Kevin had never been a big believer in the concept of revenge, at least not until he was continually done dirty by seemingly everyone around him. When he had his family, he was a fairly peace loving rabbit, content with staying out of the worlds sight and not letting anger take control. But, much like Number Two had gone from being fairly logical to fairly emotional, Kevin had gone from being fairly calm to fairly enraged. He now felt the need for revenge, specifically against THEM, for all THEY had done, and not just to him, but to everyone else. To Ellen, to Mipsy, to Doug and, of course, to Steve.
It all came back around to Steve, eventually. If he thought about it long enough, which he often did, he usually wound up realizing that Steve's death was the moment that something inside of him snapped. From that second on, all Kevin wanted was to make THEM hurt the way THEY had made him hurt. He was sitting inside the little hovel where the young girl rabbit had taken up residence. She still wasn't speaking much to anyone, but she had at least begun eating. Sitting there, watching her sleep, Kevin felt a burning need to protect her, and protect everyone else around him. That's what made Geralds behavior so confusing to him now...when had Gerald gone from being the leader he so admired to being the wallflower he so despised. Kevin heard someone enter, and turned to see Number Six. "Is she okay?" Six asked. "She's doing fine, she hasn't done anything yet, but I'm going to try and talk to her when she finally wakes," Kevin replied, "...you still want everyone to stay together, right? You still want to take THEM down?" "Of course, I mean...Gerald has the right to feel the way that he does, certainly, but I also don't take it personally. I think, more than anything else, he's tired. He's burnt out. He's worn down. Whatever you wanna call it, he's pretty much finished, and frankly I don't think anyone could blame him." "He has done a lot for everyone, I suppose, but still...it just makes me sad," Kevin said, his ears laying flat, "I just want the Gerald we used to have back. The Gerald who would stop at nothing to protect those he loved, the Gerald who swore he'd fix everything. I miss him." Six patted Kevin's paw and nodded. "Yeah," she said, "Me too." *** No matter how hard he tried, Number Two simply couldn't shake the phrase "The Black Snakes". What could it mean? He racked his brain for hours at a time, trying to decipher this combination of words and came up empty time and time again. He didn't want to go with the obvious answer, a group of actual black snakes going around and killing entire burrows of rabbits, because that not only seemed unlikely but it was not possible for snakes to do the kind of damage, psychological or otherwise, that that rabbit he found had sustained. Why was everything so goddamned cryptic. Making his way towards The Hollow, he wondered how he was going to explain this to Gerald. He remembered the little girl rabbit who had shown up recently...this had to be the same thing that had happened to her. There was no doubt about it in his mind. As he approached The Hollow, he spotted Stone outside, chewing on something. He walked up to her and she glanced up from her midday snack, nodding at him. "How's things here?" he asked. "Could always be better," Stone replied, "Everyone seems tense, like they're waiting for a bomb of some kind to drop. Then again, that could just be everyones natural disposition once going through a lifetime of fear, so." "I have to talk to Gerald about something," Number Two said. "He should be inside," Stone said. Number Two started to walk into The Hollow when she called after him. "Number Two?" she asked. "Yeah?" he responded, turning to face her yet again. "...I actually need to talk to you about Gerald. He doesn't seem to be well," she said, "I'm worried about him. I've spoken with Nickel about it and, honestly, he seems to be worrying everyone. He's despondent and that's not normal for him. I worry that when the time comes, he won't be capable of leading everyone the way we need him to." "Gerald feels guilty about Dodger," Number Two said, "Despite all the rivalry between the two of them, he feels terrible about having him killed, and...and I guess on some level I can understand that. I think beneath all the back and forth one upping, the two had some weird mutual respect for one another, and I think Gerald misses that. He should be fine, he always bounces back, but at the moment, yeah, he might not exactly be feeling up to leadership." "Well, see if you can talk some sense into him. We're gonna need him," Stone said, "Whatever's coming will destroy us if we don't have him." Number Two nodded and continued into The Hollow, where he immediately ran into Mipsy, who directed him at Gerry. Gerry was sitting in the area where the little girl rabbit had been housed, talking about something quietly with Kevin. When Number Two entered, they stopped talking and turned their attention to him, likely surprised to see him. "Kevin, Gerald," Number Two said. "Paul," Gerry replied, "What're you doing here?" "I need to speak to you two about something," Number Two said, "...the other day, Minerva and I were out and we came across another