Six woke up to the clanging of something falling over. She forced her tired eyes opened, and noticed first off that she was not in the lab. She became quickly frightened, before noticing Dodger on the floor, dragging what looked to be string across the floor, and then looked up at her and nodded.
"Morning," he said. Six sat up and looked around. They were....in a house? In a bedroom? What in the hell was going on here? She sat up, scratched behind her right ear for a moment, and then bounced her way up to the front of her cage, where Dodger was rolling the string up around a needle, tying it tight. "Where are we?" she asked. "You were asleep when we left the lab this morning. We're in one of the scientists house. Apparently they're having a cleaning crew in your section of the lab this weekend, so we all had to vacate. Everyone took some rabbits to their place and we ended up here," said Dodger, as he slid the needle under some hay in her cage. "Be careful, don't hurt me with that." "Never," Dodger said kindly, smiling and nibbling on his paw for a moment. "Where's Gerry?" Six asked, and Dodger shrugged. "I don't know, I caught a ride in your cage and I've been digging around in this bedroom. Don't even know if he made it here. He might be in a different house," Dodger said, before scurrying back up the vanity desk and continued digging around, looking for supplies, it seemed. Six looked around the bedroom, and liked what she saw. Everything was peach or cream colored, and very calming. She sighed. Must be a female scientists house. Just then there was the sound of laughter, as the bedroom door opened. She looked up at the desk, but Dodger was already gone, hiding somewhere. The door opened slowly and two little girls came in, holding Gerry safely, stroking his fur before opening the door on Six's cage and putting him in there with her. She heard a female voice, presumably the scientist, from downstairs. "Girls! I'm leaving, let's go!" The girls scattered out of the room, laughing the whole time, which made Six feel even safer. She looked at Gerry, who looked rather content. He smiled at her, and she hopped over to him, and rubbed her nose against his, much to his surprise. "I was worried," she whispered, "I'm always worried now. After Kevin...how could I not be..." "I don't blame you," Gerry said, "You have every right to be afraid. But this is a nice, safe place. This isn't the lab. This is a home, and it's been a while since I was in one..." "That's right," Six said, remembering now, "You came from a home didn't you?" "Mhm," Gerry said, "I was an easter present to a child." "What happened?" Six asked, "How did you go from that to the lab?" Gerry lowered his ears and looked at his paws, his voice lowered. "Doesn't matter now," he said, "Her daughters are sweet kids. I miss being handled by kids. They're always so much more careful, more caring. They actually feel like you're important to them...I wonder if Kevin's ok." "He hasn't come back to the lab yet..." Six whispered, "...what if he's...like, he..." "He's not dead. He can't be. He's Kevin," Gerry said, "...but I think that was the last straw. We're getting out of there, and soon." "We are?...is that why Dodger is collecting stuff?" "Yep," Gerry said, "You won't have to be worried or afraid much longer Six, if you come with me I mean." "Of course I would. Screw legacy. Existence is far more preferable," Six said and Gerry smiled again. She leaned her forehead to his and shut her eyes. She felt safe with Gerry. She felt like he really wouldn't let her or the other rabbits down, and that he'd always protect them or at the very least, try his best to. For a few moments, the universe was beautiful and perfect, silent and wondrous, and then a loud *CLUNK* and they snapped their heads to the vanity table where Dodger was trapped under a glass jar being held by a teenage boy. He picked it up as the rabbits hopped to the edge of the cage and watched, terrified. The boy shook the jar and laughed at the scared little mouse. Dodger didn't scare easily, but people really frightened him, especially when they were in complete control. The boy tucked the jar under his arm and headed out of the bedroom, as Gerry looked at Six, who had tears brimming up in her eyes. "What do we do?!" she asked, her voice faltering, breaking. "I-I....I don't know!" Gerry said, "I should get him!" Gerry looked at the top of the cage, and noticed the girls hadn't latched it shut when they'd left. He looked at Six, and