Note: Letter found at God’s Acre, Archerfield.
Letter #59
Dear Dad,
I suppose I should start with the obvious first. I’m alright. No spider bites, no cuts to help them scent us. We’re good.
It
took far longer than we thought to make it to Archerfield without the
car. The airfield was deserted, just as you thought it would be. I’d
hoped you’d be there. Seriously, where are you?
There were spider
trees everywhere, even some inside the buildings. We found a truck on
site, and hit some local stores for supplies (thank God for Bunnings,
right? Never start the end of days without one). It took a week, but
we’ve got a pretty good fortress set up, and a food and water supply.
Even the plane fuel is good for the burnings. If the floods come back
we’re screwed, but who isn’t?
Dave says we’re already screwed, so
it doesn’t matter if we’re screwed and soggy. He’s such an idiot.
Honestly, you were right. Never bring your ex to the end of the world.
There’ll be nothing but bitching and whining if you do. You told me, and
I ignored you. I should have let that spider gnaw his balls off when I
had the chance.
The trees here scream as they burn. It shouldn’t
surprise me, but no matter how often I clear the airfield, I can’t get
used to the sound. It’s this high pitched wailing that gets picked up by
the survivors until the whole airfield echoes with the sound. I learned
fast to make sure I burned all of the trees. If you leave any left
nearby, they wail all night. The funeral rites of trees. Who knew?
Ryn
and Dave refuse to help maintain the boundaries. They say that for all
they know, they could be murdering a loved one. Murdering? I mean,
really? I think they just can’t stand the screaming. Neither can I, but
someone has to do it, right? I wish I had the luxury of letting ‘I don’t
want to’ be an actual reason not to do something. They say ‘live and
let live’, but the trees aren’t exactly playing by those rules. They’re
aware enough that the ungrounded trees know to wait till dark to try and
reach us.
It takes a few days for new ungrounded to make their
way close enough to us to be a problem. So far, none have gotten too
close before they’ve taken root, and we’ve even managed to scare some of
the ungrounded away with fire. If they stay and take root, they get
burned. Ryn and Dave don’t want me to widen the gap between us and the
trees, but it needs to be done, right? The spiders are moving further
from their trees, and staying away from them longer. We’re ok for now,
but how long will that last? You said to keep Amber safe, but I don’t
know how long we can keep playing nice. The spiders are heading for the
garden beds- I’ve found two hiding under the leaves already. Amber isn’t
even allowed to garden anymore, and she’s furious.
I know what
you’d say if you were here- screw ‘em. If they’re ok getting bitten,
they can go adopt a spider. We’re trying to escape them, not make them
pets.
I wish you were here.
-
Hey Dad, it’s two
days later. I didn’t have a choice. I did it. While they were all
sleeping this morning, I snuck out with the super soakers full of petrol
(for the spiders), and the jerry can. The spiders mostly hide near the
trees in the daylight- it’s the best time to kill them.
Dave woke up as the third tree burned. I’ve never heard him so angry. The son of a bitch punched me right in the face!
Dad, he’d been bit a week ago! He’s been trying to stop the burns because he’s about two days from being one of the ungrounded.
I
didn’t have a choice. Two days, and the spiders would come as he
called. He said you’re dead. Everyone is. That he watched the spiders
take you. It’s just Amber and me left, and we couldn’t last long. He
pushed Ryn into the reach of a pair of spiders yesterday.
He murdered her.
I
didn’t have a choice. If it’s just the two of us, then I need to
protect her. Why can’t you just come back already? Where the hell are
you?
Please don’t be dead.
The ungrounded are slow, slow
enough to dump petrol on. As a person changes into one of them, they
start moving slower, too. They all sound pretty much the same, though.
I wish I’d had a choice. I wish Ryn, at least, hadn’t been bitten. Dave- not so much.
Help us, Daddy.
Lyn.
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