rabbit, looked a lot like our new ward here. He was covered in the same markings, and even more traumatized than she seems to be. He was capable of speaking, but...he spoke in just nonsense sentences, he kept saying we had to leave the woods, that something was coming, that it was bringing evil to everyone who lived here." "Gee, sounds a lot different than most of what we deal with," Kevin said, making the both of them chuckle. "Seriously," Number Two continued, "We followed him to a cliff, and he wouldn't listen to me. I tried to talk him down, but he...he leapt off, took his own life. Minerva and I gathered his body and laid it to rest, but...god it was kind of traumatic honestly." "I believe it," Gerry said, "So you think the two of them have seen the same thing?" "Perhaps. He kept saying one thing in particular was coming. The Black Snakes," Number Two said, and this make Kevin and Gerry give one another a nervous glance. *** Six was sitting by herself, drawing with her paw in the dirt the layout of the part of the lab they had been in, when she noticed Mipsy come in and stop beside her. Mipsy stood for a few moments, simply watching her sketch it all out, before finally exhaling. "I think can help," Mipsy said, "I want to help. I not speak good but I remember lots of things about lab." "Mipsy, we appreciate all that you do, but we really don't want you to get hurt," Six replied, writing the phrase S7 into one area that she'd attached to the main lab room where the rabbits were housed, "You're calming and helpful, we want to keep you here, have you keep everyone else safe and relaxed when things go down." "That wrong," Mipsy said. "It's not wrong, and it has nothing to do with your brain, it's-" "No, that wrong," Mipsy said, pointing her paw to the S7 section Six had added, making Six furrow her brow and look at it, then back at Mipsy as she continued, "That not Special 7 section." "Yeah, it was, I...I stayed in it at times with the others. Ask Number Two. Even Ellen would've backed me up on this. I remember the place perfectly, that's where it was," Six said, but Mipsy shook her head and started adding a new square to the other end of the lab and wrote S7 into that box. "THAT S7," Mipsy said, "When I part of Special 7, that where it were. I remember not lot of things, but I do remember that." That's when it dawned on Six. That's when it finally came to her. "Oh, my god," she mumbled, "We never freed anyone else. We only freed our group. They...they have other areas, of course. That's how they're fitting so many new rabbits into one building. How did I never realize this before?..." she then turned and looked back at Mipsy, saying, "So, what else do you remember?" Mipsy smiled and perked her ears up, because, even with her brain issues, she knew Six would be impressed with this. "I know way in and out," she said. *** "Black Snakes?" Kevin asked, repeating the phrase, "What the hell is a black snake?" "Presumably it's a black snake," Gerry replied, "But if it's not, like Paul is saying it isn't, then I have no idea." "Could it be THEM?" Number Two asked, making them both uneasy, "I mean, nobody wants to admit it, but could it be? Let's face it, I stated before how empty the woods seem lately, how I haven't seen nearly as many rabbits around outside of The Collective, and then two back to back show up and talk about something evil? Something that's killing them? That sounds like THEM." "Why would THEY be killing random rabbits?" Gerry asked. "Maybe it's not random," Kevin said softly, Gerry glancing at him as Kevins eyes became worrisome, "...maybe it's meant for us. Maybe THEY just don't know where we are, and so THEY'RE just killing entire burrows hoping one of them will be ours." "That's genocide," Gerry said. "As if that's somehow below THEM," Number Two added. "Fair point," Gerry replied, "...still, that...I refuse to believe that even THEY would steep to that level. Why would THEY waste time and resources tracking down rabbits that got away, especially when we know for a fact THEY'RE bringing in so many new ones?" "Because THEY'RE scared," Number Two said, "Let's face it, we're not the easiest group of rabbits to kill, we know everything that went on in that lab. I think THEY'RE afraid of how smart we wound up being, and THEY don't want us interfering with anything else THEY might try and do. Maybe Kevin is right. Maybe it is THEM." "But even then, how...how could THEY be doing it? What the hell is a 'black snake', for fucks sake?" Kevin asked. "It's not just one," the girl rabbit finally said, shifting from her sleep, standing up; the three turned to look at her as she wobbled on her feet, clearly still unwell, "...it's not just one black snake. It's four or five of them, these long thick black snakes, they come in from above ground and they make everyone sick. They stink something fierce, and everyone loses their mind. Some drop dead on the spot, others kill friends simply to find a way out, but there is no way out, because if you make it out, you get taken." "...taken by who?" Gerry asked. "I don't know," the rabbit said, "I was able to get away through an underground tunnel, all I could see for a moment above me was whiteness, black shiny faces. It was terrifying. They