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Season 3 Finale
/ Seven weeks prior / As crickets chirp beyond the limits of a large wall of glass windows, a small fire burns within the confines of a metal trash can, its base set upon the messy floors of a hospital lobby. “We’re not giving up” Ally declares, sat with her knees pressed against her chest, arms folded atop their caps as the fire burns. Silent, the people she shares her company with remain fixated on other thoughts, not entertaining the woman’s declaration for long. “We can’t keep this up” Terry responds, scratching the back of his neck as he sits by one of the many glass panes, voluntarily keeping watch, “I wanna find Lou as much as you do, but we can’t run on this expectation that-” Interrupted, Terry’s eyes take toward Ally, her resolute tone kept. “He’s alive” Ally replies, her eyes darting toward the man in the quiet air, prompting Terry to turn back toward the window without another word. “He could still be alive. I don’t know how likely or unlikely it is, but he could be” Jenn responds, Halston’s head resting against her chest as Jenn’s arm wraps around her waist, “but there’s a decent chance he went somewhere else.” “Like where?” Elsie replies, laid on her side near the fire, hatchet resting on her hip, “who here, Lou included, knows anything about Canada?” Mostly silent aside from a few coughs, Josie answers from a far-off corner. “I know we’re not too far from Vancouver” the woman remarks, playing with the thin chain around her neck, “and I know we’re not too far from Seattle.” “That’s great. We escape Los Angeles- which is in shambles, and our two biggest bets are massive metropolitan cities” Jules laughs, his back leant against a concrete pillar, “what can go wrong?” “Well, we have to figure something out” Ally responds, a tear made along the top half of her right boot, “we can’t just move on.” The air settling, Ally looks around the room, hoping for support whilst anticipating reluctance, surprised when neither are returned. “We’re not moving on, right?” Ally repeats, turning the statement into a question, only to still receive nothing, “right?” Her eyes lowered, Jenn stares at her sleeping girlfriend’s face whilst Elsie, Josie and Jules blatantly look away. “I don’t think we can afford to be talking about Lou right now” Terry finally interjects, drawing eyes toward himself once again, “if he’s alive out there, I hope we find him. But we can’t spend every day looking for a guy we may never find.” Her jaded expression returned to Terry, Ally lets a few seconds pass before responding. “Are you saying we should give up?” the woman replies, leaving the man’s head to hang in disappointment. “I’m saying-” Terry begins, stopping himself short to contemplate his response, a sudden inspiration to stop dancing around the topic, “yes- I’m saying we shouldn’t hold our breath.” Saying what no one else would, Terry looks Ally in the eyes, unwavering in his stance. “I’m sorry, but if there’s even a five-percent chance he didn’t make it off that boat, there’s a risk that we’re looking for someone we’ll never find” Terry explains, watching Ally’s head fall, “tell me how that can be perceived as anything other than ‘running in circles’.” Wanting to argue, Ally’s head falls, her spirit quashed beneath a boot of unpleasant rationality. “Where do you suggest we go then?” Jules murmurs across the room, opening the floor for eager discussion. / One week later / “Even when they’re slow, they fucking suck!” Terry exclaims, kicking away another bundle of rot. “Just cover me!” Ally shouts, kneeling before a car with a red gasoline canister in her hands. “I’ll cover you as long as you hurry the fuck up!” Terry shouts back, surrounded by slow-moving, brittle corpses. Grunting with each whack, Terry downs every corpse that draws in on him, the ease at which they push him back toward Ally making up for their lack of speed. Spitting excess gas from her mouth, Ally waits for a grey sedan to relinquish whatever fuel it has left to carry, preparing herself for the undead onslaught. A knife in her hand, Ally presses her back to Terry’s, covering his blindside as their group watches on, fending off their own horde. The nozzle beginning to ooze the final drops of potent gold, Ally gives Terry her signal, claiming their fuel as Terry leads a path back to their car. “What’s going on back there!?” Jenn calls out, sat behind her truck’s wheel with a screwdriver in hand, her arm hung from the open window. “We’ll be ready to move in a minute!” Ally exclaims, passing the can to Jules as she joins the frontline, swinging on anything that moves with glee. “We’re good!” Jules finally shouts, giving the group the signal they’d been anxiously awaiting, joining Jenn in their bright red pickup truck as it hits the open road. Silent throughout the ride as evening turns toward night, the group’s anticipation begins to build, a single road marker starting to peak their interest. “Swartz Bay, two kilometres away!” Terry proclaims, his arm resting against the side of the truck’s bed, “I have no clue what that means, but I think we’re close.” “I’m not sure they’d have a sign up telling us that if we weren’t close enough” Ally responds, sat in the cab’s backseat beside Josie. “What do we do when we get to Vancouver?” Jules ponders, laid in the truck’s bed with his feet aimed at the tailgate. “We set up shop and keep it from getting infested” Jenn replies, glancing at the man through her rear view mirror, “and this time, we kill the dead, not lock them up until further notice.” The humour settling aside, the deeper questions advance to the front of the inquiry line. “What do we do with the rest of our lives?” Ally polls, almost able to hear the internal conflicts building within those around her, “is it just- kill the dead, make food, rinse wash repeat?” Already growing comfortable with his role of speaking louder than the stillness surrounding him, Terry turns his focus to the people in the cab, his eyes specifically taking toward Ally’s direction. “Y’know, you can be a real buzz kill sometimes” Terry remarks, returning everyone’s laughter, Ally’s own included. “No, but if we’re being serious, it’s a good question” Terry adds, falling back into his seat against the truck, “but it’s a question we’ll have plenty of time to find the answer to.” Looking over her shoulder, Ally shares a look with Terry, giving him an appreciative nod as she falls silent once more. “I’ll meet you guys down there in a sec, I’ve gotta change out of these boots” Jenn explains, placing a pair of wet shoes on the ground, “I now know I prefer wet boots to ones three sizes too small.” With a laugh, Halston departs, “you know where we’ll be!” she mutters as she follows the sandy trail, Josie’s removal of the final gas canister symbolising their progression to a new chapter. “We should be good to make it the full way, but in case we don’t, we’ll dock in Richmond and walk the rest of the way north” Josie explains, returning the map to a captain’s chair-seated Terry. “And what do we look for when we get into the city?” Ally responds, unable to earn much more of an answer than the obvious. “We stay out of the city centre, stick close to the shoreline” Josie replies, “find a building that’s safe, but doesn’t stand out, and focus-” *pop, pop* The limelight stolen, Josie’s eyes join the rest of the group’s, the sound of gunfire cracking through the air the same way they came. “Jenn!” Halston calls out, only answered by the distant sound of groaning. “Go without me!” Jenn shouts, her words accompanied by an additional two shots. “In the water!” a man shouts, only his flashlight piercing through the trees as he approaches. Unholstering her own weapon, Halston fires at the bobbing light, her trigger pulled until its progression stops just enough for comfort. “Ah! I’m hit!” the man shouts, his light rolling down the hill he’d been brought down upon, giving Halston her opening. “You need to go!” Halston shouts to those aboard, throwing herself back into the loose sand. “What about you!?” Terry exclaims, joining his peers in watching Halston ascend through the forest. “We’ll see you in Vancouver, just go now!” Halston responds, continuing to fire at any distant ball of light, taking no chances on what lies ahead. As told, Terry returns to his chair and pushes the vessel forward, gliding upon the waves amidst a chorus of uncertainty. “Are you really leaving them behind!?” Jules shouts, holding onto every pocket he can find. “What are we supposed to do!? Draw our fucking hammers and start running at the people with guns!?” Terry replies, his voice raised to an equal yell. Met with dazed bewilderment, Terry turns his focus back upon the water, forcing himself to remain focused on what lies ahead, as what remains in his wake tempts him too greatly to return. “Get in the car!” Halston shouts, tossing her expended clip into the dirt as she exchanges it for a new one, firing at any unfamiliar face. Returning to the driver’s seat, Jenn watches Halston throw herself into the back as she steps on the gas, their grand escape taking them back the way they’d originally come. = 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 = / Present day / “That’s it?” Lee questions, sat across the assault rifle-laiden table from Courtney, “I know it’s not smart to negotiate a higher price for something you’re buying, but this is not a good deal for you.” Her head shaking, Courtney remains adamant on her terms. “I don’t care about what’s in it for me, I have plenty” Courtney responds, the paramotor left leaning against the table’s leg, “as long as my dad can cook the food, and my sister can heal the wounds, that’s all I ask for in return.” “Still! It’s- it’s ludicrous!” Lee replies, almost disappointed he’s getting such a good deal, “nine hundred pounds of beef just to give your family jobs!?” Sinking back into her chair, Courtney’s arms cross, her mind satisfied with the deal put forward. “Can I ask why?” Lee finally wonders, caving into the woman’s dreadfully poor deal, “do you not trust our cooks or something?” “Your cooks are fine. They’ve done wonders with spam and corn, I don’t care about them” Courtney responds, “but if my father and Sonya can connect something from their old world with this one, maybe they won’t have such a hard time adjusting.” The offer fascinating him, Lee parts ways with his chair, the stroll he takes toward his liquor cabinet aiding in clearing his mind. “And this is all you want?” Lee replies, twisting the cap off a bottle of rum before letting what resides in the glass container trickle out into separate glasses, “you give me the food, and I put your family to work?” Her chin bowed, Courtney courteously accepts the drink from Lee’s hand as she exchanges it for the final verdict. “I don’t want more, I don’t want less” Courtney concludes, “give them a job, maybe throw in a survival trainer that can tolerate them, and you’ll get your shipments.” Letting the bargain linger, Lee takes his glass into the air, welcoming Courtney to tap her glass upon his. “We have an agreement” Lee responds, finalising the trade just in time for Norman to interrupt their celebration. “Hey Norman, there’s a thing called knocking that-” Lee greets, noticing the concerned look upon the man’s typically-blank face, “what’s wrong?” “Theo’s gone” the man replies, his gravelly voice somehow making the information daunting, “his tent’s empty, his bags are gone, and no one’s seen him since he left your tent.” His mouth falling open, Lee looks to Theo’s rifle with immediate regret, unsure how to respond. Her hand wrapping around the rifle’s grip, Courtney claims ownership of the weapon and leaves her seat. “What are you doing?” Lee responds to the display, watching the woman prepare herself for flight without second thought. “You stay here and keep my plate warm” Courtney responds, brushing off orders for her to abort her self-mission. With a run-up, the woman takes off with speed, climbing above the trees as she soars into the distance, surprising some and worrying others. | / One week prior / “We should lower this fire” Jenn murmurs, removing a wet, towel-covered log from the massive fire pit, its alcohol-doused, cloth-covered tip engulfed in flames. “It’s too cold for that” Halston replies, her disappointment obvious, “but you’re right- we don’t want this thing getting too big.” Poorly dressed for the elements, the women huddle close to the flame, pressing together behind a stack of firewood as their breath clouds the air. “I’m pretty sure it’s December” Jenn suddenly mumbles, her body trembling to conserve warmth, “I should be bombing midterms right now.” Amused, Halston presses her forehead against Jenn’s shoulder, enjoying the woman’s presence in spite of the harsh conditions surrounding her. “I think December started a few days ago, so you might be a little off” Halston responds, watching Jenn quietly recount the days, “we’d probably be bombing the studying- then bomb the midterms next week.” “I choose to think it’d be funny if it were already March” Jenn replies, her teeth clattering, “I think I’ve had enough of Canada for one winter season.” Her infectious laugh bringing a smile out of Jenn, Halston lets her eyes close as they sit in the snow, her forehead resting beneath Jenn’s chin. “I love you” Halston whispers, a statement that exchanges Jenn’s laughter for a smile, the sentiment shared. “I love you, too” Jenn responds, swiping the hair from Halston’s face as her own eyes close, letting the snow fall upon her rosy cheeks. The night trailing off, the women find comfort beneath their shared blanket, the exhaustion of endless running prompting their closed eyes to transport them to a safer place. As hours pass, Jenn’s slumber ends, no sound emerging to drag her into consciousness, no smell, no pain, just her flooded mind telling her when to awaken. Halston still fast asleep, Jenn gives the woman a peck on the head before looking toward the sky, what felt like a few minutes of sleep having taken the women to the following day, the sun beginning to emerge from behind the horizon, the clouds puffy. Closing her eyes, Jenn prepares for the chirping of birds, the honking of horns or the distant sounds of stereo systems playing Spanish music. The sounds she’d curiously expected to be awoken to absent, the only noise Jenn’s ears take to are the collective garbles close by, loud in nature, but largely incoherent. The orange flames still burning bright into the air, Jenn peers around the corner, hoping to find her heatsource as reliable as the night prior. Staring into the flame’s glow, a large cluster of the dead gather beyond it’s dirt-crafted containment, unaware of the lives that reside just a few metres away. “Halston! Halston!” Jenn whispers, right hand covering her girlfriend’s mouth whilst the other one shakes her awake. Her eyebrows furrowed, Halston looks into her girlfriend’s eyes with confusion. “There’s a horde around our fire!” Jenn grumbles, reaching for the weapon at her side. Bewilderment turning into fear, Halston pulls away from Jenn’s hand and quietly prepares to leave. Their few belongings gathered, the girls begin backing away from their campsite in favour of returning to the nearby forest. “Just don’t trip, don’t make a noise, don’t fire-” Jenn begins whispering when a faraway hum begins to fill the air. Careful not to make a sound, Jenn looks toward the abandoned building across the lot, the windows that remain intact reflecting a parachute overhead. “Aarrgghh!” a growl bellows from their chosen direction, one of many corpses leaving the road in favour of the motorist above, now setting their sights upon the two survivors. “Okay, what’s the plan now?” Halston groans, watching the dead they’d initially attempted to create distance from take notice of their presence. Unable to advance forward or retreat backward, Jenn’s only answer is left to leave her lips in a rush. “Run!” Jenn shouts, leading Halston around the undead pileup as more corpses emerge from the woodlands. Not taking much longer to grow in severity, the situation soon becomes dire as the dead swarm from every direction, all centring upon the decrepit timber mill in the middle of the forest. No exit left unimpeded by rotting sacks of flesh, the women are left with little other choice but to seek comfort elsewhere. “The mill! Go to the mill!” Jenn shouts, stomping her feet through the thick abundance of snow. Firing at anything that stands in their way, Jenn and Halston rest their sights upon a steel awning just over the building’s front entrance. “Climb up!” Jenn shouts, firing rounds into the horde from the highest step as Halston hoists herself upon the roof. “I’m up!” Halston shouts, waiting for Jenn’s reply. Out of ammunition, Jenn begins to concede ground, pressing her back against the door as the horde makes their final ascent. “Jenn!?” Halston exclaims, peering over the edge to watch her girlfriend’s boot shove at each corpse in her path. “I’m not gonna make it up there, hun!” Jenn shouts, continuing to squeeze against the door as a thought pops into her mind. “I’m going in!” Jenn exclaims, putting together a plan on the fly. “I’m gonna lead these things into the building, find another exit, and then you’re gonna lock them in!” Jenn hollers, looking into Halston’s petrified eyes, “did you get that!?” “Yeah, but it’s a really fuckin’ dangerous plan, Jenn!” Halston replies, watching the desperation swallow her girlfriend. “I don’t have room for another plan, Halston!” Jenn shouts, getting off one final kick before embracing the dark, cavernous depths she’s chosen to enter, “I’ll see you on the other side!” With that, Jenn kicks her shoe off and uses it to prop the door open. A keychain flashlight in tow, Jenn punches the rotting drywall of the building’s interior, leading the horde through the cramped, house like entry foyer as she embarks further, turning every corner and squeezing through every corridor on her way to the mill’s bowels. Stepping through holes in walls, climbing over dusty furniture and walking around machinery, Jenn closes in on her last stand, nowhere left to run other than a dead end. All options expended, Jenn begins luring the dead toward her, snatching whatever she can from their bodies in a game of cat and mouse. Clearing the way for a corpse dressed in police uniform, Jenn