Gerald had been questioning his place among The Collective for a while.
He hadn't been able to get everyone out of the lab, and he was no longer in charge, of his own Collective or the group at large; Kevin was the one who was essentially their leader now, while Stone held up her end of the group, and this made Gerald wonder where exactly it was he stood. On one hand, he'd pushed Kevin to become a leader because he knew he could, and he was so very proud of his friend, and what he'd managed to accomplish, but...on the other hand, Gerald now felt useless, tossed aside like he was somehow no longer needed or worthy. Standing near the entrance to The Hollow, he watched other rabbits enjoying their time outside. Children running and playing, families spending time together, or lovers talking walks. Gerald lowered his ears and sighed. He'd once been needed. He wanted to be needed again. He turned and started to head through the nearby brush, over to Ellen's grave and stopped, looking at the small stone that marked her resting place. He thought of Kevin, and how Kevin, in actuality, had lost so much more than he ever had, and how he felt bad now for wanting to take his role back from Kevin. He sat down next to Ellen's grave and looked at the ground, pawing at it. "I guess things change, huh," he said softly, "I have to say, I didn't expect any of what's happened to happen, up to and including ever actually escaping the lab. It's my fault you're dead. If I'd just stayed put, if I'd made us all just stay put, you would've been given your medicine and none of this would've happened. You wouldn't be gone, Number Two wouldn't be gone, and now Kevin's recovering from his bulletwound. Things just seem to get worse everytime we do something, or don't do something..." "How insightful," a voice said from behind him, forcing Gerald to spin around and gasp as he spotted Dodger coming out of the woods. "YOU," he said sternly. "Hello Gerald," Dodger said, "You don't seem well, if I may speak candidly. What's on your mind?" "What, now you're a therapist?" Gerry asked. "I'm your friend, despite everything that's transpired between us. I've told you that again and again, that we're friends, that we're alike, and now look at us. Alone. Ostracized. Tossed aside. So what's going on?" Dodger asked, sitting down next to Gerry. "I..." Gerry started, and then sighed, "I'm a horrible leader. Everything I've done to make everyones lives better has ended in tragedy. And you...we were friends, and you just...you left us there, in that air vent, after all that planning and-" "I did not leave YOU there, I left THEM there, and YOU chose not to come with me," Dodger said, "If you'll recall, I gave you the option to come with me, remember? I said that you're better, more deserving than any of them, any of those other rabbits, and that you could come with me, and you chose to stay. Don't put that on me." "...what do you want anyway?" Gerry asked. "I admit I'm not here to make small talk, I actually have something to show you," Dodger said, "Follow me. You're gonna wanna see this." *** They could hear the sounds of truck engines, and the voices of THEM as Dodger and Gerald approached the treeline, peering out through the bushes to spot a handful of scientists unloading crates and cages from the backs of the trucks. Gerry furrowed his brow, his nose twitching, as he glanced from the sight back to Dodger. "What is this?" he asked. "THEY are bringing in new rabbits," Dodger said, "And those rabbits are going to befall the exact same fate as you all did, unless you do something, and soon." "Why are you telling me this? How am I supposed to even believe you at this point? We lost two of our friends because of you recently! Why should I believe ANYTHING you say anymore?!" Gerald asked, pushing Dodger back up against a tree. "Because I...I care about YOU, and I know you want to do the right thing," Dodger said, "And...I'm in need of some help myself. You slip a handful of them to me and take the rest back with you to The Hollow and we go our separate ways." "Why do you want rabbits?" Gerry asked, confused. "I need protection, and a community," Dodger said, "And those rabbits won't know about our history, so they won't judge me. I can't be alone anymore, Gerald, and I certainly can't go to your group. None of them want me. Understandably, after the things I've done." Gerry looked back through the bushes and sighed. He knew Dodger was right about one thing...these poor new recruits would be given the worst treatment, especially after what The Collective had pulled. Gerry knew they didn't deserve that, and that it anyone was going to save them, it was going to have to be him and Dodger, and whoever else he could convince. Still...Dodger had pulled a fast one on Kevin, the most skeptical of all, next to Number Two, and that was no easy feat. Gerry was, for good reason, unsure of whether or not to trust him. "How about this," Dodger said, "How about we do this. You tell The Hollow what I've told you. Bring them to see it, if you want to, if they really need that sort of proof, alright? Don't even mention my name, don't even bring me up at all, okay? You guys do your thing that you're so good at and then, afterwards, you convince a few rabbits to go with me and, like I said, we'll part ways. I won't bother you ever again. I'm sick too, man. I'm not doing as well as you all seem to think I am. I lost Minerva in that whole debacle, and now I have absolutely nobody." "Where's Richardson?" Gerry asked sternly. "Eh, god knows," Dodger said, shrugging, "He's somewhere on his