Sun was streaming through the lab windows, spilling out onto the tables and the cages, slowly covering the sleeping rabbits like a warm blanket. All were still asleep, except Doug, who sat looking out at the window, unsure of how he felt regarding todays activities. It was strange...he'd always expected this day would never come, and yet...here they were, with nothing actually standing in their way, and someone actually helping them this time.
Doug glanced around the lab at the other, still sleeping rabbits. Number Two rolled over, clearly dreaming, Six was fast asleep with her head buried beneath the hay, Gerry was laying on his side, his whiskers twitching, and Kevin was curled up in a ball in one corner of his cage. Doug didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to think about this. He hadn't really been participating in anything The Collective had done for so long now, he didn't even feel like he was a part of the group anymore. And then, after The Incident...well he just sort of removed himself altogether from their happenings. But now, here the day was. and he felt oddly...out of place. But, had Doug ever really felt in place to begin with? Sure, he'd been Gerrys friend, and he'd had some humorous conversations with him and Six, but in the end, Doug had never really felt like he'd belonged. He sighed, lowered his ears, looked at the sunlight warming his paws through the bars of his cage, and smiled. For Doug, he'd never really felt like he'd belonged anywhere... *** Doug had been born on a farm. He'd been part of an extremely small litter, which was rather rare. He had two siblings, and their father didn't talk to them much. Their mother took care of them, best she could, and fed them, cleaned them, told them stories. Doug, however, felt drawn to his father. His father was a big, grey rabbit, with white tufts on his paws and a bright pink nose. Doug learned that his father would get up every single morning and watch the sunrise, so he decided to start doing the same, just to spend some time with him. One morning, sitting out there with his father, watching the sun rise, Doug felt like nothing he could say would ever make his father really notice him. His father barely spoke to them at all to begin with. Doug exhaled, seeing his breath in the cool morning air, and his father smirked, almost chuckling. Dougs ears shot up, not expecting any response from his father at all. "Discovery is a wonderful thing," he said, "There's a lot to find in the world, but the one thing you should always discover time and time again is yourself." "W'at you mean?" Doug asked, clearly getting his accent from his mother. "I mean, son, that while it's fun to discover things, while discovery is important and learning is magical, the one thing you should continue discovering is yourself. You should never stop discovering yourself, because you always change as you grow. Sure, you know who you are right now, but in a number of years, you'll be a completely different rabbit, and you need to discover who you are then too. What you'd be willing to do, who you'd be willing to love. Self discovery is what makes us alive." Doug would never forget that moment. It was the closest moment he would ever have with his father, as he was killed a month later by a coyote, trying to protect his family. Afterwards, the farmers didn't want rabbits anymore, thinking they invited predators and had to think of their other livestock, so they sold each off, until Doug eventually wound up at the lab. *** Salt had gathered the rabbits in the corral early that morning, only about an hour or two after Doug had watched the sunrise. They all stood in a group, watching her stand in front of them, explaining her plan. "I hope you're all well rested, because today is the day. I am not Dodger. I am actually going to get you guys out of here, or die trying," she said, "First thing's first. This is going to have to be expertly timed. We're not going to be crawling through vents or something like that, we're going to actually fight for our freedom. I will be taking Gerry and Six with me to another section of the lab, while Kevin and Two will be going to get Four from The Sick. The rest of you are going to have to wait here, but don't worry, we're going to come back and get you, because we're exiting through this room." Murmurs started in the crowd, confused at how they would be getting out of the room, noting how drastically different than Dodgers plan this one is. "So just take it easy, stay here and relax, because you're going to need your energy. The four of you, come over here with me," Salt said, leading them to a corner of the corral. As they gathered around her, she continued, "Kevin and Two, you two will be heading to The Sick. Two knows the way, so don't worry Kevin, he'll get you in and out of there with no problems. You can trust him. Gerry, Six, you two will be coming with me. We're heading to Lab 13C. I'll tell you what we're doing there once we arrive. When everyone's done, we'll meet back here." Kevin and Two headed off in one direction, through one vent, while Salt took Gerry and Six through another. Once inside, Kevin shook his head and sighed as he followed Two down the vent. "How do you plan on getting Four out of there? Because those gates are very secure," he said, "How do you propose we-" "I know what I'm doing," Two said sternly, "Trust me and we'll be okay." Kevin was surprised, as he rarely saw Two so self assured. *** Gerry felt like he'd been here before. Crawling down a vent, being led by a mouse promising him his freedom. He just prayed this time it ended differently. He glanced over at Six, but she didn't return the look. Her eyes were half shut, almost like she was still exhausted, or perhaps just depressed. Gerry didn't know what to say to her, so instead he turned his focus to Salt. "So, what's in Lab 13C?" Gerry asked. "It's where they keep unstable elements," Salt said, "Things they deem aren't safe enough yet to test on animals. I'm going to go in and knock a few off, and chew through the vent wires that keep anything that spills from going through the vents into the air of the labs. That way, it'll