S3, E8 | The Black Trenchcoats

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 ==