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

Day 363: Thursday 24th August 2017 18:36

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Day 363
Thursday 24th August 2017 18:36

I'm out of the dusty room. Thank God! I was starting to get bl**dy cabin fever.

I was sat on my mattress feeling sorry for myself when the door to the dingy, dusty room opened. I turned my head, looked across the small room and saw a blank looking Naomi, still appearing grubby and dishevelled, but with a sad and emotional look on her face, stood in the doorway. She saw me looking at her, turned round and then walked away, leaving the door open. I stood up from my mattress feeling TOTALLY confused. What the f*ck is going on, I thought to myself. I grabbed my diary, dusted myself off and quickly exited the room where I found myself in a dusty corridor built of the same cold looking breeze blocks my room was made of. I heard Naomi walking up what sounded like some stairs a few yards ahead. I quickly walked down the corridor, followed the footsteps, clambered up the stairs and found myself in a very wide open but empty space on the ground floor of some sort of under construction office block. Ahead of me, Naomi was sat on a small pallet leaning on a large wooden crate, as if it was some sort of a table.

I looked over at Naomi. She looked very sorry for herself – like she'd been crying. She put her head in her hands. I wasn't about to start to feel sorry for her after everything she'd done. I stormed up to Naomi stood over her, flung my arms out in a shocked and disbelieving manner and gave her an outraged stare. "What the f*ck is going on!?" I loudly said. Naomi slowly raised her head from her hands and looked up with a blank and empty look. "They were here," she quietly said. "What are you on about?" I said, "Who was here?" "Them," said Naomi. "Them?" I said, sounding confused and annoyed, "What are you on about 'them'? Who's 'them'? Stop talking in riddles." "They're everywhere," said Naomi, "They're absolutely everywhere." "Who are!?" I loudly said. "ACROBAT," said Naomi, "There's loads of them." "Naomi, you're going to have to tell me what's going on," I said, "I need some context here."

