Act 5: The Truth Reviled (LID)

Act 5: The Truth Reviled is the fifth novel of the crossover story Life is Death, it is the final act of Volume 1. The novel starts right off the events which occurred during the previous two novels.

Summery
''Just when the group thought they were safe once again, it shatters when the traitor holds a member hostage and murders another in cold blood. As the group plan to rescue the captured member, they discover a student who died prior to the outbreak was somehow involved with the traitor. Meanwhile Luke and Justin, along with their new allies arm up and head back to the academy.''

Plot
The picks up right off where the previous act ended. Sean holds Nathan hostage while aiming his gun at the group, Trevor lays injured on the ground. Chloe glares at Sean, saying he will not get away from Blackwell alive as he kills one of the group members, they will kill him. Sean is amused and agrees, but quickly aims his gun and shoots Joyce in the head, killing her instant.

Chloe and David are devastated while the others are horrified, Sean mocks them and tells them Joyce's death was a warning, He walks back into the school with Nathan still in his grasp, as soon as the doors close, David and Chloe rush over to Joyce's body and begin to weep over her death. Jefferson and Juliet quickly begin to work on helping the injured Trevor, as Dana watches in worry.

Zachary punches the side of Frank's RV in anger, furious about Sean's betrayal. Chloe breaks the silence, saying she is going to kill Sean, David objects but Chloe blows up at him saying he is not her real father and tells him to get lost, leaving him speechless. But as the argument ends, Frank is suddenly shot in his arm, the group take cover and see Sean sniping at them with one of the rifles from the bell-tower.

David decides that he, Jefferson, Juliet, Dana, Trevor, Jack, Ben Travis, Pip, Frank, Daniel, Kate, Victoria, Michael and Vince will stay outside and provide cover fire, while the others will sneak in to take out Sean and rescue Nathan. The group all agree, David and Jack pop out of cover and shoot at Sean, forcing the business man to take cover, allowing the group sneaking in to enter.

After rushing up the stairs, Drew kicks down the door to the room Sean is shooting from, Sean is startled but fires at the group, forcing them to take cover as Sean runs off, dragging Nathan with him. The group chase after him, just as a storm begins to start.

On the school's roof, the group confront Sean, who loses his sanity and reviles his true nature, admitting to murdering many young girls after kidnapping, drugging and raping them. Nathan expresses his disgust at his father, who gleefully reviles that he killed his mother and daughter, much to the groups horror.

Evan suddenly speaks up and asks about Rachel Amber. Sean admits he kidnapped her and repeatedly raped and drugged her, but she soon died after trying to fight back. Evan, Max, Warren and Chloe is horrified by this revile, reducing Evan to tears.

Sean watches the scene in glee and begins to mock the group, saying that those who stick together will die and only people like himself will survive, he is suddenly cut-off mid-sentence when someone shoots him in the neck, allowing Nathan to break free. The shooter is reviled to be Evan, who continues Sean until the business man falls off the roof.

Two days, the group's mood is grim, they already buried Joyce's, Alyssa's, Hayden's and Michelle's bodies while allowing Walkers to eat Sean's body. They begin to pack up their cars, having decided to leave the school, however Vincent calls out the appearance of several cars and an RV approaching them.

The leader of the group exits his car and is reviled to be Ingrid. The Blackwell group are hostile, however Luke and Justin quickly exit the RV, reviling that the two had been saved by Ingrid and his group, they also revile about a small community where they could stay.

After a small discussion, the group agree to leave with Ingrid. They pack up the remaining supplies, as well as Jefferson and Juliet helping the injured Trevor into one of the RV's. Dana sits beside Trevor, a memory of the previous night plays out in her mind, she stands in one of the restrooms, holding a pregnancy test, she breaks into tears, discovering that she is indeed pregnant with Trevor's child.

The novel ends when the group arrived at Ingrid's community, where they are forced to hand over their weapons to three guards named Sam, Colby and Corey. The hear children laughter and discover to their shock, a whole neighbour hood completely untouched by the apocalypse. Max smiles at the sight and says the group will finally be safe once again.

Credits

 * Maxine Caulfield
 * Chloe Price
 * Warren Graham
 * Victoria Chase
 * Kate Marsh
 * Nathan Prescott
 * Evan Harris
 * Zachary Riggins
 * Dana Ward
 * Juliet Watson
 * Drew North
 * Michael North
 * Daniel DeCosta
 * Justin Williams
 * Luke Parker
 * Trevor
 * David Madsen
 * Mark Jefferson
 * Joyce Price
 * Sean Prescott
 * Frank
 * Pip
 * Jack O'Connor
 * Benjamin Paul
 * Travis Mitchell
 * Vincent Salas
 * Ingrid Lucy
 * Piper
 * Alicia Cruz
 * Jonah Killian
 * Sophie Trevelan
 * Duncan
 * Shadow
 * Joselyn
 * Leon
 * Corey Garcia
 * Sam Greene
 * Colby Brooks
 * Rachel Amber (Flashback)

Deaths

 * Joyce Price
 * Sean Prescott
 * Many Unnamed Female Blackwell Academy Students (Pre-Apocalypse, Confirmed Fate)

Trivia

 * First appearance of Corey Garcia.
 * First appearance of Sam Greene.
 * First appearance of Colby Brooks.
 * First (and Last) appearance of Rachel Amber. (Flashback)
 * Last appearance of Joyce Price.
 * Last appearance of Sean Prescott.
 * The title refers to several secrets being reviled
 * Sean's true nature and how he raped and murder many young girls from Blackwell prior to the outbreak, including his murder of Nathan's mother and sister.
 * Rachel Amber's true cause of death at the hands of Sean.
 * Dana reviled to be pregnant with Trevor's child.
 * Originally Stella was going to appear as a Zombie but this was cut.
 * This Act marks the end of Volume 1.