THEY gave him a ribbon, THEY took his picture for an article and THEY sent the product off to the FDA to be approved and patented, and by the end of it all, Number Two had become the hero of the month. THEY even pinned the ribbon to the front of his cage, for all to see, and Number Two was feeling downright smug about himself right now. At this moment, he was explaining to the other Special 7 how he got the ribbon, what he had to go through to get it and how proud of himself he was, while Kevin and Gerry watched from a distance.
"It's always unacceptable until you become a hero," Kevin said, "They're always going on about how sick everything that's done to us is, but the second it gains them fame, oh boy, suddenly it's all a-ok." "You'd think Number Two would be a little bit more understanding of that, I am quite upset at what's either his lack of coherency regarding the situation or just his inability to flat out not care," Gerry said when Six came and joined by them. "You're done listening to his story?" Gerry asked. "Guys...I...I don't think he's happy," Six said, "I think he's masking something. Number Two has always been very critical of THEM, and for him to just suddenly throw that aside because something THEY tested on him has found success...I don't buy it. For as long as I've known him, this isn't like him." Gerry and Kevin looked from Six back towards Number Two and the others surrounding, listening to him, now a bit concerned. Number Four hopped over to them in the pen and sidled right up beside Kevin, laying with her paws beneath her. "I wish I could have something tested on me be successful," Number Four said, "I always feel like such a failure afterwards when there's no positive results. It's maddening. I went through all that pain for no gain? Sickening." "Does anyone even know what it was THEY tested on him?" Gerry asked. "From what he's said, it was some sort of beauty product for hair," Six said, "But, I don't know. I don't think this is the whole story. I think he's hiding something from us." They watched from a distance, the rest of the day, as Number Two gloated and swore up and down how proud he was, but now, Gerry wasn't buying it. *** That night, after THEY had left for the evening, Gerry waited until The Collective was asleep, then he got up, undid his cage and snuck out onto the counters, hopping across them until he was on the other side, close to Number Twos cage. As he passed Kevins cage, Kevin lifted his head and looked at him, eyes half shut. "What're you doing?" Kevin asked. "I'm going to find out what happened," Gerry said, "After all we went through together, we shouldn't be hiding secrets from eachother. You heard Six, Number Two is obviously protecting something, and we have to find out what it is." Kevin nodded, got up and undid his own cage, following Gerry to Number Twos cage. He was fast asleep, curled up in the hay, right beside his ribbon, as Gerry undid the latch on the gate door and let themselves in. "Number Two?" Gerry asked softly, as they watched one ear perk right up, and his eyes fluttered open. "Gerry? Kevin?" he asked, yawning, sitting up and nibbling on his paw, "What's going on?" "That's what we'd like to know," Kevin said, "Six doesn't think you're telling the truth about what THEY did to you, and I specifically would like to know why, because especially after the incident with the little girl, seems like you're all becoming a little too buddy buddy with THEM, and that's not okay." "Whoa, okay," Gerry said, "That was entirely different." "Was it?" Kevin asked, "All I know is that all I've ever heard from everyone, all I've ever said myself, is that THEY don't care about us, and now suddenly we-" "Kevin," Gerry said sternly, "let it go. Number Two, tell me what THEY did. Tell me what you're protecting." "I'm not protecting anything!" Number Two scoffed, sounding sincere, "THEY did their tests like THEY always do, and for once it resulted in a breakthrough, some modicum of success, and I'm proud of that. I finally got to be good for something." "You're good for a lot more than being a test subject," Kevin said. "I know that," Number Two said, "But it's nice to feel some success of some kind, especially after the massive failure we endured, right? It's nice to feel like you can accomplish something at all." "Yeah..." Gerry said, agreeing that The Incident had crushed him hope wise. "No, this isn't okay," Kevin said, "No, I don't, no, you're not getting off that easy. What are you hiding? What did THEY do? Are THEY going to do it to more of us? Did you see some new, terrifying equipment? What is it? I wanna know what's going on." "Guys," Number Two said, almost laughing, "I'm telling you, it's-" "All you're telling us," Kevin interrupted, "Is that you're fine with what THEY'RE doing to us now, just like you're fine being friends with THEIR children. Well guess what, I'm not, and I cannot believe after