Naomi started to explain everything. She said that when she was out on the road she was attacked, kidnapped and brought here. "Who kidnapped you?" I asked. "I don't know," said Naomi, sounding tired, "People from ACROBAT. It was only a few days ago. I was jumped by these guys who put a bag over my head, knocked me out and brought me here. When I came to, I still had the bag on my head. I was terrified. I couldn't see anything but I could hear people and sense them walking around. It turns out that ACROBAT had some sort of mobile base here. There were soldiers, scientists and all sorts of equipment I could here. Someone using a voice changer spoke to me. I don't know why they needed the voice changer, I couldn't see anything. Anyway, whoever it was told me that one of their agents had been killed and that one of their trainee agents had been kidnapped. They said I knew the people responsible." "How the Hell do they know all this?" I asked, "Oh of course. Drones." "That's right," said Naomi, "They've got these floating drones that are all over the place. I can't believe we haven't seen any." "I saw one," I said, "I looked right at it. It had cameras attached to it. It was hovering right in front of me. Why would ACROBAT be so interested in us?" "I don't think they are," said Naomi, "Their drones just saw me and saw you guys and put two and two together. They figured out we were connected." "So if they've got all these drones all over the place why aren't they using them to reunite us all or help out other survivors?" I said. "They don't care about that," said Naomi. "Anyway Shaun activated his tracker and that helped too." Ah, I thought to myself, the red beepy box thing "But Shaun said this virus was all about the greater good and human evolution. If they're not using their resources to save the existing uninfected humans then what's the point?" "Luke, I don't know," said Naomi in a frustrated and tired tone, "I just don't know. I don't know what I don't know and I know what I know." "Well what else do you know?" I firmly asked. "They told me that, via one of the drones, they knew you'd killed one of their men and kidnapped the other." "It had nothing to do with me," I said, "It was TJ and Mike." "Whatever," said Naomi, "They told me I had to get Shaun freed and do whatever it took to get him back to them." "What?" I said in outrage and confusion, "That makes absolutely NO sense. Why would they use an untrained civilian to retrieve one of their men? They obviously knew where we were. Why didn't they just send their armed soldiers in to storm the place?" "They talked about that," said Naomi, "But TJ and Mike running one of their men off the road, killing him, and kidnapping another really unsettled them. They knew you'd be on guard so they thought if they sent me in you'd drop your guard and I could then get to Shaun. They thought that was the best option." "Why?" I firmly said, "Just tell me why. Why did you do all this? Holding Auntie Meryl hostage, threatening me with a gun, killing Troy, I mean KILLING Troy in the way you did, it was awful. Pumping him full of bullets. Why!?" "I've told you why," said Naomi. "No," I firmly said, "You've told me what these ACROBAT people said to you but I know you. You wouldn't just sit back and take it. You're feisty, you're assertive, you're confident, you're gutsy." "I'M TIRED!" shouted Naomi, "That's what I am! I'm tired. I'm tired of being tired. I am sick of being this tired all the time." "You did all this because you're tired!?" I loudly exclaimed, "Are you f*cking kidding me!?" "No, I didn't do all of this because I'm tired!" yelled Naomi, "I did it because they told me they had Seth and Amelia!" A brief silence lingered. "They told me that if I didn't return here with you, TJ and Shaun they'd kill Seth and Amelia. They said that they found Amelia with Sally and killed Sally but kept Amelia. They then said they had Seth hostage and that they knew he worked for GRID. They said if I brought Shaun back they'd release Seth and Amelia." "And you believed them!?" I loudly cried, "Are you stupid!?" "I was desperate!" yelled Naomi, standing up from her seat, "It's my husband and my daughter we're talking about Luke!" "She's not your daughter!" I yelled, "You know that! That's why you gave her back to Sally!" "That was a mistake," Naomi said, "I shouldn't have done that. I'm the only proper mother Amelia's ever known. Me, her and Seth could be a proper family." "YOU KILLED TROY!" I shouted. "I had to!" yelled Naomi, "He was going to kill me. I didn't have a choice. I didn't want to hurt anyone. I just wanted you to let Shaun go so we could leave and I could get Seth and Amelia back." "Well you didn't get Seth and Amelia back did you!?" I yelled, "It's just me and you stuck here now. Did you really think these ACROBAT tw*ts were telling you the truth? They were obviously playing you so you'd do their dirty work for them. You let Dump do this to you and now you've let ACROBAT do it to you." "I KNOW, LUKE!" shouted Naomi, "I KNOW! I'm a bad and horrible person. Is that what you want to hear!? Does that make you feel better? They used me. They walked all over me and I was so blinded by desperation that I let them. There. I've said it. Are you happy now?" "Happy?" I said, "Are you kidding? I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere with some mad woman who threatened my Auntie, pointed a gun at me, locked me in a room and killed my friend – OK, Troy wasn't exactly a friend but you know what I mean. I'm a world away from happy." "What do you want Luke?" snapped Naomi, "Do you want blood? Is that what you want? Do you want me to feel bad? Well here's some news for you – I DO FEEL BAD AND THERE'S NOTHING – NOTHING – YOU CAN DO TO MAKE ME FEEL WORSE!" Silence lingered. "Anyway," said Naomi, "When I drove back here with Shaun in the front and you in the back I ended up being tied up again and the bag was once again put over my head. The person with the weird voice changer said that the mobile base going to be moving on. They said that when I regained consciousness I'd wake up to see Seth and Amelia. I was knocked out again and when I came too there was no sign of Seth or Amelia." "Of course there wasn't," I bluntly said. "I've searched this entire building," said Naomi, in a glum tone, "They're not here." "You said you needed me and TJ" I said, "Why are we so important?" "I don't know," said Naomi, "They just said I had to come back with Shaun, you and TJ." "But why?" I said sounding bewildered, "Why me and TJ?" "Oh I don't know, Luke," said Naomi, "They didn't tell me. I was watching the pub you were in and I saw Mike and TJ leave. The ACROBAT people told me they'd seen on the drone that there was only you, Troy, Meryl, the babies and the dogs inside. I know they wanted me to bring TJ back but I thought there was a better chance of me releasing Shaun with Mike and TJ out of the way. They weren't happy when I returned without TJ. Anyway, it didn't matter that much. They told me they had to move on so they'd be leaving me and you here." There was another moment of silence. "I'm really sorry about all of this," said Naomi, "I'm sorry about Troy too. I can't believe I killed him." "I can't believe you killed him either," I said. "I just wanted to get Seth and Amelia, back" said Naomi, "I never wanted to hurt anyone." "Well I guess ACROBAT used you didn't they?" I said, "They sound like master manipulators. They'd get on with Dump. I've got to get back to Auntie Meryl. How far away are we?" "We're about an hour's drive away," said Naomi, "Don't worry. When I left her she was OK." "OK?" I bluntly said, "Are you serious? She'd just seen you fire twelve rounds into Troy after you pointed a gun at her head and left her alone with four dogs, two babies and a dead body." "Luke, I'm telling you she was OK," said Naomi, "She was more bothered about the broken coffee table." "I need to get back to her," I said. "You can't go now," said Naomi, "It's going to get dark soon and the ACROBAT lot took the car I was using. We're stuck here. We've got a bit of food though." "Why did you keep me locked up down there for so long?" I asked. "I didn't," said Naomi, "They must have done that." "Well why did you let me out?" I asked, "And why didn't you speak to me when you brought me water?" "Luke, I didn't know what to say," said Naomi, "I was ashamed. I still am." "So you decided to leave me locked up downstairs in Prisoner Cell Block H!" I loudly said. "I thought the ACROBAT lot might come back with Seth or Amelia so I thought I needed to keep you down there." "Jesus, when did you get so naive?" I said. "I just want to get Seth and Amelia back," said Naomi, "That's all I want." "I think Amelia's . . . or rather Sophie's real Mum might have something to say about that." "The girl who dumped her daughter on some church steps in an apocalypse," said Naomi, "I think she gave up her rights a long time ago." "Courtney is Sophie's real Mum," I said, "Maybe she should be looking for Sophie instead of you." Naomi turned her head away. She didn't want to talk about this.

Naomi and I spoke more about ACROBAT. "They've got a proper underground base not far from here," said Naomi. "I know, Shaun said," I said. "I overheard them saying lots of things," said Naomi, "I might not have seen much but I heard lots. You know Seth talked about them creating the virus and being responsible for the outbreak, well he was right. I don't know details but they're a massive organisation. Everything Seth told us is true. They've done horrible experiments on people. I heard them talking about it. They know all about Seth working for GRID. They want to eradicate GRID and perfect the virus." "Naomi," I said, "If they know Seth works for GRID and they want to eradicate GRID why would they reunite Seth with you?" Naomi looked confused during a strange silence. She then adopted an embarrassed look. "Oh God," she said, "I feel so stupid. They were never going to reunite me with Seth were they?" "They probably never even knew where he was," I said. "So all of this has been for nothing," said Naomi. An uncomfortable silence followed.

The atmosphere between Naomi and I was very awkward and tense. Part of me feels sorry for her because she's obviously been through a lot and ACROBAT have clearly manipulated her into bringing them Shaun but she went too far. She pointed a gun at me, threatened my Auntie Meryl and killed Troy. I'm not sure if I can forgive her and I'm not sure if things will ever be the same again. I'll be sleeping here tonight but in the morning I want to get back to Auntie Meryl and the others. At this point I don't know if Naomi's going to come with me and I don't know if I want her to.