own, with his sister. I haven't seen hide or hair of him, not to be cute." Gerry smirked. He'd forgotten how much he'd missed Dodgers humor. "Dodger," Gerry finally said, looking back to him from the bushes, "I realize why I'm hesitant to trust you, obviously, and for good measure. But...if you leave with these new rabbits, I want to go with you. I'm not needed at The Collective anymore." "...re...really?" Dodger asked, his voice reflecting genuine surprise. "Really," Gerry said, "So if we're gonna do this, I'm gonna need some assurance that this isn't a trick or a ploy or anything. You and I and these new rabbits, we'll just disappear into the night, alright? Because, really, you're right. In the end, we're not different at all. We're just...two outcasts who shouldn't be leaders, who would easily overthrow those around them purely for the hope of being important. You were right all along, I AM like you, Dodger. I see it now." "Gerald, come on, you aren't-" "No, I am," Gerry said, pacing, "I've been doing a lot of thinking about this lately. They have Kevin, they have Stone, they have all these other wonderfully brilliant rabbits. What do they need ME for? I got half of us out of the lab, sure, I put the fire under our feet, but in the end, I wasn't the one who made it out, who lead the charge to go back for the others, the one who lead them while they lived out here in the unknown. I'm the one who got stuck behind. You were right. I chose The Collective, and in turn, it left me in the lab, and I'm pretty convinced that the ONLY reason I'm out here now is because Kevin needed the medicine for Ellen but couldn't go back and not feel guilty without helping us in the process." "Fair assessment," Dodger said. "So yeah, you have a deal. We're gonna do this," Gerry said, "I'm with you, now, like you wanted." Dodger smiled, and for the first time since the betrayal, Gerry felt it was sincere. Together they began to head back towards The Hollow, figuring out the logistics of the escape and the aftermath, and for the first time in a long, long time, Gerald felt like he was needed again. *** Gerry had Stone arrange a meeting that evening inside The Hollow, where Gerald could relay the information he'd discovered. As the other rabbits gathered around, rabbits from The Collective and rabbits not, Gerald felt a surge of true leadership again run through his veins. Stone got up on the mound and stood beside Gerry, on her hind legs for all to see. "Excuse me, everyone! Hey, can everyone hear me?" she called, "Thank you for coming. Now, Gerald has some news he's expressed he wishes to share, and he'd like us all to hear it, okay? So please given Gerald your undivided attention!" With that, Stone looked at Gerry, nodded, and then hopped off the mound. Gerald cleared this throat and also stood up on his hind legs. "Can everyone see and hear me?" he called out, "Alright, good. Um, hello, my name is Gerald, and I'm part of The Collective that came from the lab. It took us multiple attempts, but we all obviously are here now, integrated fully into your wonderful community, and we couldn't be more thankful for it, obviously, so thank you for all your hospitality and your open arms! Today, I went for a walk, thinking about my place among this community, and I decided to head back to the lab where I came from, just to see what it looked like, get a sense of accomplishment having gotten away from it. What I saw there chilled me. Trucks, large vehicles, filled with cages and crates upon crates of new rabbits, being unloaded by THEM, the ones who work there, who hurt us. THEY were taking the rabbits into the lab, obviously to be treated just as badly as we had been." A soft murmur began to spread across the crowd. Kevin, still somewhat limping from his gunshot wound, stumbled up to Six and Mipsy, looking confused, but listening nonetheless. "I don't think it's fair to leave them to this fate. Nobody helped us, we had to do it on our own. I mean, we had a mouse named Salt, god bless her, but still, it was basically us helping us, and these rabbits could use our help to escape. We could bring them here, we could turn them loose, whatever you all think is best, but we need to do SOMETHING about this before it gets bad. Now, since they were just moved in, they likely won't be starting tests on them immediately. When THEY first bring you in, THEY give you a little while to become acclimated to your surroundings, you know, get your bearings. So I'd say we have a week or two, maybe three at best, before things really start to get gruesome for them. Also, I'm willing to bet that getting back in and out of that place won't be very easy, considering what we managed to do. I'm sure THEY weren't very happy with that. So we have to take that into consideration as well and plan for whatever may come up as a result. Now, if you're-" Everyone stopped and turned to see what had shut Gerald up. He was staring at the entrance to The Hollow, now lit up bright from the sun outside flooding in down the hall, as Number Two, followed by Minerva and Dice, entered the space, covered in dirt and blood. "Number Two," Gerry said, a look of absolute shock on his face at seeing his friend alive after all, "Number Two! You're okay!?" "We have a more pressing matter," Number Two said, shaking some of the dirt off his fur, his voice cold and flat, "Something that we should've dealt with a long time ago. And his name is Dodger."
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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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