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Descending upon Lee’s camp, Lou and Marta hoist their belongings in the air, their hands raised toward the moonlit sky. As they step through the trees, many of the camp’s residents take notice of their return, the hoisted-weapon display keeping suspicions at bay. “How’d the trip go?” Ned inquires, stood against the wooden supports of a nearby home amidst its construction, a steaming plate with a few scoops of corn carried in his hand.
“She killed one of the dead, figured out the cloak-method, and learned how to start a fire” Lou replies, allowing an earned smile to cover his face, “not a bad day, if I do say so.” Impressed, Ned nods at Marta while another scoop of piping-hot corn travels down his throat. “You’re doing well, keep it up” Ned remarks as he drags his spoon over the plate, shovelling the last bit of corn between his teeth. “How’re the rest of them?” Lou inquires, throwing his rifle over his shoulder once more as Ned’s eyes roll. “In Theo’s own words, Sebastian’s obnoxiously docile, Adrian’s strangely adapt, and the father-daughter pair are annoying and stupid” Ned responds, jutting his shoulders upwards, “I doubt he’s impressed.” Bowing his head, Lou turns back for the communal tent, “thanks, Ned” he mumbles amid his departure. “Where have you been!?” Sebastian exclaims, tossing an open book in his hands to the ground as both Lou and Marta step through the vestibule. “We’ve been training” Lou replies casually strolling up to his sleeping bag without another word. “You’ve been gone since yesterday morning!” Rudy angrily shouts, joining Sebastian in confronting their handicapped friend. “Yes, we have. And now she knows how to make a fire and find shelter to sleep in during the night” Lou responds, clamping a padlock over the pouch of his bag, “you’re welcome.” His arm tugged at by Sonya, Rudy follows the girl back to their section of the tent until a question presents itself suddenly, his arm pulling from Sonya’s grasp as his body turns to Lou. “Where’s Courtney gone, then?” Rudy inquires, watching Lou’s eyes take back to him, “was she on your ‘training mission’ too?” Confused, Lou’s head begins shaking before the answer leaves his mouth. “No, it’s been Marta and I since we left” Lou replies, as answerless as those around him, “I didn’t know she left the camp.” Momentarily inquisitive, Lou returns to his unpacking, quickly putting aside his curiosities. “That’s it? That’s all you have to say?” Rudy responds, his voice kept from rising any further than a normal octave, it’s vibrato backed with anger nonetheless. “What else would I have to say, Rudy?” Lou replies, knelt on the ground as he covers his rifle with the pair of padlocked knapsacks, “she didn’t tell me about this- I’ve got no involvement in whatever she chose to go off to.” Gritting his teeth, Rudy ardently points his finger at Lou, unable to unleash his frustrations upon a man he knows is correct in his assertions. “Damnit!” Rudy finally shouts, turning back to his bag whilst the group looks on in silence. Throwing himself to his knees, Rudy ruffles through a small burlap sack as the eyes around him stare with confusion. “What are you doing, Rudy?” Lou asks in an exhausted tone, the only resident willing to speak up. “I’m going back to the fucking cabin” Rudy responds, earning a drawn-out groan from those around him. “Do the rest of you want to stick around here being fed scraps!?” Rudy shouts, his wide eyes as loud as the demeaning tone he speaks with, “we had a good life, and I’m not giving up on it!” While those around him try to speak sense into Rudy, Lou begins to chuckle, taking humour in Rudy’s claims as he shakes his head. “These guys know where we are now, Rudy- if we could go back safely, we would have done so yesterday!” Sebastian explains, again being met with refusal. “They can come with all the men they want! This isn’t the world I’m gonna live in!” Rudy exclaims, shoving Sebastian away as the man reaches out for him. “Dad, you need to stop this” Sonya explains, a much calmer voice taken by the younger woman. “Honey, this isn’t our world” Rudy explains, a much softer voice put while he quells his daughter’s worries, “we don’t need this world, we can-” With a quick turn, Rudy becomes enraged once more, listening to Lou’s overbearing laughter interrupt him, offended by the amusement their young friend takes. “You find this funny?” Rudy challenges, watching Lou take a seat in his sleeping bag, his arm laid over his bent knee. “No, I find it incredibly ironic” Lou replies, staring Rudy in the eyes, “I’m refusing to get attached to any of you, and yet, here you are, Rudy- reminding me of my greatest failure.” “What the hell are you going on about?” Rudy responds, marching across the tent until he reaches Lou’s feet, staring down at the man with glaring eyes. His head shaking as the laughter dies, Lou turns the knob on his nearby lantern, bathing his face in a yellow glow. “I once knew a guy who couldn’t accept this world- wanted nothing to do with it, and refused to accept it for what it was” Lou explains, meeting Rudy’s eyes, “he ended up heading down the same path I see you touring, old man.” Pushed past his breaking point, Rudy reaches down to Lou’s coat and wraps his fingers around the collar, yanking the younger man to his feet with ease. His hand slapping at Rudy’s wrists. Lou swipes at Rudy’s chest and sweeps one leg out from beneath him, sending the bitter man to the ground with a thud. Groaning, Rudy drags himself away from the less-enthused man, crawling along the ground until comfortable with the distance created. A displeased look on his face, Lou now stares down at Rudy, speaking with a strictly composed tone as he slowly steps closer toward the man. “He started becoming comfortable with this world, but I don’t think he ever truly could accept what it was” Lou recalls, stuffing his hand into the pocket on his side, “and when I let the zombies in the gym free, it took him sacrificing himself for me to leave alive.” Kept silent, the group watches on, too engrossed by the conversation being had to interfere. “But go ahead, be everyone’s guest and run back to the cabin, hide away from the world until it kills you. I’m not going to stop you” Lou explains, readjusting course by turning back to his belongings, where he takes them over his shoulder and prepares to leave, “I just hope you know the track record for people like you isn’t very favourable.” Their fellow survivor departing with that message, the group remains silent, thinking quietly amongst themselves whilst Rudy stares on, unphased by Lou’s recollection. = RISE and REVOLT is created by Zachary Serra, all rights to the series from Season 1 onwards belong to Zachary Serra and his entity of Pacer1 = “Did you get any sleep last night?” Theo wonders curiously as Lou fastens the laces of his boots. “I closed my eyes for a few minutes, if that’s what you’re asking” Lou replies, flashing Theo a grin as his fingers part, pulling the knot into place. “It wasn’t, but I’ll take that answer” Theo responds, rubbing the back of his head as he forces himself out of bed, letting his feet fall off the elevated mattress as the sky begins to lighten, dark rain clouds cast across the sky. “You going with Marta again today?” Theo wonders aloud, still trying to fully emerge from the prior night’s sleep. “No, I think it’s gonna rain for a bit” Lou replies, removing the padlocks from his bag, “she’s gotten a lot done these last few days. I think she’s earned a day off.” Reaching to the ground for his clothes, Theo directs the conversion elsewhere. “So what was it? A fight?” Theo inquires, watching Lou’s eyes confusedly squint in his direction, “you came here to sleep for a reason.” His chin lowered, Lou gathers his thoughts whilst limbering up, “it’s taking some of them time to get used to- well, everything” Lou responds, feeling the knots in his back pop with satisfying ease, “it can be a little much to be around.” Rolling one of his socks, Theo gives his friend a nod. “I can’t exactly say I’m fond of them” Theo admits, viewed through the corner of Lou’s eye, “Courtney seems to handle herself, and Marta wants to learn- But, I’m not sure about the rest.” Letting out a laugh through his nose, Lou plants one knee on the ground whilst extending the other. “Did you want all of this when everything first went down?” Lou replies, genuinely curious in the answer, “it didn’t take me long to warm up to it, but I definitely wasn’t excited when it all first came around.” Preparing to fit the second sock over his foot, Theo offers his own perspective. “There’s a difference. We were starting from scratch just like everyone else” Theo responds, reaching out for a pair of sweatpants, “they’re lagging behind. And to make matters worse, the old one throws fits like a child.” His head down, Lou subtly nods to himself, rising from his stretch as he reaches for his coat. “It’ll take them time, but they’ll get there. The two of us did, they’ll be no different” Lou replies, preparing to leave until Theo’s voice ushers him back. “How can you know that for sure?” Theo responds, crossing his arms as he leans forward, both elbows pressing against his thighs. “Because I’ve seen people hesitant to accept all of this grow to do so over time” Lou replies, his eyes falling slightly, “and had it not been for me, he’d probably still be here right now.” Clearing his throat, Lou throws the coat over his body, it’s left arm purposefully cut at the elbow. “It’s the same reason I know you and Lee can make this camp a permanent solution” Lou explains, preparing to leave through the vestibule, “had I made different decisions, Ally and I would probably still be with everyone else at the school right now.” His boots hitting solid ground, Lou begins walking toward the treeline as his hand guides the coat’s hood over his head, a familiar voice calling out for his attention from afar. “Lou!” Marta exclaims, quickly catching up to the surprised man’s side. “I told you we were taking the day off, right?” Lou questions, an inquiry Marta refuses to take as fact. “You don’t take days off, so neither will I” Marta responds, her hair fixed into a ponytail, which she intelligently conceals beneath a cotton beanie, “after all, there’s no such thing as a day off when the dead roam the streets, right?” Pleased to see the woman’s readiness, Lou’s curiosities only grow. “Is this about survival, or is this about me?” Lou replies, unable to contain a smirk from his face. “That doesn’t matter, does it?” Marta responds, finding her own refusal to answer amusing. “Are we gonna get going now, or what?” Marta poses, looking Lou in the eyes as she strolls backwards, eager to start their travels. | “Because this is how we survive” Courtney’s television murmurs through the living room, “we tell ourselves- that we are the walking dead.” Lowering her potato peeler to the kitchen counter, Courtney takes the remote and powers the tube television down, continuing to run her faucet over a strainer filled with shaven vegetables. The warm water continuing to run over her hands, Courtney’s ears take to the distance, a faint rumbling capturing her undivided attention. Slamming the faucet handle down, Courtney stands in the silence for a brief few seconds, listening to the same rumbles she’d come to anticipate. In a split moment, Courtney wipes her hands on a towel and hurries for the second level of her cosy home, skipping one step at a time amidst her ascent. Dashing through a dimly lit hallway, Courtney enters a small room at the corridor’s farthest point, letting its lightless interior surround her as she steps inside. Leant against the wall, a sniper rifle waits for her touch, it’s barrel facing the ceiling until her damp hands wrap around its grip. Placing her eye to the scope, Courtney gazes toward the waterfront in the distance, watching a black speed boat dash across the channel, its curved base soaring toward her coastline. Focusing on the pale faces of the men aboard, Courtney breathes a sigh of relief. “I’d prefer it if we didn’t break her shit, Jae” a man with rugged facial hair groans, his hair dampened by the sparse rainfall the heavens bring down. “You’re a day late” Courtney proclaims, stepping onto her front porch with a smile, an equally friendly expression worn on both men’s faces. “We can talk about the transaction later” Courtney declares after a few lighthearted seconds, “the two of you are late for dinner.” | “So you came out here for a beach day?” Marta jokes with a whisper, her gore-covered jacket conveniently hidden beneath a heavy winter coat. “I guess you can look at it like that, sure” Lou replies, pausing his response as they stroll past a straggling undead, “I used to do it a fair bit before I started walking for the mountains.” “Why?” Marta responds, her face painted a faint red from the cold. “When the boat my friends and I were on went down, we got separated. They got off on a boat before I’d even hit the water” Lou explains, his hair dampened by the falling rain, “Unless they landed in northern Washington, or kept using the boat, it should be around here somewhere.” Her eyes squinted, Marta looks at Lou with curiosity, surprised to find his unchanged expression, honestly confident in his belief. “Don’t you think that’s a little bit of a stretch?” Marta replies, watching the look on Lou’s face meet her with equal allure, “no, why?” Her stupefaction greater, Marta turns her head away with no answer, a response that drives Lou’s fascination deeper. “Is something wrong?” Lou inquires, watching Marta’s face turn toward him once more. “It’s been two months, Lou” Marta responds, her tone almost carrying disappointment, “do you really think you’re just gonna find a boat, a perfectly operational boat, left on the beach untouched?” Preparing to speak, Lou asks the same question to himself, the doubt he allows to creep in leading his mouth to slowly shut once more, his face holding the same disappointed look Marta had held. “You’re right” Lou replies, letting a sigh leave his lips, “it could have worked two months ago, but now- not so much.” With a frown, Marta watches the acceptance come over Lou’s face, his disheartened eyes only disappointing her more. Reaching cover just as the rain begins to come down heavily, Lou follows Marta through the boarded doors of a local high school gymnasium, their clothes drenched in rain water. “I assume we’re camping here until the storm passes?” Marta asks, throwing her coat off as Lou presses his hand to his knee, hunched over as the water drips from his hair. “I did tell you we were taking the day off for a reason” Lou responds, following the woman’s coat-removing suit. Ruffling her hair, Marta walks along the hardwood court, her shoes squealing as if she were playing basketball. “We should figure out where we are” Lou remarks, pulling two large flashlights from his prosthetic case, “maybe find somewhere safe to spend the night.” Shining the light throughout the sizable venue, Lou and Marta discover two separate corridors waiting for them, a sight the pair immediately recognize the significance of. “We’re about the be the dumb white people from the movies, aren’t we?” Marta ponders, watching the grin emerge across Lou’s face. “You’ve got your corpse jacket on, so you shouldn’t have to fear the dead as long as you blend in” Lou explains, his hand resting on the small of Marta’s back, palm pressing upon the handgun concealed beneath her shirt, “and if worse comes to worse, you’ve got nine bullets to rely on.” With an uncertain look, Marta nods in agreement, her sights set upon the most distant corridor. “I’ll take that one” Marta says, her hesitant voice concerning the man beside her. “If you don’t want to go alone, I’m not going to make you” Lou restates, looking the woman in the eyes, “just say the word, and we’ll search them one at a time.” Her confidence building, Marta shakes her head, throwing her eyes back toward the distant set of doors. “No” Marta replies, sucking in a deep breath, “I can do this.” Meeting the woman’s eyes once again, finding a baffling conviction staring back at him. “Yes, you can” Lou supportingly responds, unable to hide the smile her tenacity brings upon him. | “I can’t wrap my mind around why all of you are so eager to move on!” Rudy remarks, grasping at every tree trunk he passes. “We’re not eager to move on, we’re just not denying what’s right in front of us” Sebastian replies, following behind Adrian, who himself, follows behind Sonya. “And you think what’s right in front of us is worth living in?” Rudy responds, each question coming off with scathing hostility, “I can’t think of a worse world to live in!” “What? You can’t think of a world with war?” Adrian mockingly replies, prompting the bitter man at the helm of the journey to stop in his tracks, turning back toward Adrian with a disgusted expression. “What the hell did you say to me?” Rudy challenges, climbing back toward an unperturbed Adrian, who leans against a