To Jude When The Time Is Right

My son Jude,

By the time you are reading this, your father and I have been gone for quite some time.

As I am writing this, your Aunt Marla and a few of the others from our camp are going to take you and the other children, and run.

To where, we don't know. Even if they were to try to get it out of us, by any sort of means, all of you would have been long gone.

It's not safe for any of you here anymore.

I have given your Aunt specific instructions to keep this letter safe at all costs, and to give it to you when she thinks when the time is right.

I know you must have so many questions, and I'm sorry to say that I don't have all of the answers.

We put our trust in the wrong people, and for your survival, your father and I chose to stay behind. All to buy you as much time as we can.

We are not going to make it out alive, and I am so sorry Jude. I am truly sorry.

We failed you.

I failed you.

You were born into a world that was already beyond saving. I thought you, and the others, were going to have a fresh start. A clean slate.

None of what we had to do to survive when everything ended, you would have started a new world, a better one.

I was wrong about this place, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong about what you and the others can do. What all of you can do without us.

You may not remember a lot of what happened before the end.

You were almost a year old when they started to evacuate us into quarantine zones. I’m glad that you didn’t have to see how quickly things started to crumble. How fast people started to turn on one another. How scared we all were.

When the quarantine failed, we were so scared. We had no other place to go.

There was no other place to go. Everything since the end was either destroyed, or worse.

We did our best to keep calm, but we didn’t know what to do. We were just civilians. Your father was a music teacher, and I was a bank teller, and we didn’t know anything about surviving.

That’s when we met Zachery. He was part of the national guard before. He and a few that stayed behind to help when the military started to leave. Or run as I remember.

Zachary, showed us a way out.

We had no choice.

I admit, it was good for a while.

We found some land that hadn’t been affected since the world fell apart. There weren't any of those things, rouge military soldiers, or even other survivors there.

It was by a wide river, the one that you and the others have crossed by now, and know to stay away from.

We started to make houses, plant crops, fruits, vegetables, and raise cattle.

We were thriving. So much so, that more and more people started to become part of our community.

We were so close Jude, so close to something normal like before.

If I had to guess where it started to go wrong, it was when Zachery-

(the rest of this sentence is scrawled out and barely legible)

...

I have to hurry. Marla’s early. She’s with you and the others. It’s almost time for you to go. You must have been sleeping. You were rubbing your eyes, and calling for me.

You started to cry. Your father picked you up. He rubbed your back, and whispered something in your ear. I couldn’t make it out at first, but I think, no, I know he said he loves you, and he knew you’d be ok. He kissed your forehead, and I started to see tears crest the top of his cheeks as he rocked you back to sleep.

...

Jude. I wish I could see you grow into a man. I wish that we did a better job of protecting you, and all of the others. I wish I could just hold you in my arms one more time.

I wanted to tell you the story of how your father and I met and fell in love. How he sang Hey Jude to me on our first date. That’s why we named you Jude in the first place.

Ask Marla why your name is so important now more than ever. She’ll tell you.

In this envelope is the heart shaped locket your father gave to me when he proposed. He didn’t have money for a ring, but I never held that against him. The locket was just as bright and shiny as his own heart. Something I know you inherited from him along with his sandy blonde hair, dimples, and most of all his ears. I know you’ll grow into them. Along with those big hazel green eyes you got from me.

The pictures in the locket are of us. Even though they're from when we first started to date. I wanted you to remember us when there was a time where we were normal. Back when the future was bright. A time before the end. A time where our faces weren’t worn, scared, or even held the pain and regret of surviving while so many others didn’t.

It’s time for you to go.

But remember Jude,

I love you.

Your father loves you.

We love you we love you we love you we love you we love you we love you we love you we love you we love you we love you we love you we love you we love you we love you we love you we love you

We are proud of the person you have become, even though we are not with you to see it. We know that you have done great things, and some things that you might regret, but we know that you’ll humble yourself and learn from your mistakes.

The world is yours, and I know you will make it a better one, and not just for yourself.

Care for the people you meet. Be their protector, teacher, and most of all, their friend.

Love as much as you can, learn all you can, and if you ever have any doubts, we will always be close to your heart.

In more ways than one.

Don’t you ever forget that.

With all our love in this life and the next.

Your Mother and Father,

C-

(the names are illegible)