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

Day 674: Sunday 1st July 2018

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Day 674
Sunday 1st July 2018

I'm still at Parrissa's parents and the others haven't come back.

I woke up after having one of the best night's sleep ever and having a nice hot shower. It felt amazing. One of the first things Esther, Mia and I tried to do was talk to Parrissa. She was sat in exactly the same place we left her last night, still starring into space. "She's not dead is she?" asked Mia. "Of course she's not dead," I said, "She's just in shock." "I don't know what to say to her," said Esther, "I've tried everything." "My teacher was in shock once," said Mia, "He said he was surprised that I knew that the Capital of England was London. He thought I was going to saying the capital was E. Charming. How stupid do people think I am?" Esther and I exchanged sideward looks. "Doesn't a hard slap across the face help with shock?" I asked. All of a sudden Mia slapped me hard right across the face causing me stagger slightly. "Ouch!" I loudly said, as I regained my footing, "What are you playing at!?" "You said a slap might help," said Mia. "Not me you dumb tw*t! The person who's in shock!" I yelled. "Look, I don't think slapping anyone will help," said Esther. "Maybe we bury them," I said, "There's tools in the shed out back. We could bury them right at the back of the garden." "My Dad buried my Dog in the back of the garden," said Mia, "He was called Piles. . . . The dog, not my Dad. My Dad wasn't called Piles, my dog was called Piles. People used to come round and laugh when I said I don't have piles anymore. I didn't think it was funny. I didn't get what they were laughing at."

After further discussion Esther, Mia and I moved Parrissa's parents' bodies' right to the back of the back garden. It took us a while but we dug two graves and placed the bodies inside. We started to fill the graves in when Parrissa appeared. She took the spade out of my hand and with a sad look on her face started filling in the deep holes. Esther, Mia and I helped her. Once the graves were filled in, we all took a step back and stood in silence for a moment. "Goodbye Mother," said Parrissa, "Good Father." It was all rather sad and I found it quite upsetting seeing Parrissa go from her being her ditsy, dozy self to being quiet and withdrawn. I think I preferred her when she was doing my head in.

Once we'd buried Parrissa's parents Esther and I stayed outside whilst Mia was inside comforting Parrissa. "It's sad isn't it?" said Esther. "Sad?" I said, "I didn't think you did 'sad'." "Shut up Luke," said Esther, "Everyone does sad." "Even you?" I asked. "Everyone," said a firm Esther. "I suppose you're right," I said, "I used to live in a nice house with my wife, then I used to live in a cr*ppy little flat on my own but I never used to live anywhere with a grave yard in my back garden. Nearly every place I've stayed, sine this whole mess began has had dead bodies buried somewhere." "What was she like?" asked Esther. "Who?" I asked. "Your wife," said Esther, "What was she like?" "A b*tch," I said. Esther laughed. "No I'm serious," I said, "She was a right cow. We used to argue like cat and dog. I was never god enough for her. I only went for the promotion at work because she pushed me into it. Why don't you have any drive, she used to say, why don't you have any ambition, she'd moan." "Well you got your promotion didn't you?" said Esther. "To account manager but not to senior accounts manager," I said, "She always went on and on. She wanted kids, I didn't. Ironic really. God, the arguments we used to have. They were brutal. I'm surprised we didn't kill each other." "You got married Luke there must have been love there at some point," said Esther. "Maybe," I said, "Seems like a life time ago now. She was bossy, narcissistic, controlling, full of her own ego, a complete b*tch. Like someone else I know." I gave Esther a sideward glance. "Do you know I can see why she divorced you," said Esther, "You're a child." "That's what she used to call me," I said. "Well she was right," snapped Esther. "Anyway how do you know I didn't divorce her?" I said. "Oh come on, Luke," said Esther, "No one's going to buy that. She probably divorced you for the same reason I didn't tell you Leo was your son; because you're a walking disaster." "Oh f*ck off," I said, "You're such a hypocrite." "I beg your pardon?" said Esther. "You heard," I bluntly said, "You might not have told me Leo was my son because of your low opinion of me but you didn't want to be his Mum because of your low opinion of yourself." "I did what I thought was best for Leo," said Esther. "You did what you thought was best for yourself," I firmly said, "Just like you did when you got rid of Matt's baby." Esther looked shocked at what I'd just said but she also looked angry. "Go on then," I said to Esther, "Aren't you going to slap me?" "You see this is why I didn't tell you," snapped an angry Esther, "THIS is the reason I didn't tell you, you were Leo's Dad." "What because I tell you how it is and you don't like it?" I said. "No, because you're a f*cking child that needs to grow up," snapped Esther. "You need to grow up," I snapped. "No, you need to grow up," snapped Esther, "You're a child." "You're a child," I snapped. "No, you're a child," snapped Esther, "I . . .  Oh God, what are we doing? Why are we arguing?" "It's what we do isn't it?" said Luke. "Well I'm sick of it," said Esther, "None of us are perfect. We could sit here talking all day about the mistakes we've made but it won't change anything. I knew Dotty would make a better Mother than me and much better Mother and she did. She was a great Mum to Leo, but now there's just you and me and we need to find a way to get on wot each other because if Mike finds Leo and comes back with him we're the only parents he's got." There was a brief pause. "So you want to be a Mum to Leo?" I asked, "You want us to both be parents to him?" "Well it doesn't look like we've got a choice," said Esther, "I guess we'd do a better job if we were on each other's side rather than ripping each other's throats out." Esther offered me a handshake. "We might not ever be best friends but together we can try to get on TRY to be good parents . . .  If we get Leo back. What do you say?" I gave Esther a warm grin. I think it's the first one I've given her. I shook her hand and we exchanged genuine smiles. "Sounds like the start of a beautiful friendship," I said, "Daddy Luke and Mummy Esther." "Yeah well let's see if we're ever reunited with Leo first," said Esther.

