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

Day 275: Sunday 28th May 2017 20:55

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Day 275
Sunday 28th May 2017 20:55

A very uneasy and concerning day.

Debra's funeral wasn't well attended. One woman said she wasn't sure why she was at the funeral of a child abuser. I didn't say anything but it's now clear to me that while a few people feel uncertain about Dump's ability to lead, he's certainly got them under his control. 

After the funeral, Naomi, DeShawn and I met the new Doctor, Malcolm Moor. He was very quiet; in fact he was rather rude. The three of us were very pleasant with him and when I introduced myself and offered him a handshake he looked. . . . well, a bit nervous. He took a step back as if I'd just pointed a gun at him. "It's OK," I said with a smile, "It's not going to bite." "I know you," said Malcolm, "Mr Dump told me you're the man who killed a small child." Malcolm started to walk away. I felt quite angry with what he'd said. I couldn't just let that go. "He was infected," I called to him, "I had no choice. Haven't you had to kill anyone you didn't want to?" Malcolm turned and looked back. "I haven't killed anyone," he said, harshly, "And I intend on keeping it that way." "Those intentions won't pan out well," said DeShawn, "Do you really think you can live the rest of your life without killing?" "Some people are killers and some people aren't," said Malcolm, "I'm not." He then walked off leaving me feeling annoyed and confused. "Great," Naomi said, "Another naive child to mollycoddle. I just hope he's not that much of a d*ck when he's delivering Trudy's baby." Naomi and DeShawn could see I was p*ssed off. "I might as well drop out of this election," I said, "Dump's told everyone I'm some crazy child killer." Naomi and DeShawn listened to me moan and complain for a bit and Naomi came up with a great idea. "It's the next debate in Triton's tomorrow," she said, "Just get on the stage and tell everyone the truth about what happened with Robbie. Tell them all about Hilary coming to the supermarket and tell them that you had no choice but to kill Robbie. That's all you can do now." "What about Ashley and Jessica?" I asked, "I can't exactly say I went a bit mad and shot and killed two innocent people can I?" "Yes you can," said Naomi, "You can say how the end of the world affects everyone differently and you can say you made some bad choices. You were grieving. You were traumatised. Just tell them that. You might get people to sympathise with you and get more votes. If you end up being leader you can quarantine that murdering pig, Dump. You could actually work this to your advantage." I wasn't totally convinced by Naomi's plan but given the current situation I'm in, I think it's the best I can do. I just hope people show some understanding. As I started to walk off, Naomi called back to me. "Where are you going?" she asked. "To see Esther," I said, "Dump's publicly told everyone about her abortion, remember? I want to see if she's OK." "Don't tell her anything," Naomi urgently insisted, "I'm serious, Luke, don't tell anyone about what happened with Dump yesterday. Someone who we think we can trust is blabbing all of our secrets to Dump and it could be Esther." "What are you talking about?" I said, "Esther won't be the big blabber mouth, she's had one of her own secrets revealed." "It doesn't matter," insisted Naomi, "We don't know who we can trust, so until we do, don't you say a word to anyone. This stays between me, you and DeShawn." Esther is a lot of things but I don't think she'd cause all this sh*t. I think it's TJ. He and Dump are best mates. That's probably why Dump has overlooked us sending Mike away. I agreed to keep my mouth shut to keep Naomi happy.

