Luke's Diary: An unlucky man in a zombie apocalypse. Days 601 - 756

Day 652: Saturday 9th June 2018

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Day 652
Saturday 9th June 2018

Well, getting a good night's sleep on a comfortable mattress in a cosy bedroom definitely did me the world of good. Turning over as I was waking up and seeing Mike laid on the other side of the bed didn't do me the world of good. I gasped and jumped back. "Jesus, Mike," I said, "You scared me half to death." "After everything's that happened and after you being out of it for a bit yesterday I thought I'd better watch over you. The second your head hit the pillow and you started snoring I came in here, plonk myself beside you and I haven't left you since." This was just Mike being Mike but I wasn't in the mood. "Anyway," he said, "What are we going to do about Janine? Are we going to chuck her out? Are we going to kill her?" "Mike, I don't know what we're going to do," I said, "I'm p*ssed off that Janine is here but maybe we should be focusing on finding Trudy and your brother." "Yeah but we could kill Janine first," said Mike, "I found some cheese wire downstairs in the kitchen it'll only take a couple of minutes."  I told Mike I could understand his frustration but that a more balanced approach may be more useful. 

Another thing that hasn't done me any good is being in this house with Janine. There are not enough words to describe how much I hate her.

Tara, Esther, Mike, Auntie Meryl and I were sat outside on the back porch talking about our situation. We all looked a lot healthier than we did a few days ago. We'd had a wash, cut our hair; had a shave and spruced ourselves up slightly. I certainly felt better. My leg still hurts a bit but the pain isn't as bad as it was and it's great to have no beard, shorter hair and a forehead without the word LOSER written in it. "We have to get rid of her," said Esther, "I just look at that face of hers and I feel so angry." "Oh I know what you mean," said Auntie Meryl, "I mean I know she's done a good job of looking after me and the kids but hasn't she heard of Clearasil." "Auntie Meryl, Esther's talking about Janine," I said. "Her from EastEnders?" said Auntie Meryl, "She's a nasty piece of work." "Look," said Tara, "I can't stand the b*tch either but we've got bigger fish to fry." "Ooh, are we having fish for dinner?" asked Auntie Meryl, "I hope you've got some tartar sauce." "I think we need to find TJ and Trudy and get to The Base," said Tara. "Oh, you and this bl**dy Base," said Esther, rolling her eyes, "You're obsessed." "Obsessed?" snapped an angry Tara, "Are you kidding me? My boyfriend is there. There's a chance of long term survival there. We won't get kidnapped and dragged underground there. There's a chance of long term survival there." "You don't know that," said Esther, "The whole place could have been taken by the infected, just like City One. For all we know we could be just as safe there as we are here." "Oh you stupid idiot," snapped Tara, "It's a proper Government facility. I've told you this." "Yeah you keep telling us lots of things," snapped Esther, "You talk but you don't deliver." "I've been trying to get us to the Base for months!" Tara, loudly exclaimed. "What for?" asked a confrontational Esther, "Why are you so keen for us all to get there? What's in it for you?" "Oh for God's sake," said Tara, rolling her eyes, "Not all this conspiracy sh*t again. I thought we'd sorted this out." "Well I don't completely trust you," said Esther. "Well maybe you should," said Tara, "Especially after what you told me before." The atmosphere suddenly turned very tense. Esther widened her eyes and gave Tara a stern look. Mike and I were quick to notice this. "What do you mean?" I asked, giving Tara a confused and inquisitive look. "Yeah, what's going on?" asked Mike. Esther's stern look at Tara intensified. It was like she was desperately telling her to stay quiet. A brief tense silence followed. "What is it?" I asked, "Is there something we should know?" "Forget it," said Tara, "I'm just trying to prove to Esther that I can be trusted. Look, I don't really want to go to The Base on my own but if all of this sh*t carries on then I will. I suggest we drive around for a bit, look for TJ and Trudy, try and find some supplies whilst we're at it and then go back to our original plan and get to The Base." "With or without TJ and Trudy?" asked Mike. "Yeah, how long do we go looking for them?" asked Esther, "Naomi's gone, Lindon's gone, Mia's gone. What makes you think we'll ever see Trudy and TJ again?" "Esther we've got to try," I said. "Yes but for how long?" asked Esther. "I don't know?" I said, "But you lot can drive around the area surrounding the compound and see if you can find them." "What do you mean YOU LOT?" asked Esther. "Well I can't come, I need my leg to heal properly," I said, "I can't go anywhere." "It's OK babes," said Mike, "We can go out and find baby brother and Trudy. You stay here and keep an eye on that sly b*tch." "That sly b*tch might be able to help," a voice from behind said. We all turned round and saw Janine stood in the doorway. "Creeping up on us and spying on our conversations?" I said, "Why am I not surprised?" "Grow up, Luke," said Janine, "We don't have to be best friends, but while we're living together we might as well help each other out." "Living together?" said Mike, with a frown on his face and frustration in his voice, "We're not living together; you're intruding." "Dotty wants me here," said Janine. "Well she's the only one that does," snapped Esther. "Yeah, why don't you just f*ck off you twisted b*tch." "Are you serious?" said Janine, "YOU are calling ME twisted. Is that a joke? You're the most twisted f*cked up weirdo I know." Mike's face was consumed with rage. He was about to stand up and aggressively launch himself at Janine. "Mike don't!" I loudly said. I grabbed hold of his arm and gave him a reassuring look. "Just stay calm," I said, "She's trying to wind you up and make you angry. Just ignore her. No one cares what she thinks anyway. Just think about your brother; think about how badly your nephews need their Mum." Mike relaxed back into his chair and gave Janine a piercingly intimidating stare as he did. "I'm watching you," he said with a threatening tone. "I'm flattered," said Janine, "But you're not my type. Look, I can look after myself. If you're going outside to look for those two tragic saddo's and try and find some supplies I can help." "You actually WANT to help?" said Mike. "This Base place sounds like there' a lot going for it. If I help you, you can take me with you." "You can f*ck right off," said an angry and assertive Mike, "We're not taking you with us." "Exactly," I said, "If we manage to find TJ and Trudy, we'll make our way to The Base WITHOUT you. You can stay here." "I looked after your Auntie whilst you weren't here," said Janine. "I wasn't here because of you and your thugs!" I loudly said. "I still looked after her," said Janine, "And the kids." "Janine, don't you dare make out you came here to be a good Samaritan," said Tara, "You came here because you've been here before, you know this place and you knew there was no one here who posed a threat to you." "Then why didn't I just kill Dotty and Meryl?" asked Janine. "The same reason I didn't just walk away from this lot and go to The Base alone," said Tara, "Because you don't want to be on your own." "Quite the little psychoanalysts aren't you?" said Janine. "Whereas you're just you're an average psycho," I said.

