S2, E9 | I'm the Captain

Holding conversation with his fellow bettors, Matt is torn from his discussion at the sound of the Brunskill turning down his end of the hallway and calling out his name. Apologizing for the interruption, Matt turns around to greet Brunskill, long coat flowing with his body as Brunskill pulls him into one of the many vacant rooms. “You can call shots on this boat but don’t you dare pull me to the side like I’m some toddler” Matt warns, Brunskill disgusted at the importance of the man’s image.

“Do you understand what just happened in there?” Brunskill asks, waving off Matt’s concerns as the man brushes it off as a run of the mill incident. “Run of the mill? How often does this happen?” Brunskill asks, momentarily calmed by the assurance that this was the first time, but returning to a state of panic and fear. “How could you even let something like that happen?” Brunskill inquires, Matt passing it off as the woman having gotten past the restricted areas. 

“I’ve got her group of criminals all locked up, so I wouldn’t expect her to be anything less than them” Matt explains, only leaving Brunskill confused further. “You locked up their group?” Brunskill questions, Matt explaining that it was necessary after they confessed. “We found two bodies in the inventory room, overheard their confession through the mics” Matt explains, Brunskill left to request a further explanation for what he means when he says ‘mics’.

“The bugs we put in their rooms” Matt replies, Brunskill’s hand rubbing his forehead as Matt reminds him that they needed to keep a close eye on them. “They boarded under mysterious circumstances, I’m almost positive they had something to do with the bodies in the water now!” Matt continues, the captain of the ship needing to take a seat with the ease in which his legs grow unsteady.

“You’ve been spying on them since they got here and just locked them up for murder?” Brunskill questions, Matt nodding his head in compliance as if nothing about that sounded out of touch with reality. In a rage, Brunskill takes a tight grip over a seat beside him and hurls it across the room, leaping to his feet and staring down upon Matt, the seven inch height advantage he holds enough to cast a small shadow over Matt’s face.

“Let me make this easier for you to understand, Matthew” Brunskill explains, continuing to speak in order to brush off Matt’s request that he not use such a version of his own name. “There is one captain on this ship, and that captain is me” Brunskill explains, “so if I give you an order, you are expected to either fulfill that request or deboard the ship.”

Taking notice of the conversation finally turning down a lane he cares about, Matt’s face rubs the lack of cern away, replacing it with an angry scowl. “Don’t kid yourself, Captain… You’re only the captain in name…. These people listen to me” Matt replies, Brunskill left surprised at the disobedience, “I’m in charge of this ship, you just drive it… And if I wanted you gone, I’d see that outcome to in thee snap of a finger.”

Pushing the man back, Matt creates separation between the two, ordering Brunskill to either return to his familiar quarters or continue pressing his luck with the man. “One way or another, things will not end well for you…” Matt continues, stepping back for the door and concluding as he steps through it, “do yourself a favor and don’t push my buttons.”

In a rage, Brunskill remains seated there while Matt disappears into the bowels of the ship, anger consuming his every action before his body has had enough. Throwing himself out of the room, Brunskill ventures down the hall and into the wider corridors of the boat, taking the stairs deeper into the boat before finally stumbling upon the lowest point, a cramped corridor meant for operation when the ship was formerly run off coal.

Hand pressed against the latch, Brunskill pushes the heavy, metal door in and finds a sight completely unexpected. In the abandoned wing, hundreds upon hundreds of the undead stagger around aimlessly, hoping for food to present itself, and finally having such hopes answered. Noticing this change in events, the undead latch onto Brunskill’s presence marching towards the man until he exits the way he entered, disappearing as quickly as he appeared.

Back pressed against the door, Brunskill listens to the army of the dead pound their hands against the single thing between them and a meal, sounds of faint drumming behind him. Catching his breath, Brunskill takes the chance to return the way he came, hurrying for the higher end of the ship, stumbling into different directions before finally seeing something familiar.

Now aware of where he stands, Brunskill’s path becomes targeted, every turn and shift he makes leading him to one specific direction. After another few minutes of wandering, Brunskill pushes himself through the door separating himself from the holding area. “Captain?” Ally calls out, her head still bleeding whilst the remainder of her group sits hopelessly in the cell next to hers.

Looking around the room, Brunskill’s eyes eventually lock upon a set of keys left in the middle of one of the unoccupied cells. Without thinking, the man walks over to the tiny beacons of hope until the sensation of two pairs of hands shoving him down accompanies a collision with unforgiving steel. Injured and laid out upon the ground, Brunskill watches Matt’s hands reach for the keys and remove them from their place, having served well as bait.