As I was on the way to see Esther I bumped into Dump. "Hello, Luke," he said with a smile, "I take it you went to Debra's funeral. I didn't think I should go. It won't look good if I'm seen to be grieving for a child abuser." What a b*stard. I wanted to smack him so hard. Dump took an intimidating step closer to me. "Are you scared of me now, Luke?" he asked. I stayed quiet and tried to maintain a strong demeanour and let Dump know I wasn't going to be intimidated by him. Dump laughed. "Oh just look at you," he chortled, "Little boy, trying to be a big man." Dump moved close up my ear. "It's not working," he whispered, "I can see your bottom lip quivering." Dump then gave a loud laugh. "Oh, Luke," he said, "Don't look so serious. You don't have anything to worry about. As long as you toe the line, follow the rules and remember who's boss, you'll be fine." "You killed Debra," I said. "Me?!" exclaimed Dump, "I don't know what you mean? Luke, that sounds like a very serious and rather slanderous accusation. If you have any proof perhaps you'd care to repeat it in front of Sergeant Reed." I lowered my head, defeated. I obviously couldn't say anything. Dump had too much dirt on us and he's proved he's capable of anything. "How is baby Amelia?" asked Dump, "I hope she's well. Babies pick up all sorts of bugs don't they? I hope she's safe." Dump gave me a big, wide grin. I replied by throwing him a deeply serious and surprised look. I think this was his way of threatening Amelia. "So," said Dump, "Am I to assume your silence is your way of saying that accusing me of murdering Debra is your idea of some weird and sick joke?" I paused for a moment. I really wanted to punch Dump in the face and tell him to f*ck off but it's all about playing a clever game from now on. "Yes," I bluntly said. I was so annoyed. "I thought so," said Dump. He started to walk off but I stopped him. "Hang on," I said, "What about the election?" "What about it?" asked Dump, "I'm looking forward to putting you through more public humiliation at the next debate tomorrow. I'm not worried. You're not going to win. There's only one clear winner and that's me." Just before Dump walked off, he turned round, gave me another smile and pointed at me. "Oh," he said, "And I don't know how you did it but well done for getting rid of the machine gun. I can't prove it but I just know you were involved. Maybe you're not as stupid as I thought. Mind you, don't think you can make a habit of disrupting my routine and assaulting my soldiers. I might just have to plant a gun in your chalet, set you up and then there will be consequences." I stood frozen to the spot feeling shocked at how much power Dump has and the lengths he's prepared to go to. He then gave me a big white smile. "You enjoy the rest of your day," he said. The man is a monster, an absolutely psychopathic, fat, evil, orange monster. I hate him! I'm ashamed to say it but I felt scared when he was talking to me. It's like he can do anything. I hate feeling like I'm being controlled but the only other option is to leave and try and live outside the walls. Maybe we just need to stay out of Dump's way for now. The election result might change everything?

I saw Esther and she was a mixture of down and angry. "You OK?" I asked. "Oh, you've remembered me, have you?" she asked, "I didn't see you at all yesterday." "I had my hands full," I said. "What's going on around here?" asked Esther, "Something weird is happening. I'm not stupid." "Let's just focus on this election," I said. "We might as well forget about all it," said Esther, "That overweight orange oaf is in total control here. I've been trying to get some dirt on him but I haven't got anywhere." "Naomi said something to me that might work," I said, "When we're on stage tomorrow we should just be totally honest. I explain why I killed Robbie, Ashley and Jessica and you explain why you had a termination." "Are you serious?" Esther bluntly asked, "You want me to stand on stage in front of everyone and talk about the torment of having to abort my baby. All that stuff I went through with Matt? I'm not doing that." "So what are you going to do?" I asked, "Just pull out of the whole election?" "Yes!" snapped Esther. "My God," I said, "I thought you had more fight in you than that." "It's feels like it's been one big long fight ever since I got here," said Esther, "I've had enough. Having a load of strangers knowing my private business isn't a nice feeling." "You're not the only one," I said, "Dump embarrassed me on stage too. Come on, don't give up. Maybe if we all work together he won't be leader for long. The other day you were talking about finding some dirt to use against him and now you're talking like it's over." "I don't want to talk about it," said Esther, "I'm not going to stand up on that stage and look everyone in the eye after what Dump said." "Well I think you should," I said, "Tell them that after what Matt did you had no choice but to have a termination. Dump shouldn't be using this to win this election just like he shouldn't be using what I did with Robbie, Ashley and Jessica." "I know you mean well, Luke," said Esther, "But just leave it, yeah? Most people round here think I'm an ice queen anywhere. Now Dump's told them I had sex with a married man and aborted his baby, I look even worse." I tried to say something and tell Esther that speaking on stage could be how she puts her side across but she wouldn't listen. "Please, Luke," said Esther, "Just leave it. If you want to stay in this election that's up to you but I'm out." I felt kind of sad. Esther's always been a fiery character and it wasn't nice seeing her so defeated by Dump. I really wanted to tell her about all the recent goings on with Dump but I didn't want to break the promise I'd made to Naomi. Personally I don't think shagging a married man and aborting his kid is THAT bad, especially as she didn't really have a choice. In comparison to what Dump told everyone I did, I don't think it's that much of a big deal, but it's had a real impact on Esther. I just wish I knew who was blabbing our secrets.

I told DeShawn and Naomi about Dump threatening to set me up. They weren't happy and they said I should stay away from Dump. That's all very well in theory but I'm supposed to be on stage with him tomorrow. I've been thinking about what's the best to do. Esther's going to drop out of the election; I don't want to but is it for the best if I do? I'm also wondering how we can unmask Dump and show everyone his true colours.