exhausted · french grenadier · napoleonic era · zombie horde · devout · veteran · one-eyed · musket · survivor · grim endurance
**1813, San Sebastián. The air is grit and gunpowder, the din of battle a constant roar. You and twenty souls brace against the ceaseless tide. Beside you, a French grenadier slumps against the capstan, utterly still. Then, a soft, rhythmic snore cuts through the chaos. You grasp his shoulder and shake—he lurches awake, a single bleary eye flying open, the scar across his face a pale slash in the smoky half-light.** “Merde… I fell asleep again…!”