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

Entry 1004: Thursday 27th June 2019

Entry 1004
Thursday 27th June 2019

No work today.

Nikki, Leo and I had another nice walk along the beach. I told Nikki that I was really shocked to come home yesterday and find Natasha sitting in my living room drinking tea with my girlfriend. "I see enough of her at work," I said, "I don't want to see her when I come home. God, it's bad enough that she lives next door to us." "I just thought it would be good for you to make new friends," said Nikki. We bickered slightly, but it was nice not to have a full-blown argument. "I can't believe she's going to stand infected up like scarecrows on the beach to stop people swimming late at night," I said, "And stick the infected outside shops and super markets? Madness. Utter Madness." "Yeah," said Nikki, "I must admit that seeing infected amongst the public freaks me out a bit, but I suppose Natasha knows what she's doing." "No, she doesn't!" I loudly exclaimed, "She used to work in f*cking Greggs. I can't believe Blade has given her the amount of responsibility he has. It's just mental." "Blade must think Natasha knows what she's doing," said Nikki. "Nikki," I said, "How can anyone who thinks the infected need to be cared for know what they're doing? For God's sake the acronym of her group is TITWANK for crying out loud!" "Anyway," said Nikki, "How did it go with your Mum yesterday?" "Fine," I said. "Any gossip?" I asked. "Not really," I said. "You know you should bring her round to ours," said Nikki, "I haven't seen her since the housewarming. It would be nice to see her." "Yeah, I'll tell her when I see her tomorrow in Cowes," I said, "I think I'll take Leo to see her."

I'm playing a dangerous game. If Mum and Nikki meet up, Mum might tell her that she's never met up with me at The Beach Café in Sandown. I might need to tell Mum to help me maintain my lie. I do hate lying to Nikki, and I feel really guilty for seeing Mum, Cyn and Mike when Nikki thinks I'm only seeing Mum, but what else am I supposed to do? I can't stop seeing Cyn and Mike. They've done too much for me, but if I tell that to Nikki she'll probably kick off. I also don't know how Mike would respond. I'll have to have a chat with Mum when I see her tomorrow.

As we carried on walking along the beach Nikki told me she loved me again. I quickly changed the subject and started talking about something else. "I hope Blade makes an announcement about utilising the infected like Natasha said yesterday," I said, "The islanders have a right to know what's happening." "Well, they did vote for the infected to be utilised," said Nikki. "Yeah, but they didn't know what they were voting for," I said, "If someone gets too close to these infected, or if they get free, then more people will get infected, more people will die and the safety everyone on this island will be compromised." "Well, let's just hope it'll all work out," said Nikki. "I think we'll need more than hope," I said. I get the feeling Nikki just doesn't take the situation as seriously as I do. "Anyway," said Nikki, "Maybe you should get your Mum to come round. She could look after Leo whilst me and you go out. She could sleep over." "And put up with your snoring?" I giggled, "I wouldn't want to inflict that on anyone." "Oh, you cheeky sod," chuckled Nikki. THUMP! Nikki punched me hard at the top of my right shoulder. I know it was meant to be a playful punch, but it f*cking hurt." "OUCH!!!" I loudly yelped. "What?" said Nikki, "What is it? What's wrong?" "You just bl**dy punched me!" I snapped. "Oh, shut up," said Nikki, "It was a little tap." "You punched me hard," I exclaimed, "It really hurt." "Oh, stop being such a wuss," said Nikki, "It was a playful punch. God, you're a wimp."

I really don't think Nikki knows her own strength sometimes. I'm pretty sure if I "playfully punched" her with such force, she'd have a right go at me. I didn't say that. I didn't want to say anything that would cause an argument.

As Nikki and I continued talking she said she'd like to come with me to see Mum in Cowes tomorrow. "No!" I quickly and loudly said, feeling slightly panicked and rather pressured into doing some quick thinking. If Nikki came to Cowes with me, she'd know that I'd been lying to her and that I was still seeing Mike and Cyn. "What do you mean, no?" said Nikki, "You're taking Leo, so why don't you want me to come?" "Oh, I'd love you to come," I said, "But you know..." "No," Nikki bluntly said, "I don't know. What's going on? Are you hiding something from me?" "No," I exclaimed, with a hint of fake laughter, "Of course I'm not." "Then why are you so keen for me not to come to Cowes with you?" I said. "Well, I usually meet Mum at Sails Café," I said, "And Trudy works there. I don't really speak to her, but seeing as you two don't get on, do you really want to be around her?" "Well me, you, your Mum and Leo can go to a different café," said Nikki. "Yeah but what about Minnie?" I said, "Do you really want to leave her at home all on her own?" "That's true," said Nikki, "I suppose she's still settling in, isn't she? Hmm, I probably shouldn't leave the little darling on her own for too long, should I?" "Exactly," I said, "You look after Minnie and I'll tell Mum you said hello. She'll come and have dinner with us one evening or something." I did feel guilty lying to Nikki. Maybe I am digging a deeper hole for myself, but if I can keep Nikki away from Mum until I have had a chance to tell Mum about what's going on, then I think that's for the best. It'll prevent a massive argument that's for sure. I need to keep Nikki away from Mike and Sci-Fi Cyn too until I've sorted everything out.

I told Nikki that Natasha was getting on my nerves and that after she made me apologise to the infected, I felt humiliated and terribly angry. "I've been thinking about things," I said, "And I think I want to leave." "What?" snapped an angry Nikki. "I don't think I can work there anymore," I said, "It's a grim building, I hate listening to the infected, Gary is the only GRID soldier who talks to me and Natasha is an absolute arsehole. Talking to me like sh*t and making me sweep up cr*p. I hate it. It's demeaning and depressing. I'm going to quit and see if Blade can get me another job." "No way," said an angry Nikki, "I mean it Luke, you can't just quit. You need to earn your credits. You have a family to provide for. I wish you'd start acting like a real man. Just get on with it, man up, deal with Natasha. Stop moaning." "Nikki, you don't know what it's like." "I don't care," snapped Nikki, "You don't just walk out of your job because you don't like it and you don't get on with your boss. Grow a pair." "Nikki," I said, "I..." "Luke, I mean it," snapped Nikki, interrupting me, "If you walk out of that job without another job to go to, me and you are seriously going to fall out."

I didn't respond to Nikki, but I thought in order to keep her AND me happy, I would speak to Blade and tell him I want a different job; one that is closer to home would be good. I really can't stand working at The Hive, but I suppose it does make sense to wait until I get a new job before quitting.