Entry 864
Thursday 7th February 2019
Kyle's back home!
Roz and I spent most of the day speaking at GRID soldiers and asking where Blade was and being fobbed off by them. When it got to early evening, we were both feeling pretty exhausted and rather deflated so we went to the pub, The Anchor Inn. We walked up to the bar and ordered a drink. "I'm starting to think we're never going to see Kyle," I said. "Oh, we'll see him," said Roz, "After all the sh*t we've had to deal with I'm not going to let a man stop me from seeing my son. Well, you know what I mean." "I suppose you are the nearest thing to a Mum he's got," I said, "God, I wish Caroline was here." "Me too," said Roz, "Mind you. She'd be doing exactly what we're doing." "Who'd have thought that me and you would be getting on?" "Yeah well whatever we think of each other we both care about Kyle," said Roz. The man behind the bar handed Roz a pint. She picked it up using her good arm – the one that wasn't recovering from the gun shot, and started to drink it, but as she was about to take her first mouthful, she stopped and looked to her left and appeared rather shocked. "What's up?" I asked. "Look," she said. I followed Roz's eyeline and saw Blade sat in a booth with Helen Harvey. They were drinking, socialising and having a laugh. I couldn't believe it. Roz grabbed hold of her pint, adopted a furious expression, stormed over to Blade and threw the contents of her pint glass all over Blade. He and Helen gasped and jumped in shock. "Good Lord, what do you think you're doing!?" exclaimed Helen. I joined Roz. "Where the Hell have you been!?" Roz snapped, "We've been trying to get hold of you for days!" "Just calm down, Roz," said Blade. "Calm down!?" snapped Roz, "Don't tell me to calm down. I'm not stupid. You've been avoiding us. What the Hell do you think you're playing at!?" "I haven't been avoiding you," said Blade, as he wiped the beer off his top, "I've just been very busy." "That's cr*p," I said, "You told us to meet you in the morning so you could take us to go see Kyle. First you forgot and then you're not there. Where the Hell have you been?" "I do not have to answer to you," said Blade. "Err... You do when you've got our son locked up, and when you've promised to take us to see him and you haven't," snapped Roz. "I thought his Mum was dead," said Blade. "She's as good as," I said, "Look, we've been trying to radio through to you and you've been ignoring us. We've spoken to the soldiers and it's pretty obvious you've told them to fob us off." "Luke, calm down," said Blade, "That's not true. You're being paranoid. There have been a lot of demands on my time. I've been very busy." "Not too busy to come in here and have a pint?" snapped Roz. "Look," said Blade, "We can sort this out. Come around to mine tomorrow morning and..." "No!" Roz loudly snapped, interrupting Blade, "No way. We're not being fobbed off again. You're going to take us to see Kyle, and you're going to take us to see Kyle now. Right now!" "Now?" said Blade, "It's 6pm in the evening. I've had a drink." "I don't care if it's 6am in the morning and if you've knocked back a gallon of Smirnoff. You are taking us to see Kyle and you are taking us to see him now!" "Roz, I will not be spoken to like this," said Blade. "Oh yes you will," snapped Roz, "I swear to God I will kick off big time if you don't drive us to see Kyle right now! I'm serious. You're stopping me from seeing my son so if you keep stopping me from seeing him, I will let everyone in this pub know just what sort of man you are." "Everyone in this pub – in fact everyone on this island wants your son to stay in prison," said Blade. "You can't stop us from seeing him," said Roz. "Look, let's not cause a scene," said Helen, "Everyone's looking over. I haven't had that much. Maybe we could go to the prison and give you five minutes with Kyle." Blade turned and looked at Helen with surprise in his face. It was as if he was surprised at what she was suggesting. "Five minutes!?" I exclaimed, "We want more than five minutes with him." "Take it or leave it," said Blade. "Why don't you want us to see Kyle?" I asked. "We'll take it," said Roz, "Come on. Let's go. Now."
