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

Entry 1138: Friday 8th November 2019

Entry 1138
Friday 8th November 2019

We're still on the ship. It's actually quite nice being at sea. It feels like we're free and experiencing the sea air feels great.

I spent some of the time up on the Bridge with Harold. "Sleep well?" he asked. "Not too bad actually," I said, "Better than sleeping on a dusty stockroom floor." Harold produced a flask and poured some tea into two plastic cups. one for him, one for me. "So?" I asked Harold, "Are we on track?" Harold pointed out across the sea, and I followed the direction of his finger and looked out to sea. "That's where we're heading," said Harold. "Where?" I asked, scanning the area, "I can't see anything apart from water." "Well, what did you expect?" asked Harold, "A big neon sign with bright lights around it sticking out the water saying Isle of Wight this way? I'm just showing the direction we're going in." I turned around, slurped my tea, and gave Harold a firm stare. "What's that look for?" he asked. "I just hope you're not up to anything funny," I said. "Would I do such a thing?" asked Harold. "We both know you would," I bluntly said. "Trust me, Luke," said Harold with a smile on his face, "I stopped my granddaughter from dying, I'm getting you all back home – you can thank me later. I guess I'm not the bad guy you think I am." "I wouldn't go that far," I bluntly said, "We're all in this mess because of you and your mad selfish actions." "Yes, yes, yes," said Harold, "I'm a big mean baddie, aren't I? I know what you think of me, but I'm the one steering this ship to get us all home." "Only because you could get something out of it," I said, "If we got something out of this, and you got nothing I think you'd have just left us back there." "Yeah, you might be right," said Harold, "But then again you do know how to handle the infected. You have some uses." "Have you seen Mia?" I asked, "I haven't seen much of her since we got on the ship." "She's been up here with me," said Harold. "Up here with you?" I asked, "Why does she want to be up here with you?" "Well, I am her father, Luke," said Harold, "I'm sure there's a Star Wars joke in there somewhere. Anyway, she thanked me for making sure her baby was OK." "Joan could have done that," I said. "I doubt it," said Harold, "I know more about the theory of infected babies than she does. I could have done more checks on the little mite if Blade hadn't of snatched her." "So, Mia's been spending more time with you than us," I said. "Looks that way," said Harold, "Feeling left out? Not nice, is it? Look, she's down on the deck. Go and talk to her." I started to walk off, but Harold stopped. "Oh," he said, handing me the test tube with the fake cure in it, "You'll need this. We'll be back on the island tomorrow morning." I reluctantly took the test tube off Harold and put t in my pocket. "I still don't think this whole fake cure plan thing is a good idea," I said. "Stop stressing," said Harold, "I'll tell Tinsley that I've given you the test tube with the fake cure in and I'll tell him what we're planning. Then we can lure Blade out of hiding." "And what if Tinsley says no?" I asked. "He won't," said Harold, "Trust me."

I went down on to the deck and saw Mia stood at the end of the ship looking out to sea. She looked sad. Sad but also angry. I gently approached and stood next to her. "Come to make sure I'm not going to jump?" she bluntly asked. "I don't think you'd jump," I said, "You've got a baby now. Something to live for." "A baby that you all want to kill," said Mia. "Not necessarily," I said, "Harold says this baby could be the key to a cure or some sort of vaccine that helps control the infected." "You see, you just don't get it," said Mia, turning and giving me stern look," I don't want my baby back because she can be used for a cure or a vaccine. I want her back because she is my baby and I love her. Yes, I know she's infected for a start, but I'm her Mum. I love her no matter what." Mia turned and looked back out to sea. "I didn't even name her," said Mia, "I gave birth to her, and I didn't even give her a name." "Mia, why don't you come inside?" I asked, "Me, Michael and Naomi have been playing cards." "I don't want to play cards," a firm Mia said, "In fact, I don't want to be with you lot. I can just about get over the fact that we didn't bury Seth, but I've heard you all talking and whispering. You want my baby dead, don't you?" "Mia, right now that's not something we have to worry about," I said. "OK," snaped Mia, "So when is it something we do need to worry about? Next week? Next month? Next year?" "Mia, I don't know what's going to happen," I said. "Well, I know what's going to happen," said Mia, "Anyone, and I mean ANYONE that tries to kill my baby, or stops me from being reunited with my baby, will be killed. I mean it. I'll get my gash out and wrap it around their neck." "Mia," I said, "You really need to... Well... Oh, it doesn't matter. Look, we all love you." "Do you?" asked Mia. "Oh, come on," I said, "That's not fair, you know we love you." "You know," said Mia, "I haven't once heard my dad say anything about killing my baby." "That's because he wants to use her to experiment on," I said. "It's because she's his grandchild," Mia bluntly said, "He saved her life. He looked after her. I don't know what would have happened if Dad hadn't of been there." "Oh?" I said, "So you're calling him Dad, now, are you?" "Well, that's what he is," said Mia. "And what does that make us?" I asked. "I don't know, Luke," said Mia, "What DOES that make you?" "We're still your friends, Mia," I said, "And we still care about you. You know what your dad's like. You know how manipulative he can be. Please, just spend time below with us. We don't like the idea of you being up there with him." "Just go away, Luke," said Mia.

I reluctantly left Mia and returned to the sleeping quarters where I joined Michael and Naomi. I told them about my talks with Harold and Mia. "Great," said Naomi, rolling her eyes, "So she's ditched us for Harold?" "I love the crazy cuckoo," said Michael, "And I get that she loves her kid and wants her back but we how is this actually going to pan out? Unless we find an actual real cure, that little infected baby is going to grow up to become a big, infected kid and then an even bigger infected adult. What's she going to do when she turns 11? Dress her up in a grey jumped and a pleated shirt and put a muzzle on her as she sends her off to secondary school? There's no just no future in any of this." "Michael's right," said Naomi, "The poor cow is going to suffer, but the suffering will be a lot less painful if the baby is killed now than in ten years' time when she's really grown attached to it." "Yeah, well, if Harold's plan works the baby won't get killed anyway," I said, "GRID will use it for experiments around developing a cure or a vaccine." "That's IF Harold's plan actually works," said Naomi, "And even if it does, there's no guarantee that Tinsley will keep that infected baby alive forever. If GRID and Harold conduct test and experiments on the kid and they don't develop into a cure or a vaccine, Tinsley will only put up with failure like that for so long before deciding to kill the baby." "But with Harold helping the GRID lot, there's a better a chance of developing a cure or a vaccine," I said. "That's if Harold is telling us all the truth," said Naomi, "The only person he's interested in helping is himself." "What about this Hive thing?" asked Michael, "Couldn't the baby be put there?" "I suppose," I said, "But it's still a baby that needs looking after at the end of the day, and I can't imagine the infected that are already in The Hive will be any good at baby sitting or changing nappies." "Let's just get back home and see what Tinsley says," said Naomi, "Whether we like it or not, at this point – it's all down to what he decides."

Bedtime soon. I don't like the idea of Mia spending time on her own and I really don't like the idea of her spending time with Harold. God knows what cr*p he is putting into her head. Back home tomorrow morning. I can't wait to see Leo, Sophie, and the others, but I'm also rather anxious about Harold's plan and having to explain things to Tinsley.