S2, E12 | A New Sun

​Season 2 Finale
In silence, Lou and Ally glue their eyes to the porthole, watching the clouds slowly float through the sky, refusing to pay any attention on their final moments, rather enjoying the time they have left with each other. “Did your parents like me?” Lou asks, a dazed, confused, yet surprising aware Ally laughing at the question. “What?” Lou asks with a smile, “where we are now, this is probably as good a time as any!”

Resting her chin upon Lou’s shoulder, Ally gazes at the wall in silence, not wanting to answer the question at first, only to offer Lou a choice between the truth and a lie. Looking back at the woman, Lou considers his options, choosing truth and watching the woman’s chin begin digging into his neck. “Not really” Ally replies, unable to make it through the response without laughing, Lou responding with the same reaction.

“Really?” Lou asks, breaking his laughter for a moment to request clarification, Lou wanting her mother’s opinion first and foremost. “She thought you and I wouldn’t last longer than a few months” Ally replies, she and Lou unable to do anything other than laugh throughout the conversation, Ally explaining that her mother did try to be supportive.”What about your dad?” Lou proceeds further, Ally’s laughter ending with a mocking grin, veins in her neck protruding at the mention.

“He thought you were a bum” Ally replies, Lou’s enjoyment breaking into an uncontainable fit of laughter, wiping the tears from his eyes before admitting her father to have been correct. “I was going absolutely nowhere before all of this” Lou mutters aloud, looking Ally in the eyes, the woman unable to stop herself from laughing alongside the man. “You’re not a bum anymore, though” Ally replies, Lou losing his composure, laughter prevailing again amidst the confession.

“But you were my bum” Ally asserts, looking the man in the eyes, “and I loved you regardless… Just as I do now.” The metal bars between them falling to the same fate as their parents once did, Lou and Ally remain joined by the hip, unphased. Their noses pressed against each other through the one obstacle stood between them, their lips soon couple together as Lou caresses the woman’s cheek in his hand, the tear from her eye warm.

“You proved my parents wrong” Ally proclaims, the kiss having broken up as her eyes begin to cloud with tears. “Together until the end, as it was always meant to be” Lou replies, his hand taking hers in his own, their foreheads pressing together as they wait for the end to come, “we are the best part of each other.” With a smile, Ally shares a gaze into Lou’s eyes, holding her tears back as the smile becomes a permanent fixture of her expression.

“Never has anything been more true” Ally whimpers, her voice broken up from the emotions coming to the surface, the pair closing their eyes as any second can be their last. In a brief moment, the floor vibrates, the couple opening their eyes as they realize what is about to happen, pulling their heads away from the bars and keeping their hands interwoven together.

In a split second, the ground goes from vibrating to being shot up with what feels like an infinite amount of force, the impact of which propelling the pair a few inches from the ground, hands still locked together through it all. In almost the same moment as it had come to life, the floor suddenly dies down, the room becoming still once more as Lou and Ally finally return to the ground, their hands breaking apart upon contact, forcing them in opposite directions.

A few seconds passing, Lou and Ally stare around the room, awaiting another eruption similar to that they had just experienced, before their eyes finally return to each other. In an instant, Lou’s eyes depart from Ally’s almost as quickly as they had found their way back, his focus belonging to the bludgeoned locks of the cell door, now broken beyond repair, allowing the collection of metal bars to slowly glide outwards, releasing Ally from captivity.

His mouth agape, Lou pushes himself to his feet as Ally pulls herself back to her own, the woman stumbling out of the cell and into Lou’s embrace, their reunion coming with a newfound hope for survival. Holding the woman close, Lou begins to understand the nature of the events that had just unfolded, breaking the embrace suddenly to glance out of the porthole, a tear in the ship’s starboard flooding the lowest of compartments with sea water at an alarming rate.

“They actually fucking did it!” Lou exclaims to himself, eyes widened in shock for a moment before turning back to Ally, his hand taking her arm over his neck as he guides her from the all-too unattractive metal walls of the holding area.

