Read Camp Entre In Order

Thanks to some of the botanists I’ve hired, we were able to make it possible to naturally expand the array of colors Truffulas are found in. Instead of just the normal pinks, oranges, and lavenders; we’ve got cerulean, turquoise, violet, indigo, and we’re even working on a nice jade color!

I made sure that they knew that the tufts still had to maintain their tactile qualities as well as their smell. I wasn’t going to throw away their best qualities for just a little variation in color. They’ve done a good job of keeping to my specifications, the only things that have suffered, as far as they’ve studied, is the bark’s a little flaky and weak. The fruits are also not really meant to be eaten.

They never told me exactly why, but they made sure to let me know, thoroughly, that they were not for consumption.

Well…the orchard didn’t work as well as planned. A bunch of barbaloots have found their way in. I have workers stationed to patrol, but they really are only good at holding off the swomee swans and hummingfish. Barbaloots are, apparently, harder to spot since they have better camouflage than the bright orange of the other two critters.

They’ve gotten into the fruit as well… Even though the orders were to harvest the fruit as soon as it was spotted, I guess some of the barbaloots are too fast. Either that, or my workers are too slow. I can’t really hire new ones though. I already have most of the local residence under my employ as it is.

The fruit’s been upsetting them. I expected this to happen, but I didn’t expect the results to be so…violent. They are quick to anger and some are malicious enough to start the altercations between themselves and my employees.

The reports came in that we’re selling twice as many Thneeds as before! There are even returning customers coming into pick up the new varieties. People are ordering in bulk! There are even sports teams using them as part of their Snickle-Snort uniforms!

It’s been a while and our orchard is now thrice the size it started!

The downside is that now swomee swans and hummingfish have been sneaking in as well, thanks to my thinned security. As with the barbaloots, they’ve succumbed to the same fruit illness. Most of them have been detained, but we have yet to figure out what’s wrong with them or even how to figure out a cure.

I’ve had some angry environmentalists come to me about what I’m doing to the local wildlife, but thankfully my lawyers have been dealing with them. I’ve had my own hands full with plans for a secondary factory overseas. I don’t know how well I’ll be able to pull it off at this point, but it’s something I’m hoping to see through!

Not only that, but my employees have noticed a strange moss starting to grow on the ground around the trees as well as on the bark. It seems to attach easily to the abrasive trunks and even keeps them from being as flaky. I see it as a good thing! However, the botanists want to check it out.

One of my employees was brought into our infirmary today. He’d been bitten by a barbaloot while trying to capture it to take it in. The area around the bite is already really red and oozed a smelly pus. I couldn’t be around for long.

According to reports from his family, the bitten harvester hasn’t gotten any better. His health has actually deteriorated further. The doctors say he’s infected with something they’re not familiar with. A new strain of some sort of bacteria? I’m not really clear on a lot of the details, but it looks like he’ll probably die…

I have to be prepared for a likely lawsuit.

All of the remaining employees in charge of harvesting and guarding the orchard have been getting ill. I sent some of them home to recover, but I can’t send all of them. My employment is already strained.

This is really distressing.

The botanists have come down with it as well, but a few have been working diligently through it to figure out what’s causing it.

Their guess is the growth covering the trees’ bark since the employees have sworn to not having eaten any of the fruits. We thought it was just the bites, but maybe we were wrong…

Yesterday one of my remote axe-hackers crashed into the side of the greenhouse. I am so short on help, I can’t even manage the man-power to fix it. It’ll have to stay for now.

I’m mainly worried because the moss has overtaken most of the trees in there and it seems to have spread to the naturally grown truffulas of the valley as well.

I am going to have to halt production on the specially-colored thneeds. Perhaps indefinitely. This is starting to hurt my business more than help at this point.

Aside from sudden illness factory-wide, there have been people going missing. Some of them I figure are employees leaving without a word, no longer having anything to do with this. I can’t blame them, their health is at risk at this point.

Even my own.

The moss has to be the cause so I’m taking precautions to keep my remaining employment around.

I’ve ordered for most of the employees to stay indoors. I’ve restricted my family to the mansion side of the factory. Everyone must wear respirators even indoors. Though, I’m working on finding a way to isolate the dust that the moss releases so I can have filtered air running through the factory, at least our living quarters. Sleeping with a mask is uncomfortable.

Communication with Greenville has been unreliable. The town has a citywide epidemic with symptoms that are similar to the ones my factory employees are coming down with. I can’t imagine the moss has spread that fast?

I’m not sure what it is, but they’re experiencing similar problems to my own and most of the town has taken to wearing masks as well. They’re basically useless to help me at this point, they even point-blank refused to. Staking the needs of their town as above my factory’s own.

I can’t blame them.

I’m going to send my family away for now. Production has been, regrettably, halted for a few days. The disappearances keep happening, more people are getting sick, and I even heard my uncle coughing the other day. My factory’s not fit for business and it’s definitely not fit for my family. I’ve sent the majority of my staff home as well.

I’m going to stay behind and continue to try to sort this out.

