"All I'm sayin'," Kevin said as they hopped through the forest, "Is that we don't always have to have the same boring things to eat. We can combine stuff! We can have full meals with lots of ingredients!"
"Oh, so you're a chef now?" Gerry asked, laughing. "We make big dinner, and lot of food in it?" Mipsy asked, "That what you mean?" "Exactly, we don't have to eat just berries or just nuts or whatever, we can combine stuff, have a lot of flavor. For god sakes, just because we live in the wild doesn't mean we have to eat like slobs," Kevin said. "I think someone got a little too spoiled eating lab food," Gerry said, smirking. Kevin laughed and thought about how good it was that things were staring to get back to normal. He'd used to do this gathering with Number Two, but...anyway these days it was Gerry joining him and Mipsy on their little gathering hunts. As they continued furthered into the wooded thickets, Kevin wound up walking next to Mipsy while Gerry walked a bit ahead of them. "I am sorry," Mipsy said softly. "For?" Kevin asked, looking confused. "Number Four," Mipsy said, lowering her ears, "I am sorry. She was good rabbit, good friend. You were nice to her. Did you really go to Sick to see her when THEY take her away?" "Yeah," Kevin said, smiling, thinking about it, "Yeah, Number Two...he took me there to see her because he'd been there before on his own. He knew exactly how to get in and out. Number Two knew everything. God I miss that rabbit. Others, like Gerald, they tell me not to blame myself for Ellens death, and while I don't necessarily blame myself for that, I do blame myself for everything else. That whole debacle was because I decided to go back to the lab. Number Two would still be here with me if we...if Richardson hadn't..." The conversation was suddenly broken by the sounds of laughter. All three rabbits stood still, and then hopped into a nearby bush. Gerry slowly pushed his face through the leaves and saw, there, in a clearing, was a group of human children in uniforms sitting around on logs, with one adult human, also in uniform. "What's going on?" Kevin whispered, but Gerry merely shook his head. "I have no idea, buddy," he replied. Just then, the adult human knelt down and, lighter in hand, started a fire in between everyone, making all the kids excited. The flames licked into the air, and reflected off Kevins eyes as he stared directly into them. Suddenly it all hit him. This was the answer. The answer to everything. He finally understood why he had kept going all this time, was to see this one moment, to get this one idea, to carry it out to fruition. He walked out of the bush back the way they'd come in, Mipsy and Gerry following. "What's with you?" Gerry asked. "...we're going to set the lab on fire," Kevin said. "We don't even know how to MAKE fire," Gerry replied. "Stone was one of the Special Seven, she talks constantly about the knowledge she's accrued from her time in there, I'm sure she could easily teach us," Kevin said, "Think about it, we'll do to THEM what THEY did to us...hurt us, torture us, take away everything THEY ever cared about. It's the perfect revenge." "You're starting to sound like Dodger," Gerry said, furrowing his brow and lowering his ears, "I don't like that." "Maybe in some weird way Dodger is right about something. Right about making your place in the world known, you know? Making sure you aren't just another creature everyone can take advantage of. Maybe Dodger sort of does know what he's talking about," Kevin said. "Dodger got Number Four killed!" Gerry said, sounding irate now, "Do you even hear yourself!? He got Richardson to betray us, and he got Number Four killed! And now you're saying, after all that and the rest of what he's done to us, that somehow he was RIGHT about something?!" "I'm just-" Kevin began, but Gerry interrupted him. "Not to mention we don't know where Number Two is, or if he's even alive!" Gerry shouted, "That's three rabbits, Kevin, three! Three of our closest allies, of the rabbit you loved, of our major planner, now gone, because of that rodent, and you've got the gall to tell me you think he might've been right?!" Kevin went silent and looked at his paws. A cool breeze whistled through the tree leaves overhead, as Gerry turned and continued on his way. Mipsy came up to Kevins side and watched Gerry hop off, before looking at him. "I think you maybe right," she said, "I think...we need show to THEM how bad THEY hurt us." "See, you get it, right?" Kevin asked. "THEY took...away parts of me..." Mipsy said, stuttering, "THEY made me stupid, and-" "Hey, you are not stupid, okay?" Kevin said, "Don't ever think that again. You're obviously smart, you've managed to survive this long, haven't you?" "I guess, yeah," Mipsy replied, starting to smile. "Come on," Kevin said, "Let's catch up to him before he gets too far away." With that, both rabbits hopped off towards Gerald, but Kevin...he just couldn't get the idea of fire out