= RISE and REVOLT is created by Zachary Serra, all rights to the series from Season 1 onwards belong to Zachary Serra and the entity of Pacer1 Media =

The ship quickly falling into irreparable damages, the residents of the Euronam begin escaping through any means they can afford. Some leaping off the ship and plummeting into the frosty waters below, others ripping hatches open to escape into the bowels of the ship, only to allow more access to the undead lurking within to the surface. “We ain’t gonna have long, guys!” Jules exclaims, cracking one of the undead over the skull with a table leg as the group marches on.

“Where are the lifeboats!?” Lee calls out, Terry pointing them to the opposite side of the ship. “I’m going after Theo!” Lee exclaims, apologizing to the rest of the group, but insisting he do what he feels is best. “You’re not guaranteed he lived!” Jenn exclaims, Jules doubling down on the woman’s statement, pointing out the massive demand for space on the boats.

“If he’s not dead by now, he will be by the time we get off this boat!” the man exclaims, taking Jenn by the arm and personally apologizing to the woman. “If it were Lou, you’d all be doing the same thing” Lee explains, Jenn’s eyes dropping as she accepts the truth behind the man’s statement, shaking his hands as he departs. Goodbyes forcibly quick, Lee splits away from the group, Jules directing the trio into one of the many previously opened hatches, their goal unclear.

“We find who we can!” Jenn exclaims, the orders being given out as the trio takes advantage of the electricity while they still have it, opening the skulls of the undead whenever confronted. Hand waving towards the other end of the ship, Jules directs the small band of survivors towards the center of the blast, the lights aligned along the walls all dying out shortly thereafter.

“Get that night vision kicked on quickly, guys!” Jules exclaims, ripping a door to the other end of the ship in, the struggle at first made understandable when a rush of water pools out from the other side. “Oh fuck, it’s going down fast!” Halston exclaims, choosing to be brave and diving into the murky waters, pushing her way through the flooded hall in an effort to reach those they fight for on the other side.

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“Everyone alright!?” Terry exclaims, his ears having been covered before the blast, though he still remains partially deafened from the sheer force to which the explosion presented. A thumbs up from the other end of the room, Terry knows of it to belong to Elsie, his eyes now dancing across the room as it begins to allow water to seep in, Josie still unaccounted for.

“Josie!” Terry and Elsie collectively call out, the woman finding a flashlight in the corner of the room to aid in their search, the carpet beneath their feet quickly moistening with every second. “On the ground!” Elsie shouts, her leg trapped beneath a bookcase, having found Josie from across the room, the woman spread out upon the ground, hand pressed against the back of her head, blood splattered across the wall she lays before.

“She’s hurt!” Elsie shouts, watching Terry race for the woman as she struggles to lift the shelf off herself, water flooding the room quicker with each attempt she makes. “Can you hear me, Josie?” the man asks, his voice making it into her ears despite lacking the strength to respond, instead moving her fingers as best as she can to indicate her remaining life.

“Her fingers are moving and I’ve got a pulse!” Terry shouts, throwing Josie’s arm over the back of his head and looking at Elsie, the woman remaining helpless beneath the shelf. “Are you good? Can you get out?” Terry calls, Elsie placing her hands against the shelf again to no avail, the little ground she can muster bringing a new rush of water into the room.

Placing Josie against a desk, Terry hurries over to Elsie, telling her to place her hands against the bookshelf and assist him in his efforts. Shaking her head, Elsie looks up at Terry, telling the man that the little feeling she has in her legs is that of pain. “My leg’s all fucked up, dude” elsie admits, Terry refusing to allow the woman to give up so easily, telling her to help him anyway.

“I’m not gonna make it, Terry!” Elsie shouts, her hair soaked and water droplets left lingering on her nose as the cracks in the busted wall poor in greater amounts of water. “I already left two people I care about behind because they wanted me to!” Terry shouts, the rushing waters increasing in volume, forcing him to yell, “I’m not about to let that happen to another!”

Taking it on his own, Terry drives his feet into the ground and drapes his hands over the corner of the shelf, using his entire lower body to force the shelf off the woman. The soppy ground splashing water over his face as the shelf crashes into the ground, Terry takes Elsie’s arm over his shoulder and returns to do the same for Josie, both women led by the man away from the outright dangers and into the foyer, their fight for survival only just getting started as the lights die out.

