Her name was Carol.
She was a younger, dark grey rabbit, and lived at the very end of the shelving system, away enough from the core Collective that they didn't interact with her much personally. She kept mostly to herself, watching from a distance, wishing she could be more involved. She had a lot of opinions on what to do when Dodger had been "helping" them, and had even more opinions after The Incident, but was always too afraid nobody would be interested or would even listen to her. Still, Carol had an idea that she might, one day, become a valued member of The Collective, and maybe even someone other rabbits looked up to. Then, one afternoon last week, she was taken from her cage for a test. After a few days, they took her cage away. When it came back, it was empty and clean. Carol was nowhere to be seen. Number Two had noticed this first, and one night afterwards, found his way into Gerrys cage. Gerry was awake, sitting in a corner, cleaning his paws, but acknowledge Two with a quick nod as he approached him. "I take it you're here about Carol," Gerry said. "Surprised you even know her name," Two said, "But no, not really. I'm not sure why I'm here. I guess I'm here because of Carol, yeah, but, also not because of Carol, if that makes sense. Just...just another rabbit, gone, just like all the rest of them. Just like Steve. At what point will we simply become numb to loss." "You never become numb to loss," Six said, interrupting, letting herself into the cage, Kevin and Four following right behind her, "You just get used to it. Numb means that you stop feeling anything from it. But getting used to it...that just means you recognize this is normal at this point. That's what makes it sick." "I didn't know a damn thing about Carol," Two said, sitting down, "I knew her name, but I didn't know where she came from or what she'd done to end up here." "Generally nobody does something to end up here, it just happens," Gerry said, "None of us did anything bad, and yet, here we are. I think Carol probably suffered very much the same fate as the rest of us. She was taken from somewhere, maybe even a life she liked, and brought here." "Did you come from a life you liked?" Two asked, looking at Gerry. "Did you?" Gerry asked, glaring back at him before sighing and sitting up, "In lieu of what's occurred here, perhaps it's time we dropped this charade privacy and became transparent. If we're really going to be a family of any kind, we need to know more about one another. I was a gift. I was a gift to a little girl, because she was sick. Her aunt gave me to her to keep her company while her parents worked. She was my best friend, and she treated me so well." "You told me that you were returned to a pet store because of someones allergic reaction," Six said, interrupting him. "Obviously I lied. It's too painful to think about, so I made up a story to tell you. That's why when that little girl came into the lab recently, it made me so happy. She reminded me of my owner...that's where I'd like to go back to if we ever got out of here. I'd like to find another little girl to be friends with. Children take the best care of their pets, really love them, see them for what they actually are. Friends. The most loyal, loving friends you will ever have." "What happened to the little girl?" Four asked softly. "She's dead," Gerry said quietly, "So who wants to go next?" "Well, Kevin knows this, but, I was the companion of an older woman. She fed me treats, let me stay in her garden while she worked and we were such good friends. Then one day, she slipped in her kitchen and hit her head on the counter. She died instantly. Nobody came to the house for a while, and I had to sit there and stare at my friend, dead on the floor..." Four said, "So Gerry, I sort of know where you're coming from." "Well, my story is nowhere near as miserable as yours are," Two said, "I was just given to someone who works here by a relative of theirs. They got me thinking they could take care of me and after a few weeks realized they didn't have the time, so they gave me to THEM." Everyone went quiet and then slowly turned to look at Kevin, who wasn't looking at anyone. "Kevin?" Gerry asked, "You want to share your past with us? I think it'd help us understand one another more. Tell us, what brought you here?" "...I woke up in the forest, covered in blood," Kevin started, his voice low and slightly trembling, "I'd been attacked and chased from my burrow by some wolves who'd just come into the area. I wasn't sure what was going on when I woke up, just that I needed to get back...when I arrived back at my burrow...I found my child dead inside. They'd crushed her skull with their teeth. A little bit away from the burrow, I found my partner torn nearly in two. I became so despondent...I just...I just sort of wandered around for a while until I was caught by some people who were looking to bring rabbits in for the lab." Nobody said a thing. The entire mood changed. The air had soured. Gerry and Two exchanged a nervous glance while Four cuddled up to Kevin and pawed at him gently to show affection. Six looked behind herself, at her missing foot and sighed. "Well, there's no way anyone can top that," Two said. "The person who brought me here used to save animals from places like this," Six said, "She was part of group, a Collective, if you will, who went around and broke into places like this and saved animals from these fates. Eventually, she was caught, and all of us were taken away back to the labs we'd been taken from. This isn't the lab I was originally in. But, I think it goes to show, even the best of intentions can have the worst of consequences." The Collective sat around in the dark, in the silence, contemplating what had just passed between them. "Well there," Kevin said, "It's all out in the open now, I guess. Everyone feel better? Anyone feel closer to one another?" Nobody answered. "Yeah, I didn't think so," Kevin said, before turning and starting to head out, Four right by his side. Gerry, Two and Six sat huddled in a small circle, still none of them saying a word. Finally Two cleared his throat and sat up, perking his ears upright. "Well, then may Carol rest in peace, wherever she's at now," Two said, "Wherever it is, it can't be worse than this." "Amen," Six and Gerry said in unison. *** When Kevin was woken up by screams the following morning, he was still rather out of it. As he twirled around, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the bright lights, he wasn't sure what was happening, all he knew was that he could hear...Four? Four was screaming for help! Kevin shook his head, trying desperately for things to come into focus, and when they finally did, he ran to the front of his cage. THEY were in the lab, three of them, one of which was holding Four, who appeared to be covered in something, as she shouted at Kevin for help. Kevin couldn't get out of his cage now, though he wanted to, without causing confusion and trouble for the others. "Four!" he yelled back, as THEY headed through a door with her in their arms. "Kevin! Kevin! I love you!" "Four! What's going on?! Four!" he screamed, but the doors shut and she was gone. Kevin spun around in circles, unsure of what to think, what to do, where to turn. That's when he heard a voice from the end of his cage and swiftly spun to see Salt standing there. "Kevin-" she started. "Where are they taking her?!" he yelled, "What's going on?! What happened to her?!" "Kevin, calm down and I will explain everything and take you to see her," Salt said, "I was watching when it happened. It'll all be okay. I'll take you to where they're keeping her." "Where?" Kevin asked. "The Sick."
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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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