It was a quiet morning. The lab was virtually silent, and the only rabbit up was Gerry, talking to Dodger, who'd come into the cage and sat with him. Dodger was chewing on a piece of hay while Gerry cleaned his paws, letting Dodger yammer away.
"It's a bummer, it really is," Dodger said, "I want to escape, I want to help my friends escape. We're not that different from you guys, but it's just so hard. We're smaller, that makes it a little easier, but still..." "Had any plans?" Gerry asked. "Not particularly," Dodger replied, "I guess one night I'd slip out, open the cages, they'd help open other cages and we'd just run as fast as we could. Try to find an air vent or a pipe or something that'd take us outside. But there's kids with us, and who really knows how they'd adapt, you know? Sick as it is, taking a child from it's original habitat such as this, all they've ever known, and taking them outdoors, is just as bad as taking a child from its original habitat outside and bringing them here." "That makes sense. It's why a lot of us don't think about it much anymore," Gerry said, "Not many rabbits have actually come from the wild. It'd be kind of a culture shock. Finding their own food, shelter, and not knowing they're actually in danger." The lab doors suddenly opened, and Dodger quickly dove into the hay to hide, as Gerry hopped on top of the spot to cover him completely. A male scientist came in, opened Kevins cage and set him down inside, before shutting it and leaving once more. Kevin was shaking. Gerry hopped forward to the front of his own cage, and Dodger came crawling back out. "Kevin?" Gerry asked. He didn't answer. He just stared dead ahead. Gerry and Dodger exchanged a nervous glance. "Kevin? Hey, you alr-" Gerry started before Kevin interrupted him. "THEY had...his feet," Kevin said softly. "...come again?" Dodger asked. "THEY had...his...feet," Kevin muttered a second time, almost sounding like he was trying to make himself believe it still, and not just them. Something had clearly shaken him to his core, and for as removed as Kevin appeared to often be, that worried Gerry very much. "THEY had who's feet?" Gerry asked. A moment, and then Kevin stared directly at Gerry and whispered, "...Steve's." Gerry felt like he'd just been electrocuted. Why would THEY have Steve's feet? "THEY were just...hanging....around their necks...like jewelry," Kevin said, "Like some sort of proud trophy of a horrible beast they'd slain. Steve was my friend...this isn't how he should be remembered. He was a rabbit, not an accessory." "Fur is murder!" Dodger shouted, and Gerry nudged him. "Seriously, not now," he grumbled and Dodger snickered. "I wish I could take them from THEM, and...and maybe go bury them somewhere," Kevin said, "THEY had all 4 of 'em. All 4 of his feet. THEY called them 'lucky rabbits feet'. Lucky. For who? Us? I fucking doubt it." "...I can't even come up with a good response. I would like to have something at the ready, some sort of hopeful 'maybe they aren't monsters' sort of thing but...they ARE monsters...they're monsters. It wasn't enough to blow up Steve, but now they're wearing him like last years lab coats. That's awful. You're right, Steve didn't deserve any of this." "What were they doing to you?" Dodger asked suddenly. "I don't know. Taking information on me. They didn't do anything to me, but I think they're going to test something on me soon," Kevin said, "...Gerry do me a favor. If you're ever in a situation where you can take one of Steve's feet, please do so, and try and get rid of it." "I promise, Kevin." "THEY aren't going to let us go, Gerry," Kevin said quietly, "None of us are safe, all of us are expendable, and some of us won't live. No questions about right or wrong, no sense of morality, no debates. THEY blew him up, THEY took his feet, and THEY think that's fine. Smile, laugh, life goes on. Not for Steve, but you know." Nobody said a word for a few moments, and then Kevin sighed. "You know, I used to think we were better off staying here. That the outside world wasn't so great. A lot more to deal with, than what we have to deal with here. The difference I see now is that out there, we at least have a chance at survival. In here, we have no chances. We have no choices. We're just experiments, and that's all we'll ever be." Kevin yawned, scratched behind his ear with his back paw and hopped to the back right corner of his cage, plopping down into the hay and shutting his eyes tightly. Gerry looked at Dodger and neither one knew exactly what to say about it. Dodger shrugged, bid Gerry a goodnight, scrambled out the cage and up the wall back through the air duct as Gerry went to his cage corner to lay down. As he nestled himself deep into the straw, he glanced over at Six, who had had her back to them the entire time. "THEY broke Kevin," she said and Gerry's ears flew up. "I thought you were asleep." "THEY broke Kevin. If THEY can break Kevin, THEY can do anything," she mumbled. Gerry didn't even respond. Maybe Dodger was right. Maybe it was time to seriously start escape attempts. Yes, THEY had scared Kevin. But it wasn't the worst thing they'd do to him that week.
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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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