiled. Gilbert loved Liz's smile.

However, the smile did not last long.

A rather large zombie came running towards Elizabetha, maddened by hunger. Gilbert led the bayonet at him, but, despite repeatedly pulling the trigger, the bullet didn't come out. Desperate, he tried to find a cartridge, while Liz turned and saw the zombie. She didn't have time to raise her gun.

The corpse didn't bite her, but when trying to reach her, Elizabetha involuntarily recoiled and fell from the pedestal. Gilbert charged the bayonet and tried to shoot, but he found four undead in his way, and he had to kill every single one first before proceeding. Antonio was on the other hand, dealing with three.

Gilbert was about to clear the area when he heard Elizabetha's shout tearing the air. He froze for a moment, until he put the last zombie away with a lunge on the head.

Down on the floor, a roamer tore the flesh from Elizabetha's side, as she stretched her hand trying to reach for her gun again and desperately kicking the zombie with no avail.

Gil tried to shoot it, but his hands were shaking so much that his aim failed him. Angered, Gilbert ran to the zombie and stabbed the bayonet in his head, over and over again. He was immediately interrupted by another scream of pain, even worse than the last. Gilbert realized that another zombie was harrowing her right shoulder.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" he yelled while he plunged his bayonet into the neck of the undead and pushed him aside.

Gilbert made sure there were no more zombies around and bent over Elizabetha, who had shrunk on the floor, shaking and moaning. He moved her gently to check her wounds. The stomach's injury, at least, didn't seem to have reached vital organs. In contrast, the second one had completely shattered her shoulder and it wouldn't stop bleeding.

"No…no…no…"

She clenched her eyes to endure the pain. She put her hand to the wound in the stomach. Gilbert took her in his arms and looked for something, anything, to stop the bleeding.

"Gil..." she murmured, almost imperceptibly.

"Gilbert!"

Antonio ran toward them. He had finished with all the zombies, but he hadn't realized that Elizabetha was hurt.

"Holy God! What the...?"

"Antonio, fast! Get help, she's bleeding too much! Hurry up!"

He looked first at him, then at Elizabetha, briefly. Gilbert couldn't bear it.

"What, don't you hear me? Hurry up, Antonio, goddamit! Hurry up!"

Antonio ran away. Gilbert, meanwhile, tore part of his jacket and tried to use it as a bandage to cover her shoulder and side.

"Gilbert..."

"Wait a minute, okay, Liz? Antonio will come back in a few moments with help. Don't panic, you're okay, it's just a little blood, and anyone gets scared when they see..."

"Gilbert, you..."

He looked into her eyes. She was crying, and she looked terrified. Gilbert hadn't noticed that also her nose bleeding heavily.

"No, no, Elizabetha, don't give up yet. You listening? You are very strong. This is not going to defeat you."

Gilbert tore another piece of his jacket, and put it on the auxiliary bands he had made, already soaked. Perhaps the wounded side was worse than he thought.

She opened her mouth; it seemed as if she had something stuck in the throat. She took Gilbert's collar.

"Don't…hes…it…tate…"

"Don't hesitate...? What?"

Elizabetha stared open-mouthed. Gilbert hoped her to finish the sentence, but she did not.

"Liz?"

Nothing. Silence.

"Elizabetha?"

She kept staring without moving. She was staring, yes, she could not be...

"ELIZABETHA?!"

Shivering, Gilbert put his hand on her neck. There was no movement, no heartbeat. Slowly, the hand that had embraced his collar relaxed and fell heavily to the ground.

No, it could not be happening.

Gilbert's lower lip trembled. He felt hot tears running down face, and fell on Elizabetha's, who did not even flinch. He shook her a little, waiting for her to react. She did not. He faltered her name, he palp her wrist, said her name again. Again, nothing.

Somehow, uncontrollably, Gilbert suddenly began to hiccup. The spasms came out along with strange moans that were intensifying as more they were lost. They were strong, and they made his throat hurt. The sobs soon became screams, cries that really hurt and controlled Gilbert. He was screaming all he could until he felt himself deaf, and bowed his head toward the Elizabetha's stomach. He buried his face into her sweater that smelled like home and blood. The overpowering smell made him dizzy, the groans too. The head and the reality hurt him. It was as if a giant hand was choking and crushing him to leave him without air.

