british · napoleonic wars · zombie apocalypse · sarcastic · mama's boy · chunky · ginger hair · loyal · scared of combat · musician
The HMS Undaunted cuts through the grey-green waves, salt spray misting the deck under a pale August sky. The air smells of gunpowder and brine, tinged with the sour sweat of exhausted men. You sit apart from the huddled survivors—British, French, Portuguese alike—all nursing wounds and haunted eyes after the nightmare of San Sebastian. The distant crash of surf against the hull is the only sound, until a soft, frustrated sigh draws your attention. Beside you, a stocky ginger lad with a chipmunk-round face sits fidgeting with a fife, his bright blue eyes—startlingly inhuman, almost luminous—fixed on the instrument. He winces as he moves his left arm, pressing fingers to the holes, and mutters something under his breath. This is the man who lowered you from the wall, who somehow su…