thin tree, “I don’t need to be hearing anything from a killer like you- you’re lucky to even be alive!” “Rudy, you need to calm down” Sebastian calmly remarks, joining the older man in Adrian’s presence. “Don’t tell me what I need, Sebastian- you’re not in charge here” Rudy responds, the ire he draws from Adrian now consistent. “Neither are you, Rudy” Adrian quickly replies, both hands coupled at his lap, his tone strict, “now get out of my face before I put you in the ground.” “Oh, is that what you’re gonna do?” Rudy responds, lowering his face closer toward Adrian’s own, daring the comparably younger man to follow through on his word. His nostrils flaring, Adrian stares Rudy in the eyes before throwing his elbow out, popping the aggrieved man’s chin as his arm collides with the man’s face. Toppling over, Rudy’s body hitting the snow only leaves Adrian wanting more. Throwing himself after Rudy, Adrian begins to swing at the older man’s face until Sebastian and Sonya manage to pull him away, both equally unsurprised with the altercation’s result. “You’re fucking crazy!” Rudy shouts, tending to the cuts over the bridge of his nose and his bottom lip. “No, you’re crazy!” Adrian shouts, adjusting the wet shoulders of his brown leather coat, “you don’t fucking get it! None of you fucking get it!” Gasping for breath, Adrian hangs his head, letting the rain drench his hair as Rudy remains laid in the snow, listening to Adrian’s exasperated retort. “We’re all at war” Adrian mumbles, shaking the bruised hand he used to strike upon Rudy, “I realised when I was in the freezer that, no matter what we did before the dead came, all that we’re left to do- is fight them. No more, no less- we fight, or we die.” Still fighting to catch his breath, Adrian stares at the three survivors before him, their collective silence leaving the air for him to fill. “Everyone with a pulse is trying to fight anything without one. And either we win, or the dead win. Now go ahead and tell me that doesn’t sound like the simplest way of defining ‘war’” Adrian explains, pressing his back against the tree as he sinks to the floor, “we’re all on the same side- but we just keep finding ways to vilify each other.” Staring at Adrian with silence, Sonya and Sebastian hang their heads whilst Rudy climbs back to his feet. Letting a full minute pass in silence, the group sits with Adrian’s claims until Rudy speaks up, putting the entire conversation aside. “Let’s get moving” Rudy directs, splitting away from the cluster of people to resume the journey, his jaw aching from the force behind Adrian’s fist. | His knuckle running over his bottom lip, Jae points his finger at the steaming plate beneath the daggers of his fork, “this is great, Courtney.” Chewing, Courtney bows her head, the chandelier that hangs over their dinner table reflecting off the steel utensil. “Thanks, Jae” Courtney replies, taking her focus toward her mouth-stuffing friend across from her, “I’ll take Artie’s chipmunk-impersonation as a ‘thank you’ as well.” “That’s what it was meant as” Arturo responds, speaking through a mouthful of steamed carrot chunks and sliced potatoes. “Listen, Courtney- this has been great. Seriously, it’s a much-needed reprieval” Jae explains, lowering his intake to one vegetable slice at a time, “but, we do still have other business to attend to.” Her fork lowered to her plate’s side, Courtney takes a rag to her greasy mouth. The legs of her chair scraping against the hardwood floor, Courtney leaves the table, her walk toward the rear-exit followed by her distinguished guests. “I’ve got just under two-hundred kilos of ground beef, and just over two hundred kilos of steaks, ribs, briskets- everything you wanted” Courtney explains, stepping aside while her guests inspect the product presented, “it’s all preserved in salt, ready to be cooked in a moment’s notice.” Unable to look away from the stocked crates, Jae and Artie look pleased, casually nodding toward each other. “You’ve got a good thing going here, Courtney” Jae mutters, passing a glance in her direction as he wraps his hands around a curated slab of beef, “there aren’t too many places like this left.” “I’ve got a farm, I’m on an island, and I’ve got hydro” Courtney replies, pressing the small of her back against a metal counter, “it’s all pretty valuable, isn’t it?” His head nodding, Jae shares another look at the woman, the tone of his voice dropping a few notes. “Very valuable” Jae responds, slapping the cut of steak with his opposite hand before lowering it back into the salt-filled wooden container, “this place is a gold mine.” Pleased, Courtney takes in a deep breath, letting time pass before redirecting the conversation. “Now that my bases are covered, let’s get to your at-bat” Courtney remarks, carrying herself back to the men, her shadow cast upon the ground thanks to the lone lightbulb hanging in the centre of the room, “do you have what I asked for?” “We couldn’t get our hands on enough honey, so we added a few extra cigarettes instead” Jae explains, walking by Courtney’s left side whilst Artie strolls along her right, “but the books, alcohol, batteries, seeds and candles were no problem.” Their boat docked on the pier, Jae and Artie stop walking, waiting for Courtney to move forward before another step is taken. Her advancements concluded just as her associates, Courtney stares at the boat with a concealed smirk, the hairs on the back of her neck standing upright. “There’s a boat full of cargo waiting for you to unload it, boys” Courtney murmurs, her eyes kept toward the vessel. “All that stuff is yours, Courtney” Jae replies, doing little to hide the expectancy in his voice, “we gotta carry our shit on board, it’s only fair you get to carry yours, right?” Nostrils flaring, Courtney turns her head toward Jae’s, his eyes already having descended upon her. “Nah, you’re right” Courtney responds, silently smiling for a few seconds as she continues to stare into the man’s eyes, “you’re totally right.” Sensing Courtney’s reluctance, Jae’s hand reaches for his gun as Courtney’s elbow flies backwards, slamming into Artie’s groyne before Jae can take aim. The trigger squeezed, Jae watches Courtney duck his shot, allowing the bullet to rip straight through Artie’s face as he and his target tumble down the pier. Disarmed, Jae grabs onto a wooden column protruding from the water, his body left hanging halfway over the pier's edge. Safe upon dry land, Courtney makes her move, her arms wrapping around Jae’s legs as her hefty boots kick at his face, forcing his head to dip beneath the water. Propping herself against the wooden column, Courtney presses her foot beneath the water, holding the man’s face beneath the waves until his struggle ceases. Waiting out the following seconds, Courtney stares at the waves, waiting for the trail of blood to reach the surface. The final case dragged from the visiting vessel and housed within her cellar, Courtney climbs into her living room and makes for the kitchen. Stepping through the front door, Courtney descends upon the pier with a burning molotov cocktail in her hand, and an unlit cigarette in her mouth. “Thanks for the shit, Jae” Courtney remarks, the cigarette still held between her lips while the drowned man reanimates, “happy travels.” Her foot pushing the boat from its place beside the pier, Courtney watches Jae’s zombified corpse begin to gnaw at his once-friend, whose deceased body lays beside him. “It’s a fucked up world” Courtney mutters beneath her breath, lighting her cigarette with the molotov’s burning rag just before watching the burning bottle fly from her hand, its flame lighting the dark waters beneath her as it shatters upon the adrift ship, torching it and the bodies residing within its fire-laden frame. The tobacco smoke leaving her lungs, Courtney watches the burning ship sail off from the pier, indifferent to the sight it offers. | The sharp end of his rebar directed toward the distant hallways just as his flashlight remains, Lou navigates the unfamiliar corridors with caution. “If there’s anyone in here, I’m not looking for trouble” Lou explains, flashing his light toward anything shrouded in darkness. “My friend and I are just riding out the storm outside. We’ll be out of your hair once the rain lets up” Lou persists, his shoes squeaking along the tiled floors, “if that’s not okay, tell me and we’ll leave.” Each step crunching down upon broken glass, Lou’s eyes take to the only door in the corridor left open to the elements, welcoming anyone that crosses its path with unobstructed entry. “If this is your home, then you should know that I had the same plan as you when everything shut down” Lou explains, beginning his march toward the undefended entry, “my friends and I stayed in our high school for a few weeks until it got overrun. It’s not a bad idea if you do it right.” His flashlight cast upon a few cabinets and sparse desks, Lou ingresses the classroom, its interior void of life, both the living and undead kind, left as if it hadn’t been touched since the day the dead rose. Beakers and other large glass bottles shattered into bits on the ground, Lou’s feet crunch loudly atop what remains of the science department’s utilities. His light guided to the room’s front, Lou gawks at the objectives left serving as an ode to a time left to history. ‘September 6th - Daily objectives’ the board reads, chalk scrawlings covering the left half of the blackboard, ‘Chapter 2 Review, Study Guide, Jeo-.’ Incomplete, almost as if suddenly interrupted, the objectives remain lost to time, permanently the relic of a bygone era. *pop* His ears taken toward the distant sound of gunfire, Lou sprints through the classroom’s exit, his feet slamming upon broken glass as he bolts for the building’s opposite side. “What the fuck is wrong with you!?” a young man, no older than seventeen, screams in Marta’s face, his arm pressing against the back of her neck as he holds her face against a plain, wooden table. “He’s bleeding!” a distraught young woman exclaims, knelt before the quickly-dying body of an equally-young man, whose mouth fills with blood. “She shot him in the throat!” a fourth and final young survivor declares, cradling the dying body of his friend in an emotional rage. “You tried to steal from me!” Marta grunts, her face marked both with scratches and a bright-red handprint. “Now, we’re gonna fucking kill you, bitch!” the man towering over her shouts, spit cascading over Marta’s face as it flies from the lips of her abuser. “You’re gonna get off of her, that’s what you’re gonna do!” Lou shouts, stood in the doorway of a lantern-lit classroom, watching the scenes unfold. Quick to let his friend fall from his arms, the fourth classmate pulls a gun in Lou’s face, demanding he lower his weapon. “Give me the girl and we’ll go” Lou replies, staying firm in his position to remain in possession of his rebar. “Your girl shot our friend, she’s not leaving” the gunman responds, drawing Lou’s ire immediately. “If I have to tell you a third time, you’re gonna join your friend in the afterlife” Lou replies, his voice commanding attention, “give me the girl and we’ll go.” “Chet, listen to him!” the woman pleads, her attention set upon the gunman, “the zombies heard the fucking gun, it won’t be long until they get here.” Frustrated, Chet raises his voice in the woman’s direction. “Brandi, shut the fuck up!” Chet screams, his eyes kept on Lou while he calls for the man pinning Marta down, “Brandon, what do I do?” “Just fucking shoot him!” the man declares, unknowingly writing his own fate, as well as that of his group’s. With a graceful swing, Lou slices Chet across the throat with his rebar before storming the room’s front, an unarmed Brandon turning around in horror. “Wait- wait!” Brandon screams, his efforts to bring relief falling flat as Lou drives his rebar through the man’s eye socket, releasing Marta from her confinement as the man tumbles to the ground. Catching his breath, Lou stares at Brandon’s body in silence, digesting what he’d done as a sudden shuffling of footsteps behind him emerges. Picking up Chet’s weapon, Brandi aims the barrel at Lou as a second weapon fires, two bullets fired from across the room, cementing themselves within Brandi’s chest and abdomen respectively. His mouth agape, Lou turns to Marta, whose lips quiver as the smoking gun remains aimed by her hand. Throwing the gun away from her chest, Marta gasps for air while she processes what had happened, the sound of Lou’s footsteps the only thing keeping her from suffering an emotional breakdown. Letting his flashlight fall to the floor with his weapon, Lou wraps his arm around Marta and pulls her close, tears falling onto the collar of his jacket as his chin presses against the woman’s head. “You’re later than usual” Theo remarks, watching the young pair return from their trip to the city, their faces unusually covered with blood. “Wh- what the hell happened out there?” Theo inquires, the combination of bloody faces and horrified silence striking him as awfully off-putting. “Go get washed up, I’ll meet you back in the tent” Lou whispers, guiding Marta toward the showers as Theo encroaches. “Dude, what happened out there!?” Theo continues to ask, still without an answer for the moment. “I- we- oh, fuck it” Lou stammers, finally pressing his hand against his hip, “y’know those questions? Mercy, necessity, choice? Well, mark two more in the ‘necessity’ column for me, and one in the same column for her.” Splitting away without another word, Lou begins to walk for his shared tent just as Sebastian emerges from the trees, Adrian, Rudy and Sonya following in that order not too long after. “Do I even need to guess?” Lou tiredly mutters, his arm held to the side in defeat as Sebastian approaches. “It’s gone” Sebastian murmurs, Adrian joining the man’s side as Sonya follows her destitute father through the tent’s vestibule. “What’s gone?” Lou responds, his answer coming without missing a beat. “The cabin- it’s leveled” Sebastian replies, the wide eyes Lou reacts with doing little to settle their differing exhaustion. “You went back to the cabin?” Lou responds, his voice raised in anger, “you went back to the motherfucking cabin!?” “Rudy wanted answers!” Sebastian replies, his voice raised to an equally unsettled octave as his frustrations become aimed at Lou, “he was either going out alone, or we’d go with him as backup!” “Let the motherfucker get killed then! If he wants to cling onto some hopeless bullshit, that’s his problem, not yours!” Lou shouts back, his confrontation drawing a crowd of their fellow residents. “I’m sorry I can’t turn my back on everyone here as easily as you can, Lou!” Sebastian retorts, immediately earning a displeased look from Adrian, who reaches out for Sebastian’s arm in an effort to pull him away. “Oh, is that right!?” Lou shouts back, throwing his rebar to the ground as he steps forward, getting in Sebastian’s face whilst pointing his finger at Adrian, “I just killed two people to save his daughter’s life, so don’t talk to me about turning backs on people!” His eyes widened, Adrian attempts to respond to Lou until Sebastian interrupts, responding in kind. “The only thing you’ve done, since the day we met, is remind us about how little you give a shit about us!” Sebastian exclaims, finally consumed by his anger. “I have other priorities!” Lou responds, immediately cut off from speaking further. “Then go take care of them!” Sebastian shouts, his hand waving toward the distance, “leave! Go find your friends and live happily ever after, Lou! Just pack your bags and leave!” Adrian’s hand still tugging at his arm, Sebastian finally takes the hint and wanders off, venturing into the deeper parts of the compound as Lou stands back, watching the man walk off. “He doesn’t mean it” Adrian remarks, a concerned look worn on his face as he looks at Lou, who looks back to him with an uncertain glance. “Yeah, he did” Lou whispers back, trailing back toward the showers, the rebar pipe and flashlight still in his hand, the rifle and prosthetic over his shoulder. “Great job, Lou” Theo says from afar, stood beside Ned near Lee’s tent as his friend strolls by, “you’re totally not getting attached.” Just stood there silently, Lou waits a moment before continuing his walk, eyes descending upon the communal showers. “Fuck” Lou murmurs beneath his breath, disappearing into the bathing room’s wooden entrance as the cold night rages on. == RISE and REVOLT ==
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“They’ll be ready in twenty and I’ll be heading out in thirty, alright?” Lou remarks, walking beside Lee until their paths split, his hand patting the camp’s ruler on the shoulder. Walking the opposite direction, Ned holds a dreary look on his face, concealing his lingering pain well. “Good morning, Lou” Ned mutters as his path crosses with Lou’s, never once making eye contact with the new resident. “Good morning” Lou replies, watching the man walk a few extra steps before continuing forward.