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With a broken pool cue, Lee fights off the undead as he hurries across the main deck of the ship, his eyes locked on the crowd of people pooling together along the bulkheads. “Stop pushing together, you’re only making yourselves bigger targets!” Lee exclaims, his orders directing the passengers to different areas being followed by the desperate survivors.

“The boats can only fit eighty people per person!” Lee exclaims, “spread out and board one after another, anyone at the back of the line, hold off the dead!” Finding a row, Lee takes a stand at the very back, turning away from the ship and eyeing down the horde, the survivors he called orders out to taking the man’s lead and doing as told, a line of defense allowing the boats to board as safely as possible in the moment.

The undead attacking one by one, Lee finds himself being aided by fellow survivors waiting to board, the more that fail to find an immediate spot turning back to help. With a small army, Lee calls out for a simple pattern to be followed, two steps forward to kill, two steps back and repeat. “Create distance and don’t give them anything to grab onto!” Lee shouts, continuing his efforts before turning his orders to the people in the boats.

“Whoever’s at the helm, aim for the coastline, move inland and take refuge in the first neighborhood you find!” Lee exclaims, continuing to put down the horde, which only grows the longer they fight. Finally finding his time to board, Lee takes his place on the ship, changing the course of action for those within his lifeboat. “We go back a few hundred yards!” Lee shouts, “we’ll meet back up with everyone at the neighborhood, I’ve got someone to find first!”

Having trusted the man to take them this far, those in control do as ordered, dignifying Lee as their captain for the moment while their ship lowers into the seas. With a deep breath, Lee looks around at the tens of new survivors he had never said a word to prior, now understanding the lack of familiar faces to be his new family as the bottom of their safety net finally touches the surface.

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Spilling into the kitchen, Jenn, Jules and Halston pull themselves up and quickly glance around the room for weapons, the section of the ship they find themselves inhabiting being the final with functioning electricity. “Knives, hammers, something sharp, something blunt!” Jenn exclaims, the group rummaging through the drawers and cabinets as the undead take notice of their presence, “anything that can kill one of these creepy dead bastards!”

Upon the conclusion of her statement, Jenn retrieves a meat mallet from one of the sinks, taking the spiked end against the skull of one of the undead, the final blow not having been dealt. Glancing back towards the woman, the undead marches forward for a second shot, the fatal blow coming at the blade of the kitchen knife in Halston’s hand.

One his lonesome across the room, Jules removes a bottle of wine from one of the coolers and shatters it over the skull of another undead, sticking the jagged end through its eye socket for the final shot. Ready to move, the trio marches through the exit, the restaurant grounds they emerge into filled with a swarm of the undead. “Time for the second plan!” Jenn shouts, leading the trio across the room and into a quartered-off door, allowing them to emerge into a flooded gambling hall.

“I’ll take water over the dead right now” Jules exclaims, the first to march forward, leading the trio towards the massive staircase before being grabbed from below. The bright lights flipping on for a split second, Jules spots the undead lurking beneath the surface and quickly stomps away at its skull, splitting its head open and allowing its brains to turn the water red. Reaching out, Jenn fails to take the man by the hands, Jules falling just out of reach into deeper waters.

Calling out for the man, Jenn watches Jules fall beneath the surface and fail to reemerge, turning towards Halston and telling her to get back to the surface. “I’m not going without you!” Halston exclaims, Jenn forcing her way through the water and leaping into the flooded pit, diving beneath the surface with her hand held out.

Extending her arm, Jenn reaches out for Jules, her hand splashing around beneath the surface for anything to grab onto. Finally catching her fingers on something, Jenn reaches further and takes what lays out of sight to the surface. Emerging from beneath the waters, Jenn pulls Jules to the surface, catching her breath as she looks on in confusion, still pulling what lays below to the surface as Jules fends off the undead a few feet in front of her.

Finally emerging, the undead Jenn accidentally led to the surface captures the woman in his view, pushing her back towards the former viewing platform as Halston calls out in desperation. Keeping the corpse as far from her as she can, Jenn keeps a part of her attention of the fight Jules keeps himself alive to pursue, the situation becoming dire as Halston calls out Jenn’s name once more.

“The waters aren’t safe!” Jenn shouts, “don’t come past the-!” As she attempts to beacon an order out to her girlfriend, her head is jolted back when the fight in her arms completely fades away. Suddenly, a rebar pipe flies through the skull of the corpse in her arms, its length long enough to split the skull on the reanimated body in Jules’ hands as well, two birds knocked out with one stone in nearly the most literal way plausible.

