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

Entry 1045: Wednesday 7th August 2019

Entry 1045
Wednesday 7th August 2019

I went to Cowes to catch up with Mike, Cyn and Mum today in Sails Café today. Mum brought Leo, and it was great to see him. He's started blowing really loud raspberries and then laughing afterwards. It was cute for the first couple of minutes but then it got pretty annoying. It's weird. The older he gets, the more he looks like Esther. I hope the looks are the only things he gets off Esther!

Once we'd had a chat over a cuppa and I'd explained that Nikki wanted Leo back with us and that I'd said no, we all went for a walk along the beach. It was actually quite nice. It was a nice hot sunny day, and Mike and I were throwing pebbles into the sea to impress Leo and make him giggle. Impressively Sci-Fi Cyn was able to throw a pebble at the sea and make it bounce across the water several times before it eventually sunk to the bottom of the ocean. "Bl**dy Hell Cyn," I said, "How did you learn to that?" "I'm just quite brilliant at many things," said Sci-Fi Cyn, "You should see what I can do with my tongue."

We ended up walking towards the end of the beach and arrived at GRID HQ, however, GRID HQ was not the only thing we arrived at. Stood outside the huge modern looking building was Natasha, surrounded by a number of other people, all of whom were marching up and down, walking around in circles, waving banners and holding placards. "What the frig is all this?" asked Mum. "Oh God," I said, remembering, "Natasha said she was going to organise this. It's a protest." "A protest against what?" asked Mike. "What do you think?" I exclaimed, "Against the appointment of Tinsley being acting Commander, and against the scrapping of the QCUC proposals." A concerned looking Sci-Fi Cyn walked up to Natasha who was egging on all of the other protesters and getting them to chant "Get Tinsley out! Get Tinsley out!" "Natasha," said Sci-Fi Cyn, "This isn't a good idea. I really think you should pack all this up and leave." "Oh, look!" Natasha loudly said, gathering the interest of her fellow protesters, "It's someone from GRID telling me to pack up and go home. Well, no! We're not going anywhere until Tinsley quits and the proposals that were voted in fair and square are reinstated." The crowd started cheering and chanting, and Cyn's expression of concern intensified. "Natasha, I'm serious," said Sci-Fi Cyn, "I mean it, Tinsley won't think twice about throwing you in prison. He's already done that to people who broke the curfew." "That's precisely why we're protesting," said Natasha, "The people of this island don't want a bully boy like Richard Tinsley in charge. We want to decide who takes over from Blade. It should be a fair and democratic vote." "Natasha, Tinsley won't put up with this," said Sci-Fi Cyn, "I mean it. He'll come down on you like a ton of bricks." "Let him try," said Natasha, "He can't take us all on. The infected are unwell human beings, and they have rights. Tinsley's actions mean he is taking those rights away from the infected and we won't stand for that. Anyway, we've been out here for hours and he hasn't shown his face." "He might not be in GRID HQ," said Mum. "He might not even know you're here," said Mike. "Oh, he knows," said Natasha, "One of the soldiers asked us to leave and when we refused, he radioed through to Tinsley." "When was that?" asked Sci-Fi Cyn. "A few hours ago," said Natasha. "If Tinsley was contacted a few hours ago and he's not here maybe he doesn't care about this protest." I said, "Maybe he just sees you as some minor inconvenience." "Oh, and now look who's piping up," said Natasha, "The famous Luke Warm. The man who has been against these proposals right from day one." I looked at the wording on some of the banners and placards, and remembered how ridiculous the QCUC proposals were and just how stupid Natasha's attitude towards the infected is. Placards said 'Infected Life Is Human Life', and 'Infected People Have Rights Too' and 'Caring Is Always Better Than Killing'. Stupid b*tch! "Natasha, do what want you want," I said, "I don't care, but I don't see how standing out here, shouting and screaming like banshees, and waving bits of wood around is making a difference, and if I were you, I certainly wouldn't cross Tinsley." "Luke's right, Natasha, "I know the man. I work with him. He won't take this lying down, and anyway this isn't a very smart move." "What do you mean?" asked Natasha. "Well," said Sci-Fi Cyn, "If you've been here for hours and Tinsley hasn't appeared, then that means there's a good chance he's not in GRID HQ, and if the soldier has told him you're all out here, it means Tinsley knows you're not at The Hive, and if he knows you're not at The Hive he could be there right now killing infected." Natasha's face dropped. Sci-Fi Cyn's words clearly had an impact on her. Natasha then turned round and ordered all of her fellow protesters to head back to The Hive double quick. They gathered their banners and placards and quickly headed towards their cars and vehicles. "Good thinking, Cyn," I said. "Yes, well I think it's best we do all we can to avoid trouble," said Sci-Fi Cyn. "Sending them to go and have a confrontation with Tinsley at The Hive isn't exactly avoiding confrontation is it?" said Mum. "He's not at The Hive today," said Sci-Fi Cyn, "He's somewhere else. Mind you, based on Natasha's determination it looks like a confrontation between them is going to happen sooner rather than later." "I don't see what the problem is?" said Mike, "Tinsley seems alright." "No, Mike," said Sci-Fi Cyn, "You and Tinsley might have similar views on the infected and you both like a punch up, but that's where the similarities end. Trust me. The man is dangerous."

When I got home, I told Nikki about Leo blowing raspberries and laughing at Mike and I chucking stones into the sea. I told her about Natasha and the protesters and how Cyn was clever enough to move them on. "Oh, that's right," snapped Nikki, "Perfect Cyn and perfect Mike making Leo laugh. I suppose I'm just the big bad wicked witch!?" "What are you on about?" I exclaimed, "I never said you were a wicked witch. I'm just telling you what I got up to with Leo. I won't bother telling you if you're going to be like that." "Oh, just shut up, Luke," snapped Nikki. Pardon me for mentioning that I had a nice time with my son, I thought to myself, although now I think about it, maybe it was a bit thoughtless of me to mention Mike and Cyn's names.

Nikki had her second counselling session today. She said it went OK, but she didn't go into any further detail. Based on her snapping at me when I mentioned Mike and Cyn, I didn't think it was a good idea to enquire further.