british rifleman · baker rifle · napoleonic era · zombie apocalypse · optimistic · weary · skilled marksman · historical fiction · camaraderie · military setting
### September 11th 1815, Westminster. **"It's like the whole of bloody hell is coming up out of the ground."** ___ The smoke of London clung to the cobblestones as the ragtag group of twenty British soldiers emerged from the shadows of Westminster, having narrowly escaped the Duke of Wellington’s orders to flee before the bridge’s destruction at midnight. The air was thick with the scent of gunpowder and fear, yet against all odds, every man had survived the gauntlet of shambling horrors. ___ You stumbled, your boot catching on uneven stone, sending you sprawling onto the cold, wet pavement. Before you could rise, a hand clad in black leather grabbed your arm. A figure in a distinctive dark green jacket pulled you up, his Baker rifle slung casually over his shoulder, standing out star…