“I told you not to push my buttons, Cap” Matt exclaims, Drew locking the cell doors behind the captain and locking them shut. “You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?” Matt proceeds to ask, the man’s shoulder in tatters, however, not enough to keep him from pressing himself against the bars, clutching them in his hands and telling Matt that nothing he’s doing is right.

“I don’t care if it’s not right, get that through your head!” Matt replies, “this is an opportunity just like everything else in the world!” Disappointed, Brunskill drops his head, Matt reminding him that he gave him plenty of warnings. “I told you to stay in your deck, I told you to stay out of my business, and I told you to know your role here” matt explains, “three chances, three failures to comply.”

Extending his hand out, Matt is given the keys by Drew, taking them to the porthole across the room from the prisoners and tossing them through the opening. “You don’t get freedom, you wasted it while you had it” Matt explains, “now you’ll sit there and die so you don’t cause me any more problems.” Wiping his nose, Matt leads Drew out of holding, slamming the door shut behind them and allowing the cool breeze of the cold sea water to flutter in through the opening.

“Well what the fuck are we going to do now?” Terry exclaims, his question the same as the one on everyone else’s mind. “What do you mean?” Brunskill asks, the group silent, everyone looking in the man’s direction as he states the obvious. “We find another way to get free” Brunskill explains, laughing when Jules asks how that’s going to happen.

Reaching into his mouth, Brunskill glides his pointer finger over his teeth and continues laughing, muttering “this is gonna suck” under his breath.

= 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 =

Shattering the glass it was thrown through, a folding chair collides with the ground before sliding an extra few feet atop an army of glass bits. Like animals escaping their enclosure at a local zoo, Elsie and Josie make a break for their newfound freedom and rush into the bowels of the vessel. Descending staircases and throwing themselves into different corridors, the pair continue their journey, refusing to slow down until their attention is taken by something worthy of it.

“Down here!” Elsie says, suddenly tugging Josie by the arm, ripping her through a vast maze of rooms before finally settling upon the one. Like a bat out of hell, Elsie pries open the door keeping them from the inside, nearly ripping it off the hinges as the pair dive into sanctuary. Sealing the only entrance or exit, the pair catch their breath and survey the new area they’ve discovered, what is mostly a room tossed aside with little purpose now being called home for the moment.

Not one to be settled with the blank space, Josie looks for more, quickly uncovering an entire side of the room littered with boxes of discarded valuables. “Is this a lost and found?” Elsie asks aloud, her friend sifting through the boxes in search of something worth taking. “Whatever it is, they’re here and we’re taking them if we need to” the woman replies, removing a tomahawk felt case from the bottom of one box and tossing it to Elsie.

Fixated on leaving no stone unturned, Josie tosses anything possibly of use to the side whilst Elsie undoes the mechanisms keeping the felt top shut. With a gentle graze of her finger, Elsie reveals the box’s contents, a tomahawk in pristine condition left waiting for her touch. “New toy?” the woman asks, still seated at the boxes like a child beside a tree, opening her presents on Christmas morning.

“Sure” Elsie replies, removing the weapon from its place and waving it in her hand for a brief moment, the weight in her hand quickly becoming familiar, as if it were meant to be. Continuing to shuffle, the pair look through their abundance of makeshift goodie bags until Elsie’s eyes attach to the porthole at the back of the room. Confused, the woman leaves the boxes behind and approaches the view, calling out Josie for confirmation.

“Aren’t we on the eastern side of the ship?” Elsie asks, Josie taking the signs along the walls as proof that they at least should be. “Does it matter which side we’re on?” Josie inquires, asking as a joke and turning back to the boxes until Elsie replies in agreement, prompting her head to turn back towards the woman. “Why does it matter?” Josie asks, standing up and joining the woman beside the window.

“Because the eastern side should be facing the coastline right about now” Elsie replies, Josie gazing out into the sea of endless blue sea. “What are you talking about?” Josie asks, getting worried that Elsie’s train of thought is taking her to the station she worries about. “What I’m saying is that we should be seeing the coast right now!” Elsie replies, her hands pointing towards the vast ocean before the glass, “where the fuck is the coast?”

Jaw dropped, Elsie can’t help but look out at the lack of life anywhere to be seen, she and Josie staring out at the fearsome sight as the realization that something has gone wrong begins to dawn upon them.

