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

Entry 899: Thursday 14th March 2019

Entry 899
Thursday 14th March 2019

I'm feeling better and back with Naomi, Blade, Cyn, Mike and Roz working on the KISS campaign, but I got a bit of a shock today when I returned to the community centre.

When I made my way to the community centre, I saw posters plastered all over the place; some highlighting the KISS campaign and some highlighting the QCUC campaign. They were stuck on lampposts, brick walls and in bus shelters. It felt like the election was visible in all parts of the populated areas of the island and that it was at the forefront of everyone's mind.

When I arrived at the community centre Naomi, Blade, Cyn, Mike and Roz were sat around the table with very serious looks on their faces. "Babes!" said Mike, with a big smile on his face, "I didn't know you'd be coming back. We could have walked here together. How are you feeling?" "I'm feeling a lot better," I said, "It's good to be out of that bed, and back here." I sat down at the table and noticed the serious looks on everyone's faces. "OK," I said, "What's going on? You don't look very pleased to see me." "Oh, shut up, Luke," said Roz, "It's not all about you. Maybe you should think that not everything revolves around you." "God, what's up with you?" I snapped. "We're all feeling a bit stressed," said Sci-Fi Cyn. "I'm not stressed," said Mike with a smile on his face, "I'm just glad we've got Luke back." "Yeah, great," said Roz, rolling her eyes, "He's going to come in really handy if we need someone to sexually harass men using public toilets." "I told you, that was a misunderstanding," I said.  "Don't be mean to Luke," Mike firmly said to Roz. "I think we're all feeling a bit pressured," said Blade, "Our KISS campaign is not going well." "What do you mean?" I asked. "Me and Mike have been canvassing," said Roz, "People hate the KISS campaign. They're all going to vote for Natasha and her proposals." "Same when me and Naomi were canvassing," said Sci-Fi Cyn, "Hardly anyone wants to vote for us. People are really getting behind Natasha's QCUC campaign. We really need more voters." "Yeah well I think we'll get them now," said Naomi. An awkward silence lingered. I frowned with confusion. "OK," I said, "What is it? What's going on?" "Well since you've been ill, we realised that we don't have a cat in Hell's chance of winning this election," said Sci-Fi Cyn, "So we needed to come up with a solution, and I think we may have come up with one." "From the expressions on your faces, none of you really seem convinced," I said. "You'll understand why in a minute," said Blade. "OK," I said, "So what is this solution?" I asked. Naomi stood up, walked over to the disused disabled toilets. They were the sort of toilets that required a special key to open them. Naomi produced said key from her pocket, approached the door, inserted the key into the lock and unlocked the door. The second the door was open an infected man viciously ran from the far end of the disabled toilet towards Naomi but was prevented from grabbing hold of her as he was shackled to the wall by a strong chain that was manacled around his neck. I quickly stood up from my chair and gasped in horror as I looked over at the infected man; a middle-aged bloke wearing a hi-vs vest and what looked like a work man's uniform, both of which were torn, covered in dirt and smeared in age old blood. His face was pale white, his pupils were constricted and he had deep stab wounds in his arms and torso. The outline if his skull was visible trough his rotting skin and there was a huge, decaying bite mark in his neck. He looked over at us with vicious aggression on his face as he violently tried to lunge at us, growling and snarling. Thank God the chains were round his neck and keeping him shackled to the wall.

I walked around the table and joined Naomi and looked at the infected – obviously from a safe distance. "What the Hell is this?" I said. "It's an infected," said Mike with stupid, cheery grin on his face. "Yes, thank you, Mike," I bluntly said, "I know it's an infected. What the Hell is he doing here?" Naomi kicked the infected man in the stomach, causing him to fall back into the disabled loo. Naomi then locked the door and returned back to the table. "We had to come up with something drastic," said Naomi, "We are losing this campaign and we can't lose. I suggested that if we get an infected and put him in front of everyone during the Q&A debate, we can show them just how dangerous the infected are." "So, this was your idea?" I asked Naomi. "Shock factor she calls it," said Blade, "I'm not completely convinced." "Me either," I said, "People know how dangerous the infected are. We don't need to wave one in front of them." "Luke, people aren't scared enough," said Naomi. "I think they are," I said. "Well, I don't," said Naomi, "If they were really scared, they'd be voting to kill infected not care for them. These people need to be scared. Properly scared. Do you really want to live somewhere knowing that there's a load of infected all gathered in one place just a few miles away?" "No, of course I don't," I said, "But how is this going to help? It's just playing into Natasha's hands. I mean, how the Hell did you even get an infected here?"  "I went to the mainland with a few of my senior team members," said Blade, "We found an infected and brought him back." "Who else knows about this?" I asked. "Apart from the people in this room, the only other people who know are three of my soldiers and Helen," said Blade, "And that's how it needs to stay until the Q&A debate. Do you all understand?" "Mum's the word," said Mike, "Anyway I think it's a great idea. The dumb f*cks on this island haven't got a clue. They need to be scared. Waving that ugly f*cker in front of them will the scare the sh*t out of people and then they'll vote to kill. Dirty little piggies." "Well I don't know if this is a good idea but maybe it will work," said Roz. "I guess we've got an infected now," said Sci-Fi Cyn, "So we might as well use him." "Well I guess we need to come up with a plan," said Blade, "The day after tomorrow is the Q&A debate so I need some help from you lot about what I'm going to say and how I can use our infected friend to our benefit." "Why don't you let one of us lead the debate?" said Naomi, "It was my idea to get the infected here so I'm happy to take the lead." "No," said Mike, "I should take the lead. I've killed loads of infected." "Mike, I think the person who leads the Q&A debate needs to adopt a considered approach." "So?" said Mike. Naomi pointed to the scar across her forehead. "Remember this," she said, "You did this. You're not known for you mild and considered approach." "Neither are you," said Mike, "You killed Ian Easley remember?" "He was eating babies, Mike," snapped Naomi, "He deserved to die. Anyway, let's not forget about you killing Alex!" "You killed Troy," snapped Mike. "ACROBAT made me do it," snapped Naomi, "You know that!" "They didn't make you kill Samantha Harbourne did they?" said Mike, "She said the wrong thing and you lost it and jammed an axe in her head." "I am not going to sit here and be lectured about losing it by YOU, of all people," snapped Naomi, "We all know you act before you think. That's why Luke sent you packing when we were in Dumpville. You killed Dump by biting his b*llocks off with your mouth and you killed Richard Mackie by cutting out his tongue and burying him alive." "They deserved to die," said Mike, "Dirty piggies." "ENOUGH!" Blade loudly said, "Neither of you will be involved the Q&A debate. I will take the lead and Helen will help me. Now, it would be useful if you could all be there as I may need your support; share some real examples of how you lost loved ones and encountered infected on the mainland."

We continued to talk about what Blade could say during the Q&A debate and what important points he should highlight. I think we're really well prepared now but none of us know what Natasha has up her sleeve, and we really don't know how people will respond to seeing an infected person on stage during the debate. I also don't like keeping secrets from TJ and Trudy, but they've both got big mouths so Mike and I have agreed to say nothing. Mike says having a secret binds us and brings us closer together!

I really need to go and see Auntie Meryl and see what's going on with her and that b*tch Beth. I'll go and see her tomorrow, but what with all these latest developments I am not sure she'll have my full attention.