Helen had drunk a lot of rum. The woman's a right rum fiend! Blade said he hadn't had that much to drink (completely contradicting what he said in the pub) so he drove us to the prison. Whilst I felt relieved at getting to see Kyle, even if it was only for five minutes, I could help but feel a bit tense. Blade's attitude and the fact that he's clearly been avoiding us was causing me to worry. I felt something was going on and it turned out I was right. On the journey to the prison Roz whispered in my ear, telling me that we will definitely get more than five minutes with Kyle, and that if Blade tried to throw us out we'd refuse to leave. "Are you two whispering?" Blade asked, as he looked in the rear-view mirror at us. "So, what if we are?" snapped Roz, "You've got no right to question us after the way you've behaved."
When we arrived at the prison, Blade radioed through to the staff, and he and Helen escorted Roz and I to the interview room with the glass panel in it that separated the room in two. "Why are we in here?" I asked, "This is where you bring Harold. Haven't you got a proper interview room? I want to give my son a hug?" "It's this or nothing," said Blade. "Why are you being like this?" I asked, "You know Kyle's not a bad kid. Rooms like this are for dangerous psychos like Endo." "Juts calm down, Luke," said Blade, "Kyle will be here shortly." "So, this is where you were when you came to see Harold?" asked Roz. I nodded. "Not a very comfortable place," said Roz. "It's a prison," Blade bluntly said, "It's not supposed to be comfortable." Roz and I stood closer to our side of the glass. Blade usually stands at the back of the room, but he and Helen were stood a few feet behind Roz and me. It was as if they were nervous and getting ready for something to happen.
A few minutes later Kyle was escorted into his side of the room by two-armed GRID guards who, like Blade and Helen stood close to him. Kyle looked happy to see us but it was also clear that his time in prison had affected him. With a pale complexion, scraggly dark hair and wearing a hoody and jogging bottoms he walked up to the glass. "Oh mate, it's so good to see you," said Roz with a big smile on her face. "How you doing?" I asked. "I hate it in here," said Kyle, "When can I come out?" I turned around and looked at Blade. "The situation is going to be reviewed," said Blade. "Is Leo OK?" asked Kyle. "He's fine," I said, "He's missing his big brother." "Why am I even here?" said Kyle, "I stopped that infection from spreading." "Hasn't anyone told you why you're in here?" I asked. "Not really," said Kyle. I turned and frowned at Blade. "Why haven't you told him anything?" I asked. "We've been busy," said Blade. "Oh, that excuse again," I said. "Can someone just tell me what's going on?" said Kyle, "I don't know anything. Am I getting out of here? Why haven't you been to see me?" "We haven't been to see you because Blade's been avoiding us," said Roz, "But look, we're here now." "Am I getting out of here?" asked Kyle. Roz and I exchanged awkward looks. We didn't know what to say. "Like I said," said Blade, "We will review the situation." "Kyle, mate," said Roz, "People are saying that you shouldn't have killed that little girl." "She was infected," said Kyle. "Yes, but if her arm had been removed, she might not have ended up coming back as an infected," said Roz. "That's sh*t," snapped Kyle, "If you're bitten, you're infected. Everyone knows that." "Well, I knew a guy called Kris once," I said, "He was bitten. We cut off his arm and then he was OK." "Yeah, well I didn't know that did I?" snapped Kyle. "No of course you didn't," I said, "But when it all kicked off, I asked you for the knife so I could remove Ella's arm, not kill her." "Yeah but I didn't know that either did I!?" exclaimed Kyle. "Yeah but you looked like you didn't care, Kyle," I said, "Sorry, but when you killed Ella, it was like you didn't care." "I didn't!" exclaimed Kyle, "I didn't know her. She'd been bitten. Do you know how many people I had to kill when I was on my own out there? Too many. I've lost count." "Yeah but mate, you were going to kill Mike," I said, "You waved the gun at all those people. Kyle, they were terrified." "Yeah, OK," said Kyle, "I lost my tempter." "That temper of yours seems to land you into trouble quite a bit," said Blade. "F*ck you!" Kyle snapped at Blade. "What are you talking about" I asked Blade. "The Governor has told me that Kyle has been getting into fights with some of the inmates," said Blade. "They started it," snapped Kyle, "I'm just trying to look after myself." "Why are you putting a teenage boy with a load of