lets the cop draw close before snatching his gun, offering a single gunshot for his troubles before moving on. Pulling the trigger only when necessary, Jenn begins to lose control of the high ground, the room she works with growing smaller as time goes by. Her eyes darting from one side of the room to the other, Jenn feels time begin to slow, practising various solutions mentally before settling on the one she trusts in most. Choosing a corpse at random, Jenn sinks her fingers into its decaying throat as if they were claws, leading her to a backroom before putting a bullet through her head. Slamming the door shut behind herself, Jenn stares at the body, its limbs sprawled out upon the floor as if it were unconscious. Fighting the urge to vomit, Jenn works up the courage to go through with the plan she’d crafted, visibly disgusted with what the future holds. Gathered on the other side, their bodies slamming against the office door and their audible groans enough to unnerve the strongest stomachs, the dead lie in wait, begging for entry. Before long, the dead earn their wish, watching Jenn calmly pull the door open, covered from head to toe in the dead’s own blood. Their frenzy soon becoming disappointment, the dead begin to disperse, no longer enamoured with what stands before them. Her break arriving, Jenn stumbles through the horde, splitting them into sides as if she were Moses crossing the Red Sea, following the undead trail back the way she entered. After minutes pass, Jenn begins to recognize the trail she’d left behind, following it back to the mystery that she's confronted with once returned to the entrance. Her boot tipped over, now left lying in the middle of the floor, the front door sits shut, the snow-covered ground no longer occupied by the dead. Dropping the act, Jenn runs through the exit and slams the door the shut with her boot in hand, locking the dead within as intended. The puffy white clouds above having turned a depressing grey, Jenn cleanses herself of the undead filth as she turns toward the roof, its steel panels left vacant. “Halston!?” Jenn shouts, immediately eyeing a human-sized dent in the snow that stands in the eyes of rainfall defiantly. Obvious footprints leading from the crater, Jenn follows them around the massive building’s full length, their path leading toward a set of garage doors in the building’s rear. “Halston!?” Jenn exclaims, again waiting for an answer that doesn’t arrive, all that she’s left with being a zombie’s burning corpse, left to rest on the ground. Gun in tow, Jenn follows wet footprints through narrow corridors, still calling for her girlfriend’s name. Picking up a crowbar left in the middle of the floor, Jenn begins to lose her girlfriend’s tracks, left cluelessly at the end of the road, the footprints having disappeared, as if the person creating them had vanished. The lot left empty, Jenn walks through the garage and continues around the lot, her girlfriend’s name continuing to echo through the forest. “Halston!?” Jenn exclaims, standing in the middle of the field with her hands coupled together, “Halston!?” Beckoned for by the sudden sound of frantic banging, Jenn’s head turns back to the building, where her girlfriend’s torch shines through the thin windows of a locked pair of double doors. “What are you doing in there!?” Jenn exclaims, her voice muffled through the obstruction in her way. “They knocked your shoe over and the door shut!” Halston responds, unphased by the door’s refusal to budge, “I had to lead the rest in through the back.” Throwing her weight into the crash bar with no success. “I think we need a keycard for this thing, hun” Jenn replies, watching Halston’s eyes roll. “Alright, see you in a sec” Halston responds, turning back the way she came. “I no longer trust boots of any kind, dry or wet, small or big” Jenn whispers to herself, mildly irritated by her plan’s failure, “I don’t know why I can’t-” “FUCK!” Halston shouts, dragging Jenn’s eyes back through the thin viewpoint she holds. Her eyes peering in, Jenn finds the reason behind Halston’s obscenity, the dead she’d led inside having managed to overwhelm their containment. “The dead are inside, there’s no going back, Jenn!” Halston shouts, pushing at the crash bar as if it were a matter of life or death. “Why’d you come down this way then!?” Jenn shouts, pressing the crowbar’s chisel between the doors in hopes of prying them open. “This was the only other exit!” Halston shouts, continuing her efforts to no avail, the exits slightest budge eluding her. Equally unsuccessful, Jenn takes the crowbar by the chisel and starts beating the door with its claw, the dents and scrapes starting to add up, but never once proving to be enough. “I can’t get it open!” Halston shouts, turning her sights back toward the dead, their faces illuminated only by the light in her hand. “I’m trying, hold on!” Jenn shouts, swinging upon the unrelenting metal with continuous failure, each swing only taking more out of her. Slamming her hip against the crash bar, Halston’s efforts begin to slow, the sight she gives the encroaching horde only dissuading her further, each shove losing momentum. Her last push as successful as the first, Halston puts her efforts to bed whilst Jenn’s crowbar continues to swing, reality beginning to seep in. As the dead close in, Halston turns back toward the door, watching Jenn continue her fruitless efforts with a tear in her eye. “Jenn!” Halston shouts, pressing her face through the thin glass panel, the expression she wears already telling Jenn the truth. “It’s over” Halston murmurs, shaking her head as Jenn’s next swing pauses. “No- no no!” Jenn shouts, swinging an extra few times before Halston’s scream for her attention halts her once more. “Jenn, listen to me” Halston demands, letting the tears well in her eyes as Jenn looks on, refusing to say anything less than what’s on her mind. “Halston, we need-” Jenn aggravatedly shouts, short of breath and patience, struggle to keep herself together. “Jenn, listen- do what we planned on” Halston murmurs, sweat beading her face as time ticks away, “they’ll be there. They’ll be there- and they’ll be waiting for us!” “I’m not leaving you!” Jenn shouts, letting Halston respond from within her tomb. “Jenn, go to Vancouver” Halston murmurs, pressing her hand against the window, “don’t leave them behind.” Her hand pulling away from the glass, Halston retreats, slowly backstepping into the flesh-tearing embrace of the undead. “NO!” Jenn screams, swinging mercilessly at the exit as Halston pays the reaper. “I love you!” Halston shouts, swiping her torch through in an effort of extinguishing it, engulfing herself in utter darkness as to spare Jenn of having to see anything more than she’s already had to. Screaming the same refusal, Jenn drowns Halston’s blood-curdling screams beneath the metallic irony, refusing to stop until the screams die, and with them, fades Halston’s life. With nothing left to fight for, Jenn heaves the crowbar across the field and stares back at the window, total darkness left waiting for her. Snuffed out before her time, what’s left of Halston remains in the window, the outline of her handprint staring Jenn in the face in silence. “H-” Jenn begins to call, the last of her voice consumed, all that’s left being a hushed, near-whimper gasp of air. Crumbling to the ground, Jenn sobs against the door, a piece of her that begun the day alive now permanently lost to time. Her hand held above her head, Jenn’s palm presses against the print Halston left behind, holding hands with the woman just once more, as the woman’s handprint fades to time. / Present day / “It still never opened, huh?” Lou replies, sitting in the same spot Jenn was left to lament upon, the double doors of legend having been beaten to hell, never once allowed entry or exit. “She never stood a chance” Jenn whimpers, her hair soaked from the downpour, “I’ve gone at that thing for a week- no give.” Trying to keep tears back, Lou begins to put on the mask he’d given Sebastian’s group countless times. “I dug a grave- and I stayed because I couldn’t let her be like Wyatt was” Jenn explains, unable to look away from Halston’s doors, “I’ve been trying to make my bones for a week, and I can’t bring myself to do it.” Whilst she can’t keep from staring at the doors, Lou can’t help but keep his eyes away from them, struggling to hold onto the little bit of composure he has left. “If I’d made the call to cross into Seattle, if I’d put down that fucking fire, If I’d just sucked it up and worn those fucking shoes!-” Jenn screams, punching her leg as her words emerge through gritted teeth, pausing before her thought concludes, “-she’d still be alive.” A stream of water flowing down his beard, Lou shakes his head, leaving the loose hairs that couple over his eyes unattended to. “If I hadn’t let the dead out of the gym, you wouldn’t have had to make any of those decisions” Lou responds, watching the woman turn back to him, sceptical to believe anything he has to say, “I’ve been the reason for all of this. None of this should have happened, but it did- and it happened because of me.” Silent, Jenn lets Lou speak, fighting off the verge to collapse. “Of all the bad we’ve seen, and all the bad we’ve had to deal with, I’m the worst of them all” Lou remarks, the rainstorm above dying just as he places his hand over Jenn’s, “we both failed her, but I did this to her.” Shaking her head, Jenn pulls her hand out from beneath Lou’s, placing it on top instead. “I-” Jenn replies, stopping mid-sentence to hold the swell of emotion back, “I have to finish this.” A tear hanging from the lip of his eye, Lou spins his hand around and holds Jenn’s palm within his own, refusing to take his eyes off her. “No” Lou whispers, leaning forward with conviction, “we have to finish this... We have to do right by her.” Squeezing Lou’s hand, Jenn nods her head with the closest she can bring herself to a smile. Their minds clear and hearts full, Lou and Jenn storm the mill, rounding the corner as backup arrives. “Woah, woah woah! Stop!” Lou urges Jenn, his hand lifting over the gun she pulls on an unfamiliar line of people, “they’re decent people.” “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said about us” Sebastian responds, his eyes curiously gazing around the open field. “How’d you find me?” Lou replies, returning his rebar-carrying hand to his side, unsurprised at who the answer arrives from. “You left a corpse behind” Marta responds, leading her group, “you also taught me to look at broken twigs and muddy footprints. So, either you were down here, or someone else was.” The air gone silent, Adrian joins his daughter at the front of the group, natural curiosity taking over. “What are you doing out here?” Marta’s father inquires, watching the man and his unfamiliar friend turn toward the front door, a composed expression returned to Lou’s face. “We’re making our bones” Lou replies, readying himself for a fight, “care to join us?” Without hesitation, Marta throws her bag on the ground and unleashes her switchblade, not many seconds passing before her father prepares for the same. “All you’ve gotta do is aim for the head” Sebastian murmurs, turning to a horrified father-daughter combination. “It’ll be easy” Marta calls out, both Rudy and Sonya drifting their sights toward her, “just aim for the eyes or the base of the skull.” Like a proud father, Lou shares a smirk in Marta’s direction. “Fuck it” Rudy growls, joining Sonya in cautiously retrieving a pair of kitchen knives they’d picked up on their journey. “Count me in” Sebastian concludes, giving Lou all the confidence he needs to rip the metaphorical bandage off. Fighting their way out, the dead spill into the yard, struggling to move through the cold as the sun begins rising. Swinging for the fences, Lou decimates what walks in his way whilst Jenn takes care of business. Trying to keep their distance, Rudy and Sonya see their fair share of action, picking at whatever corpses Sebastian manages to miss. Armed with a fire poker, Sebastian splits each rotting skull he finds, piles of bodies left in his wake. “Come on you weird little shit” Adrian scolds, guiding a lone corpse toward himself before sweeping it out by the knee. Lying helplessly, Adrian brings his boot over the back of the zombie’s head and moves on whilst his daughter makes quick work of what finds its way toward her, the ‘into the eyeball, out of the eyeball, move on’ method working wonders. “Tell me if you see her, Jenn” Lou exclaims, putting down another few bodies before an answer can arrive, “Jenn!?” Finishing off another few bodies, Lou scans the field for the the woman, ultimately finding Jenn stoically stood at the foot of Halston’s grave, unable to look away from the devoured corpse approaching. “I’m sorry” Jenn mutters, pulling the gun from her hip as Halston draws nearer, the hole she stands by lined with shovels sticking out of the dirt, and filled with dirty rainwater. The field clearing, only one corpse remains, and it slowly drags its way toward the grave-stood woman. “Aarrgghh!” Halston’s corpse growls, close enough to fall into Jenn’s grasp, the surviving woman taking her once-partner by the throat, the only thing holding Halston back. “I promise, I won’t leave them behind” Jenn whispers, staring into the woman’s beady eyes as Lou watches on, refusing to let Sebastian’s group interfere. “I’ll never fail you again” Jenn whimpers, slowly lifting the gun toward Halston’s chin, “I’m sorry.” The gun rattling in her hand as she sobs, Jenn struggles to lift it any higher, taking one final look into Halston’s eyes. As if stricken by reality, Halston’s growls stop and her hisses cease, a single, milky tear running from her eye. Wide-eyed, Jenn watches the corpse tilt its head, presenting its chin in silence, accepting the bullet she seemingly has prayed for the relief of. Pressing the gun against Halston’s chin, Jenn makes her bones before the urge to go back on her promise can take over. “I love you” *pop* Stepping aside, Jenn lets Halston’s body fall into the deep pool, her bones and what remains of her flesh sinking to the bottom in search for their permanent slumber. Gasping for her breath, Jenn stands at Halston’s grave, unable to take her eyes away from Lou, who shares her shock. Struggling to process what he’d seen, Lou’s rebar slowly falls from his hand, sloppily sinking into the mud. Stumbling forward, Lou walks toward Jenn as she does the same, both depleted survivors collapsing into each other’s arms, unable to muster the strength to do more than openly weep. “I’m so sorry” Lou moans, his hand wrapped around the back of Jenn’s head, holding her close as the tears stream, “I’m so, so, so, so, so sorry.” Astonished, Sebastian’s group stares in wonder, as if in disbelief that the man, laid stricken with a broken heart, was the same man that had spent every minute since their paths had crossed trying to seem utterly heartless. “Wow” Rudy mutters beneath his breath, finally feeling as if he were proven wrong, “that’s Lou.” Reluctantly pulling away, Jenn drags herself back to the grave, ripping its point from the ground before dragging mud into the water. Hand on his knees, Lou stares at the puddle before him and looks at his muddy reflection, what he finds only encourages him to look away. Stood at the front of his group, Sebastian watches Lou’s eyes turn to him, silently introducing him to the man it took such effort to store away. “Urgh, urgh” Jenn grunts, each scoop taking more out of her, only given reprieve by a surprising sight. Blue and black plastic fingers wrapping around a second shovel, Lou and his artificial pair of hands aid in Halston’s burial, scoops of dirt leaving the head of his shovel, and finding refuge in muddy waters. “Now... we do right by her” Lou whispers, locking eyes with the woman in a moment of unity, their hands guiding their shovels toward excess dirt identically. Pulling in a new breath, Lou and Jenn begin a new chapter, the only thing that take their eyes away from each other being the muddy footprints that approach. His head tilted, Lou looks to his left in surprise, watching ironic twists come to life as Adrian wraps his hand around the third shovel. Offering something greater, Adrian leaves words to imaginations, silently removing the tool from the dirt and aiding in Halston’s burial. Somewhat more surprising, Lou stares in surprise at Rudy, who approaches soon after. With his hand extended, Rudy lets Lou’s hand collide with his own. “It’s good to meet you, Lou” Rudy greets, finally introducing himself to the man properly. “Same here” Sonya responds, shaking Lou’s hand and joining her father in taking a shovel. “Not sure if we’ve met before, but I’m Marta” the young woman remarks, sharing a handshake before moving toward the shovels. His sorrow covered with a fulfilling smile, Lou watches the group work before one final set of footprints approaches, the man’s hand still held by his side. “I’m Sebastian- Sebastian Winters” the man replies, a sombre expression on his face as Lou’s hand meets his own, the handshake lasting longer than the rest. “Lou... “ the young man responds, unsure whether or not he wishes to feel it, but feeling at peace nonetheless, “...Lou Jack.” Their handshake ending, Jenn rounds the grave with her shovel in hand, graciously turning it over to Sebastian’s hand. “My condolences” Sebastian murmurs, shaking the hand Jenn extends. “Jennifer DePhant” the woman murmurs, producing a smile from the newly-acquainted survivor, “Sebastian Winters” he replies, continuing forward. “These are your people?” Jenn whispers, putting aside the grave pain she still holds near to her heart, watching the man look out toward the field, a warm accomplishment on his face. “No” Lou whispers back, watching the group load the water with its damp soil, “they’re my friends.” == RISE and REVOLT ==
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His long, wet hair turned to ice in the frigid air, Lou sits by a roaring campfire alone, seated upon a wooden stump with two folded pieces of paper on his lap. His foggy breath clouding the air, Lou just stares into the bright flames, sitting quietly whilst Lee takes notice from afar. “Don’t you usually wake up around this hour?” Lee inquires, walking over to occupy the seat to the right of his dishevelled acquaintance.