all THEY'VE done to us, that you guys would be okay with all of this. Success, childhood innocence, it's all a lie. It's never going to be enough to erase the pain THEY'VE done to us. Have you guys forgotten about Steve?" A quiet came over the cage, as both Gerry and Number Two as they both looked at their paws in the hay, feeling bad now. "Are you saying that that's forgivable? That everyone's redeemable? If that's the case, then let's forgive Dodger too! Might as well! Apparently we're just now in the mindset that we should forgive all who abuse us, so why not? Do you know how many rabbits have died here because of THEM? How many of us got hurt because of Dodger? The Incident scarred children, it killed a friend of ours, and yet we're going to just forgive those who did it to us? Dodger was no better than THEM. He lied to us, he used us for his own ends, and I'm not about to forgive him OR THEM." "Kevin, it's not the same, and-" Gerry tried to start but Kevin interrupted him too. "No, I'm done listening to you try and preach to me about the goodness inside everyone. You were the one who pushed for our escape for so long. I listened to you. THEY took my leg, Gerald!" Kevin shouted, kicking his 3D printed robot leg to remind them, "I'm not about to say 'hey guys, thanks for taking my leg, super appreciative of it!'. That's sick. Abusive is never negotiable." Kevin turned and started to hop away when he heard Number Two starting to cry behind him. "I had to," he mumbled, making Kevin stop but not look back yet, "I...I had to lie, I'm sorry." "Why?" Kevin asked, still not looking back. "Because," Number Two continued, "...because it...it's the only way I can accept it. It's the only way to cope with it. I have to lie to myself in order to rationalize what's going on to me, to all of us, and I know it's sick and I'm sorry but I have to...I can't just keep feeling bad about it. I have to force myself to feel good, or else I'll stop feeling anything at all." Now Kevin looked back at Number Two and nodded at him. "See, now that I understand," Kevin said, "I'm sorry, Number Two." Number Two started sobbing, as Gerry and Kevin both huddled up to him to make him feel better, including telling him how nice his ribbon really is. After they left the cage, Gerry and Kevin didn't say anything other than 'goodnight' to one another before going their separate ways. As Kevin hopped down past the cages, he heard Number Four whispering to him from her own cage. "What're you doing up?" she asked. "Talking to Number Two," Kevin said. "...you...you'd never let THEM do anything to me like THEY did to Number Two, would you?" Number Four asked and Kevin put his nose to the cage bars so she could nuzzle hers against his. "Of course not," he said, "Never." She smiled, and watched as Kevin went along his way to his own cage. When he got back in, and settled down, he tried to sleep, but all he could think about was Steve, having mentioned him during the argument that night... *** Kevin and Steve were both being tested that day, having a new vaccine tested on them, but THEY had left the room, so they had some alone time in the test lab before THEY came back. Steve was scratching behind his ear when Kevin nodded at something he noticed. "What is that?" he asked, as Steve shook his head. "It's a tattoo," he said, "It's from the mill." "The mill?" "A mill is where I was raised. They have mills for puppies, kittens, whatever. I was born there, and then sold to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, that highest bidder intended to be some guy who wanted to cook and eat me." "Holy hell," Kevin said, snickering, "Well, at least you didn't end up there." "Well, I did, but thankfully some men came and took him away, and I ended up being picked up by THEM and brought here. It's not perfect, but hey, it's better than being killed and cooked and eaten, right? I mean, let's face it, what's the worst THEY could do," Steve said, the both of them laughing. A few days later, THEY blew Steve up. That was the last conversation Kevin ever had with Steve. From the night of his death onward, Kevin vowed himself to one day find this mill and save whatever other rabbits he could, even if only for Steves memory. That was the only reason he took Gerrys offer of escape, so when it failed to happen...it utterly devastated Kevin, and he lost all hope, mostly because he not only felt he let The Collective down, but he also let down Steve. Yes, no matter what THEY ever did or said, Kevin would never, ever trust THEM, and it was that distrust that would keep him safe more than anything else. He'd already lost Steve, he wasn't going to lose Number Four too. He just wouldn't allow it. Not again. Not again.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
About
The Rabbit Collective follows a group of lab rabbits struggling with their purpose, and hopeful eventual escape. Archives
October 2020
|