took my friends, the ones they didn't kill first. That's all I remember." The three rabbits looked back amongst themselves and stood in silence, unsure of how to process this. Was it THEM? If it was THEM, how were they doing this? What were these black snakes THEY were using? Even Number Two, smartest rabbit around, was unable to come up with an answer on the spot. Just as he began to speak again, he noticed Kevins eyes widen and realized he was watching the girl rabbit beginning to bleed from the eyes and collapse to the ground, convulsing. The three rabbits quickly called for help, and huddled around her to do what they could. After a bit she stopped having her seizure, and she fell back into a deep sleep again. Gerald walked Number Two back out towards the front of The Hollow, neither one of them saying a thing. As they reached the outside, Stone was no longer there, and it was beginning to grow cold, night was approaching. Number Two shook his head, hating himself for not having seen this sort of thing coming. He looked at Gerry and sighed. "I should get home," Number Two said, "Any darker and it won't be safe to walk there." "You don't have to," Gerry said, "You can stay. There's plenty of room. There'll always be a place for you here, you know that." "I appreciate that," Number Two said, smiling a bit, "But I think I need to be away from this for a bit, mull it all over...Gerald, if it's THEM, you know we have to do something. Saving the rabbits won't be enough. We'd have to put a stop to it all. I think...I think Kevin is right, and we have to burn the place to the ground. Who knows if it'd stop them, but...THEY deserve to pay for what THEY have done to us, and to all the other rabbits out there now." "If we can trap THEM in the lab somehow, maybe, we could kill them all at once," Gerry said, "but...god it makes me feel like Dodger. I don't want to be Dodger. I don't want to do to THEM what THEY'RE trying to do to us. When is genocide ever an acceptable thing to do? Why's it suddenly okay if you're the presumed good guys? It's wrong no matter what, right?" "Sometimes, Gerald, violence might be the only answer if the other team won't respond with anything other than it themselves. Self defense is not the same as murder," Number Two said, "I know we're both rather moral, but...at some point, and some point soon, you're gonna have to decide what you're capable of doing. If you're not capable of pulling us through this, we'll do it without you. You can leave, like Crisp and Melvin, if that's what you need to do. Lord knows you've done enough. But this has to end, and it won't end until THEY are ended." Gerry shook his head and shut his eyes, with Number Two resting his head against Geralds. "Please don't leave," Gerry said softly, "I...I need you." "Okay," Number Two said, "Just for tonight." With that, the two rabbits headed back inside and settled into Gerry's quarters for the evening, alone. *** Kevin stayed in the girl rabbits room the entire night. Something about having lost his own family, having lost Ellen...it had made him so much more protective of the women in his life. He guarded Mipsy with an intense closeness, and he wouldn't let anything else happen to this rabbit either. He didn't know her name, but he didn't have to. What mattered was that she had suffered worse in one moment then they had all suffered combined throughout their time together. He let his thoughts return back to Steve, as they always did in these situations. He'd put Steve to rest, finally, but...but really he just wished his best friend was still here. He'd failed to protect him, or Ellen, and he'd never forgiven himself for it. Well that wouldn't happen again, he was going to protect these new rabbits no matter what. And if Gerald no longer wanted to do what had to be done, if that responsibility now had to fall upon Kevin, well, he was happy that he'd been taught by the best. He was certain in himself now, sure he could do whatever he set out to do, and all because Gerald had always told him he could. Always said he was a leader, deep inside. Turns out Gerry was right. Kevin walked to the girl rabbit and laid down beside her, watching her like a hawk, only to make sure absolutely nothing came in the night to take her. He would be there, he would be prepared, no matter what. Lying in the darkness, wondering what came next, he couldn't help but think about what Number Two had told them earlier, about the rabbit who threw himself off the cliffside. Whatever had happened to these two had terrified them so much, they were willing to end their lives simply to escape the memory of it. When he would finally be face to face with these 'black snakes', whatever they were, would he too choose that? The thought scared him, he admitted. He had seen so many horrible things happen already, lost his own foot in the process of everything, seen Number Two's ear ripped in half, what could possibly be coming that was worse than what they'd already endured? Kevin was curious, and also terrified to find out. Turns out it wouldn't be long until he did.
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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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