“I wake up at sunrise” Lou replies, sharing a passing glance at the man before looking back toward the fire, his arm laid atop his lap. “That’s a difference of a few hours. I was close enough” Lee responds, his hands bundled in the kangaroo pocket of his sweatshirt, “it still doesn’t explain why you’re still awake.” His face pale, Lou quietly shakes his head as it begins to drop, unable to put what he feels into context. “That’s fine, you don’t have to tell me” Lee replies, observing the struggle hidden behind the man’s composed face, “but I can tell there’s something on your mind.” His eyes kept on the fire, Lou remains sat in silence, pondering to himself as Lee gets comfortable, seemingly not keen to leave at any point soon. “Do you care about the people here?” Lou finally inquires, his head tilted as he looks toward the camp’s shot-caller. “They’re the only family I have” Lee responds, his voice low, calm and clear, “I care about them a lot, yes.” His response concluded, Lee remains sat quietly, waiting for whatever rests on Lou’s mind to present itself. “Did you ever start to miss everyone else?” Lou ponders, slightly hunched forward, “feel like you’d never find the rest of us again?” This question more difficult to answer, Lee sits with his thoughts for a moment, feasting upon the question before returning what remains. “I know I’ll never see the rest of our group again” Lee replies, disheartened in admitting the fact, “don’t get me wrong- I’m glad our paths crossed. I didn’t expect to see you again, either- but seeing you again didn’t make me any more confident in finding the rest of our group than I already was.” Squinting his eyes, Lou watches Lee cogitate in silence, slowly warming up to his continuation. “I wish the best for you, and Elsie, and everyone else. I hope you all live wonderful lives and do great things with your time. Please, know that I’m being honest when I say that” Lee explains, an apologetic hint burrowed within his voice, “but once I deboarded, and all of us made it to shore, I had new priorities.” His head nodding, Lou pulls his eyes back to the flame before him, losing himself in its bright, violent glow. “What about Theo?” Lou responds, his eyes again drifting across the camp, “is he more like me, or more like you?” His laughter emerging with the sound of a hum, Lee sucks on his lip as his head shakes. “I’m not quite sure, honestly” Lee replies, rubbing his cold hands together, “when we got split up, I think we both had our assumptions of what your fate was.” Curious, Lou remains silent, allowing his silent stare to usher Lee’s persistence. “I expected you’d all survived, or at least, most of you survived. I chose to believe you were all scattered along the coast, and our paths would never cross again” Lee explains, a more subdued, disheartened reflexion emerging, “but Theo- Theo assumed the worst.” Bobbing his head, Lou looks back to the firepit while responding. “So, when I showed up-” Lou begins, his thought finished off by the man beside him, “-he went from hopeless, to hopeful.” His head still bobbing, Lou’s lips part to reveal his smirk. “So, showing up did more harm to you than it did good, didn’t it?” Lou responds, watching Lee’s face shamefully scrunch. “I really want to say no” Lee responds, visibly unpleased at the thought of having to answer. “When enough stuff was set up around here, I tried to blend into the crowd. Be the silent leader, you know?” Lee explains, downcast, “Theo was the face that enforced the choices I made. He earned the disappointed looks and the backhanded remarks that should have been levied at me. It was working well when you showed up, but since you arrived, Theo hasn’t been the same as when we broke ground here.” Glancing at the folded papers in his lap, Lou returns his sights to Lee, trying to ask another question before falling short. “Whatever it is, you can ask it” Lee reiterates, watching Lou’s eyes take back toward him, “go ahead.” The tension in his heat-brushed face easing, Lou swallows the build up of spit in his mouth, and allows the question to leave his lips. “How did you know when these people became your family?” Lou queries, watching the smile arrive on Lee’s face, “when did you know you cared about them?” The cold air silent, Lee presses his elbows into his thighs as he hunches over, lowering himself closer to the heatsource. “A woman who I deboarded with got bit a few days in” Lee explains, wiping a single tear from the corner of his eye, “She spent the ride back to land telling me the only thing she cared to do was get to see her daughter one last time.” His eyes squinting, Lou watches Lee’s head shake, the smile he wears remaining. “When you care about people enough, you’ll know it” Lee replies, glancing down at the papers in Lou’s lap, “but something tells me you already figured that out.” Leaving his seat, Lee approaches Lou with his hand extended, shaking the survivor’s hand. “It’s been a pleasure knowing you, Lou” Lee murmurs, departing with an equally warm smile as the one he entered with, “I hope you find them.” Returning to his tent, Lee leaves Lou sat alone once more, the folded papers in his lap regaining the man’s attention. His rifle thrown over his shoulder, Lou rests one note on his empty sleeping bag before sneaking toward the back of the tent. Gently guiding the second note beneath Marta’s pillow, Lou departs, sneaking through the vestibule before disappearing behind the treeline, vanishing into the cold, British Columbia night without a word. = 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 = “Calm down, what do you mean he left?” Theo responds, dressed in only a t-shirt and a pair of boxers as he stands in front of his tent, confronted by the remaining members of Sebastian’s group. “He’s gone!” Sebastian shouts, his right hand extended toward the tent’s occupant with an unfolded note between his fingers. “To be fair, you did tell him to” Norman replies, stood nearby with a cup of coffee in hand. “I was angry! I didn’t mean it!” Sebastian responds, his attention returning to Theo, “what do we do now?” His eyes rolling over the ink markings, Theo only grows more frustrated, his fingers pressing down on the page enough to crumble its side. “This wouldn’t have happened if you’d just shut your mouth!” Theo barks, pinning the blame solely on Sebastian’s shoulders before turning back toward his tent. “Fine, I’ll admit that I fucked up!” Sebastian retorts, splitting from his group to follow after Theo, “that doesn’t change the fact that we have to find him!” A cup of coffee in his hand and dressed in soft, cotton pyjamas, Lee casually saunters toward the bickering pair. “Lou’s a grown man. If he chose to leave, he chose to leave” Lee explains, sipping his caffeinated beverage loudly, “what exactly are you to do? Send him a text? Ping his phone to the nearest cell tower?” “We’ll follow his tracks!” Sebastian replies, reaching for whatever solution he can, but none of his suggestions fill Theo with much hope. “No, you’ve done enough” Theo responds, a look of contempt given to the rookie group’s presumptive leader. Feeling awful, Sebastian turns back to rejoin his group, resigning to the truth he’s left to face. Turning away in disgust, Theo prepares to re-enter his tent, only for a last-second glimpse at Lee to yank his mind elsewhere. Looking at the man curiously, Theo grows suspicious at the man’s lack of emotion, no anger, nor glee presented in the man’s expression. His temper high, Theo pulls away from his vestibule to approach Lee, both Norman and Ned left to watch the confrontation unfold. “Did you know about this?” Theo wonders aloud, watching Lee lower the mug from his lips, quietly glancing back at Theo for a few seconds. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to, Theo” Lee replies, turning his shoulder to walk away until Theo’s hand grabs it, preventing the leader’s departure. Their attention earned, Norman and Ned cautiously guide their hands toward the grip of their holstered firearms, prepared to open fire if necessary. Relenting to the man’s perseverance, Lee slowly turns back to look Theo in the eyes, his heavy breath fogging the air just as rain begins to trickle from the overhead clouds. “Lee, if you knew about this and didn’t tell me-” Theo begins, quickly interrupted by the rise of Lee’s hand, the palm held before Theo’s eyes until the words he speaks trail off. “Theo, don’t point fingers if you’re not prepared for them to be chopped off” Lee warns, angrily pulling his shoulder from Theo’s reach before returning to his morning, watched through Theo’s anger-filled eyes. “This isn’t your fault, Sebastian” Adrian explains, ducking through the vestibule on his way into the tent, “we’re all to blame.” Unable to hold his laughter back from the abhorrent claim, Rudy returns to his slumber bag. “Trade blame all you want, none of this would have happened if he’d never come into our lives to start with” Rudy responds, drawing the ire of everyone he shares the tent with, though the greatest choler is earned from his own daughter. “Dad, shut the fuck up!” Sonya shouts, silencing the group instantly whilst earning an astonished look from the man. “If we hadn’t met Lou, these people would have either found us eventually, or we would have died in that avalanche!” Sonya exclaims, though Rudy remains too awestruck to do more than stare at his daughter in silence, “I despise everything about this situation as much as the next guy, but you’re fucking delusional if you think we’d have been better off without Lou.” Remarkably hurt, Rudy quietly looks away, sitting on his bed without another word. “Like it or not, this is the world now. Adrian was right when he said there wasn’t any going back” Sonya explains, the group’s undivided attention left upon her, “we fight the dead, or we become the dead- no simpler, no more complex. Fight or die.” His chin raised, Sebastian stares at Sonya in merciless silence whilst Adrian and Marta look on, their same belief spoken through a pair of lips they least expected to hear them originate from. “Vancouver” Sebastian quietly mumbles to himself, drawing the eyes of the tent toward him. “He had a map in his bag” Sebastian explains, pointing his finger toward their departed friend’s vacant sleeping bag, “it was marked to hell and back, but I remember he drew a circle around Vancouver.” “Why Vancouver?” Sonya replies, hands finding refuge upon her hips. “I don’t know. He’s looking for his friends and he’s from America, that’s my guess” Sebastian responds, watching Marta march toward her bed, “go ahead and ask an American to name a city in this country. The first answer’s going to be ‘Toronto’, the second will be ‘Vancouver’. “So, off the correct assumption of Americans being stupid, you’re gonna throw a dart at a map and run with that?” Sonya replies, unable to receive her answer before Marta begins strapping her feet into winter boots. “What are you doing?” Adrian inquires, watching his daughter eagerly prepare her for the frozen elements. “I’m going after him” Marta responds, sprinting through the routine as if she’d done it dozens of times before. “Great job, Seb’ You’ve got the kid hell-bent on hiking to Vancouver” Sonya replies, her statement again left unanswered. “Marta, you can’t go out there” Sebastian explains, walking up to the woman’s side, his voice lowered to a gentle, understanding tone. “Lou may be afraid of getting attached, but I’m not” Marta responds, angrily pulling away from Sebastian’s touch, “I don’t mind admitting it. I got attached. Lou’s been more of a friend to me than any of you!” “Marta, I-” Adrian attempts to interrupt, finding his voice inferior to that of his daughter’s own. “I’m not some little girl that needs to be protected, and Lou was the only one to see that!” Marta shouts, continuing to pull away from any of the tent’s residents, “he was there to teach me how to live- not live in denial, but actually live.” Attempting to walk forward, Sebastian feels Adrian’s pull against his arm and learns from the prior night, giving into the restraint. “All of you fought to stay cooped up in that cabin because you weren’t ready to let go of what you had” Marta declares, throwing her coat on, pocketing her switchblade, tucking her firearm into her waistband, and reaching down for her bags, “I’m not ready to let go, and now it’s my turn to fight for that.” Pushing through the men in front of her, Marta charges the tent’s vestibule, the only word that holds her back from leaving coming from her father’s mouth. “Wait!” Adrian exclaims, watching Marta turn back, stood on the rainstorm’s cusp in silence, waiting for the plea she expects. “I’m coming with you” Adrian declares, throwing himself upon his bed as he reaches for his boots. “What!?” Rudy exclaims, sharing the bewilderment with Sonya and Sebastian equally. “Adrian, I’m gonna be honest- that wasn’t what I was expecting” Sebastian explains, dropping to his knee beside the eager father. “I’m not going to tell my daughter she’s wrong when I know damn well that she’s right” Adrian retorts, fastening his shoe’s laces, “if she’s going after Lou, so am I.” Speechless, Sebastian spends a moment in silence, listening to the rain tap against their tent before abruptly following suit. “What are you doing?” Sonya ponders at Sebastian, watching the man’s hands fumble over his belongings. “I’m going with them” Sebastian replies, earning a dissatisfied groan from the opposite side of the tent. “What the hell is wrong with you people!?” Rudy shouts, waiting for answers while his daughter gives in, reaching for her shoes. “Don’t tell me-” Rudy begins, watching his daughter shrug as her foot presses into a boot. “Why the fuck not, right?” Sonya grumbles, voluntarily throwing herself into the mix, “what good is standing around going to do?” Sat in disbelief, Rudy stares at Marta before his eyes take back to Sebastian, the obvious question leaving the man’s mouth. “You coming along, Rudy?” Sebastian wonders, what began as an easy question to answer now offered uncertainty. “He doesn’t care about you people! I’ve failed to see him care about anything since he showed up!” Rudy shouts, “why risk your lives for him!?” Looking Rudy in the eyes, Sebastian’s answer comes easily. “He doesn’t have to care about us in order for us to care about him” Sebastian responds, fastening the laces on his second boot, “like Marta said- he didn’t get attached, but we did.” “Come on, dad” Sonya urges, her hopeful voice drawing his eyes back to her, “watch my back out there, won’t you?” His resentment subsiding, Rudy finds himself defeated by persuasion as his hands reach for the shoes beside his pillow, the older man taking no pleasure in his acceptance. | Emerging from the forest just as the evening appears, Lou swipes the rain-wetted hair away from his eyes as he steps upon snow-cleared asphalt. His gore-ridden cloak cleansed of its rot, Lou begins to walk the road alone, his eye kept out for whatever signs occupy the roadside. As metres turn into kilometres, Lou discovers more of the same, abandoned cars littering the roadways whilst horrifying weather overturn one road sign after another. “Aarrgghh!” a groan startles Lou, its genesis trapped within the old frame of a bright red pickup truck, tormented by the necrosis that leaves it stripped of power, forever destined to wither behind the rolled up windows of its boldly-coloured cab. Moving forward, Lou’s eyes take to a strip of buildings in the near distance, their existence a warranted reprieval from the meandering status quo. A bell ringing as he enters, Lou surveys the insides of a ransacked liquor store, its floor covered in broken glass, its shelves stripped bare of even the weakest brands. “I’m just passing through” Lou warns, the glass he shatters beneath every step beginning to unsettle him. “It seems pretty obvious that you’re closed, so forgive me for intruding” Lou exclaims, his eyes glancing down each aisle. “If you’re in here, I mean no harm” Lou continues to speak, the loneliness he’d once grown accustomed to now feeling alien, perhaps more unsettling than the glass crunching beneath his weight. “I’m not from around here, so if there’s any brands you could suggest, that’d be a big help” Lou quips, unable to find an unharmed bottle in his excursion. Though distant, Lou’s ears harken toward a groan in the building’s depths, his halted movement bringing an eerie hush over the room, which only intensifies the undead gargling. His flashlight-rebar combination in tow, Lou continues his inspection, inevitably reaching the point where scattered bits of glass grow infrequently, replaced with bloody smears, handprints, and splatters. The hairs on his neck rising, Lou steadies his breaths, preparing for whatever looms around unchecked corners, lying in wait for the perfect moment to strike. The sizable pit in his stomach ignored, Lou endures the hunt, following the blood smears toward the distant wailing, each step bringing the dead closer. His breath held, Lou refuses to hesitate in turning the corner, aiming his makeshift spear toward a set of refrigeration units with the intent to strike. His back to the wall, Lou finds himself surrounded by devastation, the horrifying scenes that surround him caked in dry blood and smelling of urine. Locked away in one of the fridges, a corpse presses against the glass, more decayed than most Lou had seen to this point. His tension relenting, Lou covers his face into his sleeve to mask the overpowering stench, unable to look away from the decrepit corpse fixated upon him. “You poor bastard” Lou mutters from within his sleeve, shattering the glass display as he drives his spear through the corpse’s skull. Unable to leave the room fast enough, Lou vomits his dinner into a random corner of the room, hurrying to return the way he came. Climbing behind the front counter, Lou wraps his hands around the closest bottle he can find, taking it on his travels as he departs. | His handgun left taken apart atop his table, Lee slowly recites the instructions he’s memorised as Theo quietly enters his tent. “I’m getting better at this every day” Lee remarks, aware of who’d entered his home. “My fingers are prepared for their chopping” Theo replies, keeping