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“What are you talking about!?” Lou shouts, Jenn apologizing for even considering cleaning up Theo’s mess. “Shit happened, that’s all that can be said!” Jenn replies, Lou left placing his head in his hands as he reminds Jenn that her statement is far from all possibly to say. “Going down there for any reason would’ve put suspicion on everyone” Lou explains, knocking at the door cutting his response short.

Opening the entry to his room, Lou’s aggravation turns into rage, his hand reaching through the opening and ripping Matt into the room. Exactly where he wants the man, Lou slams his door shut and locks it, marching back into his room and pulling Matt to his feet. With little concern over whatever effects could be brought by this, Lou shoves the man onto the terrace and holds him over the bannister, begging the man to give him any reason to let him fall overboard.

“You might be wanting to wish for the opposite right now” Matt replies, “if you needed a reason not to let me fall overboard, how about I just say ‘Ally’ as one?” Anger devolving into rage, Lou tells Matt to be more specific with his words. “Fine, kill me… She dies!” Matt replies, “let me live, I can get her out for you!” His words not holding fear, Matt sounds eager to fight, enthusiasm in his voice as he pleads for his life, his offerings ultimately sparing him from a certain demise.

“What the fuck did you do to her?” Lou asks, slapping the man across the face as he stands to his feet, forcing him back against the wall almost instantly. “I have done absolutely nothing to her!” Matt replies, his back pressed against the wall with the collar of his shirt firmly in Lou’s grasp. “However, I did have her and your friends locked up on murder charges if that’s what you’re asking” Matt replies, Lou instinctively punching the man in the face as a coping mechanism.

Not done, Lou shoves the man back against the wall, demanding Matt get to the point. “You showed up at my door for a reason, so out with it!” Lou shouts, Matt insisting he be released from Lou’s hand if he wants an answer to his questions. Reluctantly, Lou obliges, throwing Matt towards the patio and standing between the man and the room’s only safe exit. 

“Every room other than this one has been bugged since you came aboard” Matt replies, “I got Theo’s confession on tape… In full.” Enraged, Jenn keeps herself from blowing up by shutting her eyes and hanging her head. “I brought Lee to the pit to figure out whether or not some of the people behind bars could be of better use alive rather than dead” Matt explains, “that tape has enough for me to sentence everyone not in this room to death.”

“You’d need Brunskill’s blessing for that, wouldn’t you?” Lee proceeds, earning a chuckle out of Matt, who explains that he’s the captain now as far as he’s concerned. “What did you do to the captain?” Lou inquires, Matt holding his hands up, admitting that he has not killed him. “Though, he is making friends with the rest of your group in holding” Matt replies, “and if you wanna get your friends out, we’re gonna have to come to an understanding.”

Eyes squinting, Lou approaches Matt, getting close to his face and asking the man what understanding the ships’ new captain has planned. “I run this ship, what I say goes” Matt replies, “I spare everyone other than Theo, the rest serve as my muscle… You included.” Crossing his arms, Lee refuses the deal on Lou’s behalf, telling the man that he won’t allow Theo to remain locked up.

“He’s guilty of two murders, he’ll be executed” Matt replies, “but I’ll make sure he wont have to suffer.” Waging expletives, Lee continues to refuse the deal, Matt left to remind him that it isn’t his deal to agree to. Turning away from Lee, Matt looks towards Lou, who stares him down with fire in his eyes, asking him what the choice is going to be. Swallowing the spit in his mouth, Lou glances towards Lee and tilts his head, apologetically glancing back at Matt.

“Deal” Lou replies, Matt overcome with joy while Jenn and Lee look at the man they trusted to lead them on this ship agree to a deal with the devil. “I knew I saw something in you” Matt replies, holding his hand out and shaking that of Lou’s, walking by the man and leaving the room. “You son of a bitch” Lee exclaims, storming past the man and slamming the door shut on the way out.

“Why would you do that?” Jenn asks, standing from her seat and looking Lou in the eyes, the one-armed man unable to meet her gaze, disappointed within himself. “Look me in the eyes, Lou” Jenn exclaims, the man slowly glancing in her direction as she repeats the question. “Spare the one to save the many” Lou replies, shedding a single tear and looking back towards the view of the patio, “that’s how it has to be now.”

Shaking her head, Jenn opens her mouth to speak before falling short of the right words, instead brushing past the man and leaving the space. Allowing the door to shut on her way out, Jenn leaves Lou on his own in the room, the man stepping onto the terrace and gazing out into the ocean. With a deep breath, Lou glances back towards the structures on the boat, the captain’s deck being the first thing to catch his eye.

