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

Entry 1034: Saturday 27th July 2019

Entry 1034
Saturday 27th July 2019

I spoke to Richard Tinsley today about me and Nikki. As expected, it was intense but thankfully it was brief.

I was getting ready for work in the morning when the island's public address system once again pinged. With Leo in my arms, I ran to the front door with Nikki and we once again stood on the doorstep awaiting the announcement. Natasha didn't appear on her doorstep. She was already at The Hive. "What's he making an announcement this early for?" asked Nikki, "It's not even 8am yet." Richard's harsh voice started to emanate from the speakers. "This is Acting Commander Richard Tinsley," he aggressively said, "Now I told everyone yesterday that I didn't want anyone out after curfew. I told you all loud and clear that if anyone who is not GRID personnel is found outside after 11pm, that they would be dealt with severely. Looks like some of you didn't listen to me. Last night some people were out and about, walking their dogs, going for a stroll, casually wandering around the beach DESPITE me giving clear instructions that this was forbidden. Well. Every single person out after curfew last night and who was caught are now inside The Isle of Wight Prison, and they will stay there for 48 hours. I hope they will use this time to think about what they've done and to come to the very wise decision that going out after curfew and going against my instructions is a very... VERY. BAD. IDEA!!!! I AM THE COMMANDER OF THIS ISLAND AND I WILL. BE. RESPECTED!!!!!!!!"  The announcement ended and Nikki and I looked at each other with expressions of shock on our face. "He's f*cking mental," I gasped. "Exactly," said Nikki, "And you want to tell him about me and you?" "He's probably going to find out at some point," I said, "I know he's a f*cking nutter but it's better that he finds out from me rather than from someone else."

I was really shocked at Tinsley's announcement and I was even more shocked at his aggression, shouting and the fact that he's put people in prison. We never had this with Blade! I didn't have time to chat too much about Tinsley's announcement as I had to get to the end of the street and meet Gary, who, as usual was giving me a lift to work. When I got in the car I just turned and gave Gary a rather shocked look. "I know," said Gary, "I know. I heard it, and I know what you're going to say, Chuckles, but the guy is my boss." "He's also Nikki's ex-husband," I said. "No!" gasped Gary, "You're sh*tting me!" "No, I'm not," I said, "It's bad enough the guy's a psycho but to be my girlfriend's psycho ex-husband makes it even more complicated." "Complicated is one word," said Gary, "I can think of a few more." "Yeah, well, I've thought about it," I said, "And I'm going to tell him about me and Nikki." "You're going to TELL him!?" exclaimed Gary, "Bl**dy Hell Chuckles, have you got a death wish or something?" "It's the lesser of two evils," I said, "He finds out from someone else and goes mad, or he finds out from me and goes mad. Hopefully the latter will have less severe consequences. It might even make him respect me." "Respect!?" exclaimed Gary, "Tinsley expects respect. He doesn't give it." "Seriously, Chuckles, that man is dangerous," said Gary. "I know," I said, "Nikki told me how he used to beat her up and all sorts." "I'm not surprised," said Gary, "The man loves violence. He's talking of getting some infected and using them for target practice." "Natasha won't like that," I said. "Tinsley isn't worried about Natasha," said Gary, "You heard his announcements. If you break his rules, he'll chuck you in prison. If you keep breaking his rules, he'll do something worse. We just need to toe the line and stay on his good side until Blade gets back." "Blade might not come back," I said, "I hope he does but it's Hell over on the mainland. Can't we do anything to get rid of Tinsley? The man's a monster! That announcement this morning; all that shouting and yelling that he wants respect. F*cking madness." "Don't make waves," Gary said, "That man's dangerous. Just stay out of his way."

