S4, E2 | The Enclave

With his eyes open as the back of his head rests against his pillow, Sebastian stares at the top of his group’s tent, hands resting against each of his sides as the rest of his peers- with the exception of Lou and Marta- try their best to sleep through the noise of a rainy night. ”Can’t sleep?” Courtney whispers from nearby, watching the man’s head turn toward her direction as a half-smile comes over his face.

“Not really” the man softly replies, his eyes falling over the half-naked woman that lays in her own bed, her exhausted visage half-covered by the pillow the side of her face sinks into. Pressing her lips together, Courtney presses her hands to the sides of her inflated mattress and sits up, reaching for her socks. “Come on” the woman whispers back, guiding her foot into the first ankle-high, black sleeve as the man watches on, taking a moment to gather himself before doing as told.

“That doesn’t make it right” Sebastian replies, strolling through the damp, muddy grounds of the island’s only-known sanctuary with his hands in the pockets of his raincoat. “Of all the people I should’ve blown up at, Lou was the least deserving” the man continues, pausing for a moment along the casual walk with his adventurous friend to think quietly to himself, “-well, maybe second-least deserving.”

“Oh, I can be a pain to deal with- I don’t take it personally” Courtney quips back, their aimless venture taking them around the open field that just clammers for a future to be built upon it. “Even with that, I’d never blow up on you” Sebastian replies, gently jutting his elbow into the woman’s arm with a smirk on his face, “you’re too cool for that.”

Nodding in agreement, Courtney remains quiet, allowing the gesture to respond on her behalf as she looks back to the man accompanying her, their pleasant expressions voicing the appreciation they have for each other’s companionship. For a few seconds, the only sounds that fill the air around them are the light raindrops that scatter amongst the increasingly-rugged terrain they venture across, enough time spent to present the woman with the chance to pull her eyes away.

“What’s got you up so late?” Courtney inquires, hanging her head for the next few steps before looking back to her fellow survivor, hands still tucked in her pockets, “thinking about Vancouver?” With his bottom lip pressed between two teeth, Sebastian subtly nods as he begins to reply, “yeah” he simply responds at first, gazing around the camp they’ve still yet to traverse as he puts his thoughts into words, “there’s just so much to think about.”

“Like what?” Courtney quickly wonders aloud, looking at the man as he hangs his head, his chin lifted just enough for his eyes to follow the makeshift path the ground has withered into. “Everything. What is there not to think about?” Sebastian replies honestly, briefly glancing at the woman at his side as he prepares to continue, “I know Lou says the dead get slower in the cold, but Vancouver’s still massive. There have to be thousands of zombies out there just waiting.”

“Well, you’re not wrong” Courtney replies, staring straight ahead as they turn toward a new direction, rounding a lone picnic table overlooking a newly-built wall, “I’ve never flown over the city without seeing a cluster of them.” His nerves not settled anymore than they had been prior to the conversation’s beginning, Sebastian frowns and bobs his head, making an effort to clear his mind of the doubts that attempt to fill it.

“You know you don’t have to go, right?” Courtney asks aloud, noticing the man’s concerned expression as his face turns toward her with that declaration. “Of course I do” Sebastian answers, shaking his head as it returns to facing the far-reaches of the campgrounds, “you, your father, Lou- you’ve all told me to take a stand and be the leader of this group. I can’t call myself the leader if I stay back and let the rest of you go out on your own.”

“Sure you can” Courtney replies, her statement almost immediately refused by Sebastian, who cuts her off before she can speak any further toward his implied refusal. “No, I can’t. For better or for worse- this is the world now, and I need to learn my way around it” the man assures, confident in her remarks even if displeased in the result standing by it leads to, “I still believe you and Lou- maybe even Marta at this point- are more cut out for that role than I am, but I can’t let that stop me.”

“Stop you from what? Everybody in the group already looks at you as our leader!” Courtney responds with a smile, only for the man to turn back to her with a straight face, his forward stroll stopping as his feet plant in the dirt. “I have to be the leader” Sebastian declares, looking into the woman’s face as she, too, stops in place, her shoulders held softly as the man takes them into his hands, “I have to be the leader, and I have to be there when we touch down in Vancou-”

Stopping himself before his proclamation can be finalised, Sebastian looks into the distance just past the woman’s head, prompting Courtney to turn back with fixation of what so captures the man’s attention. “Something’s wrong” the man mutters beneath his breath, letting the woman’s shoulders fall from his reach as she turns to march toward the concerning sight, following her lead toward the returning pair of young survivors.