Everything’s gone. There’s nobody here but me. My family’s gone. Dave’s gone. I’ve sent everyone away. I haven’t even seen the Lorax since…

…

I’m not even sure why I’m keeping up with this at this point. Maybe to document what’s happened? To hope somehow someone will happen upon this and help me?

I haven’t written in a while, but…

I have a lot to explain.

My factory’s been long empty by now. I’ve managed to get the isolated, circulated air working so I’m able to walk around freely in the living area. I even accomplished keeping the power on here thanks to a generator. The rest of the building is lost. Not only because of the airborne moss, but…

A week ago,…– maybe, I’m not sure. Time’s been flying so fast, I barely remember the date this all started.

Ah–forgive me, I’m losing my train of thought.

A week or so ago, I was working on some sort of way to hopefully destroy the moss some way. I have the notes the botanists left behind and I can kinda make out what most of it means. I’m at least knowledgeable enough to try…

Anyways, I heard something in the factory. The place has been an empty ghost for a long time so it was obvious there was something strange going on. I went to investigate to either prevent a breach into my barricaded abode (the animals had tried before), or to greet whatever poor soul had possibly happened across my situation.

What I found, I wasn’t entirely sure how to make sense of at first. It appeared to be human except it was creeping about on nearly all fours. The clothing was mostly intact, but where the skin was exposed, there were large, glowing, pus-filled boils. It was covered in blood too, but I didn’t realize that at first. All I noticed were its eyes that glowed the same as its boils, the same as the moss outside.

Well, I didn’t see the blood until it noticed me and leaped an inhuman distance. Luckily, I had been barely out the door and I quickly hopped back behind.

I haven’t been out since.

Even though the noises have stopped.

My supplies were nearly gone. It looked like the main thing I’d been dreading was about to become a reality.

And…so I went out. I loaded myself with as much as I could carry, including some of the progress I’d made with trying to figure out this virus. I’m not a chemist, botanist, or anything special like that though so I could only get so far. Still, I tried and that’s the most important part.

Right?

Anyways, luckily there weren’t that many infected people to deal with. Just a couple of straggling animals. The rest I guess gave up? Ran off to…greener pastures. Even if those don’t exist in the literal sense, at least…not where I can see.

After I made sure my path was clear, I heard a noise.

It was slow and deep, but it still unnerved me. However…

it ended up being the most pleasant surprise in…a long time.

With my old buddy with me, I could take more supplies than I thought! I was more than set. Just hopefully nothing happened to him…but he’d stayed safe this long.

So with Melvin at my side, I went to take care of one last piece of business I’d meant to deal with a while back.

Dear Mr. Once-ler:

I am writing this letter in order to voice a number of concerns surrounding your factory. The recent increase of smog and fumes is not only creating a visible thickness in the air, but we, the members of North Nitch Nature Association (NNNA), believe that it is impacting the behavior of the animals as well. They have become emaciated and aggressive. Just the other day one of the very few Bar-ba-loots left in the valley attacked a group of picnickers. Thankfully, only one person suffered from a bite and the rest scratches before they were able to retreat back to town. I do not wish to ramble, I only want to illustrate the seriousness of the situation.

I would like to request that you either find a cleaner method of production, or halt it indefinitely. The valley is suffering too much to put up with your pollution for much longer. If you do not take action within the next two weeks, we will be forced to elevate our efforts to shutting your factory down completely. If not for the environment, do it for the people you are claiming to help with your Thneed, and for the animals they love.

I look forward to your reply and insist that you address the issue as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Milly Maiz

I have gotten a number of complaints that seem to think my factory is to blame for the present condition of the valley animals. I would like to request that you run a few tests on one of the animals to put down the claims. Report back as soon as possible.

We were able to apprehend and test a Swomee-Swan this morning. It was unexpectedly aggressive and agitated, but the tests were successful. We are still rather unsure what to conclude from our findings, but I can give you the straight facts:

The subject’s brain was almost completely dead save for unusually high activity in the hypothalamus and thalamus glands. Simply put, the animal was hyper-sensitive to its surroundings and exhibited constant rage, aggression, hunger, and thirst.

The subjects throat and stomach were lined with a strange glowing moss that had lodged itself to the fleshy walls.

We will begin tests on this new substance immediately, but for the time being it is safe to say that your factory has nothing to do with this ailment. As your friend, I do, however, advise that you start thinking about fortifying your factory against these animals. If this moss spreads, you will have more than just angry environmentalists on your hands.

Stay Safe,

McAfee Security Dept.

Dear Mr. McAfee:

I would like to request a boost in security due to the present conditions surrounding the factory. Hire a fresh team and station them wide so that not a single creature or person gets inside.

That being said, let me detail the nature of this threat, because judging by the current negligence, you do not understand yet. Over the course of the past few days, my factory has been assaulted in the following ways:

Humming fish sneaking into the main factory and biting any employee they see

A Bar-ba-loot tearing and scratching at the lobby door

Swomee-Swans flying into the windows of the tenth floor

A manic customer last night that gave my secretary such a terrible fright I had to send her home the next minute because I knew her wits were just no longer in it.

I am down five assembly line workers and a secretary, sir. I could replace you, or you could get the job done—whichever you prefer.

Sincerely,