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

Entry 1028: Sunday 21st July 2019

Entry 1028
Sunday 21st July 2019

Blade's left the island.

I was having breakfast with Leo and Nikki in the morning when the island public address system beeped. Nikki and I looked up. "An announcement," said Nikki, "Maybe it's an update about what happened in Ryde?" Nikki picked up Leo and the three of us opened the front door and stood on the doorstep so we could hear the announcement. Natasha was also stood on her front doorstep next door. A voice started emanating from the island's public address system. It was Blade. "Ladies and gentlemen," he announced, "This is Jon Blade, Head of Safety and Security at The Global Response to International Disaster. Nine days have passed since the incident in Ryde occurred which sadly resulted in the population of the walled area being killed or becoming infected. A significant amount of livestock was housed within Ryde, all of which was sadly killed in the incident nine days ago. Whilst this does not - I repeat, not, leave us with a shortage of food, it does leave us with a reduced amount of livestock such as cattle and poultry. I aim to rectify this problem by going over to the mainland myself with a scouting party; a small team of experienced GRID soldiers who will help me seek, locate and retrieve some livestock so we can return them to the island. We haven't been to the mainland in quite a while so we don't know what state the landscape is in, but it's important we obtain livestock, my team and I will do our best to succeed in our mission and not let you down. This does mean that I will handing over the chain of command to my number two who is often very busy behind the scenes but will now be taking more of a public role as he becomes Acting Commander. We are currently ironing out the finer details, and further details will follow in a day or so. I'd also like to announce that we have not forgotten about the counselling sessions that were offered to those affected by the Ryde incident, including those who lost loved ones. The counselling sessions are still being planned and will likely take the form of group counselling sessions. Details will follow in the coming week. I am not sure how long I will be away from the island for. I am hoping it will be for a number of days, rather than for a number of weeks, but at this point I cannot say for sure. It has been a pleasure meeting many of you and ensuring that your safety and security is maintained. I will be heading over to the mainland with my team later this afternoon. I wish you all well, and I hope to see you and speak to you all again very soon." The announcement then ended. Natasha didn't say a word. She just went back inside.

"That's weird," said Nikki, "Blade's the big tough army boss. Why would he go over to the mainland? I thought he'd send his lackies." "Maybe this is something he just has to do himself," I said. "Yeah, but how's he going to do it?" said Nikki, "Think about it. First of all, he's got to find a load of cows and chickens which is going to be easier said than done. Any animals that are alive over on the mainland will probably belong to a group of survivors. They're not going to just hand them over, are they? What's Blade going to do? Steal them? I doubt he's going over there with anything to trade, and I VERY much doubt that he'll come across some cows and chickens that are in a state to bring back here, and even if he finds all this livestock, how is he going to get it all back here? How is he going to get a load of cows and chickens from the mainland back here?" "I don't know," I said, "But I guess he knows what he's doing. GRID have got massive trucks, tanks and vehicles. They'll probably sail over there on a big GRID boat thing, and then they'll probably have some big vehicles on the boat that can be used to drive around the mainland and store cattle on." "Look at you, talking like an expert," said Nikki. "Just an educated guess," I said. "Yeah, well I think it's a suicide mission," said Nikki. "OK," I exclaimed, "Let's just stop moaning and be glad that Blade's doing something about the problem." "Alright," said a firm Nikki, "Don't snap at me. I'm just saying!"

I'm really angry with Blade but as I listened to his announcement, I thought he sounded a bit sad. Sort of remorseful. As if he knew he'd crossed a line and was keen to put it right. I might not like him much but I hope he comes back in one piece with some livestock. I wonder who's going to take over from him? Someone with a bit more of a backbone hopefully.

Tomorrow: I'll have a short shift at The Hive, catch up with Mike and Cyn in Cowes, and start my volunteering work with Mike.