“You can’t go in there without permission!” Norman shouts from the near distance, watching Lou and Marta confidently march through the camp’s grounds with only one destination in sight, no barrier to entry left to stand in their way. Writing off the guard’s decry, the rebar-wielding survivor pulls the zipper to a large tent’s vestibule upward, granting himself entry into the limited-access space.

“Lee, you need to wake up right-” the one-armed intruder declares, stopping himself short as he finds the leader wide awake, putting together a handgun he’d left in different pieces across a table. “I’m always awake, Lou” the camp’s leader replies, setting the final pieces in place before returning the weapon to his hip, “what’s going on?”

“I don’t know, I was hoping you’d tell me” Lou replies, the young woman that stands in Lou’s shadow soon joined by Courtney and Sebastian, who themselves are quickly followed in by Ned and Norman. “Well whatever it is seems to be something important enough to turn my tent into a party room, so- by all means” Lee replies, throwing one leg over another as he leans back in his metal folding chair, arms crossed over his chest as he waits for his mind to be jogged as seems inevitable.

“There’s a line of boats a few miles off the coast the way we came. I can see their lights without leaving ground level” Lou responds, unable to see the concerned look that appears across Courtney’s face behind him, “are these people you know or is this a cause for concern?” Before he can answer, the look of confusion on Lee’s face presents him with his answer, the only added information the group needs being ushered by their food-bringing guardian angel.

“They’re a cause for concern” Courtney speaks, earning the attention of all eyes that currently occupy the tent, “they’re bad people, they’re armed to the teeth, and I’m pretty sure they’re looking for me.”

“What?” Sebastian asks aloud, looking at the woman with a worried face before their younger friend’s outstretched hand gestures for him to remain unspoken for a moment. “Everyone save the questions. Courtney- what are you talking about?” Lou interrupts, opening the floor for the woman to better explain herself, not a soul in the room interested in disobeying the orders given.

“They’re this group of people that turned the San Juan Islands into an enclave. They set up camps out there before everything shut down” Courtney answers, her words filling an eerily silent room with a tense declaration. “They found me a few days after Sonya, my dad, and I made it to Sebastian’s cabin. They agreed to give me the supplies they had if I gave them food” she continues, only able to offer what’s asked of her.

“What do you mean ‘they found me’? Where?” Lee questions from just behind Lou, the only other occupant of the tent high enough on the totem pole to interject questions of his own. “On an island. I bought an island a few years ago and renovated the house on it. I bought some livestock and started selling stuff at farmer’s markets in Vancouver to make some travelling money” Courtney explains, “it only made sense to make a deal with them once the world took a turn for the worst.”

“Why are you only telling us about this now?” Lou questions, unable to see the silent gesturing that Lee makes behind him, ordering Norman and Ned to take a small group out to investigate. “Because I didn’t expect them to come looking for me. I didn’t even think they’d know where to look” Courtney answers with honesty, both Sebastian and Marta left silently considering what options lay at their disposal and Lee and Lou proceed with their questions.

“Why are they looking for you? Did you stop supplying them or something?” Lee questions, immediately watching the vehement shake of the woman’s head in declination. “No, they stopped supplying me” Courtney replies, taking in a deep breath as her hands press to each hip, “the shipment I brought you- the few hundred kilos of beef- it was the shipment meant for them until they tried to kill me and take the island for themselves.”

“Why would they do that?” Sebastian interrupts, the woman’s story yet to fill a few lingering holes, ones that the foremost two questionnaires take interest in having filled. “Because the supply they brought me was short in pretty much everything. We’d made two different trade-offs before then without a problem, but this time was different- almost like they didn’t have anything left to give” Courtney continues to speak, “I think they were trying to cut me out before I cut them out.”

“I’m gonna go ahead and guess you killed the guy that came the third time?” Lou inquires, watching the guilty expression slide across the woman as her chin sinks slightly.

“Both of them” Courtney responds, earning an impressed nod from the man before his expression sinks to concern, the threat presented to them made clear and obvious in its danger. “I’ve got Norman and Ned leading a group out there to greet them. These people may be dangerous, but my guys are prepared enough for anything” Lee responds, stepping past Lou and the others on his way through the tent’s exit, “until then, I’m putting this place under lockdown.”

Without a word to speak otherwise, the four survivors that remain behind watch the camp’s leader walk off into the dreary night, water droplets that fall from the heavens above continuing to crash into the fabric covering their refuge from the elements is made from. “Lee!” Theo calls out, watching Norman and Ned hurry past him with a small group of armed militants as he advances upon his immediate superior, dressed in nothing more than loose pyjamas, “where are we going!?”