Dipping through the vestibule of his new home, Lou waits for any sound to emerge from the many sleeping bags his tent’s floor is lined with. Dawn just arriving, Lou cups his hands around his mouth and takes in a deep breath. “Wake up. Get your shit and wake up” Lou beckons, a few sparse groans and aggravated sighs greeting him. “Most of us already were” Marta responds from the tent’s farthest reaches, her voice unstifled as if she hadn’t spent a minute sleeping through the prior night. “What’s wrong?” Sebastian groans, his voice trifled by the exhaustion of a short, dissatisfying sleep. “Nothing, I’m just waking you up” Lou replies, his lack of care over how the group reacts proven by the way he speaks, clearly and without suppression. “What’s the point of that?” Sonya groans, displeased with the sight of a still largely-lightless morning. “There is no point to it” Lou responds, stepping up to the bags beside his floor-covering blanket, “but you can’t just lay around all day anymore.” More irritable than his youngest daughter, Rudy maintains his defiance. “Like hell I can’t” Rudy mumbles, pulling his thin, puffy blanket further over his shoulders, allowing it’s bead-stuffed collar to warmly graze his neck. Shrugging, Lou unscrews the cap to his water bottle and walks up to Rudy’s bag, taking a swig in the midst of his journey. “What the hell!?” Rudy shouts, the warmth of his blanket overwhelmed by the cold stream of water rushing over his face. Holding back a satisfied smirk, Lou downs what’s left in his bottle before returning to his bag. “Listen, if any of you want to lie in bed all day, then be my guest” Lou explains, kneeling beside his bag while he throws his prosthetic case over his shoulder, “but just know, we’ve all been told the rules.” Quietly pulling her pants up as she reaches for a sweater, Courtney prepares for her day as if it were any other, the fan of her paramotor conveniently laid beside her bed. “If you don’t contribute to the camp, you don’t get to reap its rewards” Lou clarifies, paying no mind to Rudy and Sonya, who frustratedly sit up from their respective beds, “that means no food, no hot water, and my favourite- no coffee.” The tent filling with groans, Lou takes a glance at Marta, watching her continue to dress for the cold weather as her father approaches. “Can I talk to you for a second?” Adrian quietly wonders, stood with his hands in the pockets of his baggy sweatpants. Answering with a nod, Lou follows the man into the frigid, morning air until they reach a picnic table. “Is there something I can help you with, Adrian?” Lou inquires, cold winds throwing his hair away from his face. Silent at first, Adrian ponders to himself quietly, his eyes drawn toward the newly-built, already-weathered wall off toward the deeper ends of the camp. “I don’t know” Adrian replies, leaning the knuckles of his coupled hands against his bottom lip, “I can’t sleep. I can’t even close my eyes without thinking about what I did.” His hand tucked in his pocket, Lou remains stood across the table, waiting for the question to be asked. “You covered for me last night” Adrian finally murmurs, his stare beginning to turn back to the man across the table, “why did you cover for me?” Letting out a sigh, Lou lowers himself upon the bench. “Why would I want to throw you under the bus?” Lou responds, his eyes peeled, head tilted to one side, “what good comes of that?” “You get rid of the crazy guy that can’t clean up his messes” Adrian replies without skipping a beat, “I’m sure you’ve got plenty more problems to deal with. It’d be an easy way to just pick one off without having to go to sleep with regret.” “How would that make it easy for me to sleep?” Lou responds, a calmly confrontive voice interrupting Adrian’s thought, “I’d be marking you for death in front of your daughter. It’s not like I’m without a conscience.” Their eyes still kept upon each other, Adrian bows his head. “So this was for Marta?” Adrian replies, corrected by the one-armed man immediately. “No, it was because I chose to” Lou responds, hesitant to say more than that. “Why did you choose to?” Adrian replies, leaving no room for any silent seconds to pass, “I’ve done nothing to deserve being spared by you, so why take the fall for me?” His arm draped over the table, Lou leans forward slightly, his head bowing just as Adrian’s does. “I know these people, and I’m sure they’re much more forgiving with me than they would be you” Lou responds, following Adrian’s lead of immediate answers, “I could get away with it.” “But you didn’t have to take that risk” Adrian replies, again holding Lou’s claims close to the fire, “you stood up, took responsibility for my actions, and you didn’t waste a second doing so.” Sprouting a smile, Lou puts on a welcoming expression. “Am I supposed to feel bad for keeping you from getting killed?” Lou responds, trying to shed light on an unnerving situation he wishes not to further encourage. “No, but you did it for a reason, and I need to know what that reason is” Adrian replies, matching Lou’s lean over the table, “I’ve been nothing but trouble to you, but you saved me anyway. Tell me why.” Overcome with exasperation, Lou slams his fist against the table as he throws himself back upon his feet. Remaining seated, Adrian looks up, watching Lou stare down at him from the higher position, not a word leaving his lips. “I did. I don’t have an answer for you, I just did” Lou responds, using the preceding seconds to let the tension work itself out before responding, “I don’t care what you’ve done. It’s a new world now, and you’re getting the chance to make something of yourself in it.” The wind changing directions, Lou’s hair begins to fall in front of his face, the ends of his long mane strewn over his nose and mouth. Not wishing to continue the conversation further, Lou walks away, returning to his tent whilst Adrian remains at the table, watching the younger gentleman slither through the vestibule. His head falling into his hands, Adrian remains conflicted, whispering to himself as the weather continues to worsen. = RISE and REVOLT is created by Zachary Serra, all rights to the series from Season 1 onwards belong to Zachary Serra and his entity of Pacer1 = “This is nonsense” Rudy argues, throwing a heavy jacket over his broad shoulders. “Rudy, you’ve been complaining for the last twenty-four hours” Sebastian remarks, tightening gloves over his hands, “give it a rest.” A disgusted look on his face, Rudy stares at his once-leader, opening his mouth to speak until Theo’s words cut him off. “I will have none of this arguing here, or out in the woods” Theo explains, fully dressed for the winter conditions surrounding him. “I’ve told Lou you’d all be brought back in one piece, so keep me from wanting to put a slug in your heads and we’ll be fine and dandy” Theo concludes, continuing to watch Sebastian’s group dress for the occasion. “Are we meeting the rest on our way?” Adrian wonders from the back, treating the group’s young guide with an unusual amount of decency. “No, we will not” Theo replies, his hands coupled behind his back as he paces through the tent, “Lou has decided to continue training Marta himself, and Courtney is more than comfortable in this world as is.” Looking up, Sonya’s unpleased expression turns into momentary curiosity. “Lou’s training Marta? Since when?” the youngest woman wonders aloud. “It’s a recent thing, I think” Sebastian responds, tightening his second glove, “they go out at sunrise and come back when noon hits.” “That’s what they’ve been doing?” Sonya replies, taken back by this revelation, “I thought they were sneaking out to fuck.” Adrian’s eyes immediately shooting toward the younger woman, Sonya throws her hands out in surrender, mouthing the word ‘sorry’ with her jacket halfway fallen from her shoulder. “Just hurry up and get dressed for god’s sake” Theo responds, raising the watch on his wrist toward his face, disappointed in the result he finds. “Are you at least going to tell us where my daughter went?” Rudy replies, the side-eye he gets from Theo doing little to please him. “If Courtney didn’t tell you already, she’d prefer you not to know” Theo responds, taking pleasure in denying the bitter man the information requested, “the right to privacy isn’t something that’s lost on us.” Turning away, Theo walks for the vestibule, ducking through the nylon flaps. “We leave in five” Theo remarks, vanishing through the tent’s lone opening, “be ready to go or be ready to play catch up.” | Following Lou’s trail, Marta hikes up a snow-covered slope, grabbing onto every sky-piercing tree she passes. “You still haven’t told me why we’re out here” Marta remarks, holding onto each breath she can pull as the terrain only grows steeper, “I guessed it’d be another hunt, but you’ve made me begin to think I guessed wrong.” “That’s because you did” Lou replies, ascending the hill without struggle of any kind, his eyes kept on the hill’s summit. “Thanks for letting me know now” Marta responds, the sarcastically bitter tone in her voice bringing a smile to Lou’s face, “I would have hated to go out into the woods not knowing why I was going out into the woods. That would have been awful.” “Poke all the fun you want, it won’t keep me from being tight-lipped” Lou replies, leaping atop a large boulder before waiting for Marta to catch up. “Will you at least tell me why you’re keeping it a secret?” Marta responds, taking the hand Lou extends toward her, helping her climb the large stone. “I’m not telling you what we’re doing because I’d prefer to show you what we’re doing” Lou replies, reclaiming the hike’s lead, “does that put your mind to rest?” Humorously sullen, Marta leans her head from one side to the other, “I guess it makes it better, sure” she responds, watching Lou’s smile as he glances over his shoulder. Their walk continuing for another half-kilometre in silence, Marta’s mind begins to wrap itself around one question, an inquiry her heart tells her to leave unspoken, though her brain implores her to wonder aloud. “Can you believe it’s only been two weeks since we all met?” Marta probes, settling for a less-invasive question than the one digesting her mind. “I can, as a matter of fact” Lou replies, pressing his foot upon a fallen tree left obstructing his path, “Three months have passed since I turned eighteen, yet it feels like it’s been three years.” “You’ve got a September birthday too?” Marta enthusiastically questions, her delight making Lou’s grin impossible to hide. “September 7th” Lou responds, climbing another slope with the assistance of a tree stump. “September 17th” Marta utters, following the same ‘tree trunk-pull’ maneuver she’d watch Lou perform, “Dad and I were planning on going to a Canucks game that week, but everything went to hell, and we spent the day camping out at the cabin instead.” “I’m sorry to hear that” Lou replies, the hill’s summit finally coming into his sights, “I don’t know anything about hockey, which I’m sure is a sin to you, but I know the Kings sucked, so there wasn’t a reason for me to care anyway.” Laughing, the question Marta intended to ask begins to evade her, plenty of others left to take their place. “How was yours?” Marta wonders, the only obstacle now remaining in her path being the incline ahead, “was it before or after the zombies?” “The day of, actually” Lou responds, his hand swaying calmly by his side, “I spent it getting shit faced in the music room the day our priest decided to poison everyone.” Her eyes widening, Marta looks up at the man ahead of her, watching him stop in the middle of the ascent with a smile on his face. “I know what you’re thinking, holy shit is right” Lou remarks, returning to the path, “and Catholicism is a weirdly hypocritical thing, so don’t ask me to make sense of it, please.” Trying to laugh off what Lou had said, Marta takes her mind elsewhere, the question she wishes would leave her alone prying at her mind once more. “You never did say how you got here from Los Angeles” Marta recalls, her voice still carrying its weight in curiosity. “Not much to talk about, to be honest. I held up in our school with friends, it eventually got overrun, we packed our shit and fled” Lou explains, the ground beginning to even out as they close in on the summit. “We followed an evacuation signal to a boat, boarded on the coast of the city and took it north” Lou continues, finally reaching the mountain’s peak, “it went down off the coast of Victoria, and I hiked up to your cabin from there.” Following the last few footprints, Marta climbs the final step just as she begins to ask another question. “Are the-?” Marta stops, sharing the view Lou can’t help himself but look at, her eyes widening at what lays beneath them. “Welcome home, Marta” Lou proclaims, his face bathed in the light of the midwinter sun as he stares out at the abandoned Victoria skyline. “We’re- we’re going into the city?” Marta replies, a sudden sensation of fear burying itself deep within her bones. “I’ve learned that the dead are much slower when it’s cold” Lou explains, digging the sharp-end of his rebar pipe into the dirt beside him, freeing his hand to reach behind his back, “we’re going to get familiar with fighting the dead today.” “Lou, I can’t-” Marta begins to murmur, only for yet another obstacle to impede her thought-process’ progress. “Before I forget, this is yours now” Lou interrupts, extending his hand to present the woman with a silver pistol with a wood-stained grip, “use it only when absolutely necessary.” “I- I- I don’t know how to use- one of those” Marta responds, a response Lou had come to anticipate. “I didn’t either, but I had good people to rely on. This one in particular, well, she taught me enough” Lou explains, pushing a button near the trigger guard twice. “It’s on safety right now, and when you need to use it, you’ll push the button down once and aim at what you need to” Lou explains, turning the weapon over to Marta’s anxious hands, “only ever aim at something you intend to shoot.” “I don’t want this, Lou. I- I don’t- no, thank you” Marta replies, trying to return the weapon to its original owner. Laughing, Lou reclaims the gun and immediately turns to fit it in the waistband of Marta’s pants, the back of her shirt left covering the protruding grip. “I don’t give a shit if you’re scared- this is how the world works, this is what’s needed of you” Lou explains, ripping his pipe from the frozen ground beside him, “but it won’t be needed of you today.” At a loss for words, Marta shakes her head in place of asking the question itself. “I said it’s what is needed of you- not that it’s what you have to do” Lou explains, jutting his chin toward the bag draped over Marta’s shoulder, “open it.” As instructed, Marta clings to any excuse to forget about the weapon residing behind her back. “Jackets?” Marta curiously says aloud, turning her attention back to the man at her side, “what do we need jackets for?” “Because there are other ways around the dead without having to kill them” Lou responds, another smirk developing in the corner of his mouth, “for example, why not just hide amongst them?” | “How long have you known Lou?” Sebastian queries, Adrian following closely behind him, whilst Sonya follows her father’s stride just ahead. “Since we were kids” Theo replies, his rifle instinctively carried close to his chest, “why do you ask?” Surprised, Sebastian stumbles over an apology. “I- I didn’t mean offence by it, I’m sorry” Sebastian explains, the heavy bag he carries over his shoulder draining him over breath consistently, “it’s just- he doesn’t really tell us anything.” Chuckling, Theo begins to shake his head, a gesture Rudy finds offence in. “Is there something amusing you’d like to share with us?” the older man calls out from the back of the group, a black winter coat covering his flannel button-up. “I find it amusing that, however long you’ve known Lou, you’ve yet to pick up that he doesn’t like talking about his private life” Theo explains, letting out another laugh, “I would’ve assumed anyone would’ve figured that out by now- even you.” “Is it a trust thing?” Sebastian asks, immediately jumping on the opportunity provided to him, “do we have to gain his trust before he talks to us?” Squinting, Theo turns back to face those nipping at his heels, their faces many different shades of disgruntled. “Why do you care so much?” Theo responds, stopping their travel in its track, “is there no part of you that can accept he doesn’t want to open up like a story book for all of you to read?” Attempting to speak, Sebastian’s words evade him, leaving him a wide-mouthed man with nothing to say. Taking Sebastian’s silence for what it is, Theo turns back to restart the hike, only to think better immediately. “You know what? Lou has told you, multiple times now, that he doesn’t want to get close to all of you. Guess what? I don’t blame him” Theo reveals, his tone turning nasty, “none of you- none of you listened to him when you had the chance. You’re all just weights on his ankles. “Are you telling us that we’re holding him back?” Sebastian replies, matching the vigour in Theo’s voice. “Yeah, I am. He gave you every chance to get ahead of this, and now I’m stuck with your mess” Theo barks, refusing to hold his feelings back, “you people are the kind that get other people- better people killed. You’re the kind that refuse to listen to reason, live in a fantasy world, and get people hurt by sitting on your ass drinking cocoa and singing showtunes.” “Are we not out here!?” Sebastian shouts back, throwing his hands out at each side, “are we living in a fantasy world!? Are we sipping cocoa and singing show tunes!? Or are we swallowing our pride, taking one on the chin, and learning to accept the facts?” The pair having now escalated into a shouting match, Sebastian and Theo argue back and forth, neither willing to give up the high ground. “You’re only out here now because you’ve got nowhere else to turn to!” Theo responds, “and if it weren’t for that avalanche, you’d be right back to pretending everything was fine!” Squeezing between the two survivors, Adrian raises his voice loud enough for the bickering duo to claim defeat. “That’s enough, motherfuckers!” Adrian bellows, his voice pinging from