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

Day 320: Wednesday 12th July 2017 22:42

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Day 320
Wednesday 12th July 2017 22:42

We tried to put our plan of getting Seth back into action today but it didn't work out as we planned.

Mike, TJ, Naomi and I brought a walkie talkie to Dump in the unused chalet he was residing in. All of us (except Mike) had weapons in case Dump tried anything funny. "Now you just remember what we agreed to," Naomi said firmly to Dump, "Just stick to the plan." "Ooooh she likes getting all feisty doesn't she?" said Dump. "Just get on with it," said Naomi. "Right," said Dump, "Leave the talking to me. Anne's a nasty sly snake in the grass." "So are you," Naomi said. "Hang on," I said to Dump, "Anne's not nasty. She's doing what she needs to do to survive." "Oh listen to Mother Teresa," said TJ. I ignored TJ and continued focusing my attention on Dump. "You've done nothing but lie to her" I said, "You told her Dumpville was in ruins and that all the people you handed over to her to eat were trouble causers, when you know full well they weren't." "Luke," Dump bluntly said, "Do you really want to stand here talking to me about how nasty a woman is, who's got a baby's head on display in some twisted trophy room?" "A baby you and your men handed over to her!" I exclaimed.

We all bickered for a while longer and eventually Dump picked up the radio and tried to contact Anne. I was surprised when, after a few minutes, she answered. "Ronald is that you?" she asked. "Yes it's me," said Dump. "Where the Hell have you been?" asked Anne. "Some of the residents tied me up and held me hostage. They wanted to take over Dumpville. I've only just escaped." "How did you escape?" Anne asked with a tone of suspicion. "I was tied up with one of the soldiers," said Dump, "We helped each other get free." There was a moment of silence. We exchanged apprehensive looks waiting for Anne to respond. "Are you OK?" she asked. "I'm fine," said Dump, "I've regained control." "You've regained control?" asked Anne. "Yeah that's right," said Dump, "I've got a few trouble causers to hand over to you." "Have you REALLY?" asked Anne. "Yeah," said Dump, "The main ring leaders who tied me up. I don't want them here hindering how I run this place. You can have them." There was another pause. "So," said Anne, "Let me clarify. You were tied up by people who didn't want you to be leader anymore, and then, somehow, you and this soldier managed to break free and within minutes of escaping you and one single soldier have regained control of the holiday park. The holiday park you told me was in a derelict and desolate state. Perhaps you can see why I'm having trouble believing you." "Why would I lie to you?" asked Dump. "Because you know that me and my people have visited your holiday park, you know we have the one you call Seth and you know that he's the only one who can get you to this City One," said Anne. "Why would I want to leave Dumpville?" asked Dump. "Because you've lost control, you've lost support, you've lost your wife and pretty soon you'll be on your own in an abandoned holiday park," said Anne. "Let's just go back to what we did before," said Dump, "There's one soldier left, I'll get him to bring you some fresh meat, and you give Seth back to us." "Why would you want us to return Seth to you, if, as you say, you don't want to leave Dumpville?" asked Anne. There was an awkward silence. Anne was on to Dump. "Listen to me Mr Dump," said Anne, "I don't know what game you're playing but you're not playing it with me. You say you want to stay in your holiday park, so stay there. We want to leave for City One, so we're leaving." "Anne, come on," said Dump, "Let's talk about this. You and your lot can't travel all the way to London. You're weak, you don't have any weapons, there's too many of you, you don't have much transport, you're not fighters." "That's our problem not yours," said Anne. "Anne you can't just storm in here, cause trouble and kidnap one of the residents," said Dump. "We didn't cause trouble," said Anne, "We're not proud of what we did but we made sure we didn't hurt or kill anyone. We are just desperate to survive. We haven't hurt Seth and we have no intention of doing so. We just want to be part of a civilised future." "Civilised?" said Dump, "This, coming from a freaky cannibal who broke in here with her people, attacked us and kidnapped one of my residents." "We didn't break in," said Anne, "Someone on guard let us in after we simply asked. We might have taken Seth but it was through desperation. We didn't hurt him. And as for attacking people, we did no such thing. You know that's not what we're like. A fight might have broken out but that's because one of my people didn't get on with one of your people." "You give Seth back to us right now," snapped a firm Dump. "No," said an assertive Anne, "We are not returning Seth to you so you can be taken to City One and leave us behind. This conversation is over." Anne's voice disappeared and we all gave Dump various looks of disapproval. "Well, well done you big orange idiot," I sarcastically said, "You handled that brilliantly didn't you? D*ckhead. I said she'd suss you out didn't I?" "It didn't sound to me like she was in charge of a group of violent thugs," said Mike, "And she didn't sound like a snake in the grass to me either." "Shut up you fool," said Dump, "She's got the head of a dead baby under that car plant and she and her people attacked this place." "Well they didn't really attack," said Naomi. "Yeah 'attack' isn't the word I'd use," said TJ, "I mean they came here being direct but they were apologetic. They said they were doing what they had to do." "They're not a group of nasty evil violent fighters," I said, "They're a group of desperate people trying to survive." "They're a bunch of f*cking degenerates who eat people," snapped Dump, "I say we get armed up, raid the car plant, kill The Traders and get Seth. You lot can handle yourself." "So when you say 'we' you mean us," said Naomi. "Or we could radio them back and try to work together," I said, "They've got Seth but they haven't left yet. There must be some reason they're still here. Maybe we could all go to City One together." "Don't be ridiculous," said Dump. "Luke, that's not going to work," said Naomi, "They might not be the gang of violent yobs Dump's making them out to be but they did take Seth and they have got a dead baby's head on display. They've eaten people we know for God's sake. Luke, what's happened to you? Murderers, liars, dictators and now cannibals. It's like you want to be friends with them all." "I'm making the best of a bad situation," I said, "I'd rather go to City One with a load of cannibals than stay here and slowly die."