his mind set on the intentions he entered with. “You say that now, but you’d be singing a different tune if I had the machete ready” Lee responds, letting out a chuckle that Theo presents a dislike toward. “Why is this funny to you?” Theo asks, allowing himself further entry as Lee continues to struggle. “I don’t find it funny- I don’t even find it amusing” Lee replies, continuing to stare at the weapon’s individual pieces. Adding no further comment, Lee continues to prepare the firearm as Theo stands over him, his impatience only growing. “Gimme that” Theo orders, ripping the weapon from Lee’s hand and finishing its reconstruction flawlessly, setting it back upon the table in one, fully-operational piece. “I was getting to that part, y’know” Lee mutters, taking his humorous tone once more. “Why did you let Lou leave!?” Theo barks, his palms slamming against the table in frustration, refusing to allow the topic to change. “Because I’m not Lou’s father. He’ll make whatever decision he wishes to as long as it doesn’t involve my people” Lee responds, reclaiming his weapon as he stands from his seat. “Lou is your people!” Theo shouts, which Lee immediately argues. “No, he’s your people” Lee replies, his commanding tone still carried with the volume of any other statement, “and that has been very clear since the moment he stepped out from those trees.” “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Theo responds, his eyebrows furrowed. “It means exactly what you think it means” Lee replies, refusing to show concern as Theo’s anger mounts, “the moment you found him, alive and unharmed, everyone in this camp took a backseat.” His head shaking, Theo voices his disagreement. “The people in this camp are my people too” Theo responds, a statement Lee finds urgency to differ from. “No, they are my people. They have to be my people, just as they have to be to anyone in charge of protecting this camp” Lee replies, standing firm in his assertion, “they can’t be one of many priorities, they must be the only priority.” Removing the rifle from over his shoulder, Theo slams the large firearm upon Lee’s desk, his eyes taken back to his friend. “Are you saying I don’t have what it takes to protect this camp anymore, Lee?” Theo wonders, a question that momentarily goes unanswered. Staring Theo in the eyes, Lee considers his choices, aware of the intentional significance of Theo’s hand remaining on the weapon, waiting for the answer. “I don’t know right now, Theo” Lee responds, satisfied with the honesty in his reply, “I can only begin to guess what your priorities are. I can’t know for certain, therefore, I can’t know right now.” His nostrils flaring, Theo stares at Lee silently for another second before removing his hand from the weapon, allowing it to remain in Lee’s possession. In silence, Theo departs the tent, wandering into the camp, disarmed and disheartened. Left to stew in the dark confines of his tent, Lee’s attention begins to hover toward the greater campsite, where collective wonder begins to make itself heard. Emerging from his isolated home, Lee joins his people in gathering at the site’s centre, collective amazement shared amongst the community. Parting the crowd, Lee descends upon the camp’s square, where Courtney stands before a sled stocked with wooden crates. “What is all of this?” Lee inquires, unsure how to respond to the woman’s assumed gesture. “This is just fifty kilos of salt-preserved ground beef” Courtney replies, earning a flurry of smiles from the collection of souls surrounding her. “And, if your leader would be kind enough to share a few words with me, there’s even more to expect” Courtney proclaims, seeing the pleased expression worn on Lee’s face, “and, when I say ‘more to expect’, I’m talking about three-hundred and fifty kilos of ground beef, steak, briskets and ribs ‘more to expect’.” Gawking at Courtney, the community’s eyes slowly turn in Lee’s direction, silently begging for him to respond with kindness. Hanging his head to hide the smile that appears on his face, Lee gives into the pressure and reveals his grin to the woman, nodding his head. “Someone get the cooks to start preparing dinner” Lee calls out, his eyes kept upon the woman nearing ‘religious-icon’ status, “Courtney and I are gonna have a little chat.” | His chin pointed to the air as he gulps down one swig after another of straight whiskey, Lou proceeds through the small, abandoned town, incurring a slight buzz from his reckless drinking. Running his hand over his alcohol-dampened lips, Lou begins humming to himself, yet to find a reason to settle in for the night as twilight arrives. As the barren road leads to what seems to him like nowhere, lined with little more than minimal vegetation, Lou abruptly ends his journey in the middle of the road, unable to look away from the dark turn that awaits him a few hundred metres ahead. “Why am I doing this?” Lou whispers to himself, using his teeth to screw the cap upon his whiskey bottle. Lost for words, Lou launches his drink through the air, watching it disappear into bramble before its glass shatters away from Lou’s sight. Conquered, Lou throws his bags onto the ground and takes a seat beside them, allowing the rain to pour over him. The road assaulted by an onslaught of rain, Lou remains centred within it, staring off at the long, yet destinationless path he’s yet to endure, silently questioning whether the effort is worth the result. His lips parted barely, Lou stares ahead with no expression, his eyes empty, indistinguishable from the dead in all ways other than the colourful drops in their centre. Barely able to discern the sound of bramble-surrounded shuffling through nature’s tear-shedding, Lou turns toward his whiskey’s final resting place, where a solitary corpse drags itself upon the road, its sights immediately set upon Lou. Unresponsive, Lou wraps his fingers around the rebar as the dead struggles to approach, its bones brittled by the winter chill. Each step proving to be a hassle, the dead fights its physical limitations valiantly, dragging itself slowly toward its literal sitting prey. Remaining unmoved, Lou’s lost stare keeps upon the fragile corpse, his breath continuing to fog the air in front of him. Allowing the corpse to walk closer, Lou chooses to watch its struggle, knees frozen into one, permanently-bent place, it’s back hunched and it’s arms struggling to move. The water running down his nose, Lou remains fixated on the incoming body, almost able to relate to it in a physical sense. *pop, pop* Gunshots fired in the distance, Lou’s eyes widen, his head immediately turning to the deep, dark forest beside him where the bullets originated. Reinvigorated, Lou leaps to his feet and slashes the undead relic across the head, its brains spilled over the soaked asphalt while Lou reclaims his bags, rushing off into the thick, dense woodland with a new destination in mind. Leaping over downed branches, slamming his foot into water-filled pockets of sunken dirt, and squeezing through large tree trunks, Lou hurries toward the gunshots, his long, damp locks bouncing on his shoulders. His clothes drenched and his face soaked, Lou runs toward the sound of danger with a thrill, smiling as he sprints closer toward chaos, just pleased to discover what lies ahead. “Come on! You’re all dead!” a woman shrieks, firing another two rounds into the air as she stands in open space, an army of hungry, perturbed groans setting their sights upon her. “This way, you fucks!” the woman screams in tears, gasping for her breath as she steps forward, prepared to face the dead she stands before, commanding with the pull of a trigger. Climbing concrete steps, the woman reaches for the entrance to an abandoned timber mill, readying herself to release the horde contained within. Her fingers grazing the doorknob, the woman catches an orb flashing through the trees, immediately growing angry at the disruption. Leaping over dead grass, Lou spills through the trees and tumbles along the ground, his clothes soaking up rainwater and dirt while the woman takes notice of his arrival. “I’ve got a gun, and I’ll use it!” the woman shouts, taking aim at the bearded young man, whose laughter unnerves her more than the horde at her fingertips do. Stumbling to his feet, Lou extends his arm outward with a smile, “be my guest!” Gasping for his breath, Lou falls to his knees as the woman parts from her undead audience, unable to see much through night’s lightless dreary. “What the fuck are you laughing at, weirdo?” the woman shouts, making up for her lack of sight by following the sound of breathy giggles. “What’s not to laugh at” Lou responds, his shortness of breath still unable to rid him of his smile. “Answer me or I’ll put a bullet through your head, you hear me!?” the woman shouts, beginning to make out the man’s face, “what the fuck are you-!?” His hand hung in his lap, Lou stares at the ground, waiting for the woman to lay the foundation she chooses to prepare. The anticlimactic pause his fate’s owner proceeds with beginning to dissatisfy him, Lou takes his eyes to the woman’s face, his expression quickly falling from disappointed to stupefied. “Lou?” the woman mutters, watching the man’s eyes begin to widen, his careless tailspin shelved as his mind settles back where it belongs. “Jenn!?” Lou replies, recognizing the woman’s face the moment his eyes came upon it, the gun in the woman’s hand falling to her side. Stood before him, drenched from the rain, her eyes as red and puffy as her nose, and her knuckles bloody and bruised, Jenn stares into Lou’s eyes silently, reunited at a cost. == RISE and REVOLT == 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 == “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 == Stepping out from his bedroom, Sebastian walks the halls cloaked in his morning robe, an unaltered expression from what he usually starts his mornings wearing. “Good morning” Sebastian salaams as he steps into the kitchen, a succinct incredulity at the vacant room he wanders into. His eyes curiously gazing around the room, Sebastian takes note of the lonely sector he’s introduced his presence to, the walls a husk of the life they once always hosted.
The unusual desolation off-putting, Sebastian guides himself back toward the direction he entered, stepping into the equally-tenantless living room, where he finds the body from the night before still laid upon his rug, dead from the bullet Lou had callously fired through its skull. Quelling the sick feeling that boils within his core, Sebastian takes a stride across the room, paying no mind to the corpse on his floor. The closer he comes to the bedrooms a cabin’s length away, faint voices begin to catch his ear, their fledgling conversation seeming to bring tension upon those taking part. “He’s trying to leave” a feminine voice declares from behind Sebastian, his body spinning with the rest of his head. Stood in the corner of the hallway, her back pressed against the wall, Courtney crosses her arms as she looks at the floor. “Adrian’s trying to leave” Courtney repeats, adding context through a dissatisfied voice, her tone lone, “he doesn’t think it’s safe here anymore.” Furrowing his eyebrows, Sebastian looks back at the one bedroom door that remains open, the sunlight peering through its windows spilling into the halls. Without a word, Sebastian takes off from his stand, approaching the conversation’s source as Courtney follows, comforted by the presence of a similar mindset. “My daughter and I are not staying here!” Adrian exclaims, the veins in his head running trails through his skin, the man’s hands shakily fumbling over a set of suitcases. “Where are you going to go, Adrian?” Rudy asks through a calm voice, the only survivor whose voice refuses to lift. “I told you, my brother-in-law has a cottage on Swartz Bay” Adrian replies, hastily running a zipper over the clothes-stuffed bag, “I’ll teach Marta to fish and hunt, and we’ll wait this chaos out there.” “You’ve got to climb the mountains down to, and through, Victoria to get there” Silvano responds, his hand resting against the man’s bedframe. “Exactly!” Sonya bellows, desperate to speak sense into a man unwilling to accept it, “and Lou’s already told that the city is overr-” “I don’t give a FUCK about what LOU SAID!” Adrian snaps, his eyes practically bulging out from his skull. “You should” Sebastian interrupts, stepping through the open door with a blank expression, no fear of hassle in his complexion, the group parting amidst his arrival. “Who the fuck are you to tell me what I should do!?” Adrian exclaims, his frustration with the other survivors simmering, it’s concentration setting upon Sebastian, “I trusted you to keep my family safe!” “That’s what I’m trying to do, Adrian!” Sebastian emphatically replies, his voice rising out of necessity as opposed to anger, presenting a strong perseverance. “Bullshit! That’s fucking bullshit!” Adrian exclaims, knocking his luggage aside as he steps into Sebastian’s face, “you took the side of a murderer instead of me! You told me to murder a kid in cold fucking blood!” “I told you to do what was necessary!” Sebastian responds, his commanding voice proving louder than Adrian’s anger-induced shouts. “You told me to stoop down to Lou’s level!” Adrian retorts, both men beginning to speak over each other. “You couldn’t clean up the mess you made!” Sebastian proclaims, his declaration silencing the rage-infused Adrian, whose closed mouth forces the anger to remain at bay, boiling past his breaking point, “you won’t last a day out in the real world!” Sliding to the floor, Adrian pries Sebastian’s stolen shotgun from beneath his bed, taking the barrel toward Sebastian’s chest. “I’ll do whatever I have need if it means protecting my daughter!” Adrian proclaims, his display now forcing his own silence upon Sebastian, who takes one step back with his hands raised into the air, “I’ll protect my daughter from the world, I’ll protect her from Lou, and I’ll protect her from you.” “Adrian, put the fucking gun down!” Courtney orders, stood to the side with the rest of the group. “Don’t tell me what to do!” Adrian shouts, instinctively pulling the gun away from his original target, its barrel now taken to Rudy’s eldest daughter. Sensing his opportunity, Sebastian throws his hands out at the shotgun, pushing it away from the woman with failed hopes of disarming the deluded gunman. The redirected shell obliterating his skull into fragments, Silvano slams into the newly-bloodstained wall and slides to the ground, his brains blow into chunks, a trail of blood left sliding toward the ground where his body lay. Devolving into chilling screams of fear, the group leap away from their unrecognizable friend, unable to contain their immeasurable awe. His heart sinking, Sebastian stares at the young man’s body for a few short, yet eternal seconds, his mind struggling to process what he’d just witnessed. Well before events can be properly understood as axiomatic, the group’s gunman dashes for the room’s exit, leaving his luggage and murder weapon behind. “Adrian!” Sebastian shouts, lifting himself from the ground the moment his friend’s feet hurry before his eyes, taking off without a word. “Adrian! Stop!” Sebastian pleads, tailing Adrian through the home and out the front door, the distraught killer racing into the wilderness empty handed. “Adrian!” Sebastian exclaims, following the snowprints until they begin merging with others. “Adrian! Come back!” Sebastian exclaims again, no longer holding the man’s sight close. Losing the strength to continue running, Sebastian jogs for a few extra metres before falling to his knees, surrounded by desolate forest. Gasping for air, Sebastian listens for footsteps that never emerge, the silent air leaving him with his thoughts. The events having transpired just now setting in, Sebastian begins to weep amongst the winter chill, tears leaving his eyes while he stares at the cloudy sky. = 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 = “Can I ask you a personal question?” Marta wonders, her beige bottoms tucked into the cuffs of grey winter boots. “That seems to be all you’ve done today” Lou replies, his rebar pipe tucked at his armpit, his outstretched hand reaching out for every tree he passes, “I don’t see why any of these questions are important.” Her hands dressed in gloves, head covered with a wool cap, and puffy brown sweater covered with a red winter coat, Marta smiles. “If they’re not important, there shouldn’t be a problem with answering them” Marta responds, her eyes set on the snow beneath her each step. “You have a point” Lou replies, his ease of conceding a pleasant surprise to the woman that trails him. “If you have a prosthetic, why don’t you ever wear it?” Marta wonders aloud, her feet stepping in each of Lou’s comparably larger footprints, “it seems counter-intuitive to me.” His head shaking, Lou continues his relentless hike, never once pausing for a breath. “I don’t wear my prosthetic unless the situation deserves it” Lou responds, squinting off at the distance, his rifle at a moment’s reach, “prosthetics can break. But, unlike arms, if a prosthetic breaks, I can’t wrap it in a cast and fix it.” “So, you’re saying the prosthetic is more symbolic to you than beneficial?” Marta replies in a puzzled way. “Not necessarily. I don’t use it unless the situation deserves it, or the people I’m using it for deserve it” Lou responds, biting into his bottom lip, “I’m sure using it would benefit me. But if the day comes that it breaks, and I’ve grown to depend on it to survive, I don’t want the ability I have of using one arm to deteriorate.” “Oh, I get it” Marta replies, finally following Lou atop reasonably solid, flat ground, “it’s like learning to fend yourself, then depending on someone for long enough that taking care of yourself becomes more difficult than it used to be.” A smirk coming over him, Lou gives the woman a gracious nod. “Yeah, pretty much” Lou responds, visibly impressed. “Do you have any questions for me?” Marta waits a short while before asking, a drawn look of curiosity coming over Lou. “Not exactly” the young man replies, the tone he answers with doing little to convince the woman behind