prisoners?" asked Roz. "We don't have the resources to give him his own en-suite," Blade sarcastically said. "Hang on," I said, "Has he had access to Harold Endo?" "No," said Blade, "Harold Endo is kept separate from all other prisoners." "Look, just get me out of here," said Kyle, "I'm sorry about waving the gun at all those people. I won't do it again. I'll even say sorry to Mike. I just want to be with Leo." "Kyle, you said all that weird stuff about GRID not stopping the nukes too," I said, "People on the island want you to stay locked up." "More people on this island would be dead if I hadn't killed those people," said Kyle, "Those GRID soldiers weren't much good were they." "Those are two of my men you are talking about," said Blade, "I think you need to show some respect." "And you need to show some appreciation," Kyle snapped at Blade, "I stopped the virus from spreading. Let's cut this bullsh*t. You're just keeping me in here because you don't want people to know the truth, do you?" "What do you mean?" asked Roz. "Right that's it," said a firm Blade, nodding to the armed GRID soldiers behind Kyle, "This visit is over. Get him out of here!" As the GRID soldiers prepared to grab hold of Kyle, he kicked them both in the shin, knocked them to the floor and ran close up to the glass. "They're lying to you," Kyle quickly said, "They're covering up the truth. They didn't stop the world from being nuked. They didn't even stop The Base from being blown up. Tara stopped it! She stopped it all!" "GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" Blade angrily yelled at the GRID soldiers. "It's true!" Kyle yelled, as he was dragged off by the two GRID soldiers, "Tara told me. I've seen Harold. He told me too. They're lying to you. Tell everyone the truth!" Kyle was dragged out of the room by the two armed GRID soldiers leaving Roz and I absolutely stunned. "Right," said Blade, sounding panicked, "We need to get you two out of here. Forget what he just said. It's all lies. Tara and Endo have messed with his head." "You said Endo was separated from the other prisoners," I said. "Yeah well we'll look into it," said Blade. "I don't think what we just heard was lies at all," said Roz, "It all makes sense now. Kyle's telling the truth, isn't he? Look at your face. Look at your reaction! This is why you're so angry. This is why you've tried to keep us from seeing Kyle. You didn't want him telling the truth. You didn't want him telling anyone the truth! GRID didn't stop the world from being nuked or Sstop the Base from being blown sky high. It was Tara wasn't it?" Blade looked defeated and he gave a depressing sigh. "I think we should tell them the truth," Helen said to Blade. There was a short pause. Roz and I looked at Blade with expectant expressions. "It's true," said Blade, "Tara Kate stopped the world from being nuked and she also stopped the ACTOBAT base from being detonated." "You said your lot stopped it," I snapped, "You even told Sci-Fi Cyn." "That's what we told everyone," said Blade, "The islanders, GRID staff, soldiers, scientists. We told them all that GRID – that I, stopped the world and the ACROBAT base from being destroyed." Why did you lie?" I asked. "I keep telling you," said Blade, "The safety and security of everyone on this island is important. I can't have anyone thinking that someone from ACROBAT – the organisation responsible for the outbreak, is responsible for saving their lives and stopping the world from being nuked. It's essential that everyone sees GRID as the good guys and ACROBAT as the bad guys." "Well, that's how it is... Isn't it?" I said, "I mean you are the good guys, aren't you?" "Of course, we are," said Helen, "We didn't create the virus or release it." "Why don't you just tell people the truth?" asked Roz. "We can't risk people losing faith in GRID and turning to ACROBAT," said Blade, "Once Tara had realised that the sample of the virus she had was fake, she used her fancy iPad to stop the world from being nuked and to stop from the Base from being blown up. She did it so she could come back to Sector F, go deep underground with Kyle to where Endo had taken Trudy and make him give her the real sample of the virus. Although it turns out that Endo gave her yet another fake version of the virus." "So, Tara is the one who stopped the Base from being blown up and who stopped the world from being nuked?" said Roz. "Yes," said Blade, "But she did it so she could give herself time to get the real virus and go off and sell it. She certainly wasn't interested in saving lives." "Hang on," I said, "Once Tara had paused the world nuke and the Base explosion, why didn't she