a/n: y not right. also hibari will come in super later
disclaimer: not mine
warnings: swearing and maybe ooc + tyl. m for swearing+gore etc.
summary: At the start of the apocalypse, Tsuna was forced to choose between what was right, and what was easy. Ten years down the track and hundreds of dead bodies later, Tsuna resolves to return to where his troublesome feelings all began - in a small town called Namimori. 1827. zombie apoc au


one

"Don't lead them here, you baseball-wielding-idiot!"

Someone, somewhere, shouted. Tsuna could vaguely make out the sun, burning bright and scorching hot, far, far away in the distance. As it slowly sank further into the horizon, the dead began their ascent, almost in stark contrast. Tsuna heard the familiar squelch of boots running over rotting bodies, rotting people and he wondered how he had survived this long.

Gunshots and the smell of burning flesh was what broke into Tsuna's reverie. The brunette was suddenly, intimately, made aware of his surroundings, and he forced himself not to gag like his mind was screaming at him to do. All around him lay multiple mutilated corpses, their faces having been burned beyond recognition. It was Tsuna's way of coping with the guilt - through childish reasoning and lies. If they didn't have human faces, then he could tell himself (again and again) that they weren't really people in the first place. Only monsters. Just monsters.

Tsuna didn't run anymore. Instead he crouches down and inspects the bodies, trying his best not to breathe in as he shifts through their pockets in hopes of finding anything useful. Watches, lighters, batteries, anything. It was an unspoken rule established long ago, to always carry at least one small item just in case they - they died, then at least they could still be of some use to anyone at all who found them.

A pocket knife and a pack of cigarettes. He was in luck. Maybe this time he could actually afford to buy himself some bullets.

"Thanks," he muttered softly, forcing himself to look at the zombie's disfigured face. Tsuna closed his eyes and let out a whimper. He hated it. He hated killing even if the only thing that he was killing was the walking rotting dead, because the thought still lingered in the back of his head; an incessant nagging with the voice of his mother telling him of how ashamed she was of what he has become. A heartless monster.

"What are you doing?" Tsuna's head shot up in surprise, only to see one of the boys from the camp. "Fuck, come on, get up, the alarm went off five minutes ago."

"Yeah," Tsuna rasped, as he was grabbed by the collar and manhandled into a standing position. "Sorry, just scavenging." He said, gesturing towards the dead bodies. The boy hid a small grimace behind his right hand, and one of his eye's shut close. "Sorry," Tsuna repeated.

"Gross," the boy muttered, and tugged on the hem of Tsuna's shirt. "Lets go."

The brunette nodded and they both broke off into a sprint. The teenager ran ahead, while Tsuna lagged further behind in case one of the zombies suddenly attacked from behind. Then at least he could buy off enough time for the boy to escape while he held the thing back. He had no qualms with sacrificing himself if it could save another person's life - especially if that person seemed genuinely kind. Those types were rare these days. Everyone either lived for themselves, or lived for others. For Tsuna, there was nothing holding him back, except for his burning desire to go back to... to...

They reached a fenced off area after a few minutes of running. Tsuna had not wandered off too far, knowing that despite the fact his endurance had almost quadrupled since his middle school days (back when things were still peaceful and everyone was still alive), he was still not the most athletic of persons. Two guards were stationed just behind the wired gates, armed with guns.

"Yo," the teenager in front of him greeted, panting slightly. He took out a plastic card, and Tsuna mimicked him, fishing out his own i.d. from the inside of his pants pocket. They were an easy way to discern who was who amongst a pile of dead bodies, and also who belonged to which community. They were especially useful to differentiate between actual residents and wanderers, most of whom could not be trusted. They belonged to the former group, the people who lived for themselves, who would sacrifice a five year old boy if it meant that they could buy themselves even one minute from a hoard of hungry zombies. Tsuna could understand why - sometimes it was that one minute that decided whether you ended up living to see tomorrow, or getting ripped into hundreds of little pieces.

Tsuna and the boy were allowed in without much trouble, and the two made their way towards the camp's center to get their names ticked off. There was a small line of haggard looking men and women, blood, dirt and grime covering their clothes. A young girl was manning the table. The boy who accompanied Tsuna seemed to recognize her.

"That's I-pin," the teenager said conversationally. He seemed almost proud to know the girl behind the table. Tsuna nodded. "I'm Lambo, by the way."

"Tsuna." They shook hands despite the fact they were both dirty and caked in blood. Lambo seemed happy enough to have made a new friend and Tsuna didn't mind in the slightest. "How old are you, Lambo?"

"I'm fifteen," the teenager answered, and Tsuna scowled, lips pulling into a thin line. They were getting younger and younger by the year. Tsuna supposed he shouldn't be so surprised - he was fifteen when he made his first kill, too. "I'm pretty amazing, aren't I? I'm the youngest in my squad. The best, too."

But despite Lambo's confidence and his grinning face, Tsuna was able to look past the forced smile to see the quivering lips and feel the trembling hands. "Don't push yourself too hard, all right?" The brunette said in a worried tone. "You have someone to live for, don't you?"

Lambo laughed nervously at that, and muttered a small, "yeah." Then he looked away, eyes flickering towards the girl behind the desk. All too soon there was only the two of them left in line.

"Oh. Welcome back, Lambo." The girl behind the table, I-pin, greeted, without looking up from the clipboard in her hands. She put a tick in the box next to Lambo's name. "And hello to you too."

Tsuna smiled kindly at her. "Tsunayoshi Sawada," he said, pointing a finger at the box next to his name. I-pin dutifully checked it off, before finally looking up.

"Welcome back, Sawada-san. Do you know if there's anyone left?"

The brunette shook his head mournfully. "I didn't see anyone else."

There was a sort of awkward silence where neither of the three of them knew what to say. "Oh," I-pin said, finally, breaking the silence. "I see."

"I'll wait with you just in case," Lambo offered. "You too, Tsuna! Make yourself useful!"

Despite the situation, Tsuna couldn't help but laugh quietly. "Yeah, all right." He relented with a shake of his head.

I-pin beamed at them. "Thank you."