“Woah woah woah, you’re not going anywhere” Lee replies, pressing his hand against Theo’s chest as the man steps closer, holding him back from readying himself any more than he already has. “What? Why the hell not!?” the eager guardsman exclaims, throwing his hands out as his face is taken over by sheer bewilderment.

“Because this place needs to go into lockdown and someone needs to handle that” Lee replies, patient enough to wait out Theo’s concerns as long as he’s able to. “Can’t you tell me what’s going on!?” the man questions aloud, watching the camp’s guiding voice shake his head apologetically.

“I’ll tell you after, but right now- I need you to get everything under lock down” Lee quickly retorts, removing his hand from Theo’s chest and placing it upon his shoulder, “you asked me if I trusted you earlier back and I couldn’t answer. So- now- I’m asking you to answer it. Can I trust you?”

The change in his expression subtle, Theo looks to his superior for a moment in silence before nodding in agreement, the motion of his head more vigorous and assured as the question remains. “Yes sir” the young man replies, speaking into existence the only two words Lee needed to hear in order to justify pulling his hand away and returning to business, prepared to ensure the safety of his people just as he’d sworn to the day they’d first been brought together.

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

“It’s a massive deal, are you insane!?” Rudy proclaims, his voice the only one filling the air in a moment the rest of the group takes to gather themselves. “Well, since I was the one that struck the deal with them- maybe I am” Courtney replies, acknowledging her fault in the matter without losing sight of the bigger picture, “the point is, none of what’s happened matters. What matters is that their en route to the camp, they’re dangerous people, and we need to figure out how we respond.”

“We don’t respond. It’s not our camp” Marta replies, fastening the laces in her boot as she sits at the head of Lou’s bed, looking up at the woman occupying the conversation’s centre as her mentor stands above. “Marta’s right, we don’t make the calls here” the one-armed survivor doubles down, his eyes venturing through the room for any willing adversaries, “whatever happens, we’re at the mercy of Lee and whatever call he makes.”

“Even though I agree with you, I don’t think that’s supposed to help the sceptics among us” Adrian replies from across the tent, soon redirecting his gaze toward the father-daughter pairing with the closest ties to their paramotorist friend. “He’s right- it doesn’t” Rudy responds, speaking to the concerns he and his daughter share whilst Sonya remains mostly quiet, thinking to herself as most of the group seems to.

“I don’t understand how I’m not supposed to be concerned with this” Rudy proceeds, the rest of the group remaining quiet to allow him the room to speak, “my daughter is wanted by dangerous men that have us in their sights as we speak, so yes- this is a big deal.”

“No one’s saying you shouldn’t be concerned, but concerns don’t help change things” Lou replies, his hand wrapping around the nub to the left half of his body, “even if Lee makes the calls here, we need to make a plan for what happens if we have to take things into our own hands.”

“You mean taking over the camp?” Sonya inquires, immediately met with the hesitant shake of their most-experienced survivor’s head. “No, I mean what we do if the camp is no longer an option” Lou replies, pausing for a moment as the heads of each survivor turn toward his direction, “for whatever reason, if this camp isn’t safe anymore, we need to figure out- right now- what we do if that happens.”

With a few drifting eyes and lowered chins, the group remains mostly quiet, a few sounds from puckered lips and pointed tongues the only thing to answer the man with. “Seriously?” Lou wonders aloud, the seconds that have passed now stretching beyond the length of time he’s willing to leave the question unanswered, “you all hid out in a cabin atop the mountains for months and none of you have an idea?”

“Sebastian and I stayed out at the cabin while we were dating every now and then, I took dad and Sonya out there when everything went down” Courtney replies, immediately taking her family out of the running. “Dad and I ran into Sebastian as we were getting ready to take the ferry into Vancouver” Marta replies, immediately disqualifying her family from the sweepstakes as well.

“Kim looked after the cabin when I wasn’t there and Silvano was her friend from college. I don’t know what their plans were before the cabin” Sebastian responds, immediately taking all but two people out of the equation. In silence, Lou lets his hand fall from the shortened arm to his side as his eyes drift to the back of the tent, a shrug offered in the direction of his longtime friend.

“We never had a plan back in Los Angeles. Once the school went up in flames, we’d just been doing whatever felt right in the moment” Jenn responds, shaking her head as Lou’s worries begin to linger. “What happened when you made it to land? You guys never made a plan of where to go next?” the man inquires, only to be met with the same refusal as before.