him. “You didn’t sound confident in that answer” Marta points out, proving not to be someone eager to let the obvious go unstated. “Some things you and your friends do confuse me, but I don’t bother with asking” Lou responds, looking at Marta over his shoulder, “it’s safer to make my own assumptions.” Her eyes pointed at Lou whilst her head bows, Marta challenges the man’s thought. “It’s just you and I out here” Marta quips, continuing to drag her feet through the footprints left in Lou’s wake, “you don’t need assumptions when you can have answers at no extra cost.” “I don’t need answers, Marta” Lou replies, his voice unchanged from the start of the conversation, his pace kept steady through his travels, “answers are dangerous.” Her eyes squinting, Marta persists with her challenge, her voice slowly becoming more enthusiastic. “Why is anything that draws you closer to my family and I automatically dangerous?” Marta wonders aloud, the tenacious interest beginning to wear on the man. “You answered your own question” Lou responds, still yet to slow, “anything that draws me closer to you and your group is dangerous by default.” The first to break stride, Marta plants her feet in the snow, the man ahead taking a few extra steps before noticing the lack of Marta’s company. “Does that include me?” Marta finally asks aloud, Lou’s walk stopping for the first time since sunrise, his eyes turning back. “I know you talk a lot about finding your people, but you’ve done very little to find them” Marta explains, almost worried to say what’s on her mind, “I know you said you didn’t want to get attached, but I can’t help but wonder if a small part of you already has.” His nostrils, red from the cold and beginning to flare, Lou turns fully toward Marta, the woman’s face holding a noticeable worry. “I haven’t gotten attached” Lou replies, his head shaking, a snarl coming over his lip, “I’ve cooped up in that freezer waiting for my friends to come to me!” Not wasting a moment, Marta counters Lou’s statement. “The answer to that question is a big, fat ‘no’ in the form of a corpse on Sebastian’s floor” Marta responds, the enthusiasm in her voice replaced with a rigid, confident pitch, “but you’re still here, so you’re not exactly coherent in the signals you’re sending.” “I am not growing attached!” Lou abruptly squalls, throwing his hand at the ground in a burst of emotion. The air calm, Lou locks eyes with Marta, reading the expression on her face that refuses to concede defeat. “You’ve been the voice of reason to me, to my family, and to my friends since we met you. Since then, the only person you haven’t been honest with is yourself” Marta explains, stepping up to the man’s hostile frame, his eyes turning docile in her approach. “If you can’t be honest with yourself, I’ll be honest for you” Marta explains, her hand wrapping around Lou’s own, her second hand resting on the side of his face as she whispers, “you’re probably never going to find your friends, Lou.” Pulling his head back slowly, Lou feels the woman’s hand guide him back, pulling his face into her own as their lips lock, a kiss shared between the young survivors for the seconds it takes Lou to pull away. “I can’t- I won’t, Marta” Lou refuses, taking his hand from the woman’s touch, his head shaking. “I’ll find my friends or I’ll die trying” Lou vows, pulling a breath of air into his lungs as his witts return to him, “that’s the promise I made myself, and I’m not going back on it now.” Creating space between Marta and himself, Lou remains quiet, thinking to himself as static engulfs the air, the radio atop his prosthetic case buzzing. “Lou!?” Sebastian’s voice beckons, his frantic voice apparent, “Lou, please answer. It’s an emergency.” Reaching behind his back, Lou takes the radio into his possession, half-heartedly begging for a reason to depart his conversation with Marta. “You sound like a schizo patient, Sebastian” Lou replies, the composure in his voice returning, “what’s going on?” | “What the fuck are we gonna do?” Courtney murmurs, the quiver in her voice bringing a tear to Sebastian’s eye. “I don’t know yet” Sebastian responds, throwing a white t-shirt over his pale chest, his radio sat beside him, “I’m not even sure I’ve processed it yet.” A deep sigh leaving her, Courtney sets herself down on Sebastian’s bed, her hands pushing into the soft mattress she sits upon. Remaining silent, Courtney listens to faint swirling of wind just beyond the bedroom window, its whispers humming gently to her. “If I hadn’t grabbed the gun-” Sebastian mumbles beneath his breath, Courtney’s eyes snapping at the man before he can finish his thought. “Had you not grabbed the gun, I would be dead” Courtney interrupts, Sebastian’s head falling to the ground, the shame overwhelming him, “one way or another, someone was going to die, and that’s Adrian’s fault.” On the verge of tears, Sebastian’s head shakes, rejecting Courtney’s retort. “I could have talked him off a ledge, I- I could have said something different” Sebastian babbles, his cheeks a rosey red, “I should have said something different, but I just went off.” Pushing herself from the bed, Courtney walks around it’s end and kneels before the older man, his soul crestfallen. “It doesn’t matter what you did, or what you said, or what you were thinking” Courtney reasons, her hands falling over Sebastian’s, “Adrian chose to pick up that gun, regardless of why he did it. He made that decision, and Silvano is dead because of it.” A pain growing in his stomach, Sebastian slumps over, his head leading his torso forward, forehead coming to a rest on Courtney’s shoulder. “Everything’s gone wrong” Sebastian weeps, his sobs staining the shoulder of Courtney’s shirt, “everything’s gone wrong and I can’t fix it.” Tucking her chin into the small of the man’s neck, Courtney frees her hands from Sebastian’s hold, her arms wrapping around his neck to hold him close. “This is what needed to happen, Sebastian” Courtney whispers, tears of her own falling from wet eyes, “the way we’ve been living isn’t feasible anymore.” Muffling his sobs, Sebastian nods into the woman’s arm, gingerly returning the woman’s embrace, his arms limply wrapping around Courtney’s upper back. “I didn’t expect to lose it this quickly” Sebastian mutters, holding his emotions back to form coherent thought, “I thought we’d have more time.” Moving one hand from Sebastian’s neck to the back of his head, Courtney pulls Sebastian’s face closer. “I thought so, too” Courtney whispers back, the side of her head pressing against a guilt-ridden Sebastian, “I thought so, too.” | “Does he go anywhere during the day? Just, maybe, disappear for an hour or two?” Lou questions, he and his protege walking their path quicker than before. “Lou, I’ve never seen him leave the house” Marta replies, keeping her composure despite her voice emerging frail. Finding flat ground, Lou’s rush slows as he nears a tree, a bright orange band wrapped around it’s thick trunk. “Alright, Marta. For the last few days, whenever I’d go on a hunt, I’d wrap these orange bands along my trails” Lou explains, black sharpie written along their length, “if your dad’s found one of these, there’s a good chance he’d start following them once the cold set in.” “Do they lead back to the house?” Marta responds, her frigid breaths emerging rapidly. “They lead back to that village Sebastian found me in. They’ve all got my name on them” Lou explains, sliding his hand into his pocket, “it’s a long shot, but I’m sure there’s nothing else your dad would have followed instead.” Closing her mouth, Marta stares blankly into the distance, her teeth clattering together not from the cold, but from fear. “Sebastian told me not to kill your dad, and I don’t anticipate on going against Sebastian’s request” Lou explains, gently resting his hand on Marta’s shoulder, “but if I’m going to convince him to come back to that house, there’s no way I do it without you by my side, alright?” Trying to nod, Marta’s head bobs in each direction, her best effort given to keeping herself composed. Understanding the woman’s conflictions, Lou guides Marta to the ground, kneeling beside the tree he sits her against. “I know all of this is a lot to ask you to digest in such a short amount of time, but you need to see that this is normal” Lou explains, the woman’s eyes holding steadily upon his own, “like you said, I’ll probably never see my friends again. That hasn’t stopped me from trying.” Shaking the half-frozen cantina of water in his knapsack, Lou extends the drink to his pupil. “The point isn’t that I’m trying to escape you, or your father, or your group- it’s that I haven’t given up on mine” Lou states, allowing himself to be open, “even though the odds aren’t in my favour, I’ve never held back that small, almost pointless shred of hope- and neither should you.” Gently reclaiming the cantina, Lou’s voice softens, a near-smile breaking through his chapped lips. “What your father did will take time to repair, a lot of time, I’d imagine” Lou concludes, finding the glimmer of faith he’d looked to see return, “but, in due time, wounds will heal and balance will come back- you just need to keep yourself going until then.” Mustering the strength to return the nod she intended on giving, Marta takes the hand Lou extends toward her, lifting her to solid ground. | “I don’t like the look of this” Courtney spouts, her younger sister sat beside Rudy, who retains possession of Sebastian’s stolen shotgun. “We’re gonna kill him” Rudy replies, his declaration made the moment Courtney’s own finishes. “No, you’re not” Courtney responds, the answer prompting her father’s head to shake. “The man tried to kill you, and had it not been for Se-” Rudy retorts, his daughter’s interruption stifling his anger-bound statement. “He didn’t kill me and that is what matters” Courtney replies, a wave of heat rolling over her face as she enters the room, “and doing the same as Adrian makes you no better than him, if not, it makes you worse.” A slightly astonished look on his face, Rudy opens his mouth to speak, his daughter interrupting him before he has the chance to speak this time. “I don’t care what feelings you have of Adrian. Sebastian wants him brought back alive, and that is all that matters” Courtney explains, her voice lacking the comfort she commonly speaks to family with. “He can be brought back alive all he wants, Court’” Rudy responds, leaving his chair to approach her, “but he won’t make it through the night alive.” Beginning to walk past his daughter, Rudy’s chest feels his daughter’s hand push against it, holding him back from exiting. “Dad, I’m a paramotorist- are you aware of how quickly I can strap a fan to my back and fly off into the night?” Courtney asks, her right eyebrow arched as she looks her dad in the face, “because I’ve counted. I can have that fan, and a parachute, and a sack full of gas on me in less than three minutes.” “What are you trying to tell me?” Rudy responds, his own dissatisfied expression worn, the tone as one would expect from a father being threatened by their eldest born. “I’m telling you that if you harm one hair on Adrian’s body, I’ll take my paramotor to Saskatchewan again” Courtney replies, looking her father in the face, the man taken back by her claim, “but this time, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, I won’t come back.” “Why are you defending Adrian?” Sonya barks from further in the room, her sister’s eyes drawing toward her, “he murdered Silvano.” Lightly guiding her father back into the room, Courtney steps to her right, refusing to let either member of her family leave. “I don’t care what he did. Sebastian wants Adrian alive, and I have hope Sebastian will do the right thing” Courtney responds, already sensing reluctance. “Why do you have that hope!?” Rudy barks, his frustration taking his voice to a yell, “why do you have more faith in Sebastian to do the right thing than your own blood!?” Her teeth clenched, Courtney lets her father finish his question, already prepared to shout the answer before Rudy’s inquiry can finish. “Because he came around, unlike you idiots!” Courtney snaps back, meeting her father’s tone with equal resonance, “he’s making an effort to prepare for what’s to come!” Staring at Courtney angrily, Rudy lets his daughter continue, flustered by her remarks. “My father hands around the house all day playing chef with the groceries he wouldn’t have if not for me flying out to get them!” Courtney bellows, her hands flailing in every direction, “and while he does that, my sister plays doctor and refuses to acknowledge, even for one second, that the world is a fucking hazard in every fucking direction, so she can pretend everything’s fine!” Speechless, Rudy’s anger dissipates whilst Sonya’s confusion strengthens. Her lips puckered, Courtney holds her tongue until she no longer can, her head shaking until her declaration breaks free. “I had to kill my own fucking mother for the two of you!” Courtney screams, protruding veins running like rivers down her arms, “so stop pretending our lives are coming back! I killed her to save our lives, so stop trying to get yourselves killed living in fucking denial!” His mouth closing for the first time since his daughter entered the room, Rudy stands beside Sonya, watching the tears run down Courtney’s face as she approaches him, her voice lowered to a growl. “Give me the fucking gun” Courtney gnars, stretching her right hand toward her father, refusing to look him in the eyes. With his free hand, Rudy reaches to lift his daughter’s chin, only for Courtney to pull her face back at the last second. Her breathing heavy, Courtney keeps herself distant, waiting for the man to place the weapon into her hands. Relenting, Rudy hands the shotgun to his daughter, letting her leave without another word, Courtney left to disappear into the home to the sound of silence. | “Dad!?” Marta exclaims, her nerves cooled and her heart settled, the cloudy skies giving the air the grey, sick aura it deserves. “Adrian!?” Lou exclaims, his rifle carried in hand as he leads the young woman through the dense forest. His hand held out, Lou reaches into his pocket again, turning to face Marta. “I wanted to give you this earlier, but I forgot about it” Lou explains, digging through his pants to retrieve a switchblade. “I knew we were having to up our pace, so if we ran into the dead, I wanted you to have something to rely on other than me” Lou explains, tucking the knife into Marta’s hand, “use it wisely- and only when you need to.” Forgetting about her father and the situation that surrounds for only a moment, Marta’s lips curl into a smile, Lou’s trust in her letting everything bad disappear for only a moment. “Alright, let’s move” Lou exclaims, eagerly turning back to the trail. “Adrian!” Lou exclaims, sharing Marta’s efforts in contacting her father for a few more metres. “Get down, get down!” Lou grunts, turning around again, this time to sit Marta behind a tree. His finger pressed to his lips, Lou drops his voice to a whisper, his knees sinking into the snow beneath him. “I hear someone” Lou whispers, the sneaky steps not encouraging him, the instincts he carries urging caution. “Well, it has to be my dad!” Marta whispers, Lou’s emphatic refusal answering her. “No, I can’t figure out why, but it is not your dad” Lou says in a hush, letting his rifle and prosthetic fall into Marta’s lap, “you stay here, and don’t move unless I tell you to.” Begrudgingly accepting of Lou’s orders, Marta shovels snow over her lap and lies flat, letting her mentor take control. Making no effort to silence the crunching of snow beneath his boot, Lou journeys through the forest, his eyes dashing from one side to another as his rebar pipe drops into his clutches. “Whoever you are, I know you’re not who I’m looking for” Lou proclaims, the air snapping at the rebar, which Lou spins across his body like a bo staff. “I also know I’m not looking for anything other than one man in particular” Lou proclaims, his ears catching the sound of rubber shoes skidding across wet rock just to his side. “Unless your name is Adrian, I want nothing to do with you” Lou explains, his beard covered in ice, “so, if you’re willing to leave me alone, I’m more than happy to do the same for you.” Readjusting course, Lou steps toward the skid, his voice remaining calm, a confidence unmatched by any other. “If you do choose to attack, much like I fear you will, I won’t hold back” Lou explains, taking a glance behind every tree he passes, “if you’re not lucky, or you don’t have the balls to finish the job you start, attacking me will ensure that you die tonight.” A barely noticeable crunch of snow coming from a tree just a few metres away, Lou’s eyes are taken to his destination, the rebar pipe in his hands locking onto whatever resides within its cover. Aware of his discovery, the clean-shaven gunman behind the tree stump emerges from his cover, a rifle held in Lou’s direction. “Drop the-!” the masculine, powerfully familiar voice orders to Lou, his eyes widened and voice retreating. Holding onto a gasp, Lou steadies his pipe, holding it at the throat of a man distinguishable for miles. “Oh my god” the gunman mutters beneath his breath, overwhelmed with astonishment, “Lou?” Letting go of his gasp, the one-armed survivor lets his pipe fall to his side, a smile breaking through his confused expression. “I- I- Wha?” Lou mumbles, jolting his head forward as if convinced he were dreaming. “Theo?” With a laugh, Theo’s gun lowers to his lap, joining his friend in self-disarmament. “It’s good to see you, old friend” Theo laughs, throwing himself into Lou’s arm for a hug, an embrace Lou is more than willing to meet. Holding back a tear, Lou gently pats his good friend on the back, unable to hold his smile back any longer, “it’s good to see you, too.” == RISE and REVOLT == The young stranger unconscious, Lou shackles a pair of handcuffs over his dominant hand, the other end linked to an old radiator near the back of the living room. “How long should he be out?” Lou wonders, knelt upon the bloodstained carpet of the living room floor, his arm draped over his higher knee, regaining the breath he lost carrying the group’s victim to warm shelter.
