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

Day 252: Friday 5th May 2017 19:08

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Day 252
Friday 5th May 2017 19:08

An emotionally draining day. I spent most of the day inside but when I did go outside I had a very unexpected encounter with little Sophie. When I ventured outside, I noticed people giving me some strange stares but they weren't as vicious or as disapproving as the looks I was getting the other day.

I saw TJ earlier on talking to Sergeant Reed and the other two sergeants. It looked like he was having a serious chat with them. Very unlike TJ. I asked him if he was asking them to keep an eye out for someone who could help deliver Trudy's baby while they were out on a run. He told to me f*ck off and just walked off. I took that to mean he had listened to what I'd said yesterday and that he had asked the sergeants to look for a Doctor or a Midwife. Nice to know that bullsh*tting pr*ck listens to what I say every now and then and that he does in fact care about his unborn child.

As I was walking back to my chalet I saw Sophie sat alone on a bench. She looked like she was crying but trying to hide her tears. I immediately thought that I should leave her alone. After all the recent goings on it wouldn't look good if people saw me sitting alone with a crying nine year old girl who I'd recently flashed at. As I started to walk off, my conscious kicked into action. I couldn't just walk off and leave a little girl, sat on her own, crying. I was worried how it'd look but I walked over to Sophie and sat next to her. She quickly tried to wipe away the tears and stop crying. "Are you OK?" I said, "You look like you've been crying." Sophie stared at the ground and looked away from me. "Do you want me to leave you alone?" I asked. Again, Sophie stayed quiet and maintained eye contact with ground. "Shall I tell you a joke?" I asked. Sophie kept her silence. I rolled my eyes feeling, uncomfortable and uncertain as to how best to proceed. "OK," I said, "How about this? Why are ghosts bad liars?" Silence. Sophie didn't respond. I waited a few moments. "Because you can see right through them," I said with a smile on my face, "Get it? Because you can see through them?" Again, Sophie didn't respond. "God," I said, "I know it's not the best joke in the world but it's not that bad." There was another pause. "I'm not very good at talking to kids your age," I said, "Not since my mate, Robbie, died. I usually end up making a mess of things." There was another moment of silence. "When I was your age I used to get upset and keep quiet for one of two reasons," I said, "One, because I'd done something naughty or two, because I knew someone else had done something naughty. I used to think if I stayed quiet, no one would find out if I'd done something naughty and they wouldn't find out if anyone else had done something naughty." Sophie turned her head slightly. It was like she had become a bit more interested in what I had to say. "The problem was," I continued, "When I didn't talk, it meant I kept all that worry and all that upset inside me and it was really hard to keep it all inside. It was like when you try and squeeze lots of rubbish in a kitchen bin that's already full. It's really hard. The more stuff you keep inside the more likely the bag is to burst. So it's better to tell to someone than not tell to someone. Does that make sense?" Sophie nodded. "Can I tell you something?" she asked. "You can tell me something if you want to," I said, "Maybe we can talk about it together. Have you done something naughty?" Sophie shook her head. "OK," I said, "Has someone else done something naughty?" Sophie nodded. "OK," I said, "Do you want to tell me who's done something naughty?" Sophie shook her head. I didn't want to bombard her with questions but I wanted to make it easier for her to talk. I remembered all the recent goings on and I adopted a concerned expression as a chill ran down my spine. I started to think that the mystery paedophile might have abused Sophie. "Sophie," I said, "Has someone done something naughty to you?" Sophie stayed still for a moment and then she started crying as she nodded her head. "I know this isn't nice to talk about," I said, "But can you tell me what's happened to you? Has someone hurt you?" "No" said Sophie, shaking her head, "It didn't hurt. It just felt weird. It was wrong." "I'm going to ask you a question," I said, "And all you have to do is say yes or no. Has someone touched you?" There was a pause. Sophie eventually nodded her head. Oh God! I thought to myself. Sophie's just told me she's been abused. "He made me touch him too" said Sophie, "I told him I didn't want to but he said I had to. He said if I told anyone I'd get into a lot of trouble." A tear ran down my cheek. I was so angry that someone had done this to Sophie but I felt quite sad too. I wanted to take Sophie home but I didn't think her parents would appreciate me turning up on their doorstep with their nine year old daughter who had just disclosed abuse. They were bound to think it's me. Then again I didn't think they'd appreciate me being in possession of this information and not telling them. Oh, what to do for the best? I spoke to Sophie a bit more. I told her that none of this was her fault; that she'd done nothing wrong and that she wasn't going to get into trouble. I tried to find out who had touched her but she was adamant that she wasn't going to tell me. Poor thing was terrified. She said she was too scared to tell her parents but agreed that I could tell them. I knew this was going to be awkward.

I knocked on Sophie's parent's door and her Mum, Yvonne, answered. She looked angry when she first saw me but she then looked horrified and worried when she saw Sophie stood next to me. She grabbed hold of Sophie and checked her over. "Oh my God, Sophie, are you OK? Has he done anything to you?" she said, sounding flustered. Yvonne glared at me furiously. "What have you done to her?!" she snapped, "If you've hurt her. . . " I interrupted Yvonne. "I haven't done anything to her," I said, "Look, I know things haven't been great between us but something's happened – something serious. I need to talk to you. Can I come in?" Eventually, Yvonne reluctantly let me in. Sophie ran straight to her bedroom, leaving me with an angry, confused and concerned Mum. "I want to know exactly what's going on, right now," Yvonne assertively said. I told Yvonne what Sophie had told me and she kicked off big time! She started screaming, throwing her arms around and demanding to know who had abused her daughter. I told Yvonne to calm down and she started hysterically screaming in my face. "Don't tell me to calm down!" she loudly yelled, "I want to know who has touched my little girl!" "You see, this is why Sophie couldn't tell you," I said, "She knew you'd kick off and start screaming. Yvonne, she's only in the room next door, she doesn't want to hear you shouting and screaming like this!" Yvonne burst into fits of tears and fell to the floor. She said she was a bad mother and that she should have been able to protect her daughter. I told Yvonne that I understood how much of a shock this all was, but right now Sophie was the priority and she needed to focus on her. "For now, forget about finding out who did this," I said, "Forget about feeling sorry for yourself. Right now, just focus on your daughter. Go and be with her, hug her, tell her you love her and just be with her." Yvonne composed herself, stood up and wiped away her years. She looked at me, nodded and walked towards Sophie's room. As I started to leave, Yvonne called me back. I turned round and she gave me a sad but sincere look. "Thank you," she said. I smiled and nodded. "It's OK," I said. "I'm sorry about . . . well . . . you know," said Yvonne. "I know," I said, "It's OK. I'll see you tomorrow. Go be with your daughter."

I'm sat alone writing my diary right now. I feel a bit sad but I think I have done the right thing. What's happened to Sophie is horrible but she knows it's wrong and she's done the right thing in telling someone. I just hope her Dad doesn't kick off and start yelling. Right now she needs to be hugged and told she's loved. I have a feeling we are going to be finding out who the secret paedo is any day now. My money's on Dump or the vicar. I just hope Sophie will get looked after and be OK.