The heated conversation continued and eventually resulted in Mike, Janine, Tara and Esther going out to search for TJ and Tara. Whilst they were out I checked what weapons we had in the house;

1 x GRID gun with a few bullets
A few sharp knives
Various blunt objects from the kitchen

Whilst the other were out I also tried to reason with Dotty about Janine. She was sat next to Auntie Meryl on the sofa feeding baby Leo. "Dotty," I said, "I think the plan is that we find TJ and Trudy and then get to The Base." "OK," said Dotty. "We're leaving Janine here," I said. Dotty closed her eyes and raised her head. She didn't look happy. "Dotty," I firmly said, "Have I not made myself clear? That woman locked us all underground and treated us like we were her slaves. Primark and Aldi were kept away from their parents because of her. How would you feel if she kept you away from Leo for months? Jesus Christ, Dotty, it's because of her I ended up with a broken leg, a broken nose and two knocked out teeth. Her thugs p*ssed all over me. Do I really need to go on?" "Luke, I'm not saying that what she did to you all was OK. In fact it was pretty horrible, but if it wasn't for her I genuinely believe we would all be dead." "Dotty she doesn't care about you or Leo," I said, "She's just out for herself." "Aren't we all?" said Dotty. "Not like her," I said. "Luke, I know she doesn't really care about us," said Dotty, "And I know her motives for helping us are more about helping herself but the fact remains she's risked her life to bring us food and supplies. We haven't died of starvation because of her. I've got a lot to thank her for." "I haven't," I bluntly said. "Well we just need to make the best of it," said Dotty, "I don't want to throw her out. She hasn't got anyone." "Not my problem," I said, "She's looking out for herself just like we need to look after ourselves. Anyway, the point is that we find TJ and Trudy, leave this place and go to The Base. Janine can stay here." Dotty looked at me with an upset look on her face. "Don't look at me like that," I said, "She doesn't exactly go out of her way to help herself." "Well maybe you could make more of an effort," said Dotty. "Me make more an effort?" I exclaimed, "Are you kidding me? I'm not making any sort of effort with that she devil. God help her if we find Trudy; she'll rip her throat out." "God, I'm sick of all the fighting," said Dotty. "Well what do you expect?" I said, "Having her isn't going to help things is it? I don't know when or if we'll find TJ and Trudy but I what I do know is that at some point we'll all be going to The Base and Janine will NOT be coming with us." There was a brief pause. I turned to Auntie Meryl. "Auntie Meryl, what do you think?" I asked. "About what?" she asked. "About going to The Base?" I said. "I prefer B&Q to Homebase," said Auntie Meryl. "Not Homebase," I said, "THE BASE."

When it was dark Tara, Mike, Esther and Janine returned. They'd been to the outskirts of Brickford and brought back some food, water and supplies. Tara told me that they drove around the area surrounding the compound but that there was no sign of TJ or Trudy and no sign of Parrissa or her mini. Tara said that whatever we think about Janine, she can certainly look after herself. Tara told me how there was a scary point when they were on the outskirts of Brickford and ran into a group of infected. Tara said that Janine picked up a nearby iron bar and launched into an impressive attack, battering the infected and smashing their skulls in with the iron bar. "Did she give you any trouble?" I asked. "A few b*tchy comments but nothing I couldn't handle," said Tara, "Did you speak to Dotty?" "It was like talking to a brick wall covered in spots," I said, "She says that she's alive because of Janine and that we just need to make the best of it. I've told her straight that once we find TJ and Trudy we're ditching Janine and going to The Base without her." "I'm with you on that," said Tara, "But we need to have an awkward conversation about how long we look for them for. We can't keep searching forever." I hated to say it but Tara has a point. I asked her if she and Esther were OK as I sensed a bit of tension earlier. "It's fine," said Tara, "It's just Esther being moody. Forget about it."

I avoided Janine since she returned. I can't stand to be around her. I'm in bed now. I guess the questions I have floating around in my head are; where the Hell are TJ and Trudy? Are they OK? How long do we look for them before going to The Base? And will we be able to ditch Janine without too much trouble . . . . . ?