Number Two had rarely woken up on a morning that didn't feel like the end of the world.
Living in the lab, waking up was a constant reminder of what possible horrors might await him or his friends, and living in the Burrow and now The Hollow, yes, he got to wake up to a beautiful outdoor scene, the sun warming up their home, was nice...but it wasn't until he moved in with Dice and Minerva that Number Two really began to appreciate these warm summer mornings. These mornings where he could stroll outside of their new home, stand with his eyes shut in the summer morning sun and let it warm his fur, and then get to decide, for the first time he could ever recall, what HE wanted the day to be like. He knew he still had responsibilities, he knew there were still things on the table to be dealt with, but goddamn if it wasn't nice, for once in his life, to just be able to wake up and NOT be immediately shrouded in terror. This morning he decided to head on down to the nearby stream and wash his fur, before stopping and gathering some berries and fruits to bring back and eat for breakfast. The foxes weren't home, they must've left for an early morning hunt, so he had to place all to himself. Sitting in absolute silence, save for the birdsong he could hear outside and the gentle summer breeze wafting against the leaves off the tree trunk they'd taken up residence in, Number Two was so thankful that he got to eat his breakfast in peace. He was thankful that there was no longer a homicidal mouse out to kill him. *** "What do you mean leaving?" Kevin asked, and Gerry shrugged. "It's a pretty concise concept, do you really need more explanation? They're leaving. Crisp and Melvin decided that, now all is said and done, they want a different life. I can't really blame them, honestly. I think they deserve to be happy, and if the only way for them to be happy is to be away from us and our bullshit, then fine by me. We don't need rabbits here who don't want to be here." "That's...cold," Kevin said, "Even for you." He and Gerry continued heading down the Hollow hall, heading towards the main living quarters, rabbits passing them by in both directions; the hustle and bustle of the Hollow flowing as always. "Where are they gonna go?" Kevin asked. "What do I look like, a realtor? I don't know. It's not like I'm going house hunting with them," Gerry said, "They're leaving. You want more information than that, ask them yourself." "You know I remember a time when you fought to keep us all together," Kevin said, stopping Gerry in his tracks, forcing him to turn and look back at him as he continued, adding, "Yeah, that's right. You used to say we all had to stick together, no matter what. Now Number Two lives with the foxes and Melvin and Crisp are heading off into the great unknown. What happened to the Gerald who wanted a family?" "...you had a family, Dodger had a family, the foxes had a family. Look what it cost them. Look what happened. Having a family only creates collateral damage. Creates something you can lose. It's safer to be alone." "You say that but you're intent on saving those new rabbits?" "Yes, because every rabbit should have the right to at least choose how they live," Gerry said, "That's what I'm fighting for. A right. We're not a family, Kevin. We never were. The lab was right, we were coworkers. That's all we'll ever be." And with that, Gerald turned and walked on down the hall, leaving Kevin dumbfounded at this. He then turned and headed the other direction, realizing he needed to speak to Crisp and Melvin about this. At least Gerry had been right about that much. Hopping down the hall to see if he could find either Crisp, Melvin or both, he heard someone coming up behind him and spied Mipsy hopping alongside him now. "What you doing?" she asked. "I'm looking for Crisp and Melvin, you haven't seen them today have you?" Kevin asked. "No. Why you look for them?" Mipsy asked. "Because I need to ask them something important," Kevin said, before stopping and looking at her, "...you'd never leave, right? You'd never decide to leave the Hollow and find a new home? New friends? A new life?" "No, not...not alone," Mipsy said, stammering, her right eye twitching, "I...I like it here, with you guys. You guys my friends. No. I would not leave." "Thank you, Mipsy, I needed to hear it said," Kevin replied, smiling at her as they continued down the hall. *** Number Two sniffed at a fallen berry on the ground and pawed at it for a moment before noticing Minerva coming across the the forest to him. Dice was heading the opposite way, clearly back to the tree. Number Two nodded at Dice, and Minerva glanced back at her. "Is she okay?" he asked. "She's fine, she's just not very social," Minerva said. "She doesn't mind this arrangement, does she? In a way I feel partly responsible for what happened to your family and I wouldn't blame her if she didn't like having me around because of that." "Don't be silly, she likes having you here. We both do," Minerva said, patting him on the head with her paw, "I'm alive and home because of you, so, yeah, I think she appreciates that whatever wrongs you may have inadvertently caused, you're doing your best to right them." "I have to admit," Number Two went on, picking up the berry and eating it, speaking while chewing, "It's a bit weird not being with The Collective. I spent so much time with them that not being with them seems strange, and yet...kind of...welcome? They're exhausting. There's always