When I arrived at work I started doing the usual cr*p; sweeping the walkways, cleaning the staff room etc. but when it got towards the end of my shift, I was in the staff room when I heard some raised voices. I poked my head out of the monitoring station and saw Natasha shouting at Tinsley, who was walking across the courtyard, away from her. "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?" Natasha angrily yelled, as she followed Tinsley, "THE PEOPLE ON THIS ISLAND WANTED THESE QCUC PROPOSALS! THEY VOTED THEM IN!" "I don't give a f*ck what the people on this island want," said Tinsley, walking dismissively away from Natasha. "DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME, YOU ARROGANT B*STARD!" Natasha yelled. Tinsley stopped, turned around slowly and gave Natasha an intense look. "Now you listen to me sweetheart," Tinsley said to Natasha in an intimidating tone, "I don't give a flying fat F*CK what people on this island voted in; I'm voting them out! Now you've got two choices here sweet cheeks; you either accept these changes and go with them or you don't, but if you don't and you cause trouble... Well... I think I've made it pretty clear what I do with trouble causers." Natasha looked scared as an intimidating Tinsley towered over her. This was the first time I'd seen Natasha look like this. I don't know what it was, and it could have been a really stupid idea, but I found myself walking over to Tinsley and Natasha. Part of me felt this was a pretty stupid idea, but another part of me actually felt sorry for and protective over Natasha. "Hello," I cheerfully said, with a slight tremor in my voice, "Everything OK over here?" "What the f*ck do you want, you little maggot?" sniped Tinsley. "Luke, just get back to work," said Natasha. "I'm about to finish my shift," I said with a big smile on my face, desperately trying to ease the tension, "And actually I wanted to have a chat with Richard." Natasha took a step closer to Tinsley and frowned. "This isn't over," she firmly said. "Oh, it is," said Tinsley. Natasha then walked off, leaving me with the tough, towering Tinsley. "What do you want, Warm? I'm busy," he said. I immediately started nervously rambling. "Well," I said, "I... Well... You see... Look... This isn't easy but... Well... Oh, I don't know how to say this... The thing is... I.... We...No, I... It's..." "What the f*ck are you doing, you p*ssy little freak? Are you having a f*cking stroke!?" "I... Err... Well," I stuttered, "It's not easy... I..." "F*CKING SPEAK!" Tinsley shouted. "I'm going out with Nikki!" I loudly said with nervousness in my voice. There was a pause. Tinsley looked confused. "Nikki?" he said, "My ex-wife, Nikki?" I nodded. There was a short pause which was followed by Tinsley bursting into laugher. I frowned with confusion. I didn't expect this, and I didn't know why he was laughing. "F*cking brilliant," chuckled Tinsley as he put his arm around me, "So you're the poor f*cker that's ended up lumbered with the psycho b*tch. Well, I suppose it makes sense. She couldn't handle being with a proper man like me, so she's settled for a p*ssy like you that she can boss about. Sh*t man. Good luck being shacked up with her. She's off her rocker. F*cking loopy. Madder than a March Hare. Can't believe you're saddled with that mad bint. F*cking hilarious." Tinsley then left me and walked off towards the Hive exit, giggling to himself. I was left feeling really confused. He wasn't angry. He made some sh*tty remarks about Nikki, but I wasn't going to challenge him. I instead turned round and went into the monitoring station where Natasha was.

I walked into the monitoring station and saw Natasha looking stressed and angry. "You OK?" I asked her. "I'm fine," snapped Natasha. "Look, just stay out of his way," I said. "I don't need advice from you, Luke," said Natasha. "I think you do," I said, "That guy is dangerous." "He's all talk," said Natasha. "I don't think he is, Natasha," I said, "You heard his announcements, didn't you? He said he'd shoot people if he needed to. He's already put people in prison." "Well, he won't put me in prison," said a firm Natasha, "I won't be silenced. If he wants a fight, I'll give him a fight." "I don't think this is a fight you can win," I said, "Just forget about all these QCUC proposals." "Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you?" snapped Natasha, "You've been against these proposals from the very start." "Natasha, isn't your life more important than all this QCUC stuff?" I asked. "Oh, Luke, don't be so melodramatic," said Natasha, "He's not ging to kill me. You know, he's just told me that he's got plans for infected people held within The Hive, but he won't tell me what those plans are. He's just keeping me dangling; hanging in mid-air. He's not telling me anything. I am manager of The Hive. I have a right to know what he's planning, and he won't tell me. He's just toying with me." "Just let him do what he wants," I said, "You know Nikki's his ex-wife?" "Really?" said Natasha, "I suppose that might make things a bit awkward for you." "Not really," I said, "I've just told him. He didn't seem bothered. Look, I'm just saying that you need to pick your battles." "I don't PICK battles, Luke," said Natasha, "I win them." I think Natasha might be biting off more than she can chew, but I guess it's not up to me to control her or tell her what to do.

Nikki didn't come to see me at work like she said she would. She said she had a bit of a headache and would come and see me on Monday. I don't know why she's so keen to see where I work. It's just a grim concrete building. Maybe she's just interested in seeing all of the infected. I told her about me telling Tinsley about us. She got quite angry when I told her that he said she was madder than a march hare. I tried to calm her down because she was starting to get really angry and really upset. She made me promise to stay away from him. "You don't need to worry about that," I said, "I'll be doing all I can to stay away from him anyway."

I wonder what Tinsley's plans for the infected in The Hive are. To be honest I thought he'd just have them all killed. I guess time will tell...