“I dosed him with two hundred milligrams of lidocaine” Sonya replies, a loose robe dangling from her arms, the ends of the sleeves wide, “he could be out for an hour, maybe two- maybe more.” Thinking quietly to himself, Lou takes a glance at the man’s leg, Marta’s hands guided by Sonya, the bandages she wields covering the young man’s amputated leg. “How old would you say this kid is, Sonya?” Lou wonders aloud, the dirt that covers the man’s face veiling hidden jejunity, “or anyone else, I don’t care who- go ahead and take a guess.” The entire group stands before Lou in a huddled circle, silent to the question before Marta’s response. “The folds on his face are covered with dirt, but they still don’t look significant” the young woman responds, earning Lou’s attention, “he’s pretty young. Why ask?” Licking his lip, Lou’s eyes trail toward the woman’s father, a dumbstruck expression worn blindly on Adrian’s face. “Because when i carried him into the house, I felt a bulge in the back of his jeans” Lou replies, turning the victim’s hips over briefly to remove a leather wad from one of two pockets, “I know women use those pockets to carry their phones, but us men use it to carry our wallets.” Waving the leather bundle in his hand, Lou pushes his blistering anger below, his unflattered expression given solely to Marta’s father. “When I asked why you set up a trap in the freezer walkway, you stuttered something along the lines of ‘you weren’t in there’” Lou remarks, steadily rising from his feet, carrying himself right to the older man’s face, “what exactly did you mean by that?” “Woah, I didn’t mean-” Adrian attempts to respond, pulling his head back as Lou thwarts his strive to claim innocence. “Answer the goddamn question, Adrian” Lou interrupts calmly, the mere sound of the younger man’s voice silencing Marta’s father, “what did you mean by that?” His lower jaw trembling, Adrian’s hands hold close to his chest, his palms shown to Lou as a sign of concession. “You fell asleep really quickly after you brought Sonya back to her room, and I knew you weren’t going back out there before morning” Adrian explains calmly, still visually rattled by the events he’s allowed to unfold, “I always wake up at the crack of dawn, so I figured- since you weren’t there to keep watch tonight, I’d set up the trap and remove it before you woke up.” Each breath escaping through his nostrils loud enough for the group to overhear, Lou accepts Adrian’s response as truth, the anger he feels still not subsiding. “I swear, the trap wasn’t meant for you” Adrian responds, an authentic quiver to his response. His teeth clattering together, Lou presses his lips upon each other, looking off into the distance, frustrated at having to believe the man’s answer. His thumb swiping the front of the wallet open, Lou reads their victim’s name, his head shaking once his eyes reach the man’s date of birth. “March 17th, 1996” Lou reads aloud, his eyes returning to Adrian’s face, a self-disgusted look emerging, “Adrian’s stubborn refusal to listen to reason has effectively ended the life of a twenty-two year old kid.” “Come on, Lou- he’s just lost a leg!” Sebastian replies, still persistent in his efforts to play reason with both sides of the dynamic stretching his home toward two sides, “you lost an arm and you’re fine!” Suppressing his anger, Lou shakes his head at Sebastian, understanding of the older man’s failure to find the point. “Losing an arm didn’t keep me from running, it kept me from having a set of opposable thumbs” Lou responds, pressing the wallet into Adrian’s chest. “Lou’s right” Courtney replies, pulling the eyes of everyone in the room, her sympathetic tone voicing itself in Lou’s corner, “when you come from where I’d assume this kid comes from, anything less than two working legs is a drawn-out death sentence.” With a nod, Lou steps away from the trap-enthusiast, returning to their victim’s side. “You see, dipshit hasn’t given this kid a limp. He hasn’t given him the need for a cast, or a new reason to find value in a stable set of crutches” Lou explains, his index finger aimed squarely on Adrian, the honeypot-setting man overcome with grief. “I want to make something clear to all of you- I don’t care if you like me, or if you look at me as a kid, it doesn’t effectively matter” Lou explains, his finger pointed at the kid, “but when you look at this man, who will spend his last days dying on your living room floor, I want you to know that I was right.” Picking his rifle and prosthetic carrying case from the ground, Lou prepares himself to leave, the unassuming eyes that surround him only helping his anger boil. “None of you, with the exception of Courtney, know a damn about this world” Lou explains, finishing his thought as he walks through the crowd, his eyes set on the front door, “and if you can’t understand that, you’re all already dead.” = 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 = “What do we do when he wakes up?” Sonya wonders, her father and sister sat at the kitchen table beside her. “The kid’s stealing food for a reason, so I assume he’s not coming from much” Rudy responds, his good heart bringing a questionable look over Courtney’s face, “we cook him a warm meal, make him comfortable, and let Sebastian and Adrian figure things out from there.” “Hold on, why should they get to decide what happens from there?” Courtney replies, her father’s confused expression meeting her eyes, “Adrian’s the one that made this mess, and Sebastian’s the one that was laxed enough to let Adrian think he could get away with it.” His hands held at his sides, Rudy’s mouth shutters open without an immediate response. “What do you suggest we do with him then?” Sonya responds, her sister’s head pulling back the moment the question is raised. “There’s no one in this home more deserving and better suited to make that call than Lou” Courtney replies, the dismay her family presents illustrating her proposition’s unpopularity. “The kid’s been here for what? A week? Already, he’s made more sense than all of the people in this house combined” Courtney explains, Sonya’s voice the first to oppose. “Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that my initial perception of the guy was wrong. He’s not as bad as I thought” Sonya explains, her head still shaking in declination, “but we already know his answer to the question is ‘kill the kid’.” “As it should be!” Courtney immediately responds, her father’s face turning away, disgusted at the proposition. “Lou’s one hundred percent right! Adrian’s trap has, effectively, killed this kid” Courtney explains, embracing the ignominious reaction, “this kid is going to be haunted by dystrophy for the rest of his life, and will be a sitting duck if he’s sent back out to the land of the undead! Killing him now wouldn’t be murder, it would be mercy.” “How can you say that? How can you even listen to yourself say that?” Rudy replies, his tone not disgusted, but embroiled in a shamefaced front, “I think highly of Lou, but he’s still too young to be making that call.” Lifting her hand to her head, Courtney wipes at her soft skin, a subdued shake of her head presenting itself. “There’s no such thing as ‘too young’ anymore. The rules of youth, hell, the rules of social hierarchy to whatever remains are completely different now” Courtney responds, her sights split equally amongst her father and sister, “Lou’s more of a survivor than you two combined. I mean, he’s survived all of this on one arm! I’ve spent so much time in the sky, he’s more of a survivor than me!” “He’s just a kid” Silvano replies, turning the corner to interrupt the conversation, an empty plate carried in his hand on its way to the sink. “No, Silvano- You’re just a kid” Courtney responds, her face tensing with vexation, the young man’s appearance preturbing her. “I’m older than him” Silvano replies with a laugh, casually tossing the plate into the metal sink. “You’re also more of an ass” Courtney responds, crossing one leg over the other beneath the table, “and he’d leave your ass lying.” Stepping up from the table, Courtney carries her plate to the sink, her hand reaching for the knob. “Listen, you can view this any way you’d want, but if you weren’t hiding out on your mountain top, you’d think just as I do” Courtney explains, running a soap-covered sponge over two ceramic plates, the residue of breakfast scrubbed away, “the smart ones in this house already realize that this cabin can’t be depended on forever. And in due time, you’ll see how important having Lou here is.” “We shouldn’t be putting such expectations on the kid” Sebastian replies, entering the room with more grace than Silvano had. “Taking just one read at this room, I’d assume no one was” Courtney responds, extending her free hand toward the empty plate in Sebastian’s hand. “Don’t get me wrong, the kid has obviously been through a lot, and he should be commended for what’s he’s sacrificed to be here today” Sebastian explains, “but we shouldn’t force him to grow up making calls over someone’s life.” “Sebastian, you need to stop trying to be Lou’s father” Courtney groans, her pleasant, almost welcoming demeanour parting at the tenacious reappearances of the group’s worst qualities. “Telling someone to ‘just be a kid’ is nothing but a handicap. They can’t afford to be depending on the grown-up’s to make calls anymore!” Courtney says through a sigh, “all of you need to wake up and stop thinking the world is still this peachy, wonderful land of opportunity.” “Court’, no one’s saying he needs to sit in the corner and play video games all day” Rudy explains, his welcoming voice still maintaining its warmth, “we’re just saying he shouldn’t be strapped with this responsibility.” Turning the water knob off, Courtney takes a dry rag to her damp hands. “And I’m saying he should be. Not because he should grow up, but because none of you have yet” Courtney replies, stepping out of the room, “and we wouldn’t have this mess if you listened to him sooner.” | His shoes gently pressing into the frozen slush covering the ground, Lou and his gore-covered coat trudge through the woods, his eyes following a path of doubled ovals. “Where are you, big guy?” Lou whispers to himself, his hand grazing each tree he passes, the soft snow crunching beneath his step. “Where’s who?” A soft voice suddenly calls out from close behind, Lou’s body prompted to spin around, his hand spinning the rifle over his shoulder, ready to fire at a moment’s notice. “It’s just me!” Marta exclaims, the surprise at the suddenness in Lou’s reaction prompting her hands to rise, “Jesus, you’re quick on the draw!” Rolling his eyes, Lou pulls the rifle over his back once more. “You don’t sneak up on a man like that” Lou asserts, pressing his back against a nearby tree, “especially not when he’s armed with a gun.” “I’m sorry, I just didn’t know how to talk to you alone” Marta responds, following the man’s pressed-in footprints on her descent to him. “Talk to me alone?” Lou replies, his emphasis pushed upon the last word, “what’s important enough to warrant being said in secret?” Poorly dressed for the journey she followed him upon, Marta extends her hand toward her peer, quietly hoping for assistance. With a sigh, Lou reaches forward, taking the young woman by the hand to guide her through the snow. “The same thing that warranted secrecy yesterday” Marta responds, hopping off the slightly elevated patch of dirt, her feet dragging against the snow as her velocity pulls her against Lou’s chest, her forehead nearly pressing against the man’s chin. “I already answered you yesterday, so following me is pointless” Lou replies, nudging the woman a few feet way from him. “I’m not going to stop hastling you about it just because you say ‘no’” Marta responds, a grey sweater worn with blue jeans, the knees stained from multiple tumbles into the snow, a pair of fur boots adorned on her feet. “Then you’re going to be wasting your time” Lou replies, turning away from the tree to return to his hunt, the woman’s footsteps matching his own. “Or maybe you’ll be wasting your time?” Marta responds, a glimmer in her voice, as if she knew something Lou himself did not, “like walking around in the woods hunting for food?” “I don’t see how that’s a waste of time” Lou replies, a giggle held beneath his breath, “I don’t even know how one could consider that to-” “Aaahhh!” Marta stands with her arms held to her sides, a loud, ear-piercing scream leaving her lungs, emphatically drifting throughout the air. Briefly braced for cover, Lou rushes back and forcefully pushes his hand over the woman’s mouth, a frantic expression on his face. “Why the fuck are you screaming!?” Lou grunts, bewildered by the display. “‘Cause if that deer you’re hunting hears me, he’ll run away” Marta responds the moment Lou’s hand parts an inch from her lips, smiling at her response, “I think that’d make this whole trip a waste of your time.” his eyes widened, Lou shakes his head and rolls his eyes, refusing to encourage Marta’s demonstration. “You’re incorrigible” Lou mutters beneath his breath, just loudly enough for his shadow to hear. “I’ll take that as a compliment” Marta replies, eagerly persisting with her plea. Continuing his journey, Lou brushes the woman’s presence aside, returning to his usual business. “I’m serious, though. I want you to teach me how to survive out here” Marta explains, a point Lou had already noticed. “Listen, I’ve heard Courtney talk about the places she’s flown to, everything she’s seen and had to do” Marta explains, a genuine yearning for Lou’s guidance, “I know everything she’s saying is true.” Finally giving in, Lou turns back to the woman, offering Marta his undivided attention despite his best instincts encouraging him otherwise. “What is she telling you?” Lou responds, displeased with the woman’s unwavering desire to earn a different answer, though, quietly finding the lengths she’s willing to travel in order to do so admirable. “That the world is in chaos, people are despicable, everything is a threat, and we can’t hide out in our cabin forever” Marta replies with grief. “Sebastian wrangled up all the dead and huddled them in the soup kitchen a few weeks after the phones went down” Marta recalls, “he didn’t want helicopters seeing them in the streets if they came to save us. He worried they’d think the town was a loss, and I think he’s still holding out that hope somewhere.” Wrapping his fingers around the straps over his chest, Lou closes his mouth, letting Marta’s explanation emerge unopposed. “My dad thinks of himself as the rational one, but since you came along, he doesn’t seem as rational as we, or at least I, thought” Marta continues, her eyes swelling with desperation. “Silvano acts like a cooped up teen, Sonya and Rudy write off Courtney’s stories as paranoia, and Kim’s dead” Marta concludes, “and if things don’t change, I’m sure I will be too.” Letting his eyes fall to the ground, Lou takes in Marta’s fears, letting them sit with him silently. “Why does Courtney think the cabin’s going to fall?” Lou wonders aloud, engrossed by the frequency this concern has been mentioned. “A few reasons. People keep poaching our food, we could runout of water, the hydro that powers our heaters can go out, and-” Marta pauses, clearly not joyous over admitting the final bit aloud, “the mountain’s prone to avalanches.” His eyes squinting toward the far distance, Lou nods quietly to himself as Marta finishes her plea, fearing the day she speaks poorly of. “If you say ‘no’, I won’t bother you with it again. I won’t bring it up, and I’ll let it die here” Marta explains, regaining the man’s focus, “but without your help, I’ve got no chance when things go wrong, and they will go wrong. I understand the world is bad, and it’s not fair, and the whole nine-yards- but I don’t want to die.” Recognizing the look of despair written over Marta’s mien, Lou presses the tip of his tongue against the inside of his cheek. “Get up before the sun rises, just like your dad does, not a minute later, and meet me at the freezer dressed properly” Lou responds, his hunt leaving him empty-handed as he returns to the woman, walking past to guide her back home, “and if your father finds out about this, if he even gets a whiff of this, the deal’s off.” “Okay” Marta replies, taking Lou’s outstretched hand as he helps her climb the elevated patch of dirt, the smile on her face warm, “thank you.” | Nestled in his warm chair, Sebastian sits beneath the orange glow of his reading light, one finger pressed to his lips whilst another flips from one page to another. “I hope I’m not interrupting” Courtney says, her knuckles tapping against the oak-finished door frame. “Of course not, Court’” Sebastian responds, folding the corner of his page as the hard cover book shuts, “come on in.” Taking the man at his insistence, Courtney enters the small room at the end of the hall, short shelves lining the walls and lying close to the ground. “Is there something I can help you with?” the man asks, thin, white curtains over the windows covering the deep blue sky outside, the moon just beginning to take over the duties of lighting the cold world below. “I actually wanted to apologise for earlier” Courtney replies, the tips of her hands sliding into her pockets, “I do believe in what I said, about you, and about Lou, but I shouldn’t have said it like I did.” Sitting back in his seat, Sebastian removes his glasses, placing them on a glass table to his side. “I don’t hold what you said, or even how you said it, against you” Sebastian responds, his legs resting upon a cushioned step stool, “you don’t have anything to apologise for.” Giving the man a nod, Courtney stands in the centre of the room for a moment, staring at the floor as she organises her thoughts. “I know there’s no one coming to save us, Court’” Sebastian proclaims, catching the woman by surprise, his own face holding the disappreciation of begrudging acceptance, “but there’s part of me that can’t let go of the hope that someone will. I don’t know if that someone is the government, or someone else. I just struggle to let go of it.” Pulling a chair from the corner of the room, Courtney takes a seat, sensing more than just words being shared. “And I know Lou won’t be able to go back to school, or graduate, or do whatever else kids do now” Sebastian explains, a pain hidden in the smile he