Luke's Diary: An Unlucky Man In A Zombie Apocalypse. Entries 757 to 956

Entry 768: Saturday 3rd November 2018

Entry 768
Saturday 3rd November 2018

I'm feeling better today, and I finally got to see Naomi. I knew it was going to be awkward but I really didn't expect it to go as badly as it did.

I got Naomi's address off Ash and caught the bus to Sandown where Naomi was living with Seth and Sophie. It was weird getting on a bus after all this time; a single decker bus driven by a rather cheery bloke who told me he used to be a bus driver before the outbreak. There are only about four buses a day due to the need to ration diesel and petrol. It took about 45 minutes to get to Sandown on the bus and when I arrived the bus dropped me off in the centre of Sandown; a lovely little place – lots of armed GRID soldiers around but still a nice place. I got off the bus near Sandown Pier. It was closed and all boarded up but it was clear that back in the day it was a bustling centre of fun, amusements, arcade games and entertainment, but now it was all locked up. Opposite the pier was a burger van with a picture of Del Boy on the front; it was called Only Foods and Sauces. That made me giggle but like the pier, it was also boarded up. I walked down the road and past some beach café bars that were open and being used by people who were drinking tea and eating food. There were a few people walking on the nearby sandy beach, but not many as it was a bit wet and windy. I could see a crazy golf course in the distance with a couple of people playing on it.

I walked for a while longer, turned a corner, walked up a small hill and came to a row of large buildings that looked like they used to be used as hotels. Many of them were boarded up. I walked for a while longer and came to a semi-detached house. This was where Naomi lived; a drive, a garage, a neatly kept front exterior and a bay window overlooking a flowery front garden; the very definition of suburbia, as they say. A definite step up from mine, Mum's and Ash's through terrace. There was an impressive looking land rover on the drive. I walked up to the front door, took a few deep breaths and quickly knocked on the door three times. A few moments later the door opened and I was presented with Seth who was stood in front of me with wet hair wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. "Luke!" he loudly and happily said, "Good to see you. Come on in. I wondered when you'd come and say hello. How long have you been out of the cryogenics now? It must be about 11 days. Come in, come in. I'll put the kettle on." Looking at Seth's ripped body and impressive six pack made me feel incredibly inferior.