one tree to another, “we’re not doing this now!” Both having fallen silent, Theo and Sebastian take their focus onto the man between them, listening to every word he speaks. “We can all whine about what we should have done with the power of hindsight, but it changes nothing!” Adrian exclaims, the cold bringing drivel from his nose, “we all did, in the moment, whatever it was we did. We can regret it, we can take pride in it, or we can move on and put the past where it belongs- in the fucking past!” Swallowing the spit that builds in the back of his throat as he wipes his nose, Adrian shares a look with both men before reclaiming his original place behind Sebastian, both men left silently staring at the other. | “Aim for the head, preferably the eyes and temples, got it?” Lou whispers, crouched beside Marta behind the cover of a brick wall, his rebar carried in Marta’s hands. Flashing five fingers, Lou lets the seconds pass, what are any other five seconds to him elapsing as if they were eternity to the nervous woman at his left. As his final finger falls, Lou throws his hand at the wooden door separating himself from the street-shuffling dead, making way for his weapon-wielding protege. Tackling her position head-on, Marta dashes through the exit as her eyes set on the closest corpse, relying on her instincts immediately. Pressing his fingers against his lip, Lou lets out a glorious whistle, drawing the undead army’s attention toward their direction. Slowly turning to face the chirping squeal, Marta’s corpse takes an instant liking to her presence, it’s pearly-white eyes widening at her sight. “Aarrgghh!” the corpse groans, extending its arms toward Marta as she wields the sharpened end of the pipe, swiftly piercing the corpse’s eye as Lou takes over, catching the body as the pipe rips free from its socket. “Back to the lot!” Lou shouts, dragging the corpse back the way he came before hurling it on the ground once returned to safety, the wooden door slammed shut on Marta’s way in. “Alright, do you still have that knife I gave you?” Lou wonders aloud, the question immediately earning a look of disgust from the woman. “That was disgusting” Marta murmurs, sat beside the fireplace of an abandoned family home, its furniture in as exquisite a condition as the home itself. “You’ll get used to it” Lou responds, sipping gingerly upon a bottle of warm beer, “when you can walk with the same things that caused the end of the world, that jacket will smell like an apple orchard.” Shrugging her shoulders, Marta flashes a smile in Lou’s direction, “agree to disagree” she replies with a laugh as the firepit’s embers graze the soles of her feet. Her smile disbanding into a hollow frown, Marta’s thoughts become entangled with the same question she struggles to keep at bay, desperately fighting to keep it from falling out of her lips. “What’s wrong?” Lou suddenly asks, sat in a recliner a short distance from the pit, his index and middle fingers wrapped around the rim of his bottle, which hangs loosely beside the chair. “What do you mean?” Marta responds, finally warm enough to retreat to the nearby couch with relative comfort. “You look despondent” Lou replies, watching Marta slowly sink into the couch’s welcoming embrace, “I don’t know exactly what that word means, but I’m comfortable enough in saying it means ‘down’.” Her head hanging, Marta remains silent, looking away from Lou as he grows more curious. “Whatever it is, I’m here” Lou reiterates, watching the woman’s eyes drift back toward him, “I told you I’d be here for you, and I’m a man of my word.” Biting into her lip, Marta’s eyes show worry, “you said you didn’t want to grow attached” she mutters beneath her breath, hesitant to say more. Slightly reluctant, Lou gives into the woman’s thoughts, opening the floor to whatever Marta wishes. “Go ahead” Lou responds, letting Marta sit in her anxiety for a few seconds as he climbs out of the recliner, walking over to occupy the other loveseat cushion, “whatever it is, go ahead. No restrictions.” His invitation prompting her lips to throw out the words on her mind, Marta gives in. “Last night, Lee made you promise on Ally’s name that you were telling him the truth” Marta explains, watching the man’s eyes fall, already expecting the question that has lingered for long enough, “who’s Ally?” Letting a deep sigh roll through his nose, Lou takes a much longer swig of beer before setting the bottle on the floor, his shortened arm draped over the couch’s back. “Ally is my girlfriend” Lou replies, his scruffy beard, overgrown hair and pale face lit a miraculate orange by the distant fireplace. “I’ve been with her long enough to know I don’t want to love anyone else the way I do her” Lou explains, his tone gentle, “and I revert to my Catholic ways every night, praying to see her again.” An embarrassed look on her face, Marta nods out of acceptance, giving Lou the same smile she’d offered many times prior. “I didn’t know, I’m sorry” Marta responds, deeply pained, but mature in her refusal to let this divulgence dissuade her from enjoying Lou’s company. “I wouldn’t have kissed you if I-” Marta begins to explain, the words taken from her amidst the room’s calm aura, Lou quick to keep her from finishing her apology. “You don’t need to apologise” Lou interjects, looking the woman in the eyes as his halved-arm pats her on the shoulder, “it’s water under the bridge.” Keeping herself from shedding a tear, Marta flashes another smile and offers a second nod as she turns to the fire, losing herself in its tearing flames. Pressing her head into Lou’s chest, Marta lays across what remains of the couch, quietly enjoying the night as Lou rests his hand on her shoulder, accepting their closer ties. | Lowering from the skies, Courtney descends upon the coastline of a large, uninhabited island as her parachute slowly falls upon the ground in her wake. Adorned with an assortment of bags, Courtney calmly strolls across a long, dirt path lined with various barns. Rolling her parachute into a ball, Courtney reaches a redecorated home at the path’s end. Removing her paramotor whilst stood on her front patio, Courtney drags the many bags through the front door, vanishing within the home. Letting a few minutes pass, Courtney eventually returns to the patio, reclaiming her paramotor and the accompanying parachute as she carries them back into the home. Her work finished, Courtney gently presses the door shut while her opposite hand flips a nearby lightswitch, bathing the home in light as the moon rises over Vancouver Island. == RISE and REVOLT == Sweat beading from his brow, Lou grunts faintly as his body thrashes beneath the covers, his eyes darting back and forth within his closed eyelids. “Please, no” Lou begs beneath his exhausted breath, the second word repeated at nauseum. “No” Lou whispers as his eyebrows furrow, his eyelids pressing together more forcefully, “no.”
“I need to wake up” Lou whimpers, still trapped in the hell his sleep has created for him. “Lou?” a woman calls, knocking at a door the man can hear from within his rest, unable to discern the feigned world in his slumber from the one he exists within. Tapping at the door again, the feminine voice calls for Lou once more, receiving no response for the second time. “Please, don’t” Lou whimpers, the bedroom door that opens in his real world only driving his nightmare into anxious overdrive. “No!” Lou murmurs as his visitor lets themselves in, leading themselves to the side of his bed. “NO, DON’T!” Lou whines, his arms and legs trembling as a hand strikes him across the face, saving him from the horrifying images that plague him. Dragging himself against the headboard, Lou struggles to catch his breath, his face gleaming with sweat. “Argh, fuck!” Lou groans, his right hand gliding across his body, tending to the pain-ridden left hand he no longer has. “What’s going on?” Marta inquires, still stood beside the man’s bed, struggling to make sense of what she’d witnessed. With a sigh, Lou pulls his hand to the slap-taking side of his face, throwing the covers off his legs as he climbs out of bed. “Nightmares” Lou mumbles, walking across the room in only his boxers as if it were any other morning. “Nightmares?” Marta replies, looking at the man with a suspicious glare, “I don’t think it takes a genius to see that, whatever you just had, wasn’t a typical nightmare.” Bowing his head, the shiny man turns back to Marta as he approaches the connected bathroom, a grimace on his face. “I don’t know what they’re called, but I’ve had them before” Lou responds, holding his hand out in a calm manner, “it’s nothing, alright?” Turning around again, Lou steps onto the cold, tile floor of the bathroom and attempts to close the door, one final question catching his ear. “What other nightmares have you had?” Marta replies, watching Lou’s eyes fall dishearteningly, the man’s head rolling from one shoulder to the other as he contemplates the answer. After a few seconds pass, Lou gives into the woman’s request, the conflicted look on his face warming. “When I was in Los Angeles, around the first few days or so, I dreamed that Los Angeles was being burnt to the ground” Lou explains, his hand pressing against the bathroom door, “I didn’t know what to make of it, and I still don’t. But it never happened, and I’ve had nightmares every now and then since. Is that enough?” Sensing the man’s reluctance to dive deeper, Marta quietly nods her head, allowing Lou to return to his morning activities. Washed and dressed in warm clothes, Lou emerges from his room, walking down the hallway with a polite expression on his face. “Good morning” Lou greets, the rest of the table responding with equal light-heartedness. “Sleep well, Lou?” Sebastian wonders, sat in Adrian’s seat with a plate covered in pancakes, eggs and homemade maple syrup. “I slept well enough” Lou responds, whispering his appreciation for Rudy’s cooking as he accepts a plate from the older man’s hand. “Good. That’s good to hear” Sebastian replies, ending the conversation without another word as his hand guides a pancake-stuffed fork toward his mouth. His hand taking the handle of a pot of coffee, Lou’s curiosities voice themselves as he fills his mug with caffeine. “What’s the plan in the event of an avalanche?” the question leaving Lou’s lips, only the sound of his mug filling to answer his question. Curious, the rest of the group glance around the kitchen table, looking to each other silently as if the question could be answered in such way. “No one?” Lou responds, his back still turned to the quiet group, all of which stare upon his back. “We- we’d get to higher ground” Sebastian replies, stumbling over his response at first, his apprehensive tone doing little to stoke confidence in Lou’s heart, “or we’d leave all together.” “Where would you go?” Lou responds, Sebastian’s voice the only one used to answer his questions, the remainder of the group remaining content with staring on silently. “We’d go to Swartz Bay, where Adrian’s brother-in-law lives” Sebastian responds, his eyes squinting with suspicion, “why?” “Why are you only telling us this now!?” Sonya erupts, storming through the kitchen as Lou and Sebastian leave, the remainder of the group following shortly behind. “Because I was only told late last night, and I wasn’t thrilled about throwing this on you before the sun even came up” Lou replies, his hand still cradling the coffee mug, “and, with this display, I think I made the right choice.” “We can’t leave now! None of us are ready!” Rudy exclaims, his arms thrown out at his sides, consumed with anger. “Everyone calm the hell down” Sebastian responds, the entire group stood behind him whilst Lou stands at his front, “we might not need to leave at all.” His eyes squinting, Lou watches Sebastian turn toward him, a desperate look in the older man’s face. “Lou, what are the chances your friend isn’t giving you the right information?” Sebastian inquires, watching Lou’s face sour, the younger man almost insulted by the question. “Theo wouldn’t lie to me” Lou replies, confident in the words he speaks to be true. “Okay, that’s fine- I’m not asking if he would or not” Sebastian responds, his voice calm, his tone composed, and his posture contained, “I’m only asking if there’s a chance the information he’s getting isn’t accurate?” Sucking in a deep breath, Lou’s eyes redirect themselves to the floor, a gesture Rudy notices immediately. “He’s not sure!” Rudy quips, his voice immediately lowered at Sebastian’s command. “This is not the time, Rudy” Sebastian explains, staring into the man’s face, “keep your thoughts to yourself for a minute.” “No, he’s right- I’m not sure” Lou replies, a rare instance of doubt carried in his face, “Theo said she’s yet to be proven wrong, and I believe him. But even with that, I don’t know what her track record is.” Falling silent, the room begins to grow cold, those scattered around it’s spacious living centre left to simmer in their shared uncertainty. “Alright, this is not ideal” Sebastian mutters, the eyes of some taking to him whilst others remain adrift, “but we need to work with what we have.” Refusing to waste a second, Sebastian steps into the middle of the room and climbs atop a coffee table, his voice bouncing off the interior of the roof’s slanted layout. “We need to assume an avalanche will be coming if we’re going to do this right” Sebastian explains, the few eyes that ventured elsewhere now returning toward his direction, “this isn’t my decision to make, so I’m going to leave it to everyone else.” With a sigh, Lou sinks into a leather chair and crosses one leg over the other, allowing fate to take its course. “Everyone’s going to get one vote, and whatever wins, we’ll go through with” Sebastian concludes, rolling his sights over everyone around him, “either we stay here and take our chances, or we’ll trust what we’ve been told and visit our neighbours at the bottom of the mountain.” “I’m staying here- I don’t care what the rest of you vote for” Rudy responds, returning to the kitchen immediately. “I’m sorry, but I’m gonna agree with dad” Sonya replies, looking toward Courtney, who stands in the corner of the room with her arms folded, “I vote for staying.” With a nod, Sebastian looks down at Lou, the experienced survivor’s expression unchanged. “I trust Theo, I already told you that” Lou responds, leaving his vote at that. Though his eyes move away from Sebastian, Lou remains in the older man’s eyesight throughout the following silence. “Then I trust Lou” Sebastian finally replies, surprising Lou enough to bring his eyes back toward him, a confused look on the young man’s face. “That’s two votes against two votes” Sebastian explains, watching Rudy return through the kitchen doors. “I vote with Lou” Marta calls out from the opposite side of the room, no reluctance in her voice at all. “That’s two votes against three” Sebastian responds, looking into the ambivalent expression on Courtney’s face. “I can’t leave my family behind, Sebastian” Courtney replies, a frown on her face as she shakes her head, the need to answer visibly paining her, “I vote for staying.” His lips puckered, Sebastian’s hands press against his hips as he looks around the room, his face unsure. “So, that’s a tie” Sebastian mumbles, his irresolute conclusion corrected by his seated friend. “Not yet, it’s not” Lou responds, throwing himself out of his seat once more, gesturing for Sebastian to join him as he approaches the front door, “we still have one more vote to count.” = RISE and REVOLT is created by Zachary Serra, all rights to the series from Season 1 onwards belong to Zachary Serra and his entity of Pacer1 = “Why can’t the two of you just accept that the vote is inconclusive!?” Rudy shouts, the sun rising high enough to convert morning to noon. “Sebastian said everyone gets a vote, so I’m going to make sure everyone gets a vote” Lou replies, continuing to approach the warehouse with his coffee mug in tow. “I’m not letting you release this son of a bitch!” Rudy exclaims, angrily charging through the snow before placing himself against the door, refusing to move. Rolling his eyes, Lou holds his elbow out to stop Sebastian from taking any further steps. “Hold onto my coffee, please” Lou politely asks, resting his mug in the man’s grasp. “I’m not going to give you much of a choice, Rudy” Lou’s attention redirects as his announcement is made. “You don’t scare me, Lou” Rudy responds, his deep voice gravelly in nature. “I don’t expect to, Rudy” Lou replies, sliding his pinky into the sleeve of his jacket, from which he retrieves a small, concealed blade. “One trick you’ll learn as time passes is to always have something up your sleeve” Lou explains with a shrug, “it’s the key to never being at a disadvantage.” Scowling at Lou, Rudy standing his ground as Sonya and Courtney linger nearby, “you don’t have the balls.” Taking this comment to heart, Lou stares at Rudy’s face, his grasp growing firm whilst his threat grows empty. “Dad, you need to move out of the way” Courtney remarks, surprising the entire group by stepping forward, arguing against her father’s wishes. “Courtney, now is not the time to-” Rudy begins to reply, adamant in his position before Sebastian cuts him off. “You told me grow a pair and make the decisions for this group last night, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do” Sebastian explains, returning the hot beverage to Lou’s hand, “now, I order you to step aside.” “This is not what I meant by leading!” Rudy shouts back, matching the angered tone Sebastian presents to him. “Of course it’s not, because it doesn’t align with what you want” Sebastian responds, silencing Rudy once more, “well, it’s time you grew a pair of balls yourself. You want me in charge? Fine- I’ve got no problem with that. But you do not get the right to take that back once what you asked for no longer works in your favour.” Nostrils flaring, Rudy’s wide eyes linger on Sebastian, his blood simmering with the same frustration that consumes him. “Now, as I ordered you to, move out of the fucking way” Sebastian repeats, stepping into Rudy’s face without reticence. Only the snapping winds and falling snow making a peep, the two men stare at each other, waiting for their respective