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

Entry 1153: Saturday 23rd November 2019

Entry 1153
Saturday 23rd November 2019

Mia's baby has been found! Seriously – I feel like I live in a bl**dy soap opera sometimes.

What was a rather boring day staretd to come to a close when Naomi was at mine sitting with me on the sofa, having a chat over a cuppa. Mum was upstairs sorting out Leo and Auntie Meryl was at some pensioner's bingo thing. "You OK?" Naomi asked me as she gave me a warm hug and stroked my arm. "I suppose," I said in a glum tone. "It's all this stuff with Mia isn't it?" said Naomi. I nodded. "Why don't you go and have another chat with her?" suggested Naomi, "Go on. She might be in a mood with you but if you keep trying it'll give her the message that you want to sort things out." I wasn't convinced that Naomi's suggestion would make any difference at this point, but I thought I'd give chatting to Mia another go.

Whilst Naomi stayed at mine, I went next door to Mia's and I was just about to knock on the front door when I noticed that it was open slightly ajar. I frowned with confusion, and gently opened the door. "Hello...?" I tentatively said, as I slowly walked into the living room. I was greeted by a couple of suitcases and overnight bags propped up against the sofa. My confusion increased. The cogs in my head staretd to turn as I slowly began putting the pieces together and then all of a sudden Mia appeared in the doorway connecting the living to the hallway, but she didn't appear alone. She was holding her infected baby in her arms and standing next to Natasha. The baby was wrapped in a shawl and was wearing some sort of homemade muzzle. Natasha and Mia looked just as surprised to see me as I was to see them. "Luke!" gasped Mia looking shocked and guilty. "Oh my God," I gasped, as I felt a cold shiver run down my back, "It all makes sense now. She's been hiding your baby all this time." "She's been looking after her," said Mia. "Jon Blade brough her to me," said Natasha, "He knew I'd look after her. Killing an infected person is barbaric at the best of times, but a baby, a new born baby? That's abhorrent to a level that words can't describe." "Tinsley will lock you both up in prison if he finds out about this," I said, "Natasha, you know he's just dying for an excuse to throw you in jail." "Luke, please don't tell Tinsley," said Mia, looking all desperate and flashing me those dopy eyes, "Please. Promise me you won't tell him." "I won't tell him anything," I said. "Really?" said Harold, appearing in the door way like Mr Benn and joining Mia and Natasha, "That's what you said before isn't it? You promised Mia you wouldn't bring Tinsley and those GRID morons to your meeting with Blade... But you did. You lied. How do we know you're not lying now?" "Mia," I said, taking a step closer to her, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry I got Tinsley and GRID involved. I'm sorry and I regret it but I'm not lying to you this time. I'm not going to tell Tinsley, but you need to do the right thing. Running off with the baby isn't the right thing." "What makes you think we're going to run off with her?" Mia asked trying not to look guilty. "Mia," I bluntly said, looking at the suitcase and overnight bags, "The suit cases aren't in here because you wanted to see what they looked like all together are they? Come on. Do you think I'm stupid?" "I do," said Harold. "I didn't ask you," I snapped. "Luke, if Mia and Harold want to leave the island it's got nothing to do with you," snapped Natasha, "Just stay out of it." "No," I snapped, frowning at Natasha, "You stay out of it. You might be my boss at The Hive, but you're not the boss here." "No," said a firm Harold, "I am. This is my house, and I am in charge, and I want you to leave." "I'm not going anywhere," I firmly said, "You're about to make one of the worst decisions ever." "This is a sensible and logical decision," said Harold, "If we stay on this island that child – MY granddaughter will become the property of GRID. Mia will only get to see her for a few minutes a day, probably with a glass screen in between them, and probably under armed GRID guard." "So, what's the alternative?" I bluntly asked Harold, "You, Mia and the baby trying to stay alive on the mainland? Alone with no friends or loved ones? Trying to care for an infected baby. You didn't do so well looking after yourself on the mainland when were in Whitby. What makes you think you'll be able to stay alive on the mainland with a baby in tow?" "Who says we're going to the mainland?" asked a smug Harold, "I have lots of bases out there, not to mention contacts. You should know by now, Luke, that I'm a capable man of means." "I know you're a manipulative liar," I firmly said, "Mia. Please. I know I've made mistakes, but I'm trying to put things right. How long do you think you'll be able to stay alive with an infected baby? I mean, come on, Mia. Just