she was looking up at it as well. She moved under it, and he climbed onto her back and stood on his hind legs, then pushed the top open and hopped up, grabbing with his front paws and pulling himself up onto the top of the cage. He quickly hopped down and headed for the door when Six's voice called out, stopping him in his tracks and forcing him to turn back to her. "Gerry!...Be careful please," Six said softly, "Just be careful." Gerry nodded and ran quickly out the door and waited, one ear put to the ground, listening for movement anywhere. He heard something downstairs, and then heard a squeak, and realized Dodger was still upstairs. He headed in the direction of his squeaks and quickly found the jar on the floor in a bedroom at the far end of the hall. Gerry pushed the door open with his nose and entered quietly, just in case, and saw Dodger sitting under the jar. Dodgers eyes caught Gerry and he put his paws up against the jar. "Get out of here!" Dodger said, "Get out of here now! Before he comes back!" "I'm not leaving without you," Gerry said. "Gerry, just go. I got most of the supplies, you can do this yourself. You don't need me, now get out before he comes back!" Dodger said, and Gerry walked to the jar and nudged it with his nose. He shook his head, his ears flopping. "No. We're friends, and partners. We both need to be around in order to pull off this escape. We need you. I need you, Dodger. I can't do this without you," Gerry said, "I'm..." he glanced at his paws, his ears drooping, "I'm not smart enough. I'm not Six." "Gerry," Dodger said, "I appreciate the sentiment, but you really don't need me. Nobody will really miss me. Just go, man." Gerry knocked the jar over and picked up Dodger with his teeth. Just as they turned around to exit, they noticed the boy standing in the doorway, staring at them. Everything froze for a moment, and the perplexed face on the boy was enough to let Gerry know he would be telling his mother about this, but he couldn't have just left Dodger there. Gerry took off, and quickly darted under the boys legs as he grabbed for him. Gerry turned and headed down the hall, as Dodger directed him. "The kitchen!" he shouted, and Gerry turned again quickly, just eluding the boys grasp, as they headed down the stairs, and slid onto the linoleum floor in the kitchen, the boy right on their heels. Dodger pointed at the fridge, which was suspended a bit off the ground. "Under the fridge!" "I can't fit!" "Do it!" And he did. Gerry slid onto his side, Dodger still clenched between his teeth and went right under the fridge. He dropped Dodger and lay on his side, exhausted, panting. Dodger patted Gerry on the ear and laughed. "That'll do, rabbit, that'll do," he said. They waited there for a bit, and then the phone rang and the boy ran from his spot to answer. Once they heard a door shut, they knew it was safe to come out and head back to the bedroom. Dodger climbed onto Gerry's back as they began to head for the exit to the staircase, and Dodger pulled on Gerry's ears to stop him. "Ow! Careful with those!" Gerry said, and Dodger was pointing to the wall in the kitchen, where on a wooden plaque that read "Home Sweet Home" there hung keys. Car keys, house keys, whatever, and on one set, presumably to the lab, was a keychain. A rabbit foot. Gerry groaned and shook his head. "Steve..." he said under his breath, and then slowly trotted to the staircase and back up the bedroom. When he returned, Dodger climbed under the hay in Six's cage and didn't resurface for the remainder of their stay in the house. Gerry was able to make his way back into the cage, and laid down in a corner. Six approached him and nudged him with her nose. "That seemed to go well," she said happily, and Gerry just stared at her. "Nothing goes well, Six, you should've learned that by now," he thought, but he didn't say it. Instead her smirked and nodded. Six curled up by his side and snuggled up to him, happy and warm and safe for once. Dodger, after they were asleep, climbed out of the hay and made sure the room was empty before scurrying up to the windowsill in the bedroom and looking out at the world outside the house. He lowered his ears as he looked back at Gerry and shook his head. He stayed there for about an hour, just thinking. He then scurried back to the hay and went back to sleep.
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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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