offers, “but that hopeful part of me doesn’t want to see him grow so disassociated from what life was like. I see Marta scrolling through her phone all day, and part of me worries Lou would never be able to go back to that someday.” Dejected, Courtney pulls her chair up to Sebastian’s knees, her hands placed upon their tops as they lock eyes, the lack of joy she takes from having to speak immeasurable. “I know it’s hard, maybe even impossible to accept, but you need to try to convince yourself to see the truth” Courtney murmurs, her head somberly shaking from one side to another, “the life we used to live is dead, it is gone, and it is never coming back.” Holding a straight face, Sebastian tries valiantly to hold back tears, the build up of his emotions forcing a dry sob from his core, his sturdy mask shattering into a swell of fervour. “I’m sorry, Sebastian” Courtney mumbles, resting her hand on the man’s shoulder as he cries, the piece he’d kept himself intact with shattering at once, the world’s true nature finally discovered for its true self. | “Those knocks really echo when you’re on the other side of the door” Lou exclaims, descending a metal set of warehouse stairs, setting out to answer the hefty knocks at his door. Releasing the entrance from its resting hinges, Lou looks into Adrian’s eyes, his intrigue in the man clambering for his attention dying instantly. “I should’ve known it was the dipshit” Lou mutters beneath his breath, stepping away as quickly as he stepped forward. “You’ve had the group up in arms all damn day!” Adrian exclaims, his voice carried loudly within the spacious unit. “You’re the one who set out to watch someone have their leg gnawed at by an industrial-use bear trap, dipshit” Lou replies casually, not nearly as worked up as Adrian is, “if your group is worked up over anything, it’s only because you decided to give them something to be worked up over.” “I made a mistake, okay!? I’ve apologised! What more do you need from me?” Adrian responds, Lou turning back with his eyes widened. “You’ve apolog- Well, I guess everything’s peachy then!” Lou shouts, his emphatic pitch holding a sarcastic, bashful linger, “it’s not like you killed a kid or anything, that would be insane!” “I didn’t kill anyone, you’re the one talking about murder!” Adrian shouts, his face trembling with anger. Disgusted at how genuine Adrian’s refusal to accept blame is, Lou steps back up to the man in a blind rage, his open hand crashing against the side of Adrian’s face with enough force to take the man off his feet. “Look around, you fucking scumbag!” Lou growls, Adrian’s hand pressing against the side of his face, the man in disbelief at the power behind Lou’s strike. “I’ll put it to you like this- Picture a turtle crossing the street on all four limbs. Pretty bad situation, wouldn’t you say?” Lou inquires, “now chop the fucker’s legs off and have it cross the street rolling on its shell. That’s what you’ve done to that kid!” Spitting on the ground beside Adrian, Lou steps back, nodding at the display he’s put forward. “You sicken me, you pitiful bastard” Lou continues to howl, tired of approaching the man with a kind face. “You can’t accept that you know nothing. You walk around here trying to protect your family as if you weren’t the biggest fucking danger to it” Lou proclaims, his head bobbing from one side to another, “you can’t accept that you killed a kid out of blind, stupid ignorance- so you blame everyone else, and when they call you on your bullshit, you apologize and think that changes a thing.” With a grimace, Lou pulls his head up, glaring at the heavens in disgust for what the sky oversees. “Is that the kind of man you are!?” Adrian exclaims, drawing Lou’s face back toward himself, finally returning to his feet, “hold someone’s worst mistake against them for the rest of their lives!?” “You don’t seem to get anything! No one here holds you accountable for the shit you pull!” Lou exclaims, giving into the screaming match Adrian seems to beg for, “they let you parade around thinking you’re the only sane voice in the room.” Stepping up to the man, Lou tests Adrian’s perception, leaving himself open for Adrian to impose the physical superiority he seems comfortable displaying when actions are kept to words. “So no, I’m not the kind of man to keep stroking the ego of your stuffy-nose self, jackass” Lou responds, a thought suddenly dawning upon him. “As a matter of fact, let me show you what kind of man I am” Lou replies, retreating to a small pile of his belongings in the corner, his fingers immediately wrapping around his rifle. “Come on, have a look for yourself” Lou gleefully exclaims, stepping through the door on his way back to the cabin. “I didn’t expect the lidocaine to-” Sonya murmurs to Silvano, the two sets of feet bursting through the front door interrupting their conversation. “To anyone interested in facing the music, come on out from hiding!” Lou proclaims, giddy as if he’d just found a bundle of presents under the tree early on Christmas morning. “What’s going on?” Rudy inquires, stepping into the living room at the same time as Marta, both at a loss for words the moment they spot the gun in Lou’s hands. “No! You can’t kill him!” Sonya exclaims, no further argument than that. “I’m not” Lou responds, watching both Courtney and Sebastian emerge from a separate section of the home, “Adrian is.” “What kind of sick fucking game is this!?” Silvano exclaims, throwing himself away from the unconscious amputee once Lou takes the rifle toward him. “The one where you get the fuck out of the gun’s way or get shot” Lou replies without hesitation, both survivors quickly moving aside. “Why is my dad going to kill this guy?” Marta inquires, watching her mentor push the gun against Adrian’s chest. “Because your dear, old dad is the man that made this mess” Lou responds, letting Adrian nervously wrap his hands around the weapon, his hands trembling in fear, “now he’s going to clean it up, because that’s the kind of man he is.” “I’m not killing this guy!” Adrian hollers, his body quaking beneath the weight of his guilty conscience. “We genuinely don’t have any other option, Adrian!” Courtney bellows from afar, both Lou and his forced-gunman taking their attention to her, “if we let him go, he’s not going to make it a day. And even in the small chance that he makes it back home, he’ll tell all of his friends about what we did, and they’ll come back to take a lot more than just our food.” “I can’t believe this!” Rudy shouts, both hands pressed against the sides of his head, “Sebastian, stop this!” Stood at Courtney’s side, Sebastian stares absently at Lou and his terror-filled second half, Rudy’s continuous call of his name only proving to be cannon fodder. “Sebastian!” Rudy calls from the other side of the room, again continuing to receive no response, “Sebastian, stop this crazy talk!” Glancing back toward Rudy, Sebastian responds with a straight face. “No” the man replies, watching the befuddlement emerge on Rudy’s face as he looks back at Lou, his eyes eventually falling upon Adrian, “clean up this mess, Adrian.” His mouth agape, Adrian stares at the cabin’s owner in silence, his mind unable to process the order he’s been given. “Go ahead, Adrian” Lou whispers, the air calming for a brief, horrifying few seconds, “make amends for your mistake.” Turning back to Lou, Adrian silently shakes his head in refusal, staring at the younger man like a deer in headlights. Shaking his head in disfavour, Lou takes the gun from Adrian’s hand and steadies it with ease, one squeeze of the trigger spraying blood upon the once-white wall. Choked up, Adrian stares at the body whilst Lou drops his gun to the floor, his hand wrapping around Adrian’s chin, pulling the man’s face toward his. “You asked me what kind of man I was, but you don’t have the balls to do the same for yourself- so let me answer on both of our behalves” Lou explains, lowering his voice to a whisper, “you’re the guy that makes a mess expecting not to be forced to answer for it, whereas I’m the guy that has to clean up the messes people like you make.” Strolling out the front door, Lou wraps his hand around a shovel and pries it from the dirt, dragging the dirt-covered socket back into the home, and over the dried blood-stained carpet. “Now that I’ve cleaned up your mess-” Lou shouts, pressing the tool against Adrian’s chest as he had both the wallet and the rifle, looking him in the eyes as he brings his voice to a whisper once more, “-go clean up mine.” Seething, Lou retrieves his rifle from the ground, proudly throwing it over his shoulder once more as he makes for the exit. “Goodnight” Lou sternly bellows, pushing the glass barrier out as he walks into the bleak, dreary night, leaving those within the cabin to pick up where he leaves off. == RISE and REVOLT == “Why did you come all this way?” Adrian wonders, leant forward with his coupled hands hanging between his spread, cacky-dressed legs, the cabin’s one-armed visitor sat confidently in a seat across from him. “Because my friends are smart. I’d like to think that, if they made it to Victoria like I did, they’d set off for the mountains” Lou replies, his elbow pressing into the cushiony armrest, his knuckles pressing into the side of his mouth.
“You don’t know that they made it to Victoria, they could have pushed against the current and landed back in Seattle” Adrian responds, a retort Lou refuses to argue. “You’re right, and if they landed in Seattle, I’ll probably never see them again” Lou replies, nodding his head, “because if I never find them, I will remain on Vancouver Island hoping to run into them.” Sinking back into his chair, Adrian continues to read the young man’s expression, still unable to find anything less than certainty behind his statements. “If your friends are here, and they made it up these mountains like you presume, they could be right under our noses” Silvano interrupts, sat at a table a short distance across the room. “What do you mean by that?” Lou responds, aware of the assumption, but suspicious as to what’s being implied. “Well, we don’t know your friends. You said they all drifted off together, so there’s no reason to think they’re not still together” Silvano replies, hiding the distrust, “maybe they’re the people stealing our food.” Stood in the corner of the room, Sebastian rolls his eyes, defending the people his guest seeks reunion with. “Lou’s a decent kid, I’m sure his group wouldn’t-” Sebastian begins to reply, interrupted by the different tunes Lou responds with. “I’m sure that’s a realistic possibility” Lou responds, earning a confused, almost bewildered look from the man that had tried to defend him, “they know you as well as I do. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind snatching a few apples here and there.” His urge to continue fighting in Lou’s favour defeated by the onslaught of questions brought forward, Sebastian resigns to being a bystander, letting the conversation unfold naturally. “They’re not just taking a few apples, they’re taking sacks of rice, seed packets, fresh drinking water, and plenty more” Adrian replies, growing irritated at the laxity Lou portrays. “They haven’t done anything. Neither of us know whether my friends are the ones snatching your seeds, big guy” Lou responds, his words directed at Adrian’s casual, seated posture, “but if it were, I can’t say I would be surprised.” “I’d like to point out that, even if you are a kid, we’re very skeptical of you” Silvano explains, his arm draped over the back of a metal folding chair, “so, with that said, is any of what you’re saying supposed to help change that?” His head shaking and shoulders shrugging, Lou offers Silvano a puckered-lip response. “I don’t care if you trust me” Lou replies, sparking a slight surprise over most in the room, “hell, if saving your friends from a horde isn’t enough, I don’t know what is.” “We’re not saying we don’t trust you, Lou” Sebastian interjects, his efforts thwarted again, both by Adrian’s interruption, and Lou’s genuine refusal to care. “That’s exactly what we’re saying” Adrian responds, his eyes taken to both Lou and Sebastian, “I get you’re young, and I’m sorry the world hasn’t worked out in your favour, but I’ve got a daughter to look out for. I can’t blindly trust a kid to not do me or my family harm just because he’s young, or he’s looking for his friends.” “And I’m not arguing that you should- because I don’t care” Lou replies, hoping to make that point resoundingly clear, “I appreciate the hospitality- I really do. But all I care about is finding my friends, and if anyone in this home threatens my ability to do that, I’ll make them regret it.” Still slightly disconnected from the morals of the new world, a cocky Silvano challenges the young man’s warning. “I hear a lot of bark and no bite” Silvano responds, Lou’s counterpoint begun before the man’s point can even fully leave his lips. Throwing the rifle’s strap over his shoulder, Lou steadies his aim at one of the legs to Silvano’s chair and pulls the trigger, a single bullet ripping through the metal with such force to break it completely. The chair beneath him crumbling, Silvano falls to the floor, looking to Lou, who’s teeth clatter together, shattering Silvano’s cocky display. “Like I said, I don’t care if you trust me” Lou repeats, returning the rifle to its original place over his back, the remainder of the group that had lingered elsewhere in the home now beckoned by the boisterous gunshot. “If my friends are the ones stealing your food, I will be the one to handle them” Lou explains, his composure prevailing amidst a home full of anxious faces, “and as proven before, I have the capabilities of both saving you, and killing you.” His eyes taking off to the side of the room, Lou looks to Sebastian, the man’s face weaning worry like a mink fur coat. “I’m not here to hurt you, and I’m not here to help you. I’m here because you owe me a place to sleep in return for saving one, hopefully two, lives” Lou explains, gently returning to the chair he previously occupied, “I don’t want to get attached. I’m here looking for my friends, and then I’m gone. Any questions?” Letting to the air simmer for a moment, Lou waits for the silence to pass, counting the seconds in his head before he’s satisfied with the result. “Good” Lou remarks, climbing out of his chair again, this time letting his feet guide him to the front door, its floor mat still covered in Kim’s blood, “now, someone come show me that goddamn food warehouse of yours.” = 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 kid is not right in the head” Adrian explains, seated at a table surrounded by his friends and family. “He’s the same age as Marta, Adrian” Sebastian replies, still standing in Lou’s corner. “There’s a difference, Sebastian- A big difference” Adrian responds, finding more reluctance from across the table. “There’s a difference because of circumstance, Adrian” Rudy replies, “put Marta in the kid’s place, and I’m sure your daughter would be standing here a lot different right now.” “This isn’t about the kids being the same age. If Marta stood in that living room and shot at Silvano like this kid did, I’d be just as concerned” Adrian responds. “I think his story is bullshit” Sonya replies, her father’s confused look meeting her. “Sorry, I don’t buy the story about the mom” Sonya responds, shaking her head in disapproval, “a woman doesn’t start swinging like that for no reason. If he was adamant to that woman about not being a threat, she wouldn’t have kept gunning for him.” “I disagree” Courtney replies, the simple mention of her voice drawing all eyes in her direction, a pleased look subdued from the faces in Lou’s corner, and a confused look on the faces of those against the young man. “Unlike the rest of you, I’ve seen what the world is like out there. It’s brutal, and the people don’t always make sense” Courtney explains, her hands wrapping around a cup of cold coffee, “with how things are, this kid is a good apple atop a basket full of bruised fruit.” Letting out a sigh, Adrian’s head sinks, his own hands wrapped around a plastic cup of water. “I know what you’ve seen, and I’m sure you’re right, but that doesn’t make me any more comfortable with him being around Marta” Adrian responds, a gesture Courtney also refuses to argue. “I’m not saying ‘bring him into the fold’. He doesn’t want to be part of a group, and for good reason” Courtney explains, “but with how often I’m coming and going, you might be well off with him sticking around.” “The mountains are not as dangerous as the ground is, Courtney. I get you’ve seen places become overrun, but that doesn’t-” Adrian retorts, expecting the same argument he’s heard before. “I know the mountains are safe. That said, you won’t be able to hide away from the world up here forever” Courtney replies, her words more trusted by Adrian than anyone else's, “he had the right idea cutting Kim’s leg off, whether she lives or dies. Half of you couldn’t even stomach being in the same room.” “He’s dangerous, Courtney” Silvano proclaims, growing tired at the sight of his peers slowly coming into agreeance with their paramotorist-friend. “He’s dangerous if you make yourselves a threat” Courtney responds, her eyebrow raised in Silvano’s direction, “after all, the only reason he shot your chair was because you practically dared him to.” “That doesn’t mean he has the right to prove me wrong!” Silvano shouts, a response that makes Courtney laugh. “The fact that you don’t realise how dangerous it is to egg someone on is proof enough that you’re not familiar enough with this world to see what I do” Courtney replies, a disappointed shake of his head suggesting which side of the argument Silvano remains in, “and I’m telling you, with all that I can, that this kid might be the best thing that could have happened to any of you.” | “What’re you doing?” Lou calls out, stepping through the snow as the daylight burns, watching Adrian sprinkle snow over a sharp-toothed, metal device sunken into the ground. “I’m covering a trap” Adrian responds, indifferent to the potential harm that could come to those he rigs the storage unit against. “Alright, and why use a bear trap?” Lou replies, able to recognize the physical honeypot by its shape, “are you trying to catch these thieves, or are you trying to hurt them?” “Why not do