Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, The beginning

Sparks of fire

Air rushed into Elizabeth's lungs causing her to jerk awake and begin coughing, dulling pain shot through her body as she sporadically moved to her knees. Dirt masked the left side of her face and her hair was askew, the explosion having knocked her back several feet. She looked at the ground around her and her eyes widen as her eyes came upon Mister Darcy's prone form. "Colonel Darcy!" she gasped out beginning to crawl her way over to him.

She came to his side and rolled him over, blood was splattered on the left side of his head as he lay unmoving. "Darcy... Darcy wake up." she said carefully patting his cheek trying to awaken him. He made no response making Elizabeth grab his sword as two unmentionables lurched towards her with pitchforks and garden hoes. Elizabeth shook her head trying to clear her vision as dark spots began to blanket it. The pitchfork was thrust at her stomach making her jump back and slash at the zombies side. The zombie growled swinging the pitchfork at the same time as the zombie with the hoe did.

Elizabeth waited for the last second before diving to the side, allowing for the two zombie weapons to find their targets in the opposite zombies. She reacted quickly and beheaded them before crouching back down beside Darcy "Mister Darcy if there was no better time for you to wake up and help me now would be the perfect time. I can't do this without you." she huffed before suddenly smacking him across the face hard.

Darcy's reaction was quite violent, he shot up and bumped heads with Elizabeth making the two groan in unison. "Yeeeowww, Miss Bennet?" Said Darcy quickly rubbing his head before looking around them in slight confusion. The battle raged on and both Colonel's jumped to their feet "No time to explain Mister Darcy, we must continue to fight." said Elizabeth holding his sword out to him before moving to retrieve her own.

Together the two fought fiercely in the battle unaware that the unmentionables were shocked at their sudden reappearance at the front of the battle. Elizabeth and Darcy covered each other, both realizing that they were having slight difficulty thanks to their injuries. Darcy couldn't put a lot of weight on his left ankle while Elizabeth herself was slower to react thanks to a slight concussion. Putting the two together made them unstoppable and all too soon they had beat down every unmentionable and reclaimed the post. Victory was theirs.

Wickham huffed from afar as he dragged the beheaded corpse of an unmentionable to the large bond fire several yards away. The plan to kill Elizabeth had been thwarted by Darcy, this particular interference had not been calculated by Wickham and now he was stewing over it. He always prided himself on being well informed, the fact that he didn't know that Darcy would so uncharacteristically come to the woman's aid made him glower in anger. The two colonels were becoming so close that they could often predict the others move before they made it, making them a dangerous duo to the unmentionables.

"We did it, the post has been taken back and the unmentionables eliminated in the area for now. I think we should declare this a great victory." stated Richard clapping Darcy on the shoulder and smiling to Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Darcy however were not rejoicing at their success "A victory yes, but I fear we have another problem. The unmentionables personally sought to kill Colonel Bennet and would've succeeded had I not intervened in time. They were too well coordinated for it to be something they tried by chance." said Darcy with a frown upon his face.

Elizabeth curtly nodded "I agree, we should be more careful with our plans of attack. Too few soldiers work well alongside us and those that do often get separated from us." she said.

Back in Meryton

"What do you mean Miss Elizabeth is not available!? We made this appointment with her a week ago!" Exclaimed Matthew Shultz angrily slamming his fist into the door post. Jane pursed her lips allowing her eyebrows to narrow before respectfully replying "Colonel Bennet was called to duty across Hingham Bridge, without her regiment the undead would've overrun this area already. I am sorry that my sister is not here to personally escort you to your destination. But if you can hold off for a day my sister Kitty and I can escort you there ourselves."

Matthew Shultz growled impatiently "This is absolutely ridiculous.... If Miss Elizabeth can not fulfill arrangements that she made then she shouldn't be making any in the first place. She is far to incompetent for such a position and the King must've lost his mind when he gave her such authority."he said making Jane's eyes darken. "I am sorry Mister Shultz but some things are out of our control. I am afraid we cannot be employed by you for a moment longer, here is the advance you gave Elizabeth. Take it and leave." she growled thrusting a small pouch of silver into his hands. The man sputtered in shock before back tracking "Wait, what about my escort? I have two carriages full of merchandise that I need for my store. I need your help." he said looking at her earnestly.

Kitty huffed from beside Jane and spoke up "You insult and scorn our sister after we try to make a mends by taking over the escort for her, now you expect our help just because some trinkets for your store are coming in? How foolish do you think we are sir? We willing risk our lives for a minuscule amount of pay on a daily basis just so we can help our little town. We are in NO way obligated to protect or guard you more than that of a wandering horse, in other words it is our choice whom we decide to protect. I am afraid you are not on the list." Mister Shultz openly gawked before he turned on his heel and stormed away, the townspeople who had been watching the display with curiosity burst into cheers. Both Bennet sisters looked at each other in confusion, Jane turned to her sister with a disapproving gaze.

"Kitty you must not be so rude-" she started only for Lady Lucas to interrupt "Don't scold her my dear, that man is anything but pleasant. It was nice to see him set down by someone as young as Catherine, maybe now he will think before he acts." Both Bennet sisters smiled before preparing to escort the Smith family to Hingham Bridge. "Lady Lucas, if you per chance come across our Aunt, could you tell her that we have an escort to Hingham Bridge and will return before supper?" asked Jane as she pulled on her brown gloves and passed Kitty her rifle. Lady Lucas smiled at her as she fluttered her fan "Of course Jane, I was just making my way to her. Your message will be given as soon as I arrive. I must go, do be careful.... We cannot afford to lose more Protectors of Hertfordshire."

That night
Elizabeth stood out looking upon the stars, her eyes casually scanning the perimeter as she was taught. The light autumn breeze brought forth strong fragrances from the meadow of wild flowers, the meadow was only half a mile away and was quite a beautiful site. Her shoulders sagged as she tried to bare the weight of so many , tomorrow she'd have to leave for London. The zombie's relentless siege of London was extremely distressing, her aunt and uncle Gardiner's dwindling safety coming to mind. "What troubles you?" asks Darcy coming to stand beside her with his hands clasped behind his back.

Elizabeth sighed rubbing the bridge of her nose in exhaustion "I must take the regiment to London to help prevent the ghastly dreadfuls from gaining a foothold from within that grand place. If we fail to contain the situation they will breach those great walls and pour forth like a dam, they could reach our homes in a matter of days if not prevented." she said her voice low and stressed. Darcy stared at her impassively "You do not bare this burden alone Miss Elizabeth, I will join you and perhaps together we can discover a way to keep the zombies from London." he replied a small hint of hope entering his tone making Elizabeth purse her lips "I do hope you are right, my aunt and uncle live in London with their two children. I would die if something were to happen to them, after what happened with Mary and Lydia I don't think I can see more people I love die to this horrible plague. I pray that we can be rid of these evil creatures one day soon, a day that I will live long enough to see."

-Authors note- Sorry! Didn't realize so much time had passed since the last time I updated. Please comment! I absolutely love hearing from you guys!