I was on K. D. Ownz profile, and I misread the sentences "I like R27. Wouldn't it be awesome to fight in a Zombie Apocalypse?" I read it as "I like R27, wouldn't it be awesome to see them in a Zombie Apocalypse" and thus….this was born.

I don't own KHR or the L4D zombies I am borrowing (though I am changing one or two things about them). This applies throughout.
Warnings: OOC! AU! Fem!27 Teen!Reborn. R/Fem! 27!
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Natsume ran.

She didn't have enough time.

She didn't have enough time.

She ran faster. She didn't even understand why she was running, she just knew she needed to gather her friends and get out of Namimori. She already had Yamamoto, Gokudera, Lambo, I-Pin, Fuuta and Bianchi waiting at the borders. She needed to get Ryohei, Kyoko, Haru, Shamal, Shoichi, Spanner, Hibari, Chrome, Mukuro Ken, and Chikusa.

She didn't have enough time.

Natsume cursed in her head. Her Hyper Intuition was screaming at her in a way it had never done before. She took a moment to be silently thankful that Mama was out of the country visiting her father and therefore was safe.

She muttered another curse and reached for the cell phone Reborn had insisted she keep on her person. She held the two down without pausing speed dialing Reborn. She was one of a handful of people who had a direct line to Reborn and she knew it. "Dame-"

Natsume didn't let him continue, interrupting him in a way she normally wouldn't contemplate even in her dreams, and snapped out "Reborn."

The tone in her voice had Reborn straightening instinctively recognizing it as the tone of a Boss and instinctively responding to the 17 year old woman he had chosen to follow. "Natsume?" his voice was all business as he answered her.

"Gather everyone. I don't care how you do it. I need everyone together and out of Namimori thirty minutes ago. We cannot be in the city in twenty minutes do you hear me? Get them out."

Reborn was running to obey the commands before he even registered his own movements. "Status?" he barked the question.

Natsume shook her head. "Something…I don't know what it is Reborn but my Intuition is screaming so loudly it actually hurts. We need to be out of Namimori in twenty minutes at the latest or we are going to be in serious trouble. I have Yamamoto, Gokudera, Lambo, I-Pin, Fuuta and Bianchi waiting at the borders but everyone else it still in town. Please. Reborn get them out."

Reborn did not like the pleading tone in his student's voice.

As if she needed to plead for him to follow her especially in this state. The girl had no idea what she had done to him without even trying. He'd storm Hell's Gates at her side and not even bat an eye. (Not that he'd tell her that mind.) "I'll get them Natsume."

"Twenty Minutes Reborn."

"Understood." His Boss had given him a command and a plea wrapped into one and Reborn had yet to fail at anything he did. He didn't plan to start now, especially since it had been Natsume to ask. He started making calls and directing people to the borders of Namimori closest to Natsume's house. Shamal, Shoichi and Spanner where easily directed out of the town.

Natsume sagged in relief even as she continued to run. With Reborn's help she just might have enough time. She dialed Mukuro next. "Young Vongola~ What do I owe the pleasure?"

"Mukuro," on the other end of the phone Mukuro tensed and straightened at her tone "Mukuro you need to take Chrome and the others and get out. Get out of the town. I don't know what's coming, but I know we need to get out, we cannot be here. We need to be gone in the next twenty minutes or we're going to be in serious trouble."

Mukuro had followed and given his loyalty to one person in his life and that person was Natsume Sawada. Natsume who had earned every scrap of his loyalty and regard one slow staggering step at a time. Mukuro may play with Natsume still, but she was his Sky who had fought to allow her Mist to roam freely under her light and Mukuro had learned to read the girl. He knew she meant what she was saying, could sense that he needed to obey this command, that this was different than any other command she had given. "I will go Natsume. Chrome, Chikusa, and Ken and with me, but M.M. is in Italy. I will take them with me."

"Thank you Mukuro. Hurry. We only have a little less than twenty minutes to get out of town."