opposition to fold. “Everyone step away from the storage unit right now” a third, very commanding voice declares from afar, the eyes of each resident taken toward the forest. “I beg of you, for your own sake, do not make us shoot you” Theo repeats, an abundance of men, all dressed in black and armed to the teeth, emerging from the same treeline closely behind him. “What the hell is this!?” Lou exclaims, taking the lead as he steps through the snow. “It’s the afternoon, and you haven’t entered camp yet” Theo replies, dressed in the same black pants, black sweater and black trenchcoat as the unfamiliar faces accompanying him, “we’re here to escort you off the premises.” “You said we could stay here if we chose to!” Lou responds, an enraged vigour carried in his response. “No, what I said was ‘if you weren’t at the camp by the time noon came, we’ll assume you’d chosen to stay here’” Theo replies, continuing to approach the small group just as his company does, “I never said I’d let you all get yourselves killed out here.” “We’re not leaving!” Rudy exclaims, still pressing his back against the storage unit’s entrance. “You don’t have a say in the matter” Theo responds, a rifle hanging from the snap fitted around his neck, “this is not your call to make.” “Don’t you tell me what I do, or don’t, have a say in!” Rudy barks, continuing to keep his back against the door as Sebastian steps aside, “I am a Canadian citizen, and I am entitled to the rights of-!” His declaration interrupted by gunfire, Rudy throws himself into the snow, and joins his group in ducking for cover. “Enough! Stand down!” Lou shouts, listening to the bullets ricochet off the large storage unit. “Stand down, Ned” Theo calmly orders, the gunman beside him easing his finger off the trigger the moment his order is given. “What the fuck was that for!?” Lou exclaims, the first to angrily emerge from the snow. “It was the reminder your friends have seemingly forgotten about- or maybe never been introduced to” Theo replies, stepping away from his fellow soldiers as he approaches Lou, a grin spread from one side of his face to the other. “What is it we’re being reminded of?” Sebastian responds, the next to emerge from the slush-covered ground. “That you either make the rules, or you follow the rules” Theo replies, finally stood before his one-armed, heavily-bearded friend, “if you’re not in control, you’ll follow the rules that have been set for you.” Turning his attention toward Rudy, Theo meets the older man’s violent expression with a smile, taking glee in the position he’s come into. “You’re not a Canadian citizen- only a person” Theo explains, trailing his eyes along the scattered cabin residents, “and considering you’re not the one with automatic rifles hung across your chests, you’re not the ones making the rules.” Allowing his statement to set in, Theo lets a few seconds pass before turning back to Lou, an apologetic look on his face. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be more clear” Theo responds, his head slightly hung, seemingly out of shame, “I was hoping you’d choose us for yourself.” Outraged, Lou answers by staring at Theo silently, refusing to give his friend the response that Sebastian offers anyway. “He did” Sebastian explains, his voice carrying the weight of defeat as Theo’s attention is taken to him, “we put it up to a vote, and Lou didn’t need anything more than a second. His vote was for you.” Even more ashamed, Theo’s head hangs the rest of the way, his eyes drifting to the ground before forcing themselves back into Lou’s face, looking at the man he’d poorly viewed. Unable to speak, Theo gives Lou a depressing nod before turning away, bowing in Ned’s direction as he ventures off into the forest. “If you do not follow these instructions, you will be met with consequences” Ned explains, leading the united force upon the small group, “all of you will get on your knees, hand over the weapons you have, and be led back to our camp.” “Everyone listen to what they’re telling you” Lou orders, cutting Ned off without second thought, his words guided to those he stands at the forefront of, “they can kill you if they so choose, so don’t come of the idea that you’re invincible- because you’re not.” Preferring to lead by example, Lou drops to his knees, hurling his hidden blade into the nearby snow before taking a swig from his mug. “Can’t we get some of our stuff from inside?” Courtney speaks up, careful not to sound uncooperative. “We can’t take those chances, I’m sorry” Ned replies, appreciating the phrasing of her question enough to answer with respect, showing compassion. “We’ve got one more person locked inside the freezer with a padlock” Lou explains, taking Courtney’s cooperative approach, “it shouldn’t be that difficult to-” The glance he takes at the freezer unit convincing his words to trail off, Lou watches Rudy dig through the snow in search of his blade, moving with the silence to remain undetected. Pushing himself back to his feet, Lou dashes across the frontline the moment Rudy finds the small dagger, not uttering a word. Fueled by his instincts, Rudy lunges at the farthest soldier, who pays no mind to the events he assumes to be controlled. “Move!” Lou shouts, locking eyes with the black-suited figure at the last moment, Rudy’s blade driving through the air with obvious intent. Hurling his own hand forward, Lou’s mug leaves the comfort of his cold palm, inevitably shattering over the side of Rudy’s face at the last moment, the dagger-wielding hand the older man throws forward colliding with the snow. “Ah! you little shit!” Rudy clamours as he crawls to his feet, eventually forced back into the dirt beneath the weight of multiple nearby guards. “You son of a bitch!” Rudy persists, struggling to break free from the men restraining him while Lou looks on with a smirk. Catching the breath he lost during the sprint, Lou quietly comes to a realisation, returning to the man he and Courtney had spoken to with dignity. “We have plenty in that cabin of value, and as Courtney pointed out, we’d like it back” Lou explains, his eyebrows furrowed as he gasps for air, “I just did you a solid, now we’d like you to do the same for us.” Purposefully quiet, Sebastian and the rest of the group watch on, playing the role of spectator to the conversation being had. “Lee and Theo have had decent things to say about you, Lou” Ned responds, turning his attention to Courtney, “the two of you can have one hour.” | “Welcome home” Lee remarks, watching Lou and Courtney step through the entrance with bags full of their things. “I don’t think the rest take to that as kindly as you might assume” Lou replies, setting his bags on the ground, the rifle and prosthetic case remaining draped over his shoulder. “I see you’ve convinced the guards to let you bring some things along” Theo jokes, watching Sebastian, Sonya, Marta and a shivering Adrian carry the same, “make that all of you- how’d you make that happen?” “He wields a coffee cup like a pro” Courtney responds, the appreciative look she holds on her face different from the snarls shared amongst the rest of their new arrivals, “thank you for taking us in.” Confused, yet obliged, Lee responds with kindness, “the pleasure is ours.” Echoed through the forest, the sounds of drilling and hammering originate from one side of the camp. “Preparing for the worst?” Lou inquires, choosing to stand closer to Lee than he does Theo. “We’re not in any better of a position than you guys were” Lee replies, watching his subordinates erect halved tree trunks along a long line of trees, a wall set up in the direction of Lou’s cabin. “Your cabin is in the middle of an open field, so when an avalanche comes, there’s nothing you can do to stop it” Theo explains, “but we’re at the bottom of a mountain, so a wall is much more reasonable here.” “And you think that’s going to work?” Lou responds, his tone slightly less warm as he looks to Theo, almost challenging the man to defend his statement. “We’ve been needing to put up walls anyway, so it better work” Lee instead replies, letting Theo continue to silently stare at his friend, “when we need to, we make do with what we have.” Nodding, Lou flashes the camp’s leaders a smile, turning back to the path his prior group had taken. “I’m going to go get settled in” Lou mutters beneath his breath, reclaiming his bags as he follows the sounds of faint arguing. “He’s obviously not too happy with you, Theo” Lee remarks, coupling both hands behind his back, “what exactly did you do up at that cabin?” Sighing through his nose, Theo frowns as his head shakes. “I expected him to choose them over us, admitted to it, and was wrong” Theo admits as Norman passes by, overhearing the man’s confession. “You might not be” Norman responds, taking the attention of both leaders as they turn to face him, “he looks pretty ‘at home’ with the rest of those people.” “I’ve known Lou for years, he wouldn’t choose strangers over Lee and I- or over his friends” Theo replies, again finding Norman’s reluctance. “People change just as time does. You can’t be sure the Lou you knew before all of this happened is the same Lou you’re getting now” Norman responds, stepping between the two men, though his words remain directed at Theo, “I should only need to ask you this once, but does this Lou still look like the Lou you’re used to?” “Lou is, and always will be, the Lou that I know. He always has been, and that’s not going to change” Theo replies, his expression showing his conviction, “now, I’d suggest you return to whatever it was you were doing.” Looking at Theo with a disapproving look, Norman’s pulls away, walking off whilst popping the joints in his neck. | “I know it’s not exactly a king’s feast, but it’s the best we can do with what we have” Lee explains, sat around a table with Theo, Ned, Norman, Lou and Sebastian’s group as a steaming plate is passed around. “We already have a garden set up for the spring, so, in a year’s time, we should be fully self-sustainable” Lee explains, watching plastic plates be set before each member of the table, “until then, spam-and-egg sandwiches with a side of corn is the best we can offer.” His eyes looking at his plate unfavourably, Sebastian glances back toward Lee’s end of the table, where the man, as well as Ned, Theo, Norman and Lou, already begin to eat. “So, you have a meteorologist in this camp, but no one who can cook?” Rudy responds, genuinely bewildered. “We don’t have an architect either, but we do have three high school janitors” Lee replies, the knuckle of his thumb wiping at the grease on his bottom lip, “life isn’t always fair.” Hesitant to eat, Sebastian’s group begins picking at the corn on the sides of their plate, enjoying what they can about the meal. “Theo told me the introduction you had earlier today wasn’t up to the standards we had hoped for, and I’d like to apologise for that while I can” Lee explains, sat at one head of the table whilst Sebastian occupies the other. “Forcing us to leave our home wasn’t the standard you wanted to set?” Rudy responds, still carrying his earlier bitterness. “No, it was not” Lee replies, not being sidetracked by the man’s tone, “look, we don’t typically interact with outsiders. I’ll be completely honest, if we ever cross paths, it either ends with them being put to work or killed.” The revelation prompting the group’s already seldom-used plastic forks to stop completely, the camp’s new residents await Lee’s continuation. “The fact is, we’re breaking our own rules letting you in here. Lou trusts you enough to stick around, so we’re making exceptions” Lee explains, wiping the grease from his hands, “but, regardless of what it took to bring you here, we saved your lives today. If it were anyone else, we would have left you to die, and I’m not going to deny that.” Uncomfortable, Sebastian’s group all look away, a gesture Lee calmly attempts to change. “I’m not proud of that fact, believe me. But we have our reasons for not trusting outsiders” Lee explains, Lou’s teeth resting on the sandwich in his hand, waiting for Lee to finish his thought before taking another bite, “we’ve had people go out and never come back. Hell, we’ve got one missing right now! We can’t just blindly trust people like we used to.” His ears perking up, Lou lowers his sandwich back to the plate before him, his eyes casually glancing to the other end of the table, where he finds Adrian glancing around, overcome by worry. “We wish things were better than they are, but those wishes aren’t coming true any time soon” Lee explains, continuing to speak as Adrian’s eyes find Lou, the fear he trembles with beneath the weight of bringing tears to his eyes, “for now, we look out for each other, and that’s all we can afford to do.” “What’s the missing guy’s name?” Lou responds, letting a few quiet seconds pass before raising his question. “Why?” Lee replies, not thinking much of the question. “Is it Monty?” Lou responds, wiping his hands of the grease as Lee’s inner circle immediately stop their chewing, their collective look travelling upon Lou. “Ho- how did-?” Lee mumbles as Lou fumbles through his back pocket, nonchalantly tossing a leather wallet across the table, watching it fall into Lee’s lap. “Fuck” Adrian quietly whispers to himself, his lip quivering as his foot taps on the floor. “What’s wrong, dad?” Marta whispers, surprised to see tears falling from the man’s eyes. “That’s the kid that got caught in the beartrap” Adrian replies, his wide eyes stoking worry in Marta’s heart. “He’s dead” Lou mutters aloud, locking eyes with a distant Adrian once more, Silvano’s killer holding the expression of a man aware of his final moments. Without a word, Lee looks up from the identification card in the missing survivor’s wallet, his mouth agape. Slowly leaving his chair, Norman subtly takes his hand to the rifle he’s laid beneath the table, preparing for any sudden moves. With a deep breath, Adrian begins to stand out from his seat, preparing to meet his justice until Lou’s follow-up astonishes him. “I killed him” Lou confesses, looking Lee in the eyes without remorse, or repugnance, “he was one of the four.” “One of what four?” Ned responds, a chillingly stern tone taken to his question. “One of the four I confessed to killing out of mercy” Lou replies, looking Ned in the eyes as he answers. “I’d been hunting before I met Sebastian and the rest. They had bear traps they never used, and I didn’t want them to get rusty going unused- so I’d set them up in the field and hope the deer would make a misstep” Lou explains, his eyes finally lowering back to the table, “but your guy ended up getting caught in it instead.” Returning to his seat, Norman lays his gun back upon the ground, less threatened than he was moments prior. “He started screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night, so we ran out and tried to help him” Lou persists, putting on the most genuine look of distress he can muster, “his leg was- it was bad.” Returning to his seat, Adrian finds himself helpless to do anything less than watch Lou take the fall for him. “Bottom line is, we amputated the little bit that was still on, disinfected it as best as we could, wrapped it up with whatever we had left” Lou explains, rushing through what remains of his story, “his heart stopped, it took six minutes to restart it, and I knew as well as Sonya did that he likely went under too long.” His head hanging as grief overcomes him, Lee allows Lou to continue speaking, holding back judgment whilst Theo, Ned and Norman seem to take an understanding to the story. “I didn’t know if he’d still be suffering even if he were brain dead, and he would have been a sitting duck if he ever woke up again” Lou concludes, placing his back against his seat as his eyes meet with Lee’s, “so I put a slug in his head, wrapped him in a blanket, and buried him in the front yard.” Pushing his plate away, Theo presses his hand to his mouth as he departs the table, unable to remain. Much the same, Ned follows Norman away from the table, a departing word shared with their guest on his way out, “thank you for telling us.” Pressing his lips together, Lou nods in Ned’s direction before turning back to Lee, the last of the camp’s leadership left seated. “I gave him the mercy he deserved, and I would have told you sooner had I known” Lou explains, a somber ring to his words, “I can take you to the body if you want a proper burial. Struggling to hold back his emotions, Lee bows his head to Lou as he leaves his seat. “This is the truth you’re telling me?” Lee responds, his fingers pressing firmly into the leather wallet he holds, “on Ally’s name, this is the truth?” Looking Lee in the eyes, Lou stands from his seat, placing his hand upon Lee’s shoulder. “On Ally’s name” Lou recites, watching the tear well in Lee’s eye, “this is the truth.” Letting a deep exhale leave his nose, Lee nods before turning to leave, walking into the night as Lou watches, on waiting for the man to leave his view before claiming his seat at the head of the table. Looking at the seven survivors he’s now left with, Lou places his index finger against the table’s top, speaking clearly. “You’ve got no more excuses. There’s no more cabin, there’s no more voting, there’s no more waiting for safety to come with open arms” Lou explains, the faces of those he speaks to illuminated by just one candle in the table’s centre, “this is the world now, and like it or not, you will live in it, or you will die in it. No exceptions.” Standing once more, Lou takes his plate and joins Lee’s people in leaving the table, finishing his dinner as he returns to the group’s communal tent. Sharing silent looks at each other, Sebastian and his group begin to recognize the change that today has brought, making peace with the world they’ve chosen to enter the way they now have. == RISE and REVOLT == “We should be a few hundred feet out from the house” Lou remarks, the second end of the rope restraining Adrian tied around Lou’s own waist. “How far is that in kilometres?” Marta responds, setting her increasing nerves aside as to appear confident, her eyes turning with the rest of her head toward Lou. “Uh, a few- I think?” Lou responds, uncharacteristically uncertain, the look he gives Marta proving this.