look at her. She killed Seth. She's got muzzle on for Christ's sake! I know you can look after yourself but can you look after yourself, a baby, and this useless manipulative lump." "Charming," said Harold. "He said he can take us somewhere safe," said Mia, "Somewhere where he can work on cure or a vaccine and whatever and try and make Tinkerbell well again." "Who?" I asked. "Oh," said Mia, "I've named her. Tinkerbell." "Tinkerbell?" I said in a confusing tone. I looked at the baby's snarling face, her dead eyes, her pale complexion, her pulsating purple veins accompanied by the eerie sound of an infected infant growling and screeching. As I looked down at the little muzzled infected face of the undead infant, I couldn't help but think that the name Tinkerbell really didn't suit this mini-infected flesh eater. "Right..." I said, "OK... Look, Mia. I know you and your dad are getting on better than before, but,  you must know deep down that you can't fully trust him." "You're the one that recently lied to her, Luke," said Harold. "Yeah, and you love the fact that I f*cked up, don't you?" I snapped. "Luke, this is not about you," said a firm Natasha. "Sut up Natasha," I said, "Who this is definitely NOT about, is you." "Jon asked me to look after the baby," said Natasha. "Yeah," I bluntly said, "And you've done that now. So, shut up. Mia. Seriously. You leaving the island is a bad idea. You have no idea where he's going to take you. He might be planning on doing more experiments on you." "My God," laughed Harold in patronising tone, "Talk about grasping at straws." "I'll grasp at your neck if you don't shut up," I snapped at Harold. "You couldn't grasp an idea with instructions containing small words a and pictures," said Harold. "Please," said Mia, "Stop fighting. Oh, I don't know what to do." "Mia, sweetheart," said Harold, "We've spoken about this. I will take us to a safe place. I will look after you and Tinkerbell and I will do all I can to make her well." "Mia, don't listen to him," I said, "Think about it. I mean, how is this going to work? You and your Dad just stroll through Cowes with all of your suitcases and infected baby hoping that people won't notice?" "We will do it when everyone is inside," said Harold. "After curfew?" I said, "You'll stand out even more then. The GRID soldiers will see you, and even if they don't, what are you going to do? Steal a ship and sail off into the sunset? Captain d*ckhead here got us lost when we left Whitby. He took us north when we should have gone south. If you get on a boat with this guy, God knows where you'll end up. If you stay here you won't need to worry about staying alive. You won't need to worry about food or water, and your Dad can work on a cure and a vaccine here on the island at GRID HQ. He's already started doing that anyway. I know it will be hard handing over Tinkerbell to GRID HQ but Mia come on... You know it's the right thing. You'll get to see her every day, and yeah, it's not great that it'll all have to take place at GRID HQ but its for the best... and you never know... Your baby could be the one that helps us develop a vaccine or maybe even a cure that stops other people from getting infected... and... Well... I don't want you to go. I'll miss you. We all thought you were dead. We've only just got you back, I don't think we'd be able to cope if you left again. Me, Naomi, TJ, Trudy... all of us. We love you. Please don't do this." There was a short silence. Mia adopted an emotional look and then turned and looked at Harold who looked rather angry. He knew that I'd managed to convince Mia to stay. "I think maybe we should stay," Mia said to Harold, "You're not in prison now and Tinkerbell really could help make people better, and if you can come up with a cure or a vaccine on your own away from the island, just think about what you can do at GRID HQ working with all of those GRID scientists." Harold gave me a stern stare and then looked at Mia. "You definitely want to stay?" he asked her. Mia nodded. Harold gave me a sterner stare. "Fine," he bluntly said, making his dissatisfaction obvious, "I'm not going to force anyone to do anything they don't want to do. If you want to stay, we'll stay." "What about the baby?" Natasha asked, "What are you going to tell people?" "I've got an idea," I said, "Just tell GRID that someone left the baby on the doorstep, and that as soon as you discovered the baby you radioed GRID to inform them." "But that's not true," said Mia, "Natasha brought Tinkerbell round here about an hour ago." "I know," I said, "But you're not going to tell GRID that. You can spend one last night with Tinkerbell but then in the morning that's when you radio through to GRID and say you've just discovered the baby. Only us four will know that she was really here last night. As far as GRID will be concerned the baby appeared on your doorstep in the morning when there was a knock on the door. You answered it. There