From his pocket, Lou retrieves a compass, looking back out onto the water and nodding when the sights match up with his compass’ suggestion. Closing the top, Lou returns the indicator to his pocket, his eyes traveling from the sea to the captain’s quarters once again. With a smirk, Lou walks away from his patio, taking his rebar pipe and leaving his room, allowing the door to slowly slide to a close behind him.

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“Ready?” Halston asks, Brunskill nodding in place of his voice, a string dangling from his open mouth as a bloody hammer rests in his hand. With a shout, Halston yanks on the rope, freeing a brass incisor filling from the man’s mouth, watching it dance across the floor and into Ally’s hand. With disgust, Ally takes the tooth and hands it to Terry, asking around for anything resembling the end of a hammer.

“I have a rock if that helps” Jules replies, a visibly enthusiastic Terry dancing where he sits. “That’ll do the trick” Terry replies, taking the stone and wailing against the filling, flattening it to a point. Carefully, terry holds the flattened filling in the air, blood still dripping from the sides, running down the length of his fingers. Before anything can be done, Matt bursts through the door making it understood what is about to happen.

“Your friend here is gonna fix the mess he made before he got himself into trouble” Matt explains, unlocking Brunskill’s cell as he goes into further detail. “When he’s done with his work, he will be discarded of” Matt explains, “and once that has been concluded, I’ll have someone come back here to deal with the rest of you.”

Pulling the large maan to his feet, Matt meets minimal resistance, Ally asking if she can see Lou for good measure, leaving the man overseeing their fates to laugh. “However long it’s been and you still haven’t learned” Matt jokes to himself, shaking his head in disappointment as he leads the captain away from his new friends. The moment the door closes, the group sits in silence, waiting a further few seconds before making it known that they have little time to waste.

“Do what you can, leave me if you have to” Ally explains, Terry assuring the woman that he will not do such a thing. “Jenn, Lee and Elsie are all still out there” Ally explains, “if Lou hasn’t shown up yet, he probably won’t… Save the people you actually can.” In refusal, Jules tells Ally to stop thinking of the worst case scenario, Terry pleading with the woman to shut her mouth if she can’t speak out of hope.

“We have a lifeline out of a death sentence, stop thinking of reasons to squander it” Terry explains Ally refusing to allow retaining her life to take more importance to the assurance of the group’s safety. “If shit hits the fan, you go… That’s final” Ally replies, telling anyone that disagrees to stop talking if they’re just going to make another failed attempt to sway her decision.

As instructed, the group quiets down, all eyes focusing on Terry as he fits the filler into the key slot, their hope resting on a last ditch effort working against a time crunch.

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Looking around the decks, Jenn comes off paranoid and unwelcoming, her worried stumble pushing her into the lap of one of the ship’s guards. “Sorry” Jenn exclaims, brushing Chris’ hands away from her once he becomes slightly too touchy. “Watch where you touch, dude” Jenn mutters, the guard telling the woman that she should be more grateful to the guards.

“They could’ve killed you in those halls last night, but they let you live” the guard explains, “and even now we should have your head on a pike… You can thank Matt for that.” Brushing the encounter off, Jenn attempts to walk away, only to be pulled back by the arm, Chris suggesting the woman thank him for his hospitality.

With a smile, the woman turns and and presses her finger to Chris’ chest, with a smile on his face, the man back up against the railing while Jenn pulls the key from his waistband. “You can’t do th-” Chris begins, his words stunted when Jenn drives a fork into the side of his neck, aiming his head over the edge before tossing his body over to avoid any further blood stains.

Looking around, Jenn deems the area clear enough for there to be no witnesses to take care of, moving back the way she came and meeting back with Lee. “I’m glad to see you still have your schemes about you” Jenn exclaims, a smiling Lou taking the key out of sights of the cameras. “Did you really think I’d let one of our own bite it without a fight?” Lou jokes, heading in the opposite direction of the pair, his eyes set on the captain’s quarters at the end of the ship.

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Lonnie slamming the door shut behind them, Matt leads Brunskill into the captain’s chair, welcoming him to have a seat and fix the course. “Do well and I’ll make sure your death is painless” Matt exclaims, Brunskill stumbling into his seat, requesting a course to guide the ship towards. “Take it to Vancouver” Matt replies, the Canadian west serving as his preferred destination.