a problem, always an issue, always bickering and infighting and...sometimes you just want to be away from all that sort of stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love them, they're my friends, but goddamn some days I am glad I get to wake up here with you two in solitude." "Well I'm glad we can give you peace of mind," Minerva said. "Yeah, it's just that-" But he stopped, noticing Minerva was looking over his head behind him. Number Two turned around and backed up to her side, the both of them now staring at what appeared to be a rabbit, much like the young one who'd shown up at The Hollow, covered in blood and dirt, their eyes red as mars itself. Number Two cautiously approached, keeping his ears low to show he wasn't a threat, his voice soft to show he was a friend. "Are you okay?" he asked, and the closer he got the more they backed up. "Paul, I don't-" Minerva started. "I got this, don't worry," Number Two responded, cutting her off, "Hey, my name is Paul, we're not dangerous, okay? Do you need some help? Are you hurt?" "They're going to kill us all," the rabbit responded quietly, his voice shaky and labored from heavy breathing, "They're going to...to kill every single one of us. You have to run. You have to RUN." "Who's...who's going to-" "My friends, and my family...everyone I knew and loved...they're all gone, and they'll come for you too," the rabbit continued, before turning and running the opposite direction. Paul and Minerva quickly took off after him, dashing through the woods, darting between trees. He screamed at them to stop following him, but they wouldn't back off. Finally he came to a sheer drop off a hill, nothing but jagged rocks and ground below. He stopped and looked back at the both of them. "It's not safe here. Someone brought evil to us," the rabbit said, "Someone brought evil into this place. The snakes...these big black snakes...they'll show up, you'll see. They'll come into YOUR burrow next, and everyone you have ever cared about will bleed from their eyes and scream in agony before dropping dead. The ones who don't...they'll be taken somewhere else. You have to leave these woods. You HAVE to leave these woods." "Buddy, buddy, calm down," Number Two said, very slowly approaching him, "Black snakes? What are you talking about? What happened? Just come back with us, we have a safe place for you to go, and you can tell us all about what happened, we can help you, it doesn't have to be scary like this." "Get out," the rabbit whispered, staring Number Two right in the eyes, "Get out before the black snakes come. They're coming. They're near. And you'll die if you don't. If you really love those around you, take them and leave." Number Two was completely flummoxed with how to respond to this. This rabbit was clearly traumatized about something. Black snakes? What black snakes? What could that possibly mean? And then, before Number Two could respond, the rabbit turned and hurled himself off the cliffside. "Jesus christ!" Number Two screamed, himself and Minerva rushing to the edge to watch as this poor terrified rabbit slammed against rock after rock, his neck breaking on impact, until his body lay motionless on a rock at the bottom. The two of them stood there for a moment, unable to process what had just happened. Finally Number Two looked at Minerva, who looked unnerved as all hell. "What just happened here?" she asked. "I have NO idea," Number Two replied. *** Melvin and Crisp were very busy gathering their belongings and sticking them into slings they could carry around their necks when Kevin and Mipsy came in. Melvin gave them a nod of approval, but didn't stop or say anything. For a moment, nobody said anything, and they all just stood in the quiet until Kevin finally exhaled and spoke. "Are you kidding me?" he asked. "Look," Melvin said, "There's nothing saying we HAVE to stay here, okay? Crisp and myself, we're not even really that interested in this group or...or what you plan to do. We're not part of anything, okay? Whatever your problem with THEM is, it's your problem, not ours." "It's everyones problem!" Kevin shouted, "THEY did this to allll of us!" "No, Kevin, THEY did this to you. To Gerald. To Number Four. Not to me. Not to Crisp," Melvin said, "Listen, we appreciate all you guys have done to keep everyone safe and getting us all out of the lab. We really are grateful, but at this point, it's time to leave. It's time to part company. We don't want to be here when whatever is going to go down goes down. It's not our fight." Kevin couldn't believe what he was hearing. He stood there, somewhat shocked at this conversation. "What happened to everyone? First Gerry and now you two? Why is everyone suddenly turning away from the only family we've ever really had?" Kevin asked. "Because we're NOT family, Kevin," Crisp said, finally speaking up, "...we...we just...live together." And with that, she and Melvin picked up their satchels and left the room. Kevin watched, dumbfounded as they left, while Mipsy came to his side and touched his paw. "We not JUST live together," she said, "She wrong." "...yeah," Kevin muttered, "Yeah. She is." He said it, but he was beginning to wonder himself if even he believed it anymore. *** Number Two and Minerva had made their way carefully down the rocks, Number Two clinging to the fur on the scruff of her neck as he rode down on her back. She was wary of slipping, and managed to keep them both as safe as possible during the