His hand held out, Lou pulls Jenn to the surface, Jules swimming over to what has now become the ledge before being pulled from the waters as well. “You beautiful son of a bitch!” Jules shouts, wrapping his arms around Lou the moment he finds him, expressing his joy that the man didn’t turn out to be dead after all. “There was a time there, y’know?” Lou humors, returning the gesture before suggesting both parties check themselves for bites.

“I’m clear” Jenn exclaims, Jules following with the same statement, again pulling Lou into a hug before promising to get him a prosthetic. “You won’t believe how well I’ve done without one” Lou proclaims, turning towards the pool to watch his rebar pipe submerge below, the collection of corpses taking their rightful places at the bottom of the pit. “I liked that pipe, such a shame” Lou mutters to himself, helping Ally stay on her feet and following the trio up the runny staircase.

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Finally able to put weight on her leg again, Elsie helps Terry assist Josie through the halls, cramped and dark leading to the light at the end of the tunnel, sunlight appearing through an open hatch just ahead. Ascending the tough climb, the pair finally break into the sunlight once more, the ship tilting to one side as the surface of the cold, unrelenting Pacific becomes visible from deck level.

Mostly quiet aside from a few castaways taking on the undead in some heroic final stand, the group races for the opposite end of the ship, avoiding the undead losing their balance and sliding down towards them. After a few minutes, the group reaches out onto whatever structure they can, the water finally reaching the other side of the boat, evening out the flooding and righting the ship, the sinking vessel quickly finding its gravesite to reside off the Pacific Canadian coast.

Calling for the group to hurry, Terry marches onward, Elsie volunteering to lead the way, her tomahawk readied to defend. The ship now balanced out once more, the undead flood out from the safety of their hatches quicker, covering the deck and tearing into any unsuspecting survivors they can come across. “We need to get her into the lifeboat right now!” Terry exclaims, noticing the sickly expression on the woman’s face as Elsie buries her bladed weapon into an undead face.

Pushing forward, Elsie picks off the undead as they appear, one bad leg unable to keep her from defending those that were there to defend her. Breaching the wall of undead cutting them off, the trio hurry to the very end of the ship, tossing Josie into the boat and standing ready to defend it. “Are you ready?” Terry asks, his knife paired with Elsie’s tomahawk as the woman glances at him. “Were you not just watching?” Elsie asks with a smile, standing to fight by Terry’s side.

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Continuing to push, the final set of lights go out in the vessel, engulfing the final hallway towards the surface in an endless sea of pitch black. Forcing their way through waist-high waters, the group suddenly comes to a complete stop, the sound of metal buckling beneath its weight suggesting the ship to be within its final minutes of life. “It’s either now or never” Lou exclaims, continuing to march forward, the sight of daylight only impeded by another wave of the undead.

With a sigh, Lou looks around for something to fight with, his pipe submerging beneath the frosty Pacific waters ensuring he’s left defenseless and out-armed. Calling out the man’s name, Jules tosses Lou a steel frying pan, explaining his desire to use it as a shield, but understanding it to be of better use in Lou’s hands as a weapon.

“Thank you for the assist, my friend!” Lou exclaims, Ally’s arm draped over his own as the pan rests beside his head, ready to ward off anything thinking this fight will be easy. When the undead make their move, the group makes theirs, establishing a line of defense for Lou to take cover behind, trusting the man to be able to put away their remnants.

In defiance, the group continues to fight, marching forward in the name of survival as the undead pool out of their rooms, one after another spilling into the rising water-leveled hallway. Not doing enough on the first shot, Jenn lets one of the undead pass through, Lou taking two shots at it wit the frying pan to fair effect. Leaping off the ground, Lou floats to the surface and places his boot over the corpse’s head, forcing it beneath the surface and popping its skull like a pimple.

Another undead passing through with half of its skull caved in, Lou prepares another shot, Ally tripping over the body of the undead prior and falling from the safety of her boyfriend. Glancing back in an effort to catch her before it’s too late, Lou takes his eyes off the undead, hitting it in the face as it lunges its jaw towards him, only to be pressed against the wall for his efforts, hand across the corpse’s throat as the pan floats off from his reach.