set off an alarm and they'll have to open every single door to the lab to allow fresh air in while they seal off the lab and while they're focused on that, we make our escape." "Wow, that could actually work," Gerry said, his eyes brightening, "Why didn't Dodger just-" "Because he never intended to rescue you, remember?" Salt asked, "He just needed help, and a cover." "Right...that's right," Gerry said, "I don't know when I'm going to finally accept that he never wanted to help us." Within minutes, they reached the lab and made their way through the vent cover. As Salt started to sniff a few of the samples, she marked in her head which ones she thought would be best to push over while Gerry and Six waited, watching. Gerry turned and looked at Six again, while Salt did her thing. "Are you okay?" he asked, and she sighed. "...this all feels too good to be true," Six said, "I just...I don't know...I feel like something's going to go wrong. Something always goes wrong." "Don't worry, Six, this time we've got luck on our side. We're getting out of here, I promise." "I trust you, Gerry, I do," Six said, looking around at the lab, "But it'll be weird to leave all of this behind, you know? Look at everything we managed to do here, even the things that were out of our control, like the tests. As bad as the testing is, I do feel like we managed to make the world a better place for others, for the humans we make things for, or the other animals we've spared the pain we've endured. It hasn't been all bad." Just then they heard a crashing sound, as four different viles hit the floor and shattered. Salt came running up to them, a huge grin on her face. "Alright, let's get out of here," she said, and that's when they heard the sound. The big, loud beeping sound, as a metal door started to come down in front of the actual lab door. Their heads spun around and saw the same happening to the vent. Horror flashed across their faces; nobody had expected this. Salt screamed for them to run, but it was already closing to the bottom. Six shut her eyes and slid her replacement bag leg under the vent cover, stopping it from shutting. There was a crunching sound as the vent cover tried to shut, but with her leg in the way, it just wouldn't go any further. Salt crawled under the cover, got into the vent and tried to pull it back up with her paws to no avail. "That was some quick thinking!" Gerry said to Six, leaning down to her face. Tears were in her eyes, and she sniffled. "I told you," she whimpered, "I told you things never work out for me." "Six, come on, you saved us! Now we at least have a chance to-" "Not much of one," Salt said, "Either the samples will kill us first of THEY will arrive. We need to do something fast, and-" "W'at the 'ell is t'at sound?!" Doug asked, coming hopping down the vent, much to everyones delight. "Doug!" Gerry said, "What're you doing here?" "I could 'ear the damn t'ing all the way in t'e lab!" Doug said, "W'ats 'appening?" "This vent is trying to shut us in here, but Six managed to stop it," Gerry said, "We need your help to get it up." "There's no way to get it up manually," Salt said, "But...there is a button that will reopen all the lockdown procedures in the room." Doug sucked in his gut and pushed his head under the cover, squeezing his way through. The only reason they didn't do the same, was because while Gerry could make it through into the vent, Six would still be trapped there. Doug hopped down onto the table and began looking around for this button, but found he was almost instantly woozy and his eyesight started to swim. This stuff must be dangerous, if it made him feel this way. "Doug!" Salt called from the vent, "It's a blue button, it's near the back of the room, by a computer, you can't miss it!" Doug started hopping towards it, as Salt sighed and shook her head in frustration. She felt so embarrassed for not being prepared for this. Doug hopped across the tables, onto the desk and then climbed up onto the computer, reaching across with his front right paw to reach the button. He was straining, but he was sure he could touch it...if only...if he could just... The gases started taking him over, and he swore for a moment he was back on the farm with his father, watching the sunrise. He shook his mind, clearing the vision and hit the button before tumbling off the table and onto the floor, coughing. The door cover started to lift, as did the vent cover. Six was free and she instantly made it into the vent, along with Gerry, who turned back at Doug. "Doug, come on man, let's go! Good job!" he shouted, as Doug shakily got to his feet and headed to the table, climbing back up, and back up onto the computer. "What's he doing?" Six asked. "He's closing them," Salt said, "He's closing them so they don't continue to pour through the lab. He's...saving everyone." "Doug! Let it go, man!" Gerry said, "We can still get out before it-" "Gerry!" Six shouted, "That's no better than Dodger! Dodger would let everything else in this lab die, you're not like him!" "But Doug is...he won't be able to get..." Gerry said, stammering, his eyes filling with tears as he looked back at his friend, his paw on the button. Their eyes locked and Doug smiled, wiggling his ears with the last energy he had. "See ya, mate," he said, hitting the button, as the covers slid down again, locking them off from him. Gerry started throwing his head against the vent cover, sobbing, calling for his friend, while Salt and Six comforted him. Doug, however, couldn't hear his cries, as he laid down on the floor on his side and smiled. He could see it again. The farm, and his father, but this time, watching the sunset. He could hear his fathers voice in his head like he was there with him right now. "Always discover the new, better you. You're always changing," he'd told him. He was right. Doug had changed. Despite not being a part of the group, he was still their friend, and he'd just saved the entire Collective. And Doug shut his eyes. And the sun set.
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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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