“It’ll take almost a day before you see that coastline come into view” brunskill replies, Matt leaving the man to consider the actions that led him to his death sentence to pass the time. His head hung, Brunskill gives into the demands, telling Matt that he’ll find payback coming for him for what he chooses to do today. “I don’t care about some ay, I care about today” Matt replies, “and today, I want this ship in Canada.”

With a sigh, Brunskill does as instructed, grunting through the pain each time he has to move his bad shoulder in any direction. After a few seconds of standing over the man’s shoulder, Matt turns around at the sound of the door being pushed in, Lou bursting inside exclaiming that there’s been a problem in the pit. “I left my tape in the locker room and heard the fence buckling while I was down there” Lou exclaims, “if we don’t act now, that thing’s gonna fall and this place will be swarmed.”

With little more than a grunt to respond with, Matt tells Lou to look for another set of guards that are less busy than he is. “I can’t find any of the other guards” Lou replies, “either you or Lonnie… One of you needs to come with me A.S.A.P.”

With another grunt, Matt glances back at Brunskill as he reaches through the pain in his shoulder for further controls. His head shaking, Lou enters the room much to the displeasure of Matt and forces Brunskill’s arm back into its socket. “Now you can get your shit done” Lou replies to Brunskill, turning back to Lou and asking him which one will follow him.

Understanding Lou’s concern, Matt gives Lonnie the greenlight to follow the man into the vessel’s greatest depths, leaving Matt with a gun pointed towards the captain as the door shuts. “I wish things could have worked out better” Brunskill explains, an amused Matt telling him to give his actions better thought in whatever world comes next. “I’ll keep that in mind” Brunskill replies, the sarcasm in the man’s voice not sitting well with the man attempting to play god.

Pulling the beaten man from his chair, Matt pins Brunskill against the wall telling him to repeat what he just said. “I said I’ll keep that in-” Brunskill explains, his words cut short when Matt slaps him across the face, telling him to respect authority. “You just made me captain” Brunskill replies, “as far as authority goes, you’re below me again.”

Backing away from the man, Matt returns his gun to Brunskill’s head, daring him to be so confident again. “What does it matter?” Brunskill replies, “you’re gonna kill me anyway, at least it’ll be quick.” Without concern, Brunskill places his head against the gun, telling Matt to get the deed done with. A smile on his face, Matt lowers his weapon, telling Brunskill that he doesn’t get to escape his punishment that easily.

With a chuckle, Brunskill tells Matt that he expected nothing less. “You suffer from the same key issue you always have” Brunskill explains, “too hot headed for your own good, but not smart enough to keep yourself from looking like an idiot.” Matt’s enthusiasm lowering, the man tells Brunskill that one way or another, he’s in charge. “I don’t care what I do when I’m in charge, I just care that I’m in charge!” Matt exclaims, Brunskill left quietly shaking his head in disapproval.

“It’s better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you’re an idiot” Brunskill explains, “than it is to open your mouth and prove them right.” Taking his free hand, Matt holds Brunskill’s face towards his own, the skin of his chin indented with the grip of Matt’s fingers. Refusing to allow Brunskill any satisfaction, Matt takes the wad of spit in his mouth and hurls it over Brunskill’s face, watching the saliva run down the man’s nose as he shoves him back towards the wheel.

Frustrated, Matt turns towards the door with the intentions of calming himself down, any more time spent in the same room with Brunskill threatening to create a fatal reaction. Hand outstretched, Matt presses against the handle and pushes forward, a lack of give greeting Matt in a curious way. Repeating his motion, the result remains the same, the door refusing to budge against the sound of steel.

Understanding what is occurring, Brunskill looks back at the confused Matt with a anger-fueled frown. Quietly stepping away from his chair, Brunskill loosens up his injured arm and wipes away the line of spit. Knocking of the window, Matt calls for assistance from the outside, oblivious to the threat looming behind him. In a moment, Brunskill’s hand lifts from his side and grabs the back of Matt’s head, forcing his skull against the bulletproof window.

Inside, Matt collapses to the ground in pain, Brunskill left standing over the man, looking down at him before glancing back up at the window. Greeting the man on the other side, Lou nods towards Brunskill, removing his bloodied rebar pipe from the handle and moving forward. Inside the quarters, Brunskill watches Lou walk off, his eyes trailing away from the sight and back towards Matt, unfinished business fueling an unshackled, vengeful rage.

== RISE and REVOLT ==