“How’s it going back there?” Jules calls out, his eyes aimed forward, leaving him clueless to the events unfolding behind him. “Definitely not great!” Lou calls back, trying to shove the undead in such a direction that would afford him leverage to no avail, his body remaining pressed against the wall with no room for error. Grunting as his strength depletes, Lou watches the jaw of the undead inch closer, his head pressing as far back against the wall as he can manage with little hope afforded.

Teeth clenched, Lou tilts his head to the side as the undead closes the gap, its teeth inches away from his earlobe until its skull quickly zips out of view with a thud. Cracked across the head with the frying pan, the undead staggers to its feet with its eyes on Ally, wielding Lou’s weapon and reigning down a fatal blow, the side of the pan splitting through the top of the corpse’s skull, the woman finally present enough to hold her own.

With a nod, Ally kisses her boyfriend and returns his weapon to him, the pair finally catching up to the group just ahead, the light at the end growing nearer with each undead kill. The final dash to the light ensuing, the group spills out onto the main deck, their fight with the undead still not over as the same remains true for their battle against time, the metal screaming in pain as if to warn those still aboard that the moment is just around the corner.

Dashing through the undead, the group marches on their final push, Ally tearing the American flag from the pole it once rested upon, turning the decoration into a makeshift spear. All armed, the group makes the push through the undead, clearing a path that brings them towards the captain’s nest, their sighting bringing a moment of honest relief from Elsie and Terry, who reconvene with the group in the most crucial of times.

Filling the boat, the group packs into the vessel one after another, their weapons held safely by their sides as the boat slowly fills, the horde still a fair distance away from them. “Where to?” Jenn asks, Lou pointing towards a visible clearance in the Vancouver skyline. “If we can get there, we’ll be able to get our hands on whatever the scavengers didn’t pick” Lou proclaims, assisting Ally into the boat before taking the first step in himself.

Hand pressing the button to lower the ship into the water, Lou pulls his fingers away to ultimately feel them never leave, his eyes glancing up to figure out why before widening in shock. In the same moment he presses the button, Lou’s hand remains shoved against it, his arm ripped back aboard the ship as the boat lowers without him, his group calling out his name as he vanishes over the edge.

Staring up in confusion, those deboarding the ship look on at the platform they just departed from, Lou having vanished over the edge, not to return. When the sun from above is cut off by the figure to which is responsible, the group comes to the same conclusion as the man himself, Jenn specifically dropping her jaw as what stands above in triumph smiles down at her, walking away from the platform with its presence known.

“You never answered ny question, Lou” the figure explains, turning away from the ledge to stare the one-armed man in the eyes, “I try to make you a star, and you leave me for dead.” Covered from head to toe in the blood and muck of the undead, Matt stands between Lou and the platform for which he has lost out on the final safe ticket off the ship through.

“You’re not all there mentally to be trusted in a world like this, Matt” Lou replies, the man staring him down removing a gun from his waistband, trapping him between himself and a wall of the undead. “I’m perfectly there mentally, Lou” Matt replies, Lou silently shaking his head as he backs away from Matt, the distance between himself and the undead closing in.

“I tried to make you a king in this world and you completely abandoned me!” Matt exclaims, the barrel of his gun held at Lou’s head while the ship slowly loses its last remaining fight, slowly sinking into the Pacific within its final moments. Nowhere safe other than higher up, Lou eyes the crows nest above, slowly walking onto the steps that lead him to the top as Matt follows after him.

“If there’s anyone that isn’t mentally stable enough for this world, it’s people like you” Matt exclaims, “people that can’t see how this world has changed, unwilling to do what it takes to survive.” His head shaking, Lou points his finger towards Matt, the man turning around to fire a bullet at the undead, presenting the facts to Lou that the man he left in the pit has all the chance to blow his head off without question.

“Brunskill didn’t want this, that’s why he sunk the ship” Lou explains, Matt cutting the man off before he can lie any further. “Brunskill only found out because your girlfriend wouldn’t stop yapping about you!” Matt explains, “and none of this would have happened had you trusted me!” Ascending the stairs, Lou finally reaches the highest point, walking to the opposite end as Matt hits the final step, the pair both sharing the crows nest, only the spire towering into the sky between them.