When it got to the afternoon the four of us spoke about our current situation. "I'm feeling really worried that the others aren't back yet," I said, "They should be here by now. They said they'd pick us up" "I'm starting to think we should never separate," said Esther. "Well what are we going to do?" asked Mia. "There's the motorbike," I said, suddenly getting excited, "We could take the motorbike. Parrissa, where's the key?" "Well it's not where it was left," she said, "I suppose it could be anywhere." "Well whoever's being staying here could have it," said Esther. "Why would they take the key but not the bike?" I asked. "Well they won't know the cod to the gates," said Parrissa, "Only me, Mum and Dad knew that." "Maybe they took the key to stop anyone who might break in from taking the bike," I said, "Maybe THEY got in using the ladder at the back." "Look, let's not worry," said Esther, "You know what that lot are like. Trudy, TJ and your Auntie Meryl. They're probably arguing about something stupid and they got side tracked. They could be on their way back for us right now." "And they might not be," I said. "All we can do is wait," said Esther, "We don't have any vehicles, and it's an half an hour drive back to the other house. Going on foot would be too dangerous and it'll take us hours." "But what about these other people that have been staying here?" asked Parrissa, "Maybe they murdered my parents? They might murder us. Oh golly." "Parrissa," I said, "Sorry, but your parents have been dead for quite a while. Whoever has been staying here didn't kill your parents, they just left them." "But they could still be baddies," said Parrissa, "We want the autobots, not the decepticons." "I don't think the people who have been staying here re robots," said Mia. "Well whoever has been staying here - they might not come back," said Esther, "Maybe they've left." "I doubt it," I said, "One, I don't think we're ever that lucky and two, I can't imagine why anyone would want to leave a place like this. Lots of food, hot water, generators. Whoever they are I think they're definitely planning on coming back. Anyway, we need to decide what we're going to do about the others." "Luke, there's nothing we can do," said Esther, "The other house is miles away, we're in the middle of nowhere and we don't have a vehicle." "I want to get back to my Auntie," I said. "I know," said Esther, "But all we can do now is wait." "Wait," I snapped, "All we ever f*cking do is wait. Wait for the kids to turn up, wait to get to City One, wait to get to The Base – I'm f*cking sit of waiting." "My Nan used to get like that when she went to see the Doctor," said Mia. "Luke, I know you're fed up of waiting," I said, "But there's nothing else we can do. The others might be on her way to us right now." "And if they're not!?" I firmly and loudly said. "Well if they're not, then in the absence of a vehicle I don't see what else we can do," said Esther. "What does that mean?" I snapped. "Luke it means we make the best of it and get on with life," said Esther. "Just like that?" I firmly said, "How can you be so cold?" "I'm not being cold, Luke," Esther, firmly said, "I'm being a realist." Esther than walked off. "A realist?" said a confused Mia, "Isn't that someone who plays the piano?" "That's a pianist," I bluntly said. "No that's when someone puts a hole in your ear so you can wear pretty earrings," said Parrissa. "Christ," I said, "That's a piercing." I'm glad Parrissa's slowly getting back to normal. I know she's as mad as a box of frogs, which she more than proved when she thought her mummified patents were alive, but I guess I'm used to her being her usual silly self. I just hope her and Mia together don't get on my nerves too much.

It's dark now and the others still aren't here. What the Hell is stopping them from getting back to us. They wouldn't just leave us here without a good reason. I'm starting to get really worried. What if they've had a car accident? What if they've come across a load of infected? My mind is racing. I know that Esther, Parrissa, Mia and I are safe here but I feel so anxious thinking about what might have happened to the others. Mind you, I say the four of us are safe here; that's presuming that whoever was here before us don't return and kill us all in our sleep.