I entered the house and walked into the hallway; a cosy little area with a pine wooden staircase and tiled flooring leading to the living room, dining room, kitchen and garage. Seth quickly popped into the kitchen, put the kettle on and then returned to the living room where I was sat waiting and soaking up the flock wallpaper on the feature wall, contemporary styled furniture and widescreen TV. "The kettle's on," said Seth, "Well, it's good to see you." "Well, no offence Seth," I said, "But YOU haven't really met me before have you?" "I suppose I haven't, said Seth, "But I feel like I know you. I was sort of connected to my clone. Everything he thought and felt I did too." "Yeah but he wasn't you, was he?" I said, "It's bad enough you lied when we first met you, SIMON, but then to find out that you were a clone all along... I bet Naomi wasn't happy." "Yes, it's true she wasn't rather displeased with me," said Seth, "But we've worked through that. I wanted Naomi to know that the other Seth was a clone, but I was under orders. There were more important things at stake than my relationship and to be honest there was always a good chance that ACROBAT could kill me. They want special agents like me out of the way. Sending a clone of me, rather than the real me was the safest option." "Well how do I know you're not a clone now?" I asked. Seth turned around and pointed to the back of his neck. "No clone code," he said, "It's the real me." "Seth," I bluntly said, "If you've got the same memories as the clone Seth, then why do you think Jon Blade didn't tell you or Sci-Fi Cyn about the safety of The Isle of Wight?" "Well, there wasn't any point," said Seth, "We didn't think we'd be able to stop the nuke or The Base detonation but when Blade turned up with everyone the first thing we did, was get you all out of the chambers and bring you here. We even airlifted the entire part of Sector F here to the Island all so we had a chance of keeping you alive. There's no conspiracy you know. You can trust GRID. It's ACRIOBAT you can't trust. That's why Endo is in prison and why his staff are all dead. I'm sorry about your Son." "What do you know about my Son?" I asked. "Well, Naomi told me," said Seth, "It looks like Tara kidnapped him." "Yeah well I don't know what to believe," I said, "Everyone's got an opinion. All I know is that Mike shot him. He could be dead now for all I know." "Do you want to see Sophie?" asked Seth, "She's upstairs having a nap. She'll be there in December." "I'll see her later," I said, "Look, where's Naomi? I need to talk to her." At that point, I heard the front door open. "This'll be her now," said Seth. "Naomi! You've got a visitor!" Seth loudly called to her. "Have I?" Naomi said with a hint of excitement in her voice. Naomi then walked into the living room and froze in the doorway. Her facial expression changed from pleasant intrigue to disappointing discomfort. I don't think Seth noticed, but I did. I gave Naomi a serious stare. "Luke..." she said. "I'll make the tea and leave you two to catch up," said Seth. Seth exited the living room, giving Naomi a kiss as he did. "Err... It's... Err... Yeah, it's good to see you," said Naomi with hesitation in her voice. "Is it?" I bluntly said, "Eleven days I've been out of that freezer and you haven't come to see me." "Yeah, well I've been busy," said Naomi, "I've got a three-year-old to look after. I've got work..." "And then there's your husband of course," I bluntly said, "Don't forget him. Mind you, is he REALLY your husband? I mean you married the clone version of him didn't you. Yeah, you've certainly had a lot to keep you busy, and you don't exactly live around the corner, do you?" "I just thought it would be good for Sophie to be near the beach," said Naomi. "There's a beach in Cowes," I bluntly said. "Yeah but that's a pebble beach," said Naomi, "Sandown has a sand beach. It's better for kids to play on." "Naomi, I'm not stupid," I bluntly said, "You've moved out here to avoid me and forget about what happened just before we were frozen. I take it Seth doesn't know about our kiss." Naomi frowned, quickly closed the living room door and stormed over to me. "Yes," an angry Naomi, "I did move here to get away from you, because I didn't want you turning up pulling this sort of sh*t. In fact, I moved here to get away from the lot of you. I just want a normal, quiet life. And, no, I haven't forgotten about what happened before we were frozen. I KNOW that we kissed and for your information, Seth knows all about it." "Oh yeah?" I exclaimed, "Does he know you told me you loved me?" "I said I THOUGHT I loved you," said a firm Naomi, "It was a pretty tense situation Luke, emotions were running. We should just forget about it. Now you go back to Cowes and get on with your life and let me get on with my life here." "So that's it is it?" I bluntly asked, "We kiss, we say we think we love each other and then Orphan Black turns up and you just forget about it, practically move to the other side of the Island and just get on with your life." "Luke, what do you want me to do?" said a firm Naomi, "I thought Seth was dead. I mean come on; do you really think I'd have looked twice at you if I knew Seth was alive." There was a slight pause. I felt angry. I gave Naomi a furious and disappointing stare. "You nasty b*tch," I said, "You kiss me and then kick me to the curb when Attack of the Clones comes