Gerry was asleep when it felt the first one hit him right between the eyes. He shook a little, opened one eye and looked around. He could see Dodger standing on the table, tossing sunflower seed shells at his face. Gerry opened his other eye as Dodger raced up to the front of the cage.
"What's going on?" he asked, and Dodger started to unlock the cage door. "Come with me, I want you to see something," he said, as the cage door fell open, and Gerry started to softly walk out onto the table. Just as they approached a makeshift staircase Dodger had built out of other, small cages he'd pushed together leading up to the air vent he usually came in through, they heard another voice. "Gerald?" Kevin had asked groggily, "I heard the door open. What's going on? Where are you going?" "We're just going to see something, I'll be right-" "I think it's better if he sees it too, actually," Dodger said, "It might benefit our plans." With that, Dodger hopped off the table, scurried hurriedly across the floor and up the leg of the other table where he opened the front of Kevins cage as well, and then led him back to Gerry. They followed Dodger up the cage staircase and into the air vents. Dodger looked over his shoulder as they started crawling, and said, "Sorry it's a bit cramped." "Where are we going?" Kevin asked. "To the aviary section," Dodger said, "Because this isn't going to work without them." "The birds?" Gerry asked, a bit surprised, "You've recruited the birds?" "The birds are the glue that's gonna hold this whole thing together," Dodger said, "Trust me, this is a necessary final step in the plan. Once this is done, you just have to follow me and we'll be out of here in no time flat. THEY will never know what hit 'em." They stopped as Dodger sniffed the air for a moment, standing on his hind legs, and then looked at a corner of the vent, and continued on. They got to the aviary section, and could see all the birds in all their cages, fast asleep. Dodger quietly pulled the air vent grate away and left it in the vent as they hurried down yet another makeshift staircase (it appeared Dodger had been quite busy as of late, a thing Gerry found admirable) and onto a table among a dozen or so bird cages. Dodger walked up to the furthest one, in the back corner of the table, and stood on his hind legs again. "I'm back," he whispered, "and I brought them." A crow unfurled her wings and slowly rose, turning to greet them. Both Gerry and Kevin sort of backed up a bit, surprised by how large she was, but Dodger didn't seem bothered in the least. The crow shook herself of the hay in the cage and then walked to the cage side where Dodger was peering in from. "Good job," she said, before glancing past him to the rabbits, "You two, come here." Kevin and Gerry approached the cage and looked up at the crow, her eyes as black as her feathers. "I hear we're about to execute an escape," she said, "The plan is quite simple. Dodger will lead his group here and two by two will hide in our cages. We will make sure they are not seen. When THEY take us out to let us out of our cages in the morning, each mouse will grab one of each leg and we will fly them to safety. Dodger, meanwhile, will be taking your group through the vents. One group will go one way, and one will go another. Do you know who should lead the second group?" Kevin and Gerry glanced at one another, and then back at the crow. "Um, I guess we could split it," Gerry said, "Dodger could lead me, tell Kevin where to take the others." "That seems fine," Kevin agreed, nodding. "Good," the crow said, turning and scratching behind her wing with her beak and then turning back to them, "Get some rest and inform the others. THEY are taking us out tomorrow, so we will not have much time. When all the mice are here, then we will know we are ready." "Thank you Lorna," Dodger said, "You're saving hundreds of lives tomorrow." "I know what it is to yearn to be free," Lorna said, "Just be sure freedom is what you really want." Kevin and Gerry glanced at one another again, a bit confused, and then Dodger turned and headed back up the makeshift staircase and back into the vents. Once the grate was back in place, he turned to Kevin and Gerry and nobody said a word for a few moments. Dodger sighed and shook his head. "I managed to get some string from the house we were taken to during the lab cleaning. I've already strung up an escape rope to the end of one vent for the second group, and I'll have some for our group Gerry. Kevin," he said, turning to face him, "All you have to do is bite on it, hold on tight and slide down. Be sure to tell everyone not to be afraid. It's not too far a fall, honestly." "Ok," Kevin said, "And where will we meet up after we've gotten out?" "Just past the treeline," Dodger said, "We can celebrate then. Until then, let's just stay focused and make sure everyone gets out safely. Come on, let's head back to the lab." Gerry and Kevin followed Dodger, a bit behind him, and Kevin lowered his voice to a whisper so Dodger couldn't hear. "If we get out of here okay, let's stick together," Kevin said, which surprised Gerry considering how distant he had been in the past in regards to community, "I...I don't like the idea of navigating the outside world alone." "That sounds like a good plan," Gerry said. And with the rabbits back in their lab, Dodger went to get his mice prepared for the jailbreak. Gerry and Kevin explained things to the rest when they returned, about who would follow who into the vents, and that this time tomorrow, they'd be free in the forest. They went to sleep that night knowing in their hearts they were doing the right thing. *** Gerry awoke to the sound of birds squawking, and when he opened his eyes, he saw Dodger climbing down the vent and racing to the front of his cage. Gerry stood up as Dodger leaped up on the door clasp and let it slide down. "Get your groups together, we're going in a few minutes!" Dodger shouted, "Gerry, your group will meet me in the vents when you're ready, alright?" "Sounds good," Gerry said as he watched Dodger race around to each and every cage, letting the other rabbits out. Gerry hopped to the center of the table, as Six hopped right along behind him. "I'm going with you," she said, and he smirked. "I had a feeling you might," he replied, and then he stopped and looked out at the other rabbits, "Everyone!" he called, "This is it, we're getting out of here! Those of you going with Kevin, just follow him and do what he says. He's been briefed on this already, and he WILL lead you to safety. Those coming with me, we will be being led by Dodger here, who this honestly couldn't have been done