“Ally kept us looking for you, but we never actually made a plan that didn’t involve crossing the water into Vancouver” Jenn reassures, visibly disappointed in having to admit such a truth. “Other than knowing we needed to look for a boat, Halston and I didn’t have any other plan either” she proceeds onward, no longer providing her leader with a response capable enough of alleviating his concerns, “I’ve got nothing.”

“What about you, Lou?” Marta immediately questions aloud, looking up to her mentor as the rest of the tent sits in silence, watching on in hopes of finding a line to hold onto. “I spent the first couple of days walking after I washed ashore” Lou answers, shaking his head without much more to offer than that, “I hiked up into the mountains, I hunkered down with the dead and just went looking through the woods every chance I had. Then I found you guys and the rest was history.”

“Not necessarily” Marta suddenly remarks, her voice prompting a few eyelids to part noticeably, the line the group had been hoping for seemingly on the verge of offering itself. “Dad- Swartz Bay” the young woman remarks, the eyes that had widened now joined by open mouths sparked by revelation, all but one of the tent’s inhabitants aware of what’s unfolding.

“Swartz Bay? I was just at Swartz Bay” Jenn remarks, looking to Lou for the guidance he offers with a subdued smirk. “Swartz Bay is where Adrian’s brother-in-law’s cabin is” her one-armed friend responds, a slow nod rolling over his shoulders as shouts begin to rise through the air in the very near distance, cutting the joyous moment short as the conversation dies there.

“We need a medic!” an unnamed guard exclaims, a rifle hanging over his torso by the strap as he guides a badly wounded Norman through the camp, his older friend bleeding heavily from the stomach. “What happened!?” Sonya exclaims, squeezing through her group to race toward the men’s aid, Lee and Theo emerging from their respective corners of the camp to oversee what’s unfolding.

“There’s way too many of them!” the guard shouts back, lowering Norman onto a picnic table as a few of the camp’s residents hurry to grab the closest medical kit. “They shot at you!?” Lou calls out, Marta following closely behind with her firearm in tow as the rest of their group hang back a few metres. “We tried to talk to them, but they wouldn’t listen to reason!” the guard shouts back, speaking over Norman’s breathy wails of pain, a haste in his voice unusual of him.

“Greg, where’s Ned and the others!?” Theo exclaims, demanding answers as he removes the rifle from across his chest, watching the man turn back with his head shaking. “Ned talked to them while Norman and I hung back for cover fire” Greg responds, the horrified look in his face making it clear what had become of their friends before his words could declare it, “we’re the only ones that made it out alive.”

“Hey, hey- Greg, listen to me” Lee remarks, his hand pulling the loss-stricken militant toward him as he tries to calm the man’s nerves, “you said they wouldn’t listen to reason, right?- what did they want?”

His breaths frantic and erratic, Greg’s chest heaves as Norman lays in agony at the hand of Sonya’s aid, her experience in the field not lending well to the older man’s favour. With his lip quivering, the young soldier looks his superior in the eye for a moment before redirecting his face toward Lou’s group, looking past the one-armed man and his battle-tested protege- eyes setting upon one face in the crowd that gathers behind them.

“Her” Greg replies, staring past Rudy and Sebastian as he locks eyes with Courtney, who stands upright with puckered lips, aware and prepared for what she’d expected to hear.

|

Stepping through the woods as raindrops collide with the leaves that surround them in every direction, a well-armed group walks confidently in the shadow of a single man, his figure dark and ominous beneath the guise of night’s dark sky. Each foot splashing puddles that collect beneath the weight of his every step, the menacing figure- tall in stature and slender in build- progress onward with a purpose, the handgun he carries at his side flowing with the back-and-forth motion of his arm.

Though the sky is dark and cloudy, the light of the moon pokes through every few gashes within the sky’s dreadful coverage, its light slicing through the branches of each tree this commander guides his army past, the features of his face touched by the sparse glimmer of sickly-night vibrance.

“What the hell are you doing!?” Theo exclaims, hurrying after the pace of his leader, who walks for the direction his wounded guards returned from. “I’m going to meet these people” Lee stubbornly remarks, blinded too heavily by rage at the fate that has befallen his people to think clearly through the vengeful fog that clouds hid judgement.

“Are you fucking insane!?” Theo shouts back, grabbing at his leader’s shoulder before pulling him around, forcing the man to look him in the eyes and stop his foolish march. “I won’t stand for my men being attacked like this!” Lee exclaims, throwing his finger toward the ground as he shouts back in his friend’s face, “these pricks will not step into this camp!”