“We’re about a hundred metres out” Adrian replies, walking at the front of the group, his hands tied around his back. “I don’t know your weird systems of measurement” Lou mumbles, setting the conversation down as if it were an expensive toy. Overcome by silence, the group walks another few metres before Adrian’s voice inevitably reemerges from the frozen air. “I can’t go back to the group, Lou” Adrian mutters, unable to find the one-armed man when looking over his shoulder, the unwavering refusal to care still carried like a badge on Lou’s chest. “You have to answer for what you did” Lou responds, his tone stolid, commiseration not held for Marta’s father, “however your group chose to do that, you brought it amongst yourself.” “No, you brought it upon me!” Adrian replies, his voice not raising to a yell, but rather holding a vitriolic force, “you put that gun in my hand, and you told me to shoot!” Planting his feet, Lou jolts his body backwards, the rope around his waist yanking Adrian toward the ground, where he lay helplessly in the snow. “Lou!” Marta exclaims, her worries calmed by her mentor’s hand, extended toward her as to request her worry be set aside. His rebar pipe falling from the small of his shoulder, Lou dangles a sharpened edge right at Adrian’s throat, his eyes staring into those of the man below him. “I’m not sure what it will take you to see that this world isn’t kind to the weak, but I really don’t care” Lou explains, gently pressing the point against Adrian’s throat, “but the world is full of sick people and little help, that same kind of help that allows me to threaten puncturing you with my rebar pipe to no consequence.” His point proven swiftly, Lou steps away, returning to Marta’s side as the older man brings himself to two feet, carrying on with their collective journey. “Is there anything you care about?” Adrian calls back, another few seconds of quiet interrupted by his voice. “I care about finding my friends” Lou responds, his pipe tucked beneath his arm, “and I’ve been saying that since the first day you met me.” Wincing, Adrian’s rosy cheeks rise with his squinted eyes, his head tilting from one side to the other. “They’re going to kill me” Adrian whispers to himself, subdued by nature, but loud enough for the company that tails him to overhear. “Sebastian wouldn’t do that” Marta replies, her father’s lack of confidence in her remarks prevailing. “He wanted me to muder a man in cold blood” Adrian responds, snarling as his head turns over his shoulder, “I don’t know what to expect from him anymore.” “Silvano isn’t dead because Sebastian made you take responsibility for your actions, he’s dead because you fired a shotgun at his head” Lou replies, the words silencing the older man, “that’s not on any of us.” Quivering, Adrian looks beyond the trees, the cabin finally entering view, his anxiety spiking. “You can’t do this to me!” Adrian pleas, unable to keep the few remaining strands of his composure intact, “Marta needs her father!” “Marta’s going to be just fine” Lou responds, his calm voice unchanged from the moment they left Lee’s camp. The sunset’s glare bouncing off the glass front doors ahead, Adrian senses time tick away rapidly, his bones shaking as an assortment of figures emerge from the home’s warmth. “Marta” Adrian whispers, teeth clattering together, “look away.” “You motherfucker!” Sebastian grunts, an anger coursing through him the likes no one in the group had been familiar with. “Look after Marta for me, please!” Adrian shouts as Sebastian hurries at him, running through the snow with overwhelming rage. “Don’t do this he-!” Adrian pleads, Sebastian’s fist slamming into the side of his face before the thought can be finished. Unfastening the rope from around his waist, Lou hands Adrian’s restraints to the cabin’s owner, veins popping from Sebastian’s neck as he wraps the thick threads around Adrian’s throat. “Please don’t hurt him!” Marta pleads, her arm grabbed by Lou as she steps forward, keeping her from interfering. “Whatever this is, it has to happen” Lou whispers, the young woman looking back to her father, reluctantly staying by Lou’s side. “What are you doing with him, Sebastian!?” Rudy calls out, following the trail Adrian leaves behind, dragged with the noose in Sebastian’s grasp. “Stay back, Rudy!” Sebastian warns, easily overcoming the struggle put on by the rope’s prisoner. “Seb’, please!” Adrian groans, his lungs barely graced by the presence of oxygen as his back dampens, soaked by the snow on his way to the storage unit’s entrance. Suddenly ripped to his feet, Adrian hands are released from the knot coupling them together, his chest immediately forced to the warehouse’s concrete floor. Rolling onto his back, Adrian stares at the freezer’s door, Sebastian’s figure blocking the small amount of sunshine pouring in from the heavens. “I should’ve listened to Lou sooner, and I can admit that- but you can’t yet” Sebastian explains, his fingers wrapping around the door’s handle. “Sebastian, please” Adrian pleads, his throat burned and marked, voice raspy and frail. “I only decided to keep you alive because Marta needs her father” Sebastian explains, beginning to close the door on Silvano’s killer, “but I’ll make sure her father isn’t the same coming out of this freezer as he was entering it.” Leaping to his feet, Adrian races to beat the closing door, his chest slamming into the metal finish as the door locks. = RISE and REVOLT is created by Zachary Serra, all rights to the series from Season 1 onwards belong to Zachary Serra and his entity of Pacer1 = “Welcome to your new room” Sebastian greets, his welcoming tone returned as he guides Lou toward Adrian’s room. “I see you’ve thought the warehouse jail through enough to move my things in” Lou jokes, entering the room to find his two bags left atop the bed, “but I do struggle to see where you plan on this ending.” His eyes pulling away, Sebastian’s glance toward the floor dawns a realization upon the new house-dweller. “By the looks of your face, I guess that makes two of us” Lou finishes, turning toward his belongings. “I wanted him alive for Marta” Sebastian replies, a long, green sweater worn, it’s sleeves barely reaching his hands, “if it weren’t for her, I would’ve told you to do whatever you thought was best.” Nodding, Lou lets one bag loosely fall to the ground, resting just beside his nightstand. “Why would you have trusted my decision?” Lou responds, curiously inspecting the second bag, its pouch flipping upwards to reveal the contents inside. “Because I didn’t want to make one myself” Sebastian replies, speaking to Lou’s back as his attention is kept with his belongings, “I trusted both you and Courtney to make a better decision than me. To be a better leader than me.” Removing his class photo and a few shirts, Lou rummages through his own bag whilst Sebastian speaks. “I don’t want to be your leader” Lou responds sternly, a desire already voiced plenty. “I know you didn’t, which is why I chose not to put the choice in your hands” Sebastian replies, Lou’s back still turned toward him, “and Courtney refused to make it, so I knew the choice was mine. It had to be at that point.” “Good, now get used to-” Lou responds, his preoccupation turning into rapid realisation, his eyes widening as they fall upon a pocket near the back of his bag. Sliding his map from the canvas slot, Lou’s face turns into a muted disdain, his breathing growing steady. “Who went through my shit?” Lou inquires, looking toward the window in the back of the room as he raises the question. “I did” Sebastian replies, answering with confidence despite the angry reflexion in Lou’s voice. “Why would you do that?” Lou responds, turning around with glaring eyes, his face scrunched up. “Because I’ve started to realise some things now that I’ve become familiar with the world around me” Sebastian replies, tucking his hands into the pockets on either side of his pants, “and one of those things I’ve noticed is, despite the interactions we’ve had, I don’t know who you are.” “I’ve hidden nothing from any of you” Lou quickly responds, the speed of his response matched by the rapidity of Sebastian’s retort. “And yet, you’ve said so little that I know nothing about you- other than you’re young, you’ve seen this world first hand, and you’ve had your struggles to get here” Sebastian returns, leaning his body against the doorframe beside himself, “that is, until I went through your bags.” His lip curled, a shadow is cast upon one side of Lou’s face, the other revealing a disgusted expression beneath the caliginous light in the bedroom’s corner. “Have you found what you were looking for, then?” Lou wonders aloud, closing the distance between Sebastian and himself as he steps closer, “the life I once had? The beach I washed ashore on? The people I’m looking for? Was it all you could have ever dreamed to find?” A mocking voice given to Sebastian, Lou waits for his answer, staring the man in the eyes as seconds pass. “I see how you made it this far, yes” Sebastian replies, the curious phrasing peaking Lou’s interest, “I’m assuming those people, the ones without the marks over their pictures, are the people you’re looking for.” Grimacing, Lou controls the frustration coursing through his body, mustering the will to remain silent. “Not having them here gives you something to fight for- or in this case, people to fight for” Sebastian explains, a sad emotion emerging in his speech, “as long as they’re out there, and you hold onto the hope that you’ll be reunited with them, you’ll always have a reason to keep living- to keep fighting.” His burning exasperation quashed in favour of a sombre despondency, Lou stares into Sebastian’s fallen eyes, the dread in his face visible. “I hope you find your friends, but not before you find something else to live for” Sebastian explains, returning his sight to the young man stood before him, bathed in a hushed orange glow, “the hard part comes when there’s nothing left to keep moving for.” Nothing left to say, Lou allows Sebastian to pull back into the hallway, a feigned smile coming over his face again. “Goodnight, Lou” Sebastian whispers, leaving the young man to himself as he enters into the dark corridor beyond. | “I hope you’re making the right choice” Rudy mutters, approaching his eldest daughter with a warm mug of cocoa, her seat taken near the patio doors, watching the snowflakes fall through the cold glass. “About Adrian, or choosing to consume this cocoa?” Courtney responds, graciously accepting the warm beverage with a smile, her father sinking into a beanbag chair beside her. “About trusting Sebastian” Rudy replies, his hand held up, signalling his refusal to pick an argument, “I’m not here out of malice.” Her reluctance falling aside, Courtney rests back into her chair, waiting for her father to speak. “I’ve been worried about him since last night” Rudy explains, speaking softly as his lips touch the mug’s marshmallow-covered brim, “he hasn’t seemed like himself since then.” Gently blowing on the beverage, Courtney responds with confidence. “He finally realises what’s waiting for us beyond this cabin” Courtney replies, finally pressing the mug to her lips, “I can’t fault him for not wanting to condone everyone’s complacency anymore.” Resting her mug on the floor, Courtney kicks her feet upon the radiator, her father’s voice calming her in spite of the conversation they add to. “We all understand the world outside is dangerous, but we shouldn’t need to be constantly reminded of that” Rudy explains, his eyebrows narrowing, “since Lou’s come around, we’ve buried three people in the front yard, two of whom, were our friends.” Turning her head with squinted eyes, Courtney refutes her father’s claims. “We aren’t being reminded of it, we’re being presented with it” Courtney responds, her right palm held over the mug, the steam that rises warming her hand. “You saw mom in her last moments, and you saw her when she came back. That’s going to happen to all of us” Courtney continues, her father’s silent shake of the head proving the denial she once confronted him about, “and it’s only a matter of time before something comes down on us, and this resort we’ve enjoyed comes crumbling down.” “You can’t be thinking that way” Rudy replies, interrupted before he can finish the thought. “No, dad, you can’t keep thinking we’ll always be safe here” Courtney responds, her voice still low, but braved with her passion, “and if you keep looking at Lou, or Sebastian, or me with this thought that we’re being too pessimistic, and need to take it down a notch, you’re going to get yourself killed, and you’re going to get Sonya killed, and you’re going to make what I had to do pointless.” Hanging his head, Rudy’s eyes fall upon his lap, the thoughts that run through his head pushed aside once his daughter gets up to leave. “You can’t be the big, loveable teddy bear you want to be, dad” Courtney says, departing with the mug in her hand, “so please, figure that out before I have to kill my father’s zombie, too.” Pain on his face, Rudy watches his daughter leave, suppressing himself from calling out for his daughter’s return. | His eyes peeling open, Lou groans through silent air, unsure of the ruckus sounds that had awoken him. “Lou, open up!” a young voice mutters from the other side of the door, their knuckles again trapping against his door. With a sigh, Lou throws the covers over himself and drags himself to the door, punching at the wooden frame multiple times before finally grasping the knob. “Don’t you weird people still go to sleep at night?” Lou grunts, stepping aside to allow Marta entry. “Someone’s outside” Marta replies, disobeying the question in favour of her intended point, the minimal moonlight peering through what were once her father’s bedroom blinds displaying Lou’s increasingly concerned face. “What?” the young man responds, the base of his palms wiping the crumbs from his eyes, “why aren’t you telling Sebastian this?” “Because he looks like your friend from earlier” Marta replies, pulling Lou’s arm toward the room’s window, their eyes taking to the snowy field, where Theo stands with his hands folded, alone and exposed to the elements. “It’s good to see you again, Lou” Theo greets, his friend strolling around the home’s corner, dressed for the cold night. “That is not the greeting you give someone when you stalk them all the way home, Theo” Lou responds, throwing a puffy jacket over his shoulders, “I have too many goddamn questions.” “Good, don’t ask any of them. I’m not here to answer questions, I’m here to give you a warning” Theo replies, straight-faced and assured, a gesture Lou finds strange. “You’re- what?” Lou responds, walking to his friend until they’re separated by mere inches. “I followed your footprints through the snow, that’s the only question I have time to answer” Theo explains, his rifle carried over his shoulder, “I must say, I was really hoping they wouldn’t lead to this side of the mountain.” “Why were you following any of my-?” Lou begins to ask, stopping himself short as another question inches into his mind, “what’s wrong with this side of the mountain?” With a frown, Theo slowly reaches into his back pocket, where a folded paper is taken into his hands. “Of everyone that escaped the Euronam with Lee, one of those people was a meteorologist” Theo explains, handing Lou the folded paper, “her only job at the camp has been to predict storms and their aftermaths.” Unfolding the note, Lou reads the various ramblings, descriptions and shapes written in various pen colours. “Storm hits at morning, increases in severity through afternoon, avalanche expected from-” Lou reads aloud, muttering just loud enough for Theo to make out the words spoken, “-from the western slope.” “Your cabin is set up directly in the path of an avalanche she expects to hit tomorrow afternoon” Theo explains, speaking with dismal timbre, “she’s predicted dozens of these things to a tee- and she’s never been wrong.” Letting the paper fold itself, Lou extends the note back toward his friend’s reach. “I know you take your time before making decisions, so please don’t think this is a ploy to get you to join our camp” Theo explains, “if I could give you that time, I would- but I can’t.” Returning the note to his pocket, Theo begins stepping away, retracing his steps backwards. “Lee and I pitched another tent down at the camp, and we invite you and everyone else in that cabin” Theo explains, a smooth hope held within his voice, “if you’re not there by the morning turns to noon, we’ll assume you’ve chosen to stay up here.” Turning around, Theo ventures off, returning to the forest with his hands tucked in his pockets. “Make the right call, Lou!” Theo exclaims, his voice echoing through the dense forest, “you need to be alive if we’re going to find our friends.” Watching the man’s figure disappear into the darkness, Lou pulls himself back the way he came, returning to the home shaken. “What did he want?” Marta inquires, her question raised the moment her one-armed pal steps through the cabin’s entrance. Taking his coat off in silence, Lou hangs it upon a rack and kicks his boots off, still yet to say a word. “Hey, Lou?” Marta whispers, her hand tugging at the man’s shoulder, “what did that guy want?” His mouth agape, Lou stares at the dark home, the lights in the living room turned out for the evening. “Nothing” Lou replies, yet to look the woman in the eyes, “nothing worth getting into tonight.” Strolling off into the