descent. Once they reached the poor rabbits broken body, Minerva picked him up in her mouth and they began climbing back up. Once they reached the top, they found a nice quiet spot in the woods, and she put him down and began digging a hole. Number Two didn't like looking at this poor rabbits destroyed corpse, but he couldn't tear his eyes away either. "Something happened to him," Number Two finally said softly, "Something BAD. Something so awful he couldn't even accurately tell us what it had been. Something that petrified him into thinking we all have to leave the woods. What did he say? Black snakes? What do you think he was talking about?" "I gotta say, Paul, I really don't know," Minerva replied, pausing from her digging momentarily to discuss this, "And frankly, I'm only doing this for you, because you're too noble to leave his body there. I commend that, I do, but I wouldn't have the guts to be involved otherwise. I don't know that I EVER want to discover whatever the fuck it was he was talking about." "...if it's something that's threatening entire burrows, then...maybe that's why I haven't seen as many unfamiliar faces in the woods lately. If it's something that bad, I HAVEto know, so I can be prepared and in turn prepare The Collective. This sort of thing doesn't just happen, Minerva. Rabbits don't just snap like this. Someone did this to him." Minerva finished digging the hole and nudged the dead rabbits body into the ground, beginning to cover the grave back up with dirt and leaves. Number Two looked at the grave, when finished, and sighed, placing a paw on it and bowing his head. "I'm going to find out what happened to him." he said, "I just hope he can rest easy now, now that we've put him at peace." "There's no peace," Minerva said, "Not even for the dead." She turned and headed back for the tree, leaving Number Two alone with the grave. The term 'black snakes' clung to his brain like sticky candy. What could it possibly mean? He just couldn't figure it out. Did he mean actual snakes? But Number Two had rarely seen snakes in these woods. And no snake could do all that damage to an entire group. Plus, he had said something about the surviving rabbits being hauled away, and, again, no one snake could do that. A group? Maybe. But that was unlikely. Snakes rarely came in packs, and from what Number Two understood were fairly solitary creatures. He then thought about the poor little rabbit who showed up at The Hollow recently, and decided that his next stop would be in talking to her. Maybe she would have some knowledge she could share to shed some light on whatever a 'black snake' could be. "I'm sorry," Number Two said under his breath, "I'm sorry this happened to you. I didn't even know you, but...but I feel like it's somehow our fault, and for that I'm sorry." Number Two turned and headed back to the tree as well. At least he had a plan now. *** The next morning, Melvin and Crisp set out for a new life, with Gerry and Kevin wishing them luck as they left. As the two friends watched them leave into the wilderness for something different, Kevin couldn't help but have knots in his gut, like he knew he should be trying harder to keep them here. He spoke, not even looking at Gerry. "I want you to do one thing for me," Kevin said. "Yeah? And what could that be?" Gerry asked in response. "Never leave," Kevin said. "Don't worry, you and I are going to be together until the bitter end," Gerry replied, making Kevin chuckle. "Do you think they'll be okay?" Kevin asked. "They know how to take care of themselves," Gerry said, "And they have every right to leave if they so choose. You and I both wish they wouldn't, but we can't stop them if it's what they wish to do. But we CAN stop THEM from hurting anyone else. We need to discuss the plans for gaining entry and exit, not to mention distractions and fire." "You're still on board then?" Kevin asked. "I'm reluctantly on board, yes," Gerry replied, "I don't necessarily want to kill THEM, but at least distract THEM long enough to get the new groups out here. I'm thinking Lorna could be of some help in that regard. We can't save everyone, Kevin. Some have to choose to save themselves." Gerry turned and headed back into The Hollow, leaving Kevin alone, outside, watching more of The Collective leave the safety of the home they'd all built together and head off into the dangerous unknown. He knew Gerry was right, he knew they couldn't save everyone. He also knew he should've tried harder to keep them from leaving, he just didn't know why. *** Number Two had rarely woken up on a morning that didn't feel like the end of the world. But now, after watching that rabbit throw himself off a cliff to his death, he didn't enjoy waking up anymore. He knew this feeling wouldn't last forever, but he was hoping it would've lasted at least a smidge longer than it had. Now his mornings were once more tinged with fright and unease. Now he awoke not to the feeling of sun on his fur or birdsong in his ear, no, now he awoke to the thoughts of death and destruction that could only have been so bad that they caused this rabbit, this unknown rabbit, to throw himself off a cliff in order to escape even just the memories of it. Number Two no longer woke up in the mornings feeling happy and rested. Back to business as usual, he supposed.
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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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