She hung up without pause. Reborn would deal with Hibari, but she needed to get Ryohei, Kyoko and Haru out. She moved for the Cake shop first and found Kyoko and Haru sitting there together. "Kyoko!"

The girl turned at the sound of her name, her eyes widening with surprise as she focused on a very windblown, very upset Natsume. "Mei-chan?! Are you okay? What's wrong?" she stood and took a step forward towards Natsume.

"Kyoko, where's your brother?"

"Down the street Mei-chan. Why-?"

"I'm sorry Kyoko-chan, but I don't have time to explain. I need to get your brother and then we need to go. We're on a very strict time limit and I promise to tell you what I can afterwards but right now I need you to trust me. You too Haru."

The two girls closed their mouths and nodded slowly after looking at Natsume. Natsume was usually composed nowadays (as opposed to her younger chaotic years- after a while you learn to roll with the punches especially when Reborn is the one throwing the punch) and to see her looking so hassled and worried and anxious let them know that now was not the time to argue with her or ask questions.

Natsume nodded once and spun on her heel before running out the store and straight for her Sun Guardian.

After a short conversation with Ryohei she was back to the cake shop which Kyoko and Haru stood outside of. Without pause Natsume grabbed Haru and swung her up onto her back (Silently thanking Reborn for the hellish training he had put her through for the past few years) and ran for the rest of her group. Ryohei didn't pause as he swung his sister onto his back and followed after his little sister figure and boss.

O~O~O~O~

By the time Natsume arrived outside the town where her friends and chosen family were waiting for her she was staggering every couple of feet. She wasn't out of breath or anything- wasn't even tired- the reason she was staggering every few feet was due to her Hyper Intuition.

It hurt.

It was throbbing and stabbing at her and she wanted to scream, but she couldn't stop despite the pain. She only had ten minutes to get the others out of the town and underground.

She staggered up to the others, instantly putting them all on guard and causing them to worry. She commanded them. "Reborn. Lead the way. We need to be underground in the next ten minutes. Do not argue with me. Just move." Her hand flew to her head and clenched in toffee-caramel hair as her head throbbed again and she sucked in a sharp breath her vision sharpening as her Intuition forced her into a partial transformation of her Hyper Dying Will Mode. When she opened her eyes and bright swirling orange met the eyes of everyone around her no one argued. They turned to Reborn who nodded once and turned breaking out into a run silently thankful for his 18 year old self's long legs rather than his 2 year old self.

They made it with two minutes to spare. (Reborn didn't even wonder how Natsume had known about the underground base he had made a month before- he knew her Intuition had to have told her especially since it had been so powerful about it.)

Two minutes and five seconds after the group had made it underground Natsume staggered sideways as if she had been hit around the head with a bat and cried out her hands flying to her head.

She dropped like a stone.

Hibari had been closest and he snagged her before she hit the ground. He may have been annoyed about being bothered, but the moment he had seen the Omnivore he had known it was serious and bit back the demand for answers. Natsume Sawada had earned his regard. He had watched her grow from a pathetic herbivore to a carnivore with a soft heart- hence the label of omnivore. She had earned his respect, had offered him a place to call home without chaining him, had offered him stronger and stronger opponents to fight and he would not allow anyone to harm her while he drew breath. He held her upper body up with one hand grey eyes focused on her face as her eyes opened a sliver and Hibari drew in a sharp breath.

Her eyes were lit up like the sun brighter and more vivid then he had ever seen with her flame. He carefully lowered her down as the bomb-herbivore panicked while laying his jacket under their Sky's head.

Reborn's hands were glowing yellow as he reached for her next carefully searching for what could have hurt her.

Nothing was showing up even as Natsume arched off the floor and cried out again. Her eyes opened blindly and all the others- having gathered around her when Hibari moved to the door they entered through- all got to see what Hibari had glimpsed.