His cry was cut sharply. Gilbert looked up. He had felt something. A movement? He stood motionless, his face on the cloth dyed red, waiting to feel if that happened again. A few seconds sufficed to feel it again. It was like a slight grip on his stomach, as if she was doing a push. Gilbert lifted his head, hopefully.

Elizabetha was up. She was looking at Gilbert again, but not for protection. She looked at him in anger, in wrath. Thirsty.

It took him time to understand what was happening. Elizabetha bowed, like an animal. Her skin had a grayish tone. She began to growl and show her teeth covered in blood due to the nosebleed. Before Gilbert could react, Elizabetha launched against him. Quickly, he grabbed the shotgun that she had not been able to reach before, and put it between them in form of barrier. She didn't get the message and extended her hand to Gilbert's face. He stepped back, holding the gun aloft as a sign of attack. It was not working. The zombie was desperate and jumped on Gilbert, knocking him to the ground. Almost without thinking, and still frightened by the sudden attack, he began to shoot her in the chest several times. Her teeth had been just a few inches from his face. Gilbert continued to fire, feeling the discharge of bullets on her until she stopped moving, and he was able to take her off. He got up, staggered, and turned to see the corpse. Then he realized that, in the end, that was Elizabetha.

That was, more than anything, disconcerting. Gilbert looked at the corpse, and her bloody chest. Although she had tried to kill him, even though her intentions weren't others but murder him, even so, it was still her. The printed surprised expression on her face, the bullet holes in her chest, the pool of blood on the floor, it was all his doing.

He looked stunned at his clothes stained with blood, and he threw the gun to the ground. He stared at the body again, without expression.

"Bruder!"

Across the square, Ludwig, Antonio and Francis came running toward him. His younger brother was the first to approach. Francis horrified gasp sounded from behind.

"Gilbert?" Ludwig continued, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"What have I done?" And he covered his mouth with his hand, as the hot tears streamed down his skin.

"Gilbert, calm down, we're safe now."

"Why the hell did I do that? I should have stayed with her! This is my entire fault!"

"Bruder, it's not your fault. Listen, you did what any of us would have done."

"But it was Elizabetha! How could I have done that?"

"Gilbert, she was already dead."

"And yet..."

The bunker was almost empty. Those who were outside were decapitating the corpses to prevent possible uprisings. Others were managing the damage, and others had gone to supply the shelter again. Others were gone.

It hurt when Gilbert spoke due to the large lump in his throat. He looked nervously from side to side, not standing still. Ludwig ordered Francis and Antonio to retire, and they obeyed. He stood in front of his older brother.

"Listen, Gilbert..."

"Wasn't Berwald supposed to come with reinforcements? Hadn't you commanded Feliciano to look for him?"

"Yes, he was. Feliciano looked for him, and Berwald sent reinforcements."

"So? What took you so long?"

"Because I was somewhere else, just as busy as you."

Suddenly Ludwig's voice broke, and he lowered his head.

"What? What were you...?"

"You can't say that... trying to stay with a friend without success isn't something important."

Gilbert looked up, and suddenly he saw his younger brother as if he was a lost child again.

"Feliciano?"

"When I arrived, it was too late. He was still alive, but I had to shoot ... before he became one of them."

Gilbert didn't know when it was that Ludwig began to cry, much less when he joined him. He did not know how long they were there alone, or what happened next. Outside, everyone returned to the bunker. The will to survive, the spark of hope that appeared when the found refuge, it all vanished suddenly in a single blow. A girl was crying, on one side of the bunker, the death of her younger sister, who defended himself with a knife in vain. Another boy, tall and with spiky hair, was carrying the body of his sister to a small straw bed where he settled the bow that covered her blond head. Further, a Finnish man was yelling at Arthur, still bereaved from the loss of one of his brothers, claiming why he hadn't adequately protected the basement where the children were.

Yes, there was something the survivors knew. There was something that would accompany them every morning from now on, and until the end of their lives. There was something that was a fact: neither the world, nor anyone in it, would ever be the same.

A/N: This, as my first work, was a request for a friend who asked me for a Prussia/Hungary in a zombie apocalypse AU. I decided to publish it here because, to be honest, it's one of the longest things I've ever written, and I really got inspired with this one.

Since English is not my first language, the traslation and editing of this text required more time than I expected. However, if you happen to find any grammar mistakes, please let me know as soon as possible. I have the Spanish version of this story as well, as it is the original one. I want to see the general response to this fic first, and then I'll see if I upload the Spanish one too.

EDIT: The Spanish version is now on.