of his head. *** "I'm a rabbit, not an arsonist," Stone said, watching Kevin pace as they stood in her burrow. Ever since they'd gotten back to the Hollow, Kevin hadn't left her side, bouncing idea after idea off of her. Stone wanted to help, that's what she was there for obviously, but there was only so much she could realistically do, and only so much knowledge she actually had. "Something in my gut just tells me that this is the right thing to do," Kevin said, "I have to find out how to start fires." "Something in your gut is telling you to burn people alive?" Stone asked, "That's healthy." "Let me tell you a story," Kevin said, "It's about a rabbit name Steve. Steve was one of the first rabbits I became friends with in the lab, if not the first. Steve was great, he was funny and charming, extremely nice. Everyone loved Steve, he was everybody's friend. And then, one day, THEY blew Steve up. All that was left were his fucking feet, and you know what they did with those feet? They became keychains. That's right. Good ol' lucky rabbits feet. Not so fucking lucky for Steve, obviously, but. But THEY walked around with these keychains, with the feet of my best friend, dangling from metal, and didn't think twice about the sickness of that situation." "...okay, yeah, that's pretty terrible," Stone said, "Did you ever get any of the feet back?" "Eh, three of them, but we're still missing the fourth. That's beside the point, Stone. The point is that THEY are monsters, pure and simple, and what do you do to monsters? You defeat them. Help me help others, please. Help me learn how to make fire so that we can burn that place to the ground and end this once and for all." Stone looked at him, their eyes locked. She sighed heavily and then walked over to a small bundle of sticks and grass and sat down, her ears going back, her nose twitching. "Back when I was a member of The Special Seven, obviously before any of you ever got there, THEY did the same thing to me. THEY took away all of my friends, all the ones I cared about, the one I loved...THEY are monsters, Kevin, there is no doubt about that, but what can we possibly do? We're just rabbits?" "You said it yourself! You're smarter than THEM! You're better than THEM! They're scaaaaared of you," Kevin said, "Stone, look at what you've accomplished! You've built an entire underground Hollow the size of 4 nests simply to house and protect and hide all the other rabbits you can! YOU did that, single handed, and THEY haven't found you yet! We are alive because we are with you. We wouldn't have lasted at our Burrow, god knows, THEY would've found it eventually. It wasn't even that well built. Help me stop THEM, and then life, finally, for once, for everyone, can be great." Stone looked at him, and he smiled at her. She knew inside that he was right. That THEY had to be stopped, for good, but something was gnawing at her, begging her not to give in. She sighed and shook her head, only for Kevin to turn and leave in silence. Stone sat there after he left, looking at her paws, and thinking about the ones she'd lost. Murder is what made her hurt like this. How could she possibly live with herself if she stooped to THEIR level? *** "God, nobody listens to me," Kevin muttered, frustrated, sitting in the shady clearing, his whiskers twitching, "Nobody listens to me now. I know that hurting others is bad, I know it's wrong, but after all that THEY have done, aren't we entitled to at least a little bit of retribution?" He looked at the grave marker, with the number 4 made out of sticks and leaves, and he sighed. "I wish you were here," he said, "I miss you. I miss having your conscience around, giving me advice, knowing exactly what to say and do. I...I don't know what to do without you, Ellen. I swore after what happened before that I'd never love another rabbit again, and then I met you and I couldn't help myself. I should be the one who's dead, and you should be the one leading the cause. I'd give anything to switch places with you, even if it meant still not being with you. I need them to listen to me. I need this to work. I finally have the solution to all our problems. Why doesn't anyone want this to be over?" He shut his eyes and cried a little, before hearing the rustling of nearby bushes, and spotted Stone coming through them. He was surprised, as he rarely saw her out of the Hollow. "What...what're you doing here?" he asked. "I thought about what you said," she said softly, "I think you're right. I want to help you. I want to put an end to all of this suffering. I want these rabbits to live knowing that they can be free without any fear from THEM ever again." "...you...you wanna help me?" Kevin asked, sniffling. "Kevin," Stone said, approaching him, their noses almost touching, "Let's torch these mother fuckers."
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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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