“That’s still not a good enough answer, Lou” Matt exclaims, “all of this happened because of you, now just tell me why you let all of this happen!” Hand held, Lou pushes himself up against the crows nest, a plummet into the ever-closer ocean an easy leap from his current place. “It would never have worked, Matt!” Lou replies, his hands held out as a sign of surrender, Matt looking on, devastated.

“I told you it would work” Matt replies, his hand shaking as the gun wavers in the air, Lou’s fate resting in the balance of an insane gunman as the ship sinks into the sea. “I told you that you could trust me, that you could believe in me!” Matt exclaims, Lou’s eyes staring at the ocean as it inches closer, the deck of the ship plummeting into the cold waters, “you didn’t believe in me.”

His eyes falling, Matt’s disappointment takes over, Lou watching on at the man’s face, his expression changing in real time. The sadness suddenly turning into rage, Matt takes his eyes away from the platform and returns them to Lou, his hand calming and the gun steadying. “You didn’t believe in me…” Matt exclaims, finger moving itself from the grip of the gun to the trigger, Lou noticing the change and taking his chance.

Pressing his hand against the spire, Lou shoves the metal tube down, prompting Matt to duck out of the way of the falling object, buying the man his moment. Leaping onto the bannister, Lou propels himself through the air, plummeting through the skies as Matt watches on from above, the platform he stands upon quickly sinking into the frosty, Canadian-coastal waters. With a deep breath, Lou closes his eyes and braces, breaking through the surface and disappearing beneath the waves.

From above, Matt tucks his firearm into his waistband and leans over the railing, the mob of the undead beneath him still awaiting his return, Matt watching the surface come closer with a scowl. “You’re going to believe, Lou” Matt mutters to himself, watching the bulkhead, deck and horde vanish beneath the waves before taking in a breath, the crowsnest vanishing beneath the waves further and further before the platform meets the same fate, Matt nonchalantly entering the icy waters.

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Breathing into the hand he holds in front of his face, Lou rests on the Canadian beach beneath a fading skylight, the sands void of life, either living or dead. Dropping from his side to his back, Lou stares off at the darkening skies above, the only sound he’s left to endure being the waves crashing upon the coastline. Glancing out at sea, Lou stares at the absence of the ship from the waters, few pieces of debris left behind, floating where boats once did.

Pushing himself to his knees, Lou stares around at his surroundings, a lack of life in total awaiting for him in that very moment. Unfamiliar with such a sight, Lou forces himself to his feet and takes another look around, an empty beach feeling the early effects of the start of a high tide. Completely alone, Lou is left in isolation, only the wet sands to greet him, scattered debris lining the end of the sand and the start of the sea.

Stumbling through the sand, Lou finds a grassy hill to climb up, his fingers digging into the dirt as he forces his way above. Rolling onto his knees, Lou pushes himself to his feet once more, looking around at the sights that await him on the other end. No living, no dead, no undead, just a set of empty streets, a roadside of shacks and storefronts set before a larger, more metropolitan landscape of towering skyscrapers and abandoned city life.

Vehicles lining the streets, Lou navigates the surroundings of tables and chairs thrown about, the sights of a city up and vacated practically in the middle of the night left to be found. Holding his ribs, Lou continues walking forward, his feet finally touching down on the asphalt of relatively freshly-paved roads, its one pathway leading into a city left for Lou to explore.

Formerly unaware of the outcome the general public was left to once everything fell apart, Lou sees it all in one swift moment, everything hitting him all at once. The sights he once knew left desolate, completely and totally deserted, empty to the most unusual degree. His eyes wandering through the scenery, Lou brushes off the welcoming sign stationed at the street corner, more interested in figuring out where to go from here than the flimsy welcome.

Now in completely foreign territory in the most literal of ways,, Lou mockingly thanks the sign for welcoming him to Vancouver Island, his new home now seemingly presenting itself as the forefront of Canada’s western-most coast. Completely empty, the daylight continues dying out on the eventful day, leaving Lou to walk aimlessly through the Vancouver Island streets beneath the warm, orange glow of the sunset sky, forced to search for his identity once more.

== RISE and REVOLT ==