I grabbed hold of the walkie talkie and tried to get through to Anne and reason with her but there was no answer. "She won't talk to you," said Dump, "You, TJ and DeShawn lied to her about being soldiers. She won't believe a word you say." "Well I just thinking honesty, rather than playing twisted mind games might be the best policy here," I said. I kept trying to get hold of Anne over the walkie talkie but I was unsuccessful. I tried for hours and hours but she didn't answer, I told Dump he'd handled the whole thing badly and that after he dealt with Anne he'd caused her to go in a mood and ignore us. "Don't worry," said Dump, "She's playing games. She'll come back." "She might not," I said. "OK," said Naomi, "I've had enough of all this. Luke, you know how to get to this car plant place, so I'll drive us there and we'll get Seth back." "Hang on," I said, "It's not the sort of place you can just drive to and walk in. The Traders are under ground." "Then let's radio this Anne woman back," said Naomi, "She might be ignoring us but she can still hear us. Tell her that we're on our way and we want to sort this out." "Let's just calm down," I said. "Calm down?" exclaimed Naomi, "They've got my husband." "I know," I said, "But if we go in there all guns blazing it'll make things worse."

We carried on talking for a while and eventually agreed to give Anne some time to calm down. We agreed to try and contact Anne again over the walkie talkie in the morning. We agreed that if she didn't answer we'd tell her that some of us were on our way to sort this out. We'd then go to the car plant and try and resolve the situation amicably and peacefully. "We should go now," said Naomi. "No," I said, "I think we need to give Anne time to calm down. She sounded p*ssed off." "Indeed," said Dump, "She'll be even more p*ssed off if you turn up unannounced tomorrow." "Are you deaf?" I snapped, "We won't turn up unannounced. We'll radio through first. Anyway it's your fault she's p*ssed off." "Yeah," said Naomi to Dump, "Maybe you should tell us why we shouldn't just put a bullet in your head right now?" "Yeah," I snapped at Dump, "We don't need you anymore. We promised to take you to City One if you helped us get Seth back and you haven't helped us. In fact we don't need you. I've met Anne, I know what she's like. We can sort this out without you." "You don't know what she's like," laughed Dump, "You met her once and you think you know her." "Well she seems a lot more genuine than you," I said. "Genuine?" laughed Dump, "She's got more faces than Big Ben, "You can't trust her. This is all an act." "When we went to see her, she let us leave," I said, "She could have killed us but she didn't. I think she's a lot more genuine than you." "Look this isn't getting us anywhere," said Naomi, "Let's plan what we're going to do tomorrow and then we'll decide if we keep this orange pr*ck alive."

We talked about what we'd do tomorrow and how we'd approach The Traders. I said that we should go with an open mind and explore the options but Naomi seemed determined to get Seth back at any cost. I might have to keep an eye on her. We agreed that Naomi would drive me and Mike to the car plant and try to sort this mess out. Dump said he wanted to come. This was weird. He's usually the first to avoid violent confrontation with groups of people. He usually sends one of his soldiers. Mind you, there aren't soldiers here anymore. I'm just rather suspicious as to why he wants to come along with us. "Why do you want to come with us?" I asked Dump, "You're usually the first to run and hide when this sort of stuff happens." "I can help," said Dump. "You didn't help when you called Anne a freaky cannibal," said Naomi. "She knows me," said Dump, "If I turn up, I am a familiar face that can help facilitate discussions. I'll apologise for lying and I'll apologise for calling Anne names. I am sure that with my help we can find a solution that works for everyone." "Two minutes ago you were telling us to get our weapons and storm the place," said Naomi, "We can't trust a word you say." "So maybe it's best you keep me where you can see me," said Dump. We talked about this for a bit longer. "Well if he's going I'm staying here with Destiny," said TJ. "What's up Thomas Junior?" asked Dump, "You scared of me?" TJ frowned and walked off. "Scared of a bloke that can't get an erection?" said TJ, "I don't think so. You know what, I think I will come," said TJ. "This isn't a day trip out," said Naomi, "We're going to get Seth back." "Yeah," said TJ pointing at Dump, "And if he's going to help then so am I. I've met Anne too you know?"

Later on I was at home with Mike who was giving me a shoulder massage. He asked me if I thought we were going to end up killing Dump. "I don't know," I said, "I'm starting to regret bringing him back." "You didn't have a choice," said Mike. "I did," I said, sounding frustrated with myself, "I could have told him to f*ck off. Mia and some of the others still look p*ssed off because I brought him back. I feel really alone." Mike put his arms around me and gave me a big hug. "You're not alone," he said, "I'm here. You'll never be alone when I'm here." Mike's well-meaning comments were actually a bit of a comfort. It's good to know someone wants me around. Let's just hope by this time tomorrow Seth will be back with us and we can start making plans to get to City One.