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

Entry 845: Saturday 19th January 2019

Entry 845
Saturday 19th January 2019

Blade has just left. I'm sitting here on my bed in a state of shock and covered in goose bumps.

It started out as a rather run-of-the-mill day. I got up, had a cup of tea with Ash, we talked about getting drunk the other night, Mum said my hair looked a mess and that I needed to lose weight, and I spent a bit of time with Leo before going to work and doing all of the mandatory reporting stuff. I came home, had something to eat, endured more put-downs from Mum, went around to see Auntie Meryl and then came home and spent some time with Leo.

Late afternoon/early evening I'd put Leo down for a nap and when I came downstairs and returned to the living room, I saw Blade sat on the armchair. "Hi Jon," I said. I noticed Ash and Mum with concerning and slightly worried looks on their face. I then looked back at Blade and noticed that he had a rather serious expression on his. "What's going on?" I asked in an apprehensive tone as I frowned with confusion. "Luke, I think you'd better sit down," said Blade. Feeling uncertain and looking rather cautious I walked further into the living room and sat on the armchair opposite Blade as Mum and Ash maintained their nervous expressions. "You're all starting to worry me now," I said, "What's going on? Oh God. Is it Auntie Meryl is she OK?" "Your Auntie is fine," said Blade, "I'm here about your son." "Leo?" I said, "He's fine. He's upstairs." "Your other son," said Blade, "Kyle. We've found him." A tense and sobering pause followed. I gasped and suddenly felt very emotional and incredibly shocked as the whole of my body became covered in goose bumps. "What do you mean?" I said, "How can you have found him?" "There are GRID bases all over the country," said Blade, "Some are rather small and some, like City One, are rather huge. Each base, just like the base here on the Isle of Wight have teams of grid soldiers who go out when they can to search for survivors in the surrounding area and sometimes further afield. The search and rescue team attached to City One found Kyle a few miles away from the base yesterday." "Yesterday?" I said, "Why am I only finding out about this now?" "I have been liaising with colleagues at City One," said Blade, "My team there didn't realise who he was or that he was your son until recently." "Oh my God," I gasped. "I know this is pretty big news, Luke" said Blade, "And I know you probably need to take a moment..." "Where is he?" I urgently asked, "Is he OK? Is he injured? Was Tara with him?" "Luke, just take a breath," Blade calmly said, "He's here. He's on the island, and he's currently in quarantine. All being well he'll be released tomorrow once the test results come back. He's rather down and he looks like he's been through a lot but he's physically OK. Tara wasn't with him." "Where was he found?" I asked. "He was found scavenging in an abandoned Shell garage a few miles outside City One. He was fighting off some infected when he was found." "How did he end up there?" I angrily asked, "What the Hell did that b*tch Tara do to him?" "Luke, just try to stay calm." "No," I snapped, "I bet you've interrogated the Hell out of him. What did he say? Come on tell me." "He said that Tara kidnapped him but tended to his bullet wound after Mike accidentally shot him. He said that Tara took him to some underground base – probably an ACROBAT base we don't know about, and there she looked after him for a few days." "She looked after him?" I exclaimed, "I find that hard to believe. The b*tch kidnapped him." "I'm just telling you what Kyle told me," said Blade, "They spent a few days in this underground base and then they got in some aircraft and flew around the world trying to sell the E-Virus that Endo gave to Tara." "Tara and Kyle have been flying all over the world?" I said. "That's what Kyle told me," said Blade, "Tara's been desperate to sell the virus apparently, but it turns out that all of the prospective buys were AWOL, missing or dead. According to Kyle, Tara only managed to make contact with one buyer and he figured out that the virus she was trying to sell was a fake." "What?" I said, frowning with confusion, "Harold told me that he gave Tara the real virus when she had him at gunpoint." "Well he was clearly lying," said Blade, "He must have had a few fake versions of the E-Virus. Tara might not have been able to tell that what she had was fake but this particular buyer did. According to Kyle, the buyer wasn't happy and that's when Tara hit the roof and vowed revenge against Harold. Kyle said that she tried to figure out where Harold was and in her rage, she ditched Kyle." "The b*tch," I snapped. "God knows where she is now," said Blade, "Kyle doesn't know but I will be telling my staff to be vigilant. If she finds out Harold is here in the Isle of Wight Prison, we need to be ready for her." "I need to see him," I firmly said, standing up assertively. "He's in quarantine, Luke," said Blade. "So?" I said, "Me and Naomi went to see Mia when she was in quarantine." "Luke, Kyle is exhausted," said Blade, "The poor lad has been out there – on his own for a lot of it, desperately trying to survive, and he's just finished answering a load of my questions. He's had a tough time, Luke. You can see him tomorrow." "I want to see him now!" I loudly snapped. "Sausage, I think Jon's got a point," said Mum, "The poor lad sounds like he's been through a lot. Let's just give him a bit of space." "Providing the test results come back all clear he'll be released from quarantine tomorrow," said Blade, "I'm assuming he can come and live here with you?" "I guess he can have Mia's room," said Ash. Mum and I looked a bit shocked at Ash's suggestion. "Well come on," said Ash, "She's not going to need it is she?" I hated to say it but I suppose Ash did have a point. It does make sense for Kyle to have Mia's room. "Well it's good to know that Kyle can stay here," said Blade, "I'll let you know what he decides." "What do you mean what he decides?" I asked. "Well he might want to live with Roz and Richard," said Blade. "What?" I gasped, "I'm his Dad!" "Yeah, but he's known Richard and Roz a lot longer than you," said Blade, "Roz is like his Step-Mum, isn't she?" "No, she's the ex-girlfriend of my ex-wife," I bluntly said, "She was Kyle's Mum, not Roz. Those two aren't even related." "Luke, be fair," said Ash, "Blade's got a point. Kyle's a teenage boy. He knows Roz and Richard better than you. You're still more or less a stranger to him, aren't you?" "Oh, shut up," I snapped. "Luke, it's up to Kyle where he wants to live. Not you," said Ash. "Look, I know this is a lot to take in," said Blade, "Just take some time to come to terms with what I've said. I'm going to go see Roz and Richard now and tell them what's happened. If the test results come back clear, Kyle will be realised from quarantine tomorrow morning. I suggest you; Roz and Richard meet with me tomorrow morning about 10am outside GRID HQ at the far end of the beach. I can hand Kyle back over to you, and if he hasn't decided where he wants to live, you can talk about it amongst yourselves tomorrow. Just remember to let someone at GRID know his address."

Blade left and I was left reeling. I'm completely shocked. I'm relieved that Kyle's OK of course but it's going to be really weird to see him. I thought he was dead. It's been four months since I last saw him! I hope he decides to live with rather than Roz and Richard. Roz is getting over a gunshot wound and Richard is as dull as dish water and negative as Hell. Kyle needs to be around positive people. I hope he's OK. He's going to need some looking after. God knows what he's been through with that w*tch Tara. I can't believe she just ditched him when she'd had enough of him. Well now it's time for me to step up. I'm going to be the best Dad I can be. Me and my two boys are going to be together under one roof and I'm going to do all I can to look after Kyle and make sure he gets settled into life on the island as best as he can. I'm going to see my 14-year-old son tomorrow. I don't believe it. I feel nervous but I can't wait to see him...