Natsume's eyes were lit up so brightly her face was actually covered in an orange glow. It was as if the room was pitch-black and someone had lit a fire inside her eyes they were so bright. Not one person breathed until she closed them again.

"Reborn? What is that? I've never heard of any Sky's eyes glowing that brightly."

Reborn stared down at his student. "I…don't know. I've never seen or heard of it either." He bent and carefully lifted her off the floor into his arms. "Come on. This is just the entrance room. There are tunnels that will lead to a large base we can use until Natsume is alright." Reborn lead the others forward through the tunnels and into the much larger base without a word placing Natsume down into a makeshift Infirmary that was already stocked with all the supplies Reborn could get into it in a month.

Shamal moved forward without prompting to see if he had better luck finding what had happened to Natsume as a Doctor.

He didn't.

They would have to wait for her to wake on her own.

O~O~O~

Natsume shot up with a gasp.

It had been horrible.

She had felt it.

She had felt as the lives of almost everyone above their hiding place snuffed out, as their bodies shifted and mutated and changed in death, as some mutated even more into walking nightmares and it had hurt. It had hurt to feel them all disappear and leave behind the twisted nightmares in their place that felt so very wrong. She moaned in horror.

Nothing would ever be the same again.

Not after this.

She couldn't feel them anymore, not like she had when their lives had been snuffed out but before the connection had broken she had felt maybe three or five survivors. She could sense the mess of…of things above their hiding place and she shuddered. They were in so much trouble.

She drew in another sharp breath as a thought registered in her mind. Something she had known subconsciously as she gathered her chosen family together to hide them from what was coming but hadn't realized until her Intuition had shoved it into the front of her mind that very moment.

They would not be able to leave the underground until they knew how to survive together.

She refused, she refused, to allow any of them to die before she had stopped breathing herself and even if she had to take drastic measures no one was leaving until they would and could work together to survive. She could sense it. Going outside as they were now was akin to suicide and she wouldn't lose anyone.

She lifted her head from where she had been cradling it. She was inside a makeshift Infirmary. Most of her Guardians were in various states of sleep around her. Kyoko had curled up with the children and Haru, while Bianchi was leaning against the wall near Gokudera. Mukuro and Hibari were missing along with Shoichi, Spanner, and Mukuro's group. Shamal was opening the door to the Infirmary and paused when he saw her watching him before moving forward and quickly checking her over. Reborn came in a few minutes after Shamal and upon seeing her awake he glided forward to the chair next to her bed and commanded "Explain."

Natsume grimaced. "I felt them all." She paused, reliving the moment she had felt so many people's life-forces flicker out like candles in the wind "They all died and I felt it and it hurt."

The two men straightened up. "Felt who die?"

Natsume turned her eyes to Reborn again "I felt the entire town. There's no one there anymore Reborn. They all died and they left their shells behind as twisted things. There are maybe three people left alive inside Namimori."

"What?"

Natsume's eyes darted to Shamal as he whispered the question. Natsume shook her head "I don't know what caused it, or how it actually happened, but something swept over the town and right now we are basically all that's left of Namimori. Everything out there is a mutated corpse. And whatever they are now they're dangerous. We can't leave here. Not until everyone can work together or we'll die. We're going to need each other or we won't make it out alive." She pulled sharply on her hair. "It's going to be the survival of the fittest out there and the only thing we are going to have out there is each other. It's war and death and destruction." She turned sharp eyes to Reborn. "You're going to have to whip everyone into shape. I know you can do it and we are going to need it."

Reborn stilled under her eyes, seeing the truth and resolve in them.

She meant what she was saying.

Outside was a warzone.

She needed him to whip the others into shape or they'd all die.

His eyes narrowed sharply.

He had not helped Natsume gather her Family together, had not watched them all bleed and fight together, had not watched as bonds formed and grew between them all so that they could all die.

He nodded at her, lifting his hat off his head and over his heart. "As you wish Decimo."

He would whip them all into shape for war.