both?” Adrian responds, still indifferent to the feelings of those stealing from his friends and himself, “they’re taking food off my daughter’s plate. Why should I care?” Getting up to leave, Adrian steps within Lou’s reach, the young man’s hand pressing against Adrian’s chest to stop him from progressing. “Because those are my friends, and the sooner I find them, the sooner I’m out of your hair” Lou replies, both men staring each other in the face, “that’s what you want, correct?” “I don’t care if you’re here, I just care you’re not putting my daughter and I in danger” Adrian responds, pulling his chest away from Lou’s touch, “that’s more than reasonable, is it not?” His rebar pipe carried between his bicep and ribcage, Lou takes his weapon and sets in down on the trap, the teeth snapping down upon its presumed prey with enough speed for the trap to bounce into the air. Calmly sliding his weapon from the trap’s jaws, Lou locks eyes with Adrian again, hoping to make himself clear. “We are not setting out to hurt these people. We only set out to catch them, interrogate them, and let them move on” Lou explains, his voice clear, his words impossible to misconstrue, “do you understand me?” Frowning at Lou, Adrian walks away without another word, returning to the cabin as Lou watches him leave. “He’s not always like this” a young voice calls from nearby, Lou’s eyes drawn to the warehouse, where Marta emerges from around the corner, “we haven’t seen anyone new since everything shut down. I think he’s just nervous about you.” “How much of that did you hear?” Lou replies, his face stoic, the thick, brown beard covering his pressed lips. “I was standing just around the corner” Marta responds, almost a sarcastic tone in her voice, “I’m not deaf. My ears are perfectly capable of hearing a conversation happening just a few feet away.” “Don’t you have a text message to answer?” Lou replies, shaking his head as he proceeds to walk past the girl, her age closer to his than anyone else in the camp. “I haven’t been able to reach any of my own friends since everything went offline” Marta responds, following closely behind Lou, “I only spend all day on my phone because my dad won’t let me do anything else.” “Shouldn’t you be happy about that?” Lou replies, trekking through the snow, his eyes set on a road leading to the nearest village, “the world’s off fighting the dead, and you get to stay inside all day listening to music. Consider yourself lucky.” With a chuckle, Marta finds herself very interested in arguing Lou’s viewpoint. “Sure, I’ll consider myself lucky for now” Marta responds, her head hung, “but, like Courtney said, we won’t be able to hide up here forever. I won’t be lucky then.” Letting the conversation die there, Lou continues to walk, his thumb wrapped around the straps to both his rifle and prosthetic. Stopping in the snowy field, Marta watches Lou walk a few extra steps, the man having failed to realize she was no longer following him. “I don’t care if my dad isn’t comfortable with me learning how to defend myself” Marta calls out, her distant voice encouraging Lou’s walk to stop, the man turning around to face a girl once considered his equal. “I don’t want to rely on my dad to get me through the worst of this. I don’t want to be helpless when we’re forced out of that cabin” Marta explains, the eye contact Lou gives her strengthening her confidence, “teach me how to survive.” The cold air grazing his face, Lou considers Marta’s request for a moment, but not a second longer than that. “No” Lou replies, turning back around to continue his journey, the answer confusing the young girl, who expected a different answer. “Why not?” Marta responds, restarting her walk, one Lou worries won't end unless he agrees to her offer. “Because I’m not trying to get attached to you people” Lou replies, his eyes aimed at the ground, keeping a lookout for any debris beneath his feet, “I’m looking for my friends, and having a protégé doesn’t really work with that goal.” “Okay, then fuck your goal” Marta responds, finally catching up to the man despite the bitter winds, which rush at speeds high enough to whip Lou’s scarf in the breeze. “Why bother trying not to get attached to us?” Marta inquires, her perception of Lou making such a goal weight with little sense, “if you were to stay with us, that wouldn’t stop you from being able to find your friends.” “Oh, is that right? Because, if my friends really are the ones taking food from your group, I don’t think I’d be able to get away with playing both sides” Lou replies, his head nodding, “and if such a point came, I know where my allegiances will be.” Stopping again, Marta watches Lou walk off, this time with no intention of stopping him. | “Good morning, Rudy” Sebastian mumbles, walking past an Adrian-occupied kitchen table on his way to the fridge. “What’s for breakfast?” Sebastian inquiries, leaning over the older man’s shoulder to take a glance at the frying pan. “Court’ brought in some fresh stuff in” Rudy responds gleefully, “we’re having sausage, fried potatoes, cooked eggs and a blueberry muffin.” “Sounds like heaven” Sebastian replies, grabbing a glass off the drying rack, filling its contents halfway with milk. “Did you catch anything in your trap last night, Adrian?” Sebastian wonders, gently setting the glass dairy-container back into the fridge. “Nope, Lou told me I wasn’t allowed to set the trap down” Adrian responds, stepping up from his seat at the table with an empty plate, “he decided to sleep in the warehouse instead.” “He slept in the storage unit?” Sebastian replies, the tone of his voice proclaiming his disbelief. “It was his choice” Adrian responds, laying the ceramic plate into the sink before patting Rudy on the back, “why do I care if he sacrifices comfort over a warm bed?” Watching Adrian depart the kitchen, Courtney, Sonya, Marta and Silvano are all left seated, the sound of silverware clattering against ceramic and glass creating an environment not to unlike the one left in the wake of the undead. “I can’t figure this kid out” Sonya remarks, still chewing on the blueberry sweet. “He’s seen more of the world than all of you have combined, so good luck getting a real good look on him” Courtney replies, nudging her sister with the base of her elbow. “What is there to get a good look on?” Silvano responds, swirling the half-sausage remaining in a depleted pool of syrup, “the guy carries a metal pole around as a weapon. He’s a savage living in a meat locker.” Gently opening the kitchen door, Lou emerges not a second later, an empty ceramic plate carried atop his nub. Squeezing a dab of soap onto a damp sponge, Lou pats Rudy on the back with a short smile. “Thank you for the breakfast” Lou remarks, turning the sink’s faucet on and letting the water run. “You’re- you’re welcome” Rudy replies, caught by surprise by the young man’s manners, a much longer smile held on his own face. Running the spine over both plates left in the sink, Lou leaves the eatery to dry on the dishrack and exits through the same door he entered, leaving with as little announcement as he entered with. Unable to hold back her laughter, Courtney sinks back into her chair, head pointed toward the ceiling in a fit. “Yeah, Silvano! You’ve really got it figured out!” Courtney shouts, her sides hurting from the humor she views the interaction through, “he’s a real fucking savage!” Greatly confused, Sebastian resorts to following his initial intention, feet creeping into slip-on shoes as he, too, exits the kitchen. “Lou, hold up!” Sebastian calls out, tying his morning robe tighter, truly underestimating the Western Canadian morning chill. “Adrian told me you slept in the warehouse last night” Sebastian explains, the curious look on Lou’s face indicating his uncertainty over the importance behind such decision, “do you not feel safe in the house?” “No, you people are fine” Lou responds, the concern in his voice nothing when compared to the concern in Sebastian’s. “Well, then why are you sleeping in the storage unit?” Sebastian replies, his cabin’s warmth rendering the near-December’s frost a line seldom worth crossing. “Because ‘dad of the year’ in there is trying to set bear traps up in the storage unit’s doorway” Lou responds, still tempted enough by the cold to cross his arms, pressing them close to hist chest. “Well, we don’t have a much different option” Sebastian replies, trying to reason with Adrian’s decision, “there aren’t alarms, or security cameras, or tripwires to depend on. What other choice do we have?” His answer already prepared, Lou pays Sebastian the respect of letting him finish his argument. “I’m the other choice. I think you forget I’ve slept amongst a horde of the undead. That freezer might as well be paradise for me” Lou responds, “no need for ankle-breakers if I’m in there.” “Sure, but that’s not the point” Sebastian replies, offering a welcoming look as he shakes his head, “the house is warm, there’s bed made for you. You’re too young to be out here cooped up in-” Not allowed to finish his thought the second time around, Sebastian’s offering is cut short, Lou’s voice speaking louder. “Do me a favour, stop referring to me as ‘kid’, sir” Lou retorts, tired of hearing the same word used to describe him, “I’ve done more than enough to warrant being called ‘Lou’.” Letting out a sigh, Sebastian gives the man a nod. “You’re right, Lou” Sebastian responds, his hair blown upwards by the winds, it’s colour matching the partially-grey moustache-goatee combination he wears. “As a matter of fact, I’d argue you’ve done more to be called ‘sir’, than me. Hell, I’m sure Courtney and I would agree that you’ve done more than enough to be called ‘a man’” Sebastian furthers, the warm look returning, “that still doesn’t mean you should have to camp in a freezer.” Waving his hand through the air, Sebastian begins returning the conversation to its original course, only to be interrupted by a panicked voice calling out through the kitchen door. “Lou! Sebastian!” Marta exclaims, both men turning back in the frigid tundra, their eyes setting upon her, “Kim’s not breathing!” | Trailing through the snow, Lou carries a string of squirrels over his shoulder, a small knife on his belt dripping blood upon his dark, navy pants. “There’s enough on the string for three critters each” Lou remarks, snapping three of the rodents from the twenty-four that remain tied. “Enjoy dinner” Lou remarks, resting the string on a tree stump before walking off for his freezer-home. “Hey, hold on a second!” Adrian remarks, standing five feet below ground level, covered in the dirt he’s assist in removing from a grave, “are you not going to help?” Looking at the man curiously, Lou shakes his head and shrugs. “Why would I help?” Lou replies, genuinely inquisitive of the man’s response to his departure. “Because you cut her leg off!” Adrian responds, slamming his hand upon the woman’s blanket-rolled corpse, “you caused this!” “No, the bite that I tried to save her from succumbing to caused this” Lou replies, fastening the straps of both his prosthetic and rifle, “had it not been for me, you would’ve buried her days ago.” Continuing to walk as Adrian looks to the rest of his group with disgust, Lou suddenly stops, looking to the hole-occupying survivor with a smile. “Well, that’s at least what I assume” Lou adds, watching Adrian’s eyes lock onto his own, “had Courtney not been here, she probably would have turned.” Continuing his walk-away backwards, Lou’s smile grows larger, noticing the dissatisfaction in Adrian’s face. “I wouldn’t have wanted to see the outcome of that, trust me” Lou explains, shaking his head as his body spins around, “that would not have been pretty.” Watching the man trail off, Marta’s eyes remain distant from her phone, a set of words bubbling in her head. “It’s almost like we can’t ever really escape what’s going on like we thought” Marta shouts, drawing Lou’s attention as much as she draws the attention of the rest of her group, “we can’t even escape it all the way up here.” Only able to see his figure looking back at her, Marta holds hope that the proclamation can convince Lou’s protégé refusal to be granted a second look. A smile appearing through his beard, Lou rolls his eyes, head turning back to his storage unit home. | Sneaking through the backdoor quietly, Lou watches a puffy-eyed Sonya jump back, startled by the young man’s sudden appearance, her face briefly left visible through the orange refrigerator lightbulb. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you” Lou whispers, his hand extended in a show of courtesy. “Well, when you’re coming in through the back of the house, in the middle of the night, and with no warning, someone’s going to be startled” Sonya responds, her voice more fragile than usual. “Yeah, I can see that” Lou replies, gently closing the backdoor on his way inside, “I just wanted to get that string back? The one I tied the squirrels to?” Considering her time to be better spent elsewhere, Sonya waves her hand at the fridge. “No one here knows how to skin squirrels, so they just stuffed them into the freezer” the woman responds, turning around to leave, “sorry.” Whilst disappointed in the squirrels having gone to waste, Lou’s cares take to something more, the woman’s demeanour striking him as odd. “Were you close to her?” Lou wonders aloud, stopping in the hallway just beside the kitchen, Sonya turning back to the man’s call, “the girl that died. Were you close to her?” “Her name is Kim” Sonya quickly corrects, her voice still stubbornly austere, her heart equally weighted, “and I’ve known her since high school.” Reaching his hand across his chest, Lou taps his thumb upon his nub, genuinely sorry for the woman’s loss. “What you did earlier today, the whole ‘I didn’t know her, why would I help bury her’ routine, it was sick” Sonya remarks, taking Lou’s silence as a route to pursue the release of her anger. “We let you into our home, and you saw us burying our friend, and you just walked away!” Sonya begins to shout, waking those within the rest of the home, one-by-one, her friends and fellow survivors emerging from their bedrooms. “You just dropped off a string of squirrels and left! Carried on like nothing changed while the rest of us sat there, mourning our friend!” Sonya exclaims, shouting in anger while the rest of the house watches, hesitant to step in. “The least- The least you could have done, was pick up a shovel and help like you cared!” Sonya exclaims, throwing her hands at Lou’s chest, shoving him back. “You could’ve tried to care, or pretended!” Sonya shouts, again shoving Lou back, the young man refusing to stop her, “you could have fucking helped!” Shoving Lou again, Sonya falls silent, her head dropping as she stumbles forward, exhausting her anger to the point of lamenting right into Lou’s arm, his hand welcoming her into an embrace, catching her in a moment of sorrow. “You’re right” Lou whispers, his chin pressed against the top of the woman’s head while the rest of the home watches on, a sorry look on the faces of some, whilst others look unsure of how to respond. “I’ve got her” Lou whispers, watching Courtney approach with her arms out, her stride cut short upon Lou’s whispered proclamation. Asleep in her bed, Sonya rests peacefully beneath the dim light of the lamp on her nightstand, the man who’d lulled her to sleep now asleep himself. Slumped in a chair, Lou’s head tilts to the ceiling, his eyes shut, his lips parted ever-so-slightly. “Lou, wake up!” a soft voice whispers, her hand pushing the man’s arm, jolting him awake. “Hmph, huu- wha-!?” Lou mutters, groggily waking from the sleep he’d fallen into. “Marta!?” Lou groans, a variety of different hurried footsteps racing through the hall closeby. “What’s going on?” Lou wonders aloud, unable to process much of the hurried rush happening around him, but aware enough to notice the importance. “I think my dad set up a trap outside the storage unit!” Marta replies, the look of sheer worry on her face accompanying the dreadful declaration leaving her lips, “someone’s caught in it!” His eyes widening, Lou dashes from his chair, not wasting another moment to burst into action. Racing through the snow, Lou refuses to stop as his eyes fall upon the home’s inhabitants, all huddled around the freezer’s entrance. “What the fuck did you do!?” Lou exclaims, the heavy tone in his voice emanating from a place of pure, unadulterated anger. “There’s so much blood!” Silvano remarks, covering his mouth as he walks away, the sickening wails of the trap’s victims only forcing his earlier lunch to spill out from his stomach. “I- I- I thought, I mean- You weren’t in there!” Adrian exclaims, stuttering over his explanation as Lou pushes past him, nearly knocking him to the ground as he dashes into the centre of the chaos. “What do we do!?” Marta calls out, her father’s voice the first to speak up. “Okay! We- we get a-” Adrian begins, his daughter’s loud yell stopping him from continuing his thought. “Not you!” Marta angrily screams in her father’s face, eyes setting upon the young man in the middle, “Lou, what do we do!?” The face of the man at his feet unfamiliar, a stifled wave of relief courses through Lou’s veins, the persistent screams of agony returning him to the situation’s gravity. “We’re gonna have dipshit over here to unlock the cage his dumbass set up!” Lou shouts, locking eyes with Adrian, the man still struggling for a response. “I don’t- I don’t-” Adrian stutters again, his reluctance bringing a wide-eyed look over Lou’s face. “You don’t have a fucking key, do you?” Lou growls from the deepest pits of his core, the dreadful expression on Adrian’s face, giving him the answer. “FUCK!” Lou shouts, brought to the verge of firing a bullet in Adrian’s head, though aware enough to look for more fruitful alternatives. “Well, thank your heroic douchebag of a strong man for running through the same routine as before!” Lou eagerly shouts, “bandages, ice, and a big-fucking-knife!” Racing off to follow through with instructions, Marta and Courtney sprint back to the house, the background sounds of pain-ridden screaming drawing Lou’s face back toward Adrian. Without a word, Lou simply snarls at the man, who stares at him with distraught, almost incoherent mumblings beneath his breath. == RISE and REVOLT == |
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