darkness, Lou leaves Marta behind as he returns to his room, the woman having picked up on his reluctance to talk. | Sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in her hands, Courtney listens to footsteps emerge from a bedroom closeby, a cheap grin coming over her face. Her slippers tapping along the ground, Sonya marches upon the tiled floors, instinctively reaching for the refrigerators handle. “Why are you still awake?” Courtney calmly wonders, the light-deprived corner she sits in giving the question a horrifying centre. “Motherfucker!” Sonya blurts out, slamming into the wall as she leaps back, startled by the sound hauntings are claimed from. Her own hand pressed against her chest, Sonya calms her breathing from the startle that had unnerved her. “Why would you do that?” Sonya responds, eyes pressed together, head tilted toward the sky. “I thought it would be funny” Courtney replies, another swig of warm espresso lifted toward her lips, “and it was, it really was funny.” Letting out a groan, Sonya lets the fridge close behind her, walking over to a seat across the table from her older sister. “I could have had a gun” Sonya remarks, the laugh that Courtney responds with not the intended reaction. “What? I could’ve shot you!” Sonya reiterates, still not pulling Courtney from the humour she takes. ‘The day you learn how to fire a gun is the day water catches fire” Courtney responds, setting her cup down, “and even if you shot at me, you’d miss.” Her feet set atop a nearby chair, Sonya lets Courtney poke her fun. “Go ahead and laugh it up, Sully” Sonya replies, her arms folding as the laughter dies down. “I don’t mean to laugh at you sis, it’s just- I-” Courtney stammers, the laughter falling aside as the humour begins to evade her, “-I shouldn’t laugh.” Her peeved expression diminishing, Sonya’s curiosity kicks in. “What’s wrong?” Sonya inquires, seeing the disappointment that comes over her sister’s face. Shaking her head, Courtney tries to hide the worries that encompass her, the inevitable persistence her sister shows rendering the effort pointless. “I’m not oblivious just because I’m tired and hungry, something’s up with you” Sonya explains, the glance Courtney takes in her direction proving that, “what’s going on?” With a sniffle, Courtney wraps her hands around the coffee mug, careful to choose her words properly. “I’m worried about you and dad” Courtney responds, the taciturnity Sonya shows allowing Courtney to finish her thought, “I’m afraid that, when things go wrong, and they will, I won’t be able to protect the two of you.” Holding her head down, Sonya taps her foot on the ground, a concealed smirk appearing on her face. “Courtney, I’m almost twenty-two years old, not six- I know I should start accepting how the world works outside” Sonya explains, her furrowed eyebrows holding steady, “I know we won’t be able to depend on this cabin forever, I just can’t bring myself to jump into your world just yet. I don’t know how to live in your world, and I’m not ready to learn just yet.” “You don’t really have a choice, Sonya” Courtney replies, the proclamation silencing her younger sister, “I mean, what would you do if everything we have disappeared tonight, or tomorrow, or the day after? What happens then?” Shaking her head, Sonya throws her hands up, admitting what Courtney fears. “I don’t know, Court’” Sonya responds, unable to keep herself from laughing, “I don’t know, and you already knew that.” Her head falling into her arms, Courtney distances herself from the topic, returning her lips to the mug’s brim. “I’m sorry I can’t be as willing to stroll into this world, kill zombies all day, and move onto tomorrow like you can. It’s just not who I am” Sonya explains, her sister’s rebuttal cutting her short again. “It’s who you need to be” Courtney replies, her sister falling silent yet again, “you’re as good as dead in this world if you’re anything less.” The air hushed, Sonya looks into her sister’s eyes again, shoulder rising with a shrug as she responds. “I guess I’m as good as dead, then” Sonya replies, letting the response sink in before climbing out of her seat, stepping through the kitchen’s arch, and returning to her room. Again left in the dark, Courtney sits with her thoughts, staring at the wall as the coffee warms her mouth, her feet kicked atop a chair as she remains in silence. | “You’re not asleep, right?” Rudy wonders aloud, peering his head through a crack in the door to Sebastian’s reading room. “No, but I might fall asleep if I read another page” Sebastian responds, his feet gently resting atop a cushioned stool, “-which is not to say the book isn’t fascinating, but is to say my eyes can’t take another goddamn page.” With a chuckle, Rudy stands off to the side of the room, not wanting to make himself comfortable. “Is there something I can help you with?” Sebastian queries, his page folded at the corner, hard-cover closed as his coupled hands rest atop it. “I need you to be in charge of this group” Rudy replies, the air still, no sound more consistent than the two men’s breaths. “I’m not sure what you mean by that” Sebastian responds, his reading glasses pulled gently from atop his face. “I’m telling you that I need you to be in charge of this group” Rudy replies, doubling down on the loose-ended statement, “I don’t mean be the cabin’s owner, I don’t mean choose what we have for dinner tonight, I mean- and I mean this nicely- grow a pair of balls and make the right decision when you need to.” Left silent, Sebastian remains sat in his chair, looking up at Rudy for a few seconds before joining him in standing, a confident look on his face. “Why is this demand just now coming up?” Sebastian responds, hands falling into his pockets. “I’ve seen my daughter act like this before- like she’s a soldier having to check around every corner we pass” Rudy explains, his posture as statue-like as his expression is, “the last time- the only time I’ve seen it, was when we were fleeing Victoria.” “And you think it’s because she wants to be the leader herself?” Sebastian incorrectly replies, Rudy’s eagerness to correct him presenting itself. “No, I think it’s because she believes in you, and you’re giving her a reason not to” Rudy responds, breathing heavily, “I don’t want Courtney thinking she has to look after her sister and I because no one else will. You’re in charge of this house, and you’ve chosen to look after us- so do that.” “Alright, I will” Sebastian replies, not wasting a second in doing so, the unsatisfied expression on Rudy’s face suggesting this conversation isn’t over. “As for the kid, Lou- I’m sure he’s got his head screwed on well enough, but he’s not the leader of this group” Rudy explains, his eyes staring directly into Sebastian’s, “Even if I don’t like everything the kid does, I like the kid and I get why he does it. But I’m sure, just as you are, we’re not the people his heart belongs to.” “If you’re going to keep grilling me until I get the point, why don’t you just take over?” Sebastian responds, his head tilted to the side, “or, better yet, let’s get Adrian at the helm, huh? See how he’d work out?” Nostrils flaring, Rudy brushes Sebastian’s question aside, returning to the original point. “I can keep my daughter from taking your spot up top, but there’s nothing I can do to stop the kid” Rudy explains, “I don’t want my daughters having to bury their father- or each other.” “You want me to be a leader? Fine- get the fuck out of my room” Sebastian replies, leaning forward to match Rudy’s confrontation, “I get the message, loud and clear, now leave.” Accomplished in what he entered with the purpose of doing, Rudy walks away, leaving the way he entered whilst Sebastian stays behind, watching him walk off. Presented with his choices, Sebastian takes his hand to the reading lamp and turns its knob, entrenching himself in midnight’s embrace. == RISE and REVOLT == “You still haven’t answered my question” a perturbed Marta calls out, following closely behind Lou and his reunited friend. “And what question was that, young one?” Theo replies, carrying a rifle across his chest, remaining just a few steps ahead of Lou. “You said you found my father and took him in” Marta responds, pants and jacket soaked, “you never told us why.”
The pleased look on his face dissolving each time their female counterpart speaks, Theo answers without a hint of emotion. “My camp has around fifty people in it, so when you know who everyone is, the people you don’t know blend in poorly” Theo explains, his pants covering thick pads over each knee, “that goes double for people that run around the woods like paranoid loons.” Remaining quiet, Marta leaves the conversation up to those ahead of her, Lou’s silence striking Theo as odd. “What’s up with you, Lou?” Theo inquires, glancing over his shoulder with a smirk, his friend’s eyes aimed at the ground before him, “we find each other after all this time and you give me radio silence?” With little enthusiasm, Lou answers the question, his head tilting to the side. “I think everything’s just settling in, man” Lou replies, his expression almost painting a distaste for the discussion being had. “Just settling in? Man, we haven’t even gotten started!” Theo responds, gleefully building anticipation for their journey’s end, “wait until you get to camp.” After half a kilometres walk, Lou and Marta follow Theo’s guide through a gap in the trees, an open field littered with tents and large vehicles occupied by a few dozen survivors, all talking amongst each other. “Find a few friends on your travels, Theo?” an older man inquires, his beard greyer than his hair, which too shows signs of losing its colour. “Go ahead and look at the man yourself, Norman” Theo jokes, stopping in front of the pine trees, “tell me what you see.” Guiding his eyes toward Theo’s company, Norman inspects the one armed man and his inexperienced friend, a concentrated look swiftly becoming eager with wonder. “This isn’t the ‘Silver Slayer’ you’ve been chirping about, is it?” Norman replies, the smile that spreads across Theo’s face answering the question. “Well it’s a pleasure to meet you, young man” Norman responds, draped in a polyester jacket, “Theo’s spoken highly of you.” Trying to quell the impressed look on his face, Lou bows his head toward the much older gentleman. “Likewise” Lou murmurs, Norman’s eyes drifting backwards, finally landing on Marta. “Is that one Ally, Jenn, Elsie or Halston?” Norman inquires, the hidden smile on Lou’s face falling quickly, replaced with a subdued look of dolour. “None of the above” Theo replies, acknowledging her for one of the first time’s since their introduction, “this is Marta. One of the friends Lou’s made.” “What do we know about her?” Norman asks immediately, his questions directed at Theo despite his eyes remaining focused on the young woman. “We brought in that nut job earlier, and this kid’s his daughter” Theo responds, his own tone dropping from its original, cheerful pitch, “other than that, we know nothing.” “Why is she here then?” Norman replies, finally pulling his stare away from Marta, returning it to the man whose questions are intended for. “She travels with our Silver Slayer” Theo responds, tossing the rifle over his back, it’s strap gliding across his chest, “she gets a free pass.” Snarling, Norman ends the conversation, remaining hunched over a balcony overhead, crossing his arms atop the railing as the trio enter the greater campsite. Waiting to speak until they’re walked another few metres, Lou restarts his conversation with Theo with a question. “What’s up with the old guy?” Lou wonders aloud, watching Theo’s eyes take toward him, confused by the inquiry, “does he hate women or something?” “Oh, Norman?” Theo replies, half a smirk kept upon his face, his shoulders shrugging as he answer, “not if they’re strangers.” His eyes pressing together, Lou looks at Theo with a curious face, insinuating a desire to hear more. “Look, as I said, when you’ve been here long enough, you’ll know everyone by name and face” Theo explains, answering the question respectfully, “I’ve talked enough for everyone here to know your name and face already, but strangers- they’re dangerous.” “Is that why you give me the side-eye?” Marta asks from behind, sensing a feigned politeness coming from Lou’s friend, less than willing to match such a response herself. His eyes taken toward Marta, Theo continues walking forward, continuing to stare at the young woman without an answer. “Come on, I’ve got someone to show you” Theo responds, instead choosing to evade Marta’s question all together, his pace picking up in hopes of leaving the conversation behind. = RISE and REVOLT is created by Zachary Serra, all rights to the series from Season 1 onwards belong to Zachary Serra and his entity of Pacer1 = Climbing the stairs, Courtney steps onto the cabin’s second level, her puffy eyes drifting from one corner of the room to the other. Her thumb gently wiping at the remnants of tears, Courtney carries herself across the wooden floorboards, the sliding door separating her from the second-level patio within her sights. Kissed by December’s frigidity, Courtney glides the glass door across from her body, joining Sebastian in his unimpeded view of the distant mountains. “It’s cold out here, Sebastian” Courtney remarks, her dainty footsteps already distinguishable to Sebastian’s ears. “It feels less miserable out here” the man replies, his hair blown upwards by the racing winds. Bowing her head, Courtney walks to Sebastian’s side, gently resting her palms against the railing’s bannister. “My dad wants to kill Adrian” Courtney voices, a desire Sebastian expected of his gentle-giant friend, “I talked him out of it, though. You’re welcome.” A breathy laugh held below his breath, Sebastian squeezes his eyelids shut, nodding through the bleak silence. “Am I making a mistake?” Sebastian finally asks, turning the conversation from it’s avoidance of the subject, the light-hearted banter amongst heavy-conscience material passing by. “I don’t know” Courtney responds, matching Sebastian’s sombre tone, an uncertain look on her face, “that depends on what you think, why you think that, and why you want him alive.” Running his top teeth over his bottom lip, Sebastian’s nails pick at each other, scratching the tips of his fingers. “Ain’t it something?” Sebastian wonders aloud, his inner thoughts spoken aloud, “a week ago, we were all having dinner around the kitchen table. Now, we’re standing here- talking about whether or not one of our friends deserves to live.” Her breathing steady, Courtney’s arm hairs rise when thinking of similar thought, understanding its necessity, but unflattered with its open discussion. “It gets a lot harder when you can’t hide from the dead in a cosy cabin, Seb’” Courtney replies, a more prominent, yet highly contained laugh earned from her leader. The eerie silence returning upon Sebastian’s laughter concluding, Courtney takes in the scenery ahead of her, the tops of pine trees waving with the wind keeping her calm. “What are we gonna do with him when he gets back?” Courtney whispers, her nescience grasping her curiosity as if life depended on it, “how do we even move on from what he did?” Silent, Sebastian continues to stare at nature’s divine work, incapable of answering the question with more than the restrained shake of his head. A disappointed look on her face, Courtney turns back to the home, her elbows pressing against the bannister as she leans against it. “I need you to figure that out, then” Courtney responds, her breath a thick, white fog when introduced to the air, “because Lou and Marta could be back with him any minute, and if you don’t have your mind made up by the time that happens, Lou’s going to decide for you.” Again leaving Courtney without an answer, Sebastian sucks on his lips as the woman departs, carrying herself back the way she came until his voice calls out once more. “Maybe he should” Sebastian replies, stopping Courtney’s hand from pressing further upon the sliding door than it already has, looking back to the man. “Why do you say that?” Courtney responds, guiding herself back to Sebastian. “Because he seems to have a better understanding of this world than I do- both of you do” Sebastian replies, doubt seeping into the darkest corners of his mind. “That doesn’t change the fact that you’ve made the calls since the moment all of this started” Courtney responds, her voice rising steadily, “I know Lou would make the right call in this decision, but I have a hard time believing you’ll convince Rudy, Sonya and Adrian of the same.” “I’m sure Marta can convince Adrian otherwise” Sebastian replies, Courtney’s family remaining unaccounted for. “What about my father? And Sonya?” Courtney responds, the attention she gives Sebastian silently unreciprocated, “I’m sure they prefer being around Lou than they do Adrian right now, but I’m pretty sure they’d never take him seriously as their leader.” Falling silent again, Sebastian’s mouth moves despite the lack of words emerging from his core, a deeply unmotivated look worn on his face. “I’m not cut out for this, Court’” Sebastian finally confesses, an answer Courtney refuses to accept. “You’ve been the man in charge for this whole time, Sebastian” Courtney replies, failing to install confidence. “I was the man in charge when everything was simple. I was in charge when we could put off the inevitable” Sebastian explains, his head shaking, “but now, I- I’m just not- I’m not that