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

Day 236: Wednesday 19th April 2017 22:39

https://www.facebook.com/lukesdiary/posts/283557278751919

Day 236
Wednesday 19th April 2017 22:39

An interesting day . . .

Via the public address system, Dump announced that after recent events it's time we all adopted a positive outlook and looked towards the future. I thought this was his way of telling us all to forget about what happened the other day. He announced that lots of things were planned today including a support group for anyone who wanted to talk about recent tragic events. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me, Naomi and DeShawn to talk to everyone and convince them how dangerous the infected are and that we had no choice but to kill them.

DeShawn, Naomi and I walked into Triton's where the support meeting was being held. The person facilitating the meeting used to work as a therapist and provided counselling and ran various support groups. Some of the people seemed shocked to see us, and others looked at us disapprovingly. It was like they were trying to tell us we weren't welcome. "Bl**dy Hell," I quietly said to Naomi, "If looks could kill." "Just stay calm," Naomi whispered, "We'll be fine." As we took our seats I noticed that there were about twenty of us all sat in a circle. Deaf Deirdre and Mia were there but apart from those two I didn't really know any of the others. The therapist introduced herself and said that this was an opportunity for people to voice their concerns, share their thoughts and feelings, and ask questions. One woman said she didn't feel safe in Dumpville anymore and what with the sergeants out on a run she felt even more anxious. One man, referring to the infected attack, said he'd never seen such a violent, brutal and bloody mess and that he's having flashbacks and nightmares. I felt fed up and annoyed at listening to everyone's pathetic sob stories. They were sat in a circle talking about not feeling safe, and how traumatic it was watching us stab and kill people. I wanted to stand up and shout at this naive bunch of people and tell them that didn't realise how lucky they are. Have they ever had to run for their lives? Have they ever had to kill people they love? Have they ever been covered in the blood of their loved ones whilst sleeping on a hard floor? Have they ever had a bunch of psychos pointing guns at them? I tried not to let my frustration show but I think a couple of people saw me rolling my eyes as they were talking. As the discussions continued people were giving DeShawn, Naomi and I suspicious side-ward looks. I found this annoying but I had to keep my cool. Getting into a full on argument wasn't going to help. Eventually one of the women sat opposite me piped up. "I'm sorry," she said, "But are we just going to sit here and ignore the elephant in the room?" Mia turned and looked around the room. "What?" she said, "I can't see an elephant?" The woman pointed at me, DeShawn and Naomi and said we should be ashamed of ourselves and that our behaviour the other day terrified people. Naomi tried to calmly and clearly explain things to the woman but she kept interrupting her and not letting her speak. "I mean, what's up with you?!" snapped the woman, "There are children around here. It's not OK to go around brutally murdering people in public in front of children you know." "It's not OK to let people go around brutally murdering children either," DeShawn said calmly, "And that's what would have happened if we hadn't have stepped in." DeShawn's deep, manly but calm tone managed to silence the woman. "If we hadn't have killed those people, even more people would have died," said DeShawn, "Our actions saved lives. Apart from the other day, how many people here have come face to face with the infected?" Mia was the only person who put her hand up. "So you've all been behind these walls since the outbreak, is that right?" asked DeShawn. Everyone silently nodded. "You all need to know how dangerous the infected are," said DeShawn, "Once someone's been bitten or scratched or however they die, they come back and they come back with enraged determination to eat us. They're not like the slow, groaning monsters you used to see in films and TV. Some of them are like that but some of them run, just like they did when they were like us, and if you see one of them running towards you, you've got two choices, run or kill. It's as simple as that." There was a pause. Some of the people squirmed and looked at bit embarrassed. DeShawn had made an excellent point. "Look," said Naomi, "We're not here to have a go or tell you that we think we know better than you, but we've been out there. We've been chased by those things and we've all had to do unimaginable things to stay alive. We just want you to realise that while you're safe in here, you're safe in here for now. There's an evil world behind those walls and even if the infected don't manage to get in, there's people out there just like us, that aren't infected but can cause just as much pain. "What do you mean?" one of the men asked. "There was a man who held me and Luke's Auntie Meryl prisoner in an abandoned police station," said Naomi, "He held lots of other women prisoner too. He used to rape them and beat them up." "He actually did rape me," said Mia, "It was awful." "He beat me up and held a gun to my head," I said, "And because of him we lost our last home and people ended up dead." "He threw my sister into a supermarket full of infected," said DeShawn, "I had to watch her die." "We're not trying to scare you," said Naomi. "Really?!" exclaimed the gobby woman, "Well you're not doing a very good job." "We just want you all to be prepared," said Naomi, "If the infected or other people get in here, you all need to be able to look after yourselves." "What are you talking about?" one of the men said, "No one can get in here. The place is surrounded by big strong walls with armed soldiers on them." "I know," said Naomi, "And maybe that's enough to keep danger out. Maybe it's not. I guess we'll see. We were in a school that was being used as a safety zone and the place was full of soldiers but a helicopter ended up crashing into it and infected filled the place." "Sorry," I said, "But you guys need to wake up. Nowhere in the world is one hundred percent safe, not any more. Not even this place." Everyone exchanged concerned looks but our words seemed to have an impact. "OK," said the gobby woman, "So what are we supposed to do?" We suggested that it would be useful for everyone to know how to look after themselves, how to use a gun and how to kill the infected. People squirmed and looked uncomfortable. "Look," said Naomi, "You don't have to do this if you don't want to but I think you should hope for the best and prepare for the worst." "Exactly," I said, "At work we used to say if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail." "Yeah," said Mia, "And you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs." I gave Mia a confused look. "What?" she said, "That's a saying isn't it?" "Oh are we having omelettes?" asked Deirdre, "I like omelettes." People said that Dump wouldn't be happy if we were teaching them how to fight and look after themselves but Naomi said we could do it in our own time and that there was nothing Dump could do to stop us. There was light at the end of the tunnel. People were slowly starting to realise how dangerous it is out there and they were open to learning from us.

