Luke's Diary: An Unlucky Man in a Zombie Apocalypse. Days 201-400

Day 207: Tuesday 21st March 2017 23:45

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Day 207
Tuesday 21st March 2017 23:45

What an intense day. Everyone's found out Mike's missing and there's been an interesting development.

After Dump's usual morning hi-de-hi wake-up call (which included highlights such as an old fashioned knobbly knees competition and the final of the tiddlywinks tournament – (wow, I thought, a thrill a minute) I went to work.

I'd just finished talking to Auntie Meryl, who was complaining that one of her back teeth were hurting. I told her that she would be better off speaking to the onsite dentist rather than me, and that she needs to stop coming to me with stuff like this. She said as long as I was a complaints manager she would keep coming to me to complain. Daft cow. What can I do about tooth ache? She told me she expected me to do something about it. I said I'd have a word with the dentist. God knows why she couldn't have done that herself.

Anyway, just as Auntie Meryl was leaving, Mia came running into my office looking flustered. "Mike's gone missing!" she exclaimed, as she tried to catch her breath. I attempted to act shocked and surprised but I knew this moment was coming. "Missing?" questioned Auntie Meryl, "He's in his chalet." "No," said Mia, "He's not there. We all thought he was in there but he's not. All the soldiers are outside looking for him. Luke, have you seen him?" "Me?" I asked, lying through my teeth, "I haven't seen him in a few days. I thought he was in his chalet too."

Auntie Meryl, Mia and I left my office and exited the building. The scene outside looked quite regimented and serious. Soldiers were marching across the holiday park, aggressively searching all the chalets and buildings. They had a picture of Mike's face, from his induction, and were showing it to all the residents, asking if they'd seen him. It was like some sort of police hunt for an escaped criminal "Bl**dy Hell," I said, "This is a bit much isn't it? It's only Mike, he's not a terrorist." "It's like something you see on the telly," said Mia. "Silly beggars," said Auntie Meryl, "A lot of fuss about nothing. He'll be in the loo or something. They're making a mountain out of a mole hill. Look at them. Door to door searches. Ridiculous. They'll be getting sniffer dogs and tear gas out next." One of the soldiers approached Auntie Meryl, Mia and me and showed us the picture of Mike. "Do you know this man?" he asked. Mia started to speak but I quickly interrupted her. "Mia," I said, "For the love of God please don't speak. Leave this to me." I looked at the soldier and said that I and some others were with Mike before we got to Dumpville. Before I could say another word, he grabbed my arm, marched me down the road, took me into a building and ushered me into a small, bare room where Naomi, Trudy, Millie, Tina, Lindon, DeShawn, Benjamin and TJ were.

The room was very basic with a couple of tables and a few chairs. TJ and I exchanged brief but tense looks. "What the Hell's all this?" I asked. "Well it's obviously got something to do with us arriving here with Mike," said Naomi. "Well why have we all been dragged in here?" asked Trudy, "It's like Guantanamo Bay out there." Millie asked TJ if Mike had done anything that might upset Dump or the soldiers. "I don't know," said TJ, convincingly lying, "I haven't seen him for a couple of days. I thought he was avoiding everyone." "What about you?" Trudy asked me, "You two are proper bum chums. Haven't you seen him?" "No," I said, also lying, "I haven't seen him since we were all in Triton's." "OK," said Millie, "Let's think about this. He's either hiding somewhere, got over the wall or . . . he's dead." "Why would he hide?" asked DeShawn. "Well he knows some of the others aren't happy he's here," said Millie, "He might be feeling sorry for himself. He might love the idea that he's causing all this chaos." "Well there's no way he'd get over that wall," said Trudy, "It's massive and there's armed soldiers everywhere." TJ and I exchanged awkward looks. "Well he can't just disappear," said Millie, "Maybe he did manage to find a way to get over the wall. If he's feeling isolated from us he might have felt like doing a runner." "Look," I said, "Wherever Mike is, the big question is why are the soldiers responding like this? Don't you think it's a bit over the top?" "They're soldiers, aren't they," said Benjamin, "It's their job to look big and hard isn't it?" "They scare me a bit," said Tina, "I'm just glad I've got my husband to keep me safe." "Yeah," said Trudy drily, "You're a lucky woman to have a man like that in your life." "Oh, I know," said Tina with a smile. I still can't believe she doesn't know Troy's gay.