man.” Finally pulling his face toward Courtney’s, Sebastian's head continues to shake, adamant in what he’s saying. “I can’t lead like Lou would, or like you would” Sebastian explains, pulling away from the railing, “I helped get us through the first months, but this next part isn’t for me to lead into.” Pulling away from the hand Courtney extends toward his shoulder, Sebastian maintains his refusal. “This isn’t something that you can coax me out of believing. These calls aren’t mine to make, and it’s dangerous leaving me in charge of them” Sebastian explains, retreating to the inner home’s warmth, “it’s a job for Lou and yourself, so argue amongst yourselves for the job, because it can’t be mine- it just can’t be mine.” Left on the terrace, Courtney watches Sebastian vanish into the home, her ponytail-tied hair flapping in the winds of winter. Frustrated, Courtney vents to herself, uncertain of how to move on. | Stepping through the curtains of a much larger tent than the ones they’ve recently passed, Lou and Marta tail Theo into a dim, open interior, hushed voices enveloping them from all sides. “Hey, Lee” Theo chirps, resting his rifle against a stack of crates with a pleased expression, “guess who I stumbled across?” Taking a knife to the head of a stick, Lee takes his attention to the familiar voice, a brief moment of shock setting deep within his core, the face over Theo’s shoulder converting his haze into joy. “That’s not Lou under all that beard, is it?” Lee responds, the point of his knife held at the one-armed man, the quiet smile Theo replies with answering the question. Wasting no time in setting his spear-crafting aside, Lee stands from his seat in the dirt to shake the man’s hand, his free arm pulling Lou in for a hug. “It’s good to see another familiar face!” Lee says with wonder, indulging in the high spirits his reunion brings. “Speaking of which, who else is here?” Lou responds, looking around at the pockets of spear-crafters surrounding the tent, talking quietly amongst themselves. “Just the people that came with me from the boat” Lee replies, returning to his work station to fold his knife and set his spear aside, “we’ve been here since the start, but you’re the first to find us.” The pleasure taken from reuniting with old friends beginning to fade, Lou feigns a smile as his head nods. “I feel the same” Lee notes, recognizing the heavy heart Lou tries to hide, “but I’m still holding out hope for them. You should, too.” “He does” Marta announces from behind, her presence having been unnoticed by Lou’s acquaintances, “he talks about them non-stop. It’s the only fuel he runs on.” His chin noticeably rising, Lee takes his eyes to the similarly-aged woman in the back. “Who’s the girl?” Lee responds, his less friendly, yet tolerable tone intriguing Lou. “She’s travelling with Lou” Theo replies, his hands coupling behind his back, “her dad’s the guy we brought in earlier this morning.” “Your dad is the freakshow?” Lee responds, looking at the young woman with a suspicious glare. “My dad is the man you brought in earlier this morning, judging by the sounds of it” Marta replies, a pugnacious quiver in her voice, stubbornly divisive, “and I don’t particularly like how everyone keeps talking about him like he just left the psych ward.” Taken back by the woman’s vitriolic response, Lee’s tone softens as beneath his aggressive eyes. “Apologies” Lee responds, still holding onto his apprehensions, “how else are we supposed to look at a man running through the forest mumbling ‘I murdered a man’ other than with caution?” “With sympathy” Marta replies, the assurance on her face provoking a laugh from those she and Lou visit. “We have sympathies for the right people” Lee responds, walking through the coupled survivors they meet with hospitality, not caring to elaborate any further. “Let’s go get your father” Lee explains, taking the lead on the foursome’s departure, a blank look on his face, “and after, we’ll sit down and have a talk over lunch.” | Its metal hinges screaming, the storage unit entry opens with a gentle push, Sebastian’s hand guiding it inward. Spacious and cold, the freezer exists as Sebastian’s always known it to, produce separated from vegetables, frozen goods left to linger in the darkest corners. The sunlight not far enough into the day to provide the unit natural light, Sebastian’s hand lingers near the wall, flipping a light switch that protrudes from the line it’s connected to. Flickering as they’re turned on, the lights bathe the frigid room in a cool white, Sebastian’s fingers beginning to grow rigid, his body almost colder with the lights on than off. His steps tapping loudly atop the concrete floor, Sebastian enters the freezer fully, his breath white enough to completely cloud his sights while it passes his face. Stuffed in a corner, an air mattress with a thin blanket lays next to two small bags, both carefully placed beside a crate of apples. As if he knew his intentions were wrong, Sebastian glances back to the warehouse’s entrance, the front door still wide open, left for the world to enter. Reaching for the bag’s clasp, Sebastian unveils the bag’s contents, a framed photo contained amongst sharpened sticks, a few soft-cover books, and a large bag of American coins. Reaching for the picture frame, Sebastian looks to the abundance of faces in the class portrait, the picture seemingly once too big to fit, it’s sides shaven down to fit the frame. Most of the young faces marked by a thick, black marker, those that remain unscathed draw Sebastian’s focus immediately. “Terrance York, Julian Hersch” Sebastian whispers aloud, burning the images of two black teenagers into his mind, the peace signs they throw speaking to their light-hearted nature. “Jennifer DePhant” Sebastian continues, an arm wrapped over her shoulder, the face it belongs to marked with the familiar black ink. “Halston Walsh” whispered, a typical, joyous smile worn proudly on her person. “Lou Jack, Alison Resmin” Sebastian finishes, the well-groomed face he’d yet to meet holding a smile equally unfamiliar, an attractive young woman’s head pressing into the two-armed man’s shoulder. “Jesus Christ” Sebastian murmurs, holding back the pain he’d grown accustomed to putting aside. Unable to stomach the thought of how the black slashes came to be, Sebastian leads the picture back into the bag, a last-second sighting changing his course. Pulling a tightly-folded map from the tightest slots of Lou’s bag, Sebastian takes a seat on the floor, sprawling the open map atop Lou’s mattress. “Welcome to Vancouver Island” the guide reads in bold letters, a satellite trail leading from the bottom of Victoria to the tip of Port Hardy. Marked with slashes, ramblings, names, and locations, the map serves as Lou’s guide, a guide now in Sebastian’s possession. “This isn’t right” Sebastian mutters to himself, the frigid cold mixing with the sickened feeling that churns in his core, tempting him to fold the map and return the items he’d investigated. Folding the map over once, it’s white background allows a single name in black marker to stand out, written in capital letters, and underlined three times. “Ally” Sebastian whispers, reading the name aloud before instinctively reaching back to the portrait, his eyes falling upon the woman beside Lou. Staring intently at the picture, Sebastian burns the woman’s face into the back of his mind, only returning Lou’s property the moment he’s satisfied with his memory’s handle. | “By the time we got back to him, he’d swam halfway back to shore” Lee recalls, the spoon in his hand sifting through a can of cooked noodles, “we reached land, walked into the forest, and started going to work.” His protege reunited with her father, Lou gazes at the small group of people gathered around the central firepit, the soup in his can barely touched by his lips. “So, you’ve all just been sailing through for the last couple of months down here?” Lou replies, his dinner held in his lap. “Not quite” Lee responds, reaching for a napkin he uses to dab his face, “it’s true we’ve been here since the ship went down, yes- but it took us a while before we started coasting.” Placing his can to the ground, Lou hunches forward, his arm pressed against his thigh as he stares at Lee, the look he gives making the camp’s leader slightly uncomfortable. “We’ve tried to grow what we could since then, but with the weather, it hasn’t worked to our liking” Lee explains, a humiliated look on his face, “we’ve had to resort to thieving just to get by.” His face lit by the campfire, Lou’s head falls, his breath fogging the air just before his face. “I’m not a fan of it either, but we do what needs to be done” Lee expresses, matching the hunched gesture Lou sits with, the bearded guest matching his eye contact, “I’m sure you’ve had to do something you didn’t want to, just as we did.” Pressing his top teeth against his hairy chin, Lou subdues a nod before looking away, Marta’s voice taking over unexpectedly. “Does that mean that the dinner you’re serving us is our dinner?” the young woman replies, Lou joining Lee and the rest of the camp in turning their focus upon his shadow. “It could be, I won’t deny that” Lee responds, letting a second pass before adding to his response, “it’s nothing against you, personally.” Not satisfied, an annoyed Marta conveys her inner thoughts, the bloody lip and black eye her father wears giving her a profound, uncharacteristic confidence. “Is it not personal for everyone else that you’ve stolen from?” Marta retorts, opening her mouth to speak until her father urges her not to. “Let’s not make anything worse than it already is, hun” Adrian whispers, the arm he’s laid over Marta’s back for support rubbing her shoulder. “Adrian’s right. They’ve been kind to us, we should reciprocate that” Lou replies, the look her gives the young woman aiding Adrian’s efforts. “I didn’t think the girl was this rebellious” Lee jokes, a subdued chuckle held back, “I’m impressed.” Sharing the sentiment, Lou smiles at the young woman, pleased with her display. “The girl has a point though, Lee” Lou responds, turning his attention back upon his friend, “I’m sure you’ve stolen from plenty of people. What happens to the rest?” “I’m not sure I understand the question” Lee replies, his answer being met with visible doubt, the turn of Lou’s head illustrating his lack of belief. “I think you do, Lee” Lou responds, the smile he wears turning into an almost defensive grin, “it sounds like you’ve stolen plenty, so what happens with the people that come down looking to get their stuff back?” A ceramic bowl carried in his hand, Lee sets his dinner upon his lap, the warm meal contained within its sloped base warming his lap. “They either choose to die fighting, or they surrender into our custody” Lee replies, looking at Adrian from the corner of his eye, “if your friend over there hadn’t surrendered, we would have killed him in the forest.” His half-pleased expression falling fast, Lou stares directly at Lee, never once taking his eyes from the camp’s leader. “What do you do with the people that surrender?” Lou responds, a strange feeling in his core tempting him to fear the question’s answer. “We take them into custody, hold them there for a few days, and ask them a few questions” Lee replies, an inquisitive look encompassing Lee’s face, “if they answer how we’d like, they do field work for us. Why?” “Do I really need to tell you ‘why’?” Lou responds, Theo’s once joy in his reunion with Lou now fading, Lee and Norman sharing the same curious look as each other. His head hanging, Lou thinks quietly amongst himself, his thumb rubbing against the side of his knee. “What are the questions?” Lou answers after a few short, yet long-feeling seconds, “the questions you ask the people that surrender?” His curious look subsiding, Lee pulls his head back, no longer hunched forward like Lou. “I’ll only tell you if you agree to answer them” Lee responds, the corner of his mouth arching into a smirk. “I’ll answer them, go ahead” Lou replies with no hesitation, waving his fingers toward Lee in a gesture calling for no time to be wasted. “Let’s go, hit me” Lou doubles down, his eagerness turning Lee’s smirk into a smile. Setting his bowl to the side, Lee indulges Lou’s request, rubbing his bare hands together. “First question” Lee pronounces, staring Lou in the eyes as the rest of the group watches on, unable to look away, “how many people have you killed out of mercy?” His tongue pressing against his bottom teeth, Lou bobs his head while looking at the ground, the group falling deathly silent. “In other words, how many people have you killed because letting them live would have been evil?” Lee specifies, Lou’s head still nodding, “letting them live would have harmed others, or harmed them.” A deep breath pulled into his nose, Lou presses his hand against his knee. “Four” Lou responds, his left foot tapping against the frozen ground, “a son who killed his sister, the son’s mother, a racist in a mall I let the dead tear apart, and a man who would’ve been a sitting duck for the dead.” Not once returning his eyes toward Lee, Lou waves his hands at the man again, “gimme the rest.” With a nod, Lee obliges the request. “How many people have you killed out of necessity?” Lee wonders aloud, “people you killed because, had you not, you’d be the one dead.” Sucking on the corner of his lip, Lou remains fixated on the ground, its dirt covered with a sleek ice. “One” Lou replies, finally looking up at the man before him, “you already know who Matt is.” His eyes widening, Lee nods with a chuckle, the look on Theo’s face insinuating an even greater surprise. “Come on, give me the next one” Lou responds, Norman’s unwelcoming voice correcting him closeby. “There’s only one more question” the older man remarks, stirring his soup with a plastic spoon, Lou’s eyes drawn back to Lee. “How many people have you chosen to kill?” Lee concludes, “in other words, people you didn’t have to kill, but chose to anyway.” “None” Lou replies with ease, not needing to take longer than a moment before answering, the quickness of the reply surprising those around him. “I’ve never killed unless it’s been out of mercy, or out of necessity” Lou responds, retrieving his soup from the ground, the conflicted expression on his face dying off, “that was the easiest quiz I’ve ever taken.” | “I don’t think I can go back, Marta” Adrian whispers, his hands trembling from both cold and fear. “Sebastian ordered me to bring you back alive, and I’m not disobeying Sebastian’s best wishes” Lou replies, wrapping a rope around Adrian’s wrists, “I also know the people inside will be less keen on killing you if you’re defenceless.” “Lou, I don’t deserve to-” Adrian pleas, the stinging handprint left from Lou’s slap across his face cutting his plea short. “I don’t care what you deserve- it’s not my problem” Lou responds, graciously accepting the bag of canned goods from Theo’s outstretched hand, “you didn’t want to cooperate with me, so you can go cooperate with your friends.” Placing his bag over Marta’s shoulder, Lou’s attention is called for by Lee, a distant voice asking for a private word with the man. Looking Marta in the eyes, Lou speaks in a whisper. “You know the route back home, right?” Lou inquires, a quick nod emanating from Marta’s hair-strewn face. “Follow that path, and I’ll catch up with you soon” Lou replies, pulling the rifle from over his shoulder, and gently lifting it over Marta’s head. “What’s up, Lee?” Lou responds, casually strolling back to the man, his expression welcoming. “I just wanted to let you know that, despite our caution with outsiders, you’re always welcomed here” Lee explains, Theo stepping up to the leader’s side, showing unity in the offer, “and, since you’re looking for our friends just as we are, if you need people backing you up on that search, we’re here.” Shaking Lee’s outstretched hand, Lou gives another silent nod, watching the man depart to presume his guidance over the camp. “Not only do I agree with Lee, but I’d go a step further” Theo replies, looking back at his friend with a smile, “you should stay here with us.” Surprised, Lou’s eyebrows raise, his head turning toward the distance as Theo elaborates. “I’m not trying to say the people you’re running with are bad, or they’ll kill you, or something like that” the man clarifies, his hand left atop Lou’s shoulder, “but it’d be nice to have another familiar face sticking around long-term.” Conflicted, Lou scratches at the back of his head, unsure of how to respond. “You don’t need to answer now. Just give it some thought?” Theo voices, the clarification comforting the one-armed survivor, “it’d be nice to have my best friend around again.” Pressing his fist against Theo’s, Lou turns around with a nod, walking off through the trees to rejoin Marta and her father in darkness, their journey back just beginning. “You need me to give them a follow, boss?” Norman wonders aloud, sat at his bunk in the trees, watching Lou’s figure vanish into the night. “Not yet, Norman” Theo responds, his strong, rigid reflexion returning, “I trust Lou enough. We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.” “Your choice, boss” Norman replies, turning back to his book, its grainy pages illuminated by a dim lantern. Silent, Theo watches Lou’s figure fade into nothing, buried beneath the darkness whilst Theo, himself, stands there, looking on. == RISE and REVOLT == |
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