re-start the whole thing once she'd been given what she thought was the real virus?" "She couldn't," said Blade, "Once the whole process had been stopped it couldn't be re-started. I don't know why but she had some sort of technology on her iPad that we couldn't fully get to grips with. We imagine she did try to blow up the Base and the world but couldn't. We detonated the ACROBAT Base using individual explosives when we transported Sector F here at the Isle of Wight. I spoke to Kyle when he was found and brought to the island. He told me what Tara had said to him and I told him it was rubbish. Tara must have proved to him that she was telling the truth and now it seems that Endo has backed this up. Kyle promised me he wouldn't tell anyone. Now that he has broken this promise I am afraid I cannot let him leave this prison." "Excuse me!?" Roz exclaimed. "If he tells anyone the truth, the islanders could lose faith in GRID," said Blade. "And you think that's a good enough reason to keep him in prison!?" snapped Roz, "To win points off Tara and ACROBAT!? My God your ego needs a license!" "Roz listen to me," said Blade. "No, you listen to me, big man," said Roz, "I don't think you understand what just happened here. We know the truth. We're holding the cards not you, so you've got a choice. You can either A, keep Kyle locked up in here and I will tell every single person on this island that whilst they were all underground in the safety shelters that GRID had nothing – absolutely nothing to do with the nukes being stopped, and that it was in fact someone who worked for ACROBAT, or you B, you can let Kyle out of here and we won't say anything about what we know." "Why would you do that?" Blade asked, "Tara killed the woman you loved. Why would you do anything that could put her on a pedestal?" "It's not about her, it's about Kyle," said Roz. "If we let him out of here how do we know that he isn't just going to start shouting about GRID having nothing to do with the nukes being stopped?" asked Blade. "Me and Luke will make sure of it," said Roz. "We can't let him out of here," said Helen, "There will be a huge public outcry. Everyone wants Kyle in prison. He waved a machine gun at a load of terrified people. Keeping him in prison is the right thing to do." "I am not leaving here without Kyle," said Roz. There was a short pause. Blade looked uncertain, but his expression suggested he was coming around to seeing what Roz was saying. "OK," said Blade, "There need to be some conditions." "Jon, you can't be serious!?" exclaimed Helen. "Helen, I don't have a choice," said Blade, "I either need to deal with islanders asking me questions about the nuclear strike or asking me questions about why Kyle has been released from prison. I think I have a better chance of dealing with the latter. Here are my conditions. 1; he stays inside until we've decided what to tell the islanders, 2; he attends regular counselling, 3; he agrees to tell people that Tara brainwashed him into thinking she stopped the world from being nuked and that the truth is GRID stopped the nuke." "Agreed," said Roz. "I can spin this so that Kyle is seen as a hero who stopped the virus from spreading, and that even though his subsequent actions may have endangered others, we need to remember he's been through a lot whilst on his own on the mainland, and that he is now having counselling." "That's not a spin," I said, "It's the truth." "Right," said Blade, "If we are all in agreement, I will arrange for Kyle to be released immediately." "Are you sure about this?" Helen asked Blade. "I think it's the best choice under the circumstances," said Blade. "Hang on," I said, "So we all have to lie to or friends, family and loved ones? I'm not comfortable with colluding like this." "Shut up, Luke," snapped Roz, "Do you want to get Kyle out of here or not?" "Of course, I do," I said, "But this feels wrong." "Kyle being in this place is wrong," said Roz, "We can tell everyone that we convinced Blade to release Kyle. Kyle will go along with this. He wants to get out of here and I think it's best we get him away from Endo." "Luke, I'm not comfortable with this," said Helen, "But Jon is in charge. If everyone knows Tara stopped the nukes and not Blade, then who knows what chaos it could cause. Perhaps it's best to let people think that GRID did stop the nukes." "I just want to get Kyle home," said Roz. "OK," said Blade, "Are we all agreed that what has been said will be adhered and stay between the four of us and Kyle." I wasn't totally comfortable with lying to people, but I could see that it was maybe the best option we had in order to get Kyle back home.