back. "You need to get a grip on reality," snapped Naomi, "What happened, happened, It's in the past now. I mean come on; if the outbreak hadn't have happened, we'd have never met and we'd have never been friends. Now that it's all over and we're safe why would we stay friends?" I stood up and walked up to Naomi, feeling incredibly frustrated. "Because of everything we've been through," I snapped, "Have you forgotten about everything that went on with Hillary? What he did to you and Mia? Everything that happened with Courtney? All that sh*t at Dumpville?" "It's in the past now, Luke," said Naomi, "I'm looking to the future." "And what about my future?" I snapped, "What about Kyle? Remember him?" "Of course, I do" said Naomi. "Well he could be out there somewhere. You might have it 'made' here in Suburbia with your gorgeous Grandchild and your Gladiator non-husband, but what about me? I have no idea if my Son is dead or alive." Naomi gave me a sympathetic yet assertive look. "I'm sorry about Kyle," she firmly said, "But I don't know why you're telling me this?" "I want your help," I said, "Just forget about all the sh*t that's gone on with us. I need you to come with me." "What do you mean?" asked Naomi. "I'm thinking of going back over to the mainland and look for Kyle and I want you to come with me." Naomi stared at me, then rolled her eyes and pressed her fingers against her forehead as if I was giving her a headache. "What?" I bluntly said. "Luke, get a grip!" Naomi loudly and angrily said, "Like, I said I'm sorry and I mean REALLY sorry about Kyle but going over to the mainland to look for him, when, I'm sorry to say, he's probably already dead is stupid. Even if he is alive you have no idea where he could be and coming round here and expecting me to go off with you to the mainland on some fool's errand, well I'm sorry, but it's f*cking madness." I stared at Naomi feeling rather let down and incredibly annoyed. "Wow," I said, "Four sorry's and not one of them genuine. Do you know what – you're right. You're totally right; I'm bang out of order asking you to help me look for my Son. I mean it's not like we've all bent over backwards to help you look for Sophie when you didn't know where she was. Oh no! Wait a minute! That's exactly what we did! Christ you've got a short memory!" "OK!" Naomi, loudly, angrily and sarcastically snapped, "Let's go! Let's go right now. Have you got any weapons?" "No, but Blade will give us some," I said. "Oh, you know that for a fact, do you?" snapped Naomi, "You think Jon's just going to hand over some weapons? And even if he does where will we start looking?" "The area around where the Base was," I said. "And then where?" asked a blunt Naomi, "The south of the UK, the north of the UK? How are we going to travel?" "Well I haven't thought that far ahead," I said. "No, of course you f*cking haven't," snapped Naomi, "You never do. You never f*cking think. That's why you end up eating spunk sandwiches and being covered in p*ss half the time. Don't come around kicking off and expecting me to get involved in your f*cked up sh*t. I've got a life and I'm happy with it." "Well bully for you," I sarcastically snapped, "Naomi's got a great life so big fat hairy b*llcoks to me, eh? You've turned back into that selfish b*tch. Coming around here was a mistake." "Something we can agree on" said Naomi. At that point Seth re-entered the living room holding a tray with three cups containing hot drinks on it. "Here we go," Seth said with a smile on his face, "Three teas." "Luke's just leaving," said Naomi. "Oh?" said Seth. "Yeah, that's right," I bluntly said, giving Naomi an angry glance, "I'm off. You and Invasion of The Body Snatchers have a nice life." I started to walk off when Naomi called me back. "Luke," she said. I stopped but didn't turn around. "What?" I bluntly said. "Have you seen Mia?" Naomi asked. "No," I firmly said. "You need to see her," said Naomi. "Why?" I asked. "Just go and see her," said Naomi. I then walked out.

I was so angry! What the hell is Naomi's problem!? The selfishness is off the scale. Talk about being so self-absorbed. When I got back home, I told Mum and Ash about Naomi's selfish behaviour but they were on her side! "Luke, she's got a point," said Ash, "I told you. Going back to the mainland is a suicide mission." "Ash is right, sausage," said Mum, "Naomi's got a life and a family here now. She won't want to lose that by heading off the mainland. I know you want to find Kyle, but it's like looking for a nympho in a convent – more or less impossible." "What about having some sort of memorial service?" asked Ash. "Memorial service!?" I loudly snapped, "We don't know that he's dead!" "Yes, but you don't know if he's alive," said Mum, "Sausage, I know this is tough but whether he's dead or alive maybe you need to try coming to terms with the fact that you're unlikely to see him again rather than having a go at everyone and thinking about searching the country to try and find him." "Well that's incredibly supportive," I snapped, "Have you thought about becoming a Samaritan?"

I stormed upstairs and reflected on the day. The stubborn and angry part of me wanted to go to the mainland, even if it meant going on my own but the more sensible part of me knew this was a bad idea. Oh God, I have no idea what I'm going to do. One thing I know I do need to do, is see Mia – and Roz and Richard come to think of it...