Luke's Diary: An Unlucky Man In A Zombie Apocalypse. Entries 957 - 1157

Entry 987: Monday 10th June 2019

Entry 987
Monday 10th June 2019

Nikki's back! It's been a bit of a roller coaster of a day and I've come to a decision.

It was early in the afternoon when I was sat at home in the living room with Mum and Leo. Me and Auntie Meryl were still avoiding each other. I was sat with Leo on my knee feeling very sorry for myself. "Try not to look so down, sausage," said Mum, "We could make some posters?" "Posters?" I said. "Yeah," said Mum, sounding keen, "Missing posters with Nikki's face on them. We could stick them up all over the place." "I'm starting to think she might be dead," I said in a rather depressed tone. "Now, don't say that," said Mum, "She's out there somewhere." "Yes, but where?" I snapped, "Where!? And why doesn't Blade give a toss? I'm telling you that Debbie Rennison has something to do with this. I just need to find out where she lives. I can't believe Sci-Fi Cyn won't get her address for me." "Come on sausage," said Mum, "You know she'll get into trouble and anyway, Blade told you he'd spoken to Debbie and he'd cleared her." "Whose f*cking side are you on?" I snapped. "Yours of course," exclaimed Mum, "I'm just saying that you can't expect Sci-Fi Cyn to risk her job when Blade has already spoken to Debbie." There was a knock at the door. I handed Leo to Mum as I stood up. "You're starting to sound like you don't care Nikki's missing," I said, as I walked towards the door. "Don't be silly," said Mum. I opened the door, gasped and jumped back when I saw who was stood before me. It was Nikki! Her hair was a mess, her clothes were grubby, she had a bump on her head, dried blood on her forehead and a load of fresh blood all over her face. "Nikki!" I gasped. She fell into my arms and I dragged her into the living room, kicked the door shut and placed her on the sofa. "Oh my God!" gasped Mum, as she plonked Leo on the sofa and approached Nikki and I. Nikki was barely conscious. "Nikki, can you hear me!?" I loudly said, "Nikki. It's Luke, are you OK?" "Of course, she's not OK you daft sod," snapped Mum, "She's half dead and covered in blood." "Shut up," I snapped at Mum, "Get her some water or something." "Water?" said Mum, "That's not going to do anything. She needs some whisky." "I'm OK," Nikki quietly said, "I'm OK. I just need to catch my breath." "Nikki, love, where have you been?" asked Mum. "Don't throw questions at her," I snapped at mum, "Get some towels or tissues so we can clean up all this blood." Mum quickly dashed into the kitchen. "Babes, we've all been so worried about you," I said, as I stroked her hair. Mum returned with some kitchen towel and she and I staretd to clean up the blood that was all over Nikki's face. Nikki was about to say something but I told her not to. "Just relax and save your strength," I said, "You don't need to speak right now. I'm just so happy to see you."

As Mum and I continued to clean up Nikki's face and wipe away the blood, Auntie Meryl came downstairs and entered the living room. With a curious look on her face she walked towards Mum and I and inspected what we were doing. "She looks like that girl you're supposed to be going out with," said Auntie Meryl, "What's her name? Vicky? Barry?" "Nikki," I firmly said, "It IS Nikki." "Is it?" said Auntie Meryl, "She didn't have all that blood on her face when she was round here the other night bad mouthing the food." "It was you who was badmouthing the food, Meryl," said Mum. "Well fair's fair, it did taste like sh*t," said Auntie Meryl. "Not now Auntie Meryl!" I loudly said. "Nikki, sweetheart, who has done this to you?" asked Mum. "I don't know," said Nikki, "I was at home when there was a knock at the door. I thought it was Luke coming round to sort out all the fallout from the dinner party." "Who was it?" I asked. "Well it wasn't someone from the postcode lottery was it?" said a blunt Auntie Meryl, "It was someone wanting to kick the sh*t out of her. I'm surprised there wasn't a queue of people." "Auntie Meryl, shut up!" I angrily snapped. "I don't know who it was," said Nikki, "They had a dark balaclava on. They just hit me on the head with something as soon as I answered the door. That's what this lump on my head is. I was knocked out and then when I woke up, I was in some sort of cellar. It was damp and dingey and there were no windows. I had no idea where I was." "God, it sounds terrifying," said Mum. "Yeah, but who would want to do this?" I said. "Have you got a phone book?" said Auntie Meryl. I gave Auntie Meryl a stern look. "Did you see the face of the person who did this?" asked Mum. "No," said Nikki. "Did you hear their voice?" I asked. "No," said Nikki, "They never said anything. I only saw them briefly when I answered the door, and then again when they turned up in the cellar this morning. They punched me in the face, knocked me out, and then the next thing I knew I was awake in some field near Cowes community centre." "Oh babes," I said, stroking Nikki's face, "What an ordeal." "Do you think it was a man or a woman?" asked Mum. "Hard to tell," said Nikki, "Could have been either." "Hang on," said Auntie Meryl, "Someone knocks on her door, knocks her out, chucks her in a cellar, and then a few days later knocks her out again and then dumps her in a field? I mean I get why someone would want to knock her out, but everything else doesn't make any sense." "Auntie Meryl, will you please shut up?" I snapped. "She's right," said Nikki, "It doesn't make any sense. Why would someone do this?" "We received a note," said Mum. "A note?" Nikki said. I showed Nikki the note and she read it. "But this doesn't make sense," said Nikki, "It says you're never going to see me again, but whoever did this to me dumped me in a field. They must have known I'd come back here. It doesn't make any sense." "Yeah it is weird," said Mum. "Oh, I don't care," I said, "I'm just so glad you're alive and OK." "I was so scared," said Nikki, "I thought I was going to die. I didn't know if I was ever going to see you again." Nikki burst into tears, she flung her arms around me and I gave her a big hug.