As the discussions continued and things started to feel a bit more positive, I asked who Hank was and what went on with Imran and Luke H. The others glanced at each other awkwardly. "Come on," I firmly said, "We know it's something people don't want to talk about but we want to know. Luke told us Imran was shot." "Look," said the gobby woman, "All we know is that Luke and Imran were both a bit mental. They weren't here at the start like the rest of us. They were found out there like you lot were. As soon as they got here it was obvious they weren't right in the head. They said that Mr. Dump was an evil man but no one took a word they said seriously. They were crazy. All we know is that one day they were here, one day they weren't." "Didn't any of you ask any questions?" asked Naomi. "We were just glad to see the back of them," said one of the men, "Everyone felt uncomfortable around them. They were really weird. We thought you lot were going to be the same." "Well what did you all get told?" I asked. "Mr. Dump told us that they asked to leave, so he let them, it's as simple as that," said the gobby woman. "Well when we met Luke he said this place was a prison, no one was allowed to leave and that Imran had been shot." "Sorry," said one of the men, "But Luke was unhinged. Everyone knew he was. You had to take what he said with a pinch of salt." "You had to have salt when you were listening to what he said?" asked Mia. "Shush, Mia," I said, "Not now." "OK," said Naomi, "Let's just say Luke and Imran were both unstable. Who's Hank?" There was a short silence. "Come on, someone tell us," said Naomi firmly. "Well when Imran and Luke left they took Hank with them," said the gobby woman, "We thought Hank should have stayed here with all of us but Luke wouldn't have it." "Well couldn't this Hank have made up his own mind?" I asked. This was met with more silence, leaving me, DeShawn and Naomi feeling further confused. "Well how could he do that?" another woman asked, "I thought you said you met Luke?" "We did," said Naomi, "We met Luke but not Hank." Everyone looked concerned at hearing this. "So Hank wasn't with Luke?" asked the gobby woman. "No he was on his own," said DeShawn. Everyone exchanged worrying looks. "Will you just tell us what's going on?" I snapped, starting to feel impatient. "Hank couldn't make up his own mind," said the gobby woman, "Because Hank's a baby. He was about six months old when Imran and Luke arrived here. He was Luke's son." Well this was an unexpected revelation. People started getting upset believing that if Imran and Luke H are dead, Hank must be dead too.

After the meeting I spoke with Naomi and DeShawn. I reminded them that Hank's name was on Dump's secret list and that this could potentially mean that Dump knows Hank is dead. "I know he's an idiot," said Naomi, "But Dump wouldn't kill a baby, that list must mean something else." I'm left wondering exactly what the list means.

Later on I was talking to Mia about how Mary may have to take on some of the Doctor's responsibilities. "Why Mary?" asked Mia. "She knows First Aid, remember?" I said, "Maybe she could teach it to people. It's a shame there's not more people from the NHS here." "NHS?" said Mia, "I used to work for NHS. I might be able to help." "You're kidding?!" I said, "What did you do when you were at the NHS?" "Oh a bit of everything," said Mia, "I had to mop up sick, pick people up off the floor, stop people from fighting. It was crazy." "Bl**dy Hell," I said, "I didn't know that. Were you a care assistant?" "Yeah," said Mia, "I had to deal with all sorts. Mind you it only got really bad when it was the January sales." I frowned in confusion. "The January sales?" I said, "How do you have January sales in a hospital?" "What hospital?" asked Mia. "The hospital you worked in," I said. "I've never worked in a hospital," replied Mia. "You said you were a care assistant," I said. "Ooooh," said Mia, "I meant sales assistant." "You were a sales assistant in the NHS?" I said, sounding very confused. "Oooooh, no," said Mia with a dumb smile on her face, "I meant BHS. Is that different?" I rolled my eyes and walked off. Daft cow!

I've spent the evening with Naomi and DeShawn talking about running our first, what we are calling, Infected Safety class, tomorrow. We're going to teach people what we've done to stay alive and how, if they have to, kill infected. Dump is bound to find out and I don't think he'll be very impressed but everyone needs to know how to keep themselves safe if the worst happens.

I'm sitting here writing my diary wondering what happened to Luke, Imran and Hank when they left Dumpville. Luke H told us "they" shot Imran and I strongly suspect he was referring to the soldiers or the sergeants. I remember Luke H being obsessed with Trudy's unborn baby and him telling us not to let anyone take the baby. I really think there's something more going on here but I think the only people still alive who know the truth are Dump and the soldiers.