As the leadership of the power-deprived camp argue amongst themselves, their enemies loom closer, having long-since stepped past the battleground’s fallen- Ned included- in search of their greater goal. “Do we kill here there or take her back to the enclave?” a voice calls out to the darkness-cloaked man that he and the rest of his fellow soldiers follow in the footsteps of, the answer to that question having yet to be decided.

“I haven’t made my mind up yet” the lone figure ahead of the rest calls back, a snarl in his curled lip taken as his eyes remain forward, following the dirty path toward their presumed destination.

“You’re right, but you’re not going out there” Lou replies, stepping away from the side of Marta and his group with his rebar post in tow. “Lou, don’t go being a retard like him for fuck’s sake!” Theo shouts back, his hand extended toward his long-time friend with reluctance to let either man pass.

“Theo, I think we both know one of us has to go out there” Lou replies, looking the man in the eyes as he lets free a single shrug, “we can argue all night, but one of us is the leader of this camp- the other’s just another dude with one arm.” Staring silently at each other as their foes near closer, Theo and his well-travelled friend accept the circumstances that have befallen them, a silent shift in the former’s expression making it clear which call is to be made.

Drawing close enough to spot the faintest light through the trees, the mysterious figure continues to step forward without an obstacle to overcome, his target acquired and the journey to it increasingly shorter.

“I’d stop moving if I were you” Lou’s voice calls out from off to the side, prompting the enclave’s entirety to stop in their tracks, only able to take aim at the direction of the voice, which hides behind the natural cover each tree provides him. “It’s not like we want to do you harm or anything, but we can’t stop you from choosing your own fate” the young man continues to declare from within hiding, “let’s just face the music- no one else has to die tonight.”

In silence for a moment as his soldiers wait patiently for their orders, the man at the forefront of the encroaching enclave considers the choices made available to him, weighing each option for what it holds. “You’re looking for Courtney- I understand that” Lou continues to speak, trying to barter for patience with those that seek to do the woman harm, “but killing anyone that steps out of the shadows to have a word with you won’t get you anywhere.”

“Give us the girl and stay out of our way” the figure at the group’s forefront demands, slowly lowering the barrel of his weapon away from the unfamiliar plot of forest he aims at. “Not after you’ve killed our people” Lou replies, tilting his head to look into the sky, the rebar pipe at his disposal not much to work off of, but plenty to provide him cover if the need arises.

“I don’t think you understand what’s happening here” the man at the front of the group responds, still refusing to move from the place he’s been ordered to halt at. “We know we outnumber you, and we know we have more guns than you” the mysterious commander remarks, his statements making it clear that whatever camp lies just over the nearest hill doesn’t phase him, “if you don’t want more people to die- give us the girl and stay out of our way.”

Parting his lips to speak, Lou falls silent at the sound of a sniper rifle loading a single bullet into its chamber, the sound not coming from his enemy’s side- but from his own. Keeping to himself for a few seconds, the rebar-wielding man peers into the darkness just before him in search of whomever loaded the round, unable to see into the coverage of night before doubling down on his declaration.

“No, I think it’s you that doesn’t understand what’s happening here” Lou replies, choosing to use the unexpected armament as leverage. “You’re in unfamiliar territory, against muddy terrain, in the dark” the man continues, effectively crafting a plan on the fly and using his declaration to make it clear to his armed support that hides in the shadows.

“You’re playing a dangerous game here” the darkness-cloaked man calls out toward the conversation’s second half, “what exactly is your next move?” Pressing his lips together, Lou presses his back against the tree stump as he considers his options, sinking teeth into his bottom lip as he plots out a strategy.

“Why don’t you start by telling me your name” Lou calls out, the sliver of moonlight that runs over the yet-unnamed enclave leader’s eyebrows showing a distinct confusion in the question. “That’s your next move?” the man calls out, immediately corrected in his assumption. “Not exactly” the young man replies, placing the sharpened tip of his rebar staff in the mud as he settles in for a tense discussion.

“Randal” the enclave’s leader replies after a momentary hesitation, waiting for the following declarations his following commands are to be guided by. “Alright, Randal- we’ve had enough people die for one night, so let’s try and settle this like adults-” Lou replies, pulling in a deep breath as he continues to peer into the darkness that sits ahead of him, waiting for the man incapable of distinguishing them to proceed, “-let’s have a chat.”

== RISE and REVOLT ==