was no one there, but that's when you looked down and saw the baby." "OK," said Mia. "But you've got to promise that once I leave here you and Harold aren't going to run off," I said, "Seriously, Mia. I mean it. You have to promise." I promise," said Mia. "Getting her to keep promises after you have just broken yours!?" exclaimed Harold, "What a hypocrite." "I can't believe you'd happily hand over Mia's daughter to GRID, just like that," snapped Natasha. "It's best option we've got," I said, "I can't believe you were going to just stand here and let these two run off with the baby." "OK," said Mia, "Let me just get this right. In the morning, I radio GRID and tell them that someone's left the baby on the doorstep?" "That's right," I said, "Make it look like she's only been here a few minutes, not overnight." "GRID are going to come and take that baby away," said Natasha. "Yes," I firmly said, "I know that. We all know that, but at least she will be taken to a safe place where Mia will be able to see the baby and where she can maybe help to develop a vaccine or a cure. It's better than sailing off to God knows where on a boat steered by this tosser." "And I suppose I would miss all my friends," said Mia. "And we'd miss you too," I said. I leaned closer to Mia, being cautious of the infected baby and gave her a kiss on the head. "Right then," said Mia, "I had better take these suitcase back upstairs." "And I suppose I should go," said Natasha, "Luke. I expect to see you back at The Hive on Tuesday." "And I expect you to start being less bossy and more respectful to me or I might just tell Tinsley how you were involved in all this," I said. "Oh?" said Natasha, "Dabbling in blackmail, now are you?" "Call it what you want," I said, "But that's what's going to happen if you p*ss me off." An unhappy Natasha left, Mia took Tinkerbell and one of the suitcases and I was left with an unhappy looking Endo. "I suppose you think you're pretty clever, don't you?" said Harold. "I just want what's best for Mia," I said. "And you think THIS is what's best for her?" Harold asked. "Yeah," I said, "I know it's not a great option but it's the best one we've got." "Who are you to say what option is best for Mia?" asked Harold. "I'm her friend," I said. "A friend wouldn't lie to her," said Harold. "And a father wouldn't do half of the sh*t you've done to her," I said, "If you're going to throw my minor mistakes at me, I'll throw your major ones at you." Harold didn't look happy. "Look, I don't know what the problem is?" I said, "You're out of prison and you get what you always wanted, to be a Dad to Mia. You're getting on with each other and she still has her friends in her life. Isn't this a good thing?" A tense silence lingered as Harold gave me a sinister stare. "Just don't p*ss me off, Luke," he said, "I kept you alive in Whitby, and to a certain degree I'm keeping you alive now." "What the F*CK are you going no about!?" I exclaimed. "Maybe one day you'll find out," said Harold, "Maybe one day I'll tell you. Maybe that day will come sooner than you think if you ever try and turn my daughter against me." "You are off your f*cking head," I exclaimed, "The only person who has EVER turned Mia against you, is you! And what's all this sh*t about you keeping me alive? Oh, don't tell me. More lies and manipulation. Why am I not surprised?" "You can see yourself out," Harold bluntly said, to me. He then picked up one of the suitcases, left the living room and went upstairs.

I went back home where Naomi was waiting for me. I told everything that happened and it's safe to say she was just as shocked as I was. She wasn't too keen on having an infected baby next door and she was still concerned that Harold might convince Mia to leg it with the baby in the middle of the night but I reassured her. "I saw the look on Mia's face," I said, "She doesn't want to leave us. I honestly think that I managed to convince her that staying s the best thing to do." We spoke about how Harold wasn't happy and about the weird stuff he said to me before I left but Naomi and I both concluded that it was probably just more attempts at lying and manipulating and causing trouble. The man really is an absolute arsehole!

I still haven't spoken to Naomi about the fact that we STILL... STILL haven't had sex but to be honest that's not really the first thing on my mind right now. I just hope Mia and Harold don't try and run off and leave the island in the middle of the night. The good thing is that when I return to The Hive on Tuesday, Natasha will probably stop being such a bossy b*tch with me.

I just hope Mia is able to lie convincingly to Tinsley and the rest of GRID. With a liar like Harold behind her, I'm sure some of his sly manipulation will rub off on her. I just hope Tinsley taking the baby off Mia and putting her in GRID HQ is going to distress Mia too much, and hope having one last night with her baby will provide some sort of comfort.