Blade left and went to speak to Kyle and about half an hour later Kyle was released and reunited with Roz and I at the gates to the prison. He gave Roz a big hug and gave me an awkward fist bump on my arm. "Right then," said Blade, "I have explained the situation to Kyle and it seems we all have the same understanding of the situation. Kyle, I don't want you causing any trouble. Stay inside until I say you can go out, please engage with your counselling sessions once I get these sorted out, and don't tell anyone that Tara stopped the nukes. Do you understand?" Kyle nodded.
Blade drove us all back home and when Roz and I entered the house Ash, Mum and Richard looked rather shocked. "Kyle?" said Mum. "Yeah, that's my name," said Kyle. He looked at me and said he was going upstairs to see Leo. Blade didn't stay. He actually left quite quickly. "What's going on?" asked Ash. "Yeah," said Mum, "When you left here this morning, I didn't think you'd both be back with him." "Amazing what you can achieve when you put your mind to it," said Roz. "So, what happened?" asked Ash. "We found Blade, convinced him to let Kyle out and here we are," said Roz. "What? Just like that?" said Ash, "Seems hard to believe." "Well he did impose few conditions," said Roz, "He said he didn't want Kyle to leave the house until he's come up with a bit of a plan, and he wants to him stay out of trouble and get some counselling." "Sorry, but how exactly did you convince Blade to let Kyle out?" asked Ash, "He waved a machine gun at a load of people." "We made him see that Kyle actually stopped the infection," said Roz, "Yes, he waved a machine gun around but he's been on the mainland on his own and he spent a lot of time with that b*tch Tara. He's going to display some pretty concerning behaviour. That's why the counselling is being sorted." Ash frowned with confusion. It was clear to me he was suspicious. He turned and looked at me. "You're quiet," he said. "Well, Roz said it all," I said. "You got nothing to add?" asked Ash. "Not really," I said, "She covered all bases. Maybe we should just be glad that he's home." "I wasn't very glad when I returned home once," said Richard, glumly, "I lived in this basement flat beneath a pet shop that specialised in selling tropical fish. When I came home from work, I found out that someone had broken into the pet shop and smashed up all the fish tanks. There was a flood, water was everywhere and my flat looked like something out of the Poseidon Adventure. My wardrobe was wet, my sofa was soddened and my duvet was drenched. I had to wade through a foot of water. My TV was broken and so was my video player. I'd recorded Batman." "Sounds like a nightmare," said Mum. "Yeah said Richard, "It was the episode where Jerry Lewis guest starred in it." "I'm talking about your flat being flooded," said Mum. "Well I've never been a fan of fish," said Richard, "Anyway, I'm feeling really bored." "Well, do you fancy doing something?" asked Mum. "Nah, not really," said Richard, "It feels like too much of an effort. It's easier just to sit here and be bored."
Roz walked into the kitchen and I followed. "I'm not comfortable with this," I whispered. "Luke, shut up," Roz quietly said, "Kyle's home and if I have to lie and cover up to make sure he doesn't end up back in that place with Harold bleeding Endo, then I will, and as his father you should be prepared to do the same." I could totally see where Roz was coming from but it doesn't make me feel any more comfortable with lying.
After we'd given Richard. Mum and Ash more of an update, Roz and I went upstairs and saw Kyle holding Leo. It was nice to see them together. "Good to be back home?" I asked. With Leo in his arms, Kyle looked at me and smiled. "Kyle, how did you and Harold Endo get talking?" I asked. "Oh, Luke don't start asking me lots of questions," said Kyle, "I just want to spend some time with Leo." "OK," said Roz, "We'll leave you to it. We can chat tomorrow."
I'm not going to work tomorrow. I'm going to stay at home and spend some much-needed quality time with Kyle.