without." Dodger smiled for a split second, and then his ears went down. He'd let everyone out, nodded to Gerry and then raced back up into the air vent. Gerry turned back to the others and looked at his friends faces. Two. Four. Kevin. Doug. All these rabbits he might not see again if something went wrong. He thought of poor Jasmine in the other room, and he sighed. Maybe they could come back for her someday...though she did seem rather content with her existence. He cleared his throat and stood on his hind legs, rising up above them all. "We're a family," Gerry said, "We've been in this lab together, and we're gonna get out of this lab together. I've seen you all go through...just...the most horrible tests imaginable, and stay so strong, and it makes me realize how strong we are. We are stronger than THEM. We are better than THEM. We deserve more than THEY will ever give us, and we'll only get it if we take it for ourselves. These people...they don't care about us. We're nothing but a tool to them, something to be used to further their own lives. I'm not being a fucking tool anymore." Kevin smiled as he looked up at Gerry, realizing for the first time, how much he truly respected him. He scanned through the crowd surrounding him, and saw Four looking at him. She wiggled her ears at him, and he laughed. Things were going to be alright. He could feel it. "So stay close to your leader, do what he says, and we will get through this just fine. I told you all that one day I'd get you out of here. Well today I am doing that. Stay safe everyone, and I'll see you past the treeline," Gerry said, finishing as he turned to Six and Doug, and nodded towards the vent, "Let's go," then he turned to the rest and shouted, "Those coming with me, let's go!" They entered the air vents, Kevins group right behind them. At the split where the two groups would break up, everyone kept going, but Gerry and Kevin stopped and looked at one another for a few moments, taking in the silence. "You sure you can do this?" Gerry asked. "Heck yeah I can," Kevin said, "Because you told me I could." Gerry smiled, "Be safe Kevin. I'll see you outside." "You too, Gerald." They turned to exit, but Kevin turned back around and called to Gerry, who stopped and looked back at him. "One more thing, Gerry, just in case we don't see eachother again. Thanks for not letting them grow an ear on me." "I told you I wouldn't," Gerry said. With that, the two rabbits parted ways. Gerry and Six walked alongside Dodger, who was the only one who knew the way to the grate leading to the outside. Dodger looked exhausted, Gerry noticed, like he'd been up all night, and he probably had. Anxiety and fear were flooding through all of them, but probably through Dodger the most. "Are you gonna be ok?" Six asked, and Dodger shook her off. "Yeah, and once we hit fresh air I'll really perk up," he said, "Nobody will be coming into our sections of lab since they'll all be taking the birds outside, so it's not like we have to worry about anyone looking for us. Everything should go smoothly." The trek wasn't too long, but it wasn't that short either. Kevin knew they were supposed to wait until they saw the birds to start out from the vent, but he felt so excited that he didn't know if he could wait, honestly. To be back in the forest...in the bushes and the dirt. It had always seemed like a distant, impossible, unattainable dream and know it was so close to being a reality. Four hopped alongside him, chewing on her own whiskers. "You're a real hero for doing this," she said quietly, "I hope you know that." "Unless something happens to me, and then I'll be a Martyr," Kevin replied. "Big difference between a martyr and a hero. A hero gets fifteen minutes of fame. a martyr gets remembered forever. I know. The Special 7, we've been called heroes plenty of time for 'furthering the advances in science'. All they ever did was stick us with things, put stuff inside of us, but-" "Not anymore," Kevin said, stopped and looking at her as his group walked past him, "And once we're outside, I won't let anyone else hurt you either. We're all going to stick together. You heard Gerry, we're a family." Four pushed her nose against his and nuzzled it softly for a few seconds, before blushing and continuing past him. Kevin couldn't believe his luck. Freedom. Heroism. A pretty rabbit who liked him. His luck was changing. "Uh...Kevin," Two called out and Kevin hopped quickly up to where he was, at the vent leading outside. "What?" Kevin asked. "There's no string," Two said, and Kevin glanced at the vent, noticing there wasn't any string there, like Dodger had said. Kevin thought it might've fallen, come untied and been blown away by the wind or something, but despite all these possible realities, all he managed to eke out was... "Huh." As Gerry's group approached their own vent exit, they could hear the birds chirping outside. Gerry and Six smiled at one another. It was almost time. Six thought of all the ways life would be better. A burrow, maybe near a farm where they could steal carrots and raise bunnies. This seemed like a dream about to come true. They got to the top of the upslant in the vent and came face to face with the open grate. Dodger stopped, looking out at the treetops just out of reach and could hear the birds below, knowing any moment they'd be let out. "There it is," Six whispered, "Oh my gosh...we're going to be free." "Dodger," Gerry said, "I can't believe...god, you really did it. We did it. Thank you so much. How can I ever pay you back?" "I'm sorry Gerry," Dodger said softly, as he turned around and looked at the rabbits, his eyes brimming with tears, "I don't think you ever could pay me back, because I didn't do anything." "What do you mean didn't do anything? You led us to freedom!" Gerry said, beaming, ears upright, "You've done what nobody else could! You're a hero!" "All I did was manage to lie to a bunch of poor rabbits and use their fear to get what I wanted," Dodger said softly, and Gerrys ears went down as he approached him, "That's not heroic in the least. I mean, I won't put down all the work I had to put into this to make it work, but don't go calling me a hero. I'm not a hero. I'm a villain." "What're you talking about Dodger?" Gerry asked quietly, anger hiding very nearby behind his tone, his eyes growing redder, "What did you do?" "Sit down for a bit Gerry, we need to talk," Dodger said.
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The Rabbit Collective follows a group of lab rabbits struggling with their purpose, and hopeful eventual escape. Archives
October 2020
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