The Rabbit's Den

The Den

Lenora couldn't stop Petra when she abruptly decided to turn and head back to the Den, she could only follow. Aurora decided to take her daughter and continue to the safe house the boarders had prepared.

"I don't understand why we are going back Petra, think about Hope and Faith." Lenora pleaded. "I am, but I'm also thinking about my friends." She stated as she walked on her red hair gleaming in the sunlight. "What do you think is there?" She turned to the aging woman, "Someone, anyone."

The Den was mostly intact, the blasts had blown dirt and debris outward. Craters riddled the grounds outside. Most of the windows out front had been shot out with the first group of men. Glass littered the floor inside. She stepped carefully inside, it was dark even with the mid-day sun shining in. "Looks like the power is out." She said to Lenora, who nodded in agreement. They worked together to turn the men they found over. Petra wished they could bury them, but neither were in any shape to dig that many graves. There wasn't any sign of life beyond the feral cats that ran when they approached.

Petra picked up a backpack from the ground, it was full of ammunition. Turning it over she dumped it and handed it to Lenora, "Get as much food as you can." Lenora took it and headed to the kitchen. Petra made her way to Trixie's room, inside she looked at all the books. She walked over to the table and spotted the sketch book. Picking it up she carefully flipped through it, illustrations of her, Kaleb, and Trixie's family filled most of it. She stopped on the last several pages; they were of Dr. Mullens, some graphic images of his death. Petra closed it and looked down, Trixie's bag was there. Grabbing the bag she shoved the book into it and walked out of the room.

Walking down the hall she saw another body with a heavy sigh she walked over to him. Knelling down she could tell it was Kaleb, face down. "No." she whispered, "Please give her this." As she went to grab him, she put her hand on his back, it rose. "Kaleb?" She rolled him over, his face was bloody and swollen from hitting the ground. "Kaleb, can you hear me?" He winced, but didn't answer her. Lenora appeared in the hallway hearing Petra. "Lenora go get some water, and towels!" She turned and ran back into the cafeteria.

When she returned she helped Petra take the sleeping infants off her. Petra soaked a towel and began cleaning Kaleb's face off. "Kaleb?" she continued to say his name over until he groaned at her. Once his face was clean she began to check him over, lifting his shirt she saw the vest. His hand grabbed hers, "Help me get this off." It took all his strength to get his jacket and shirt off, so she could unstrap the vest. It fell away exposing two enormous bruises on his back.

One of Kaleb's eyes was completely swollen shut, probably from his face slamming into the floor. His other eye barely opened, he squinted around, "Trixie?" Petra shook her head, "It's just us." "We need to get out of here." Lenora said. Petra nodded, "Let's get him to the hutch." Each woman had an infant slung to their front, and Kaleb's arms draped around their shoulders. Slowly they made their way to the hutch through the long tunnel. Inside the hutch was just as they had left it, WOLF had not found it. They got Kaleb to a bed and laid him down.

Aurora was greeted by WOLF when she arrived at the safe house. As they loaded her and her daughter into the vehicle a man grabbed her jerking her back out. "Where's the redhead, and the twin infants?" He demanded. She raised her chin and spit on him. The man slammed her into the tall side of the vehicle, "The redhead!" Remaining silent she glared at him. He stepped away from her and spoke to another. Her daughter was crying out inside the vehicle alone.

The other man opened the door to the back and grabbed the crawling baby girl. Aurora launched herself at him, but was stopped by the man who was interrogating her. "The redhead?" He boomed again. She looked fearfully at her child, "The Den, they went back to The Den!" He let her run to her child and they shoved them both back into the vehicle.

"What do you need Kaleb?" Petra asked as she held a wet rag against his face. "There is three pill bottles in my room. If there are any bandages and tape in the infirmary that as well." He leaned to the side and removed his sidearm; he dropped the magazine and pulled the last round out. "In the Armory there are a lot of these, grab as many boxes as you can." She nodded. "Let me feed and change the girls, then I'll go."

Lenora was helping her put the babies in the sling again, "You can leave them here with me. You would be able to move faster." Petra looked up at her, "I can't I don't want them away from me." Then she turned and climbed down the stairs to the door of the tunnel. She moved quickly but carefully not to jar the babies that slept. It was growing dark now, she had grabbed a lantern from the hutch and was slowly moving through the halls.

When she got to Kaleb's room she looked around for a bag or backpack, but couldn't find any. She grabbed the three bottles and started to the Armory, inside she found a duffle bag. It took her a while to find the boxes that Kaleb needed. She tossed several into the bag and made her way to the infirmary. As she was digging into the cabinet that she had seen Trixie pull gauze from a crunch came from behind her. She froze as several lights shined from behind her, dropping the bag she turned slowly.

Four armored men stood holding guns with spotlights on them, and they were all pointed at her. Knowing she couldn't do anything she held her hands outstretched to show she was unarmed. Within moments she was being loaded into the back of the vehicle with Aurora and her daughter. She looked at Aurora, her face was red and streaked with tears. "I'm sorry Petra." Petra turned away from her.

As the truck pulled away, an eerie silence fell over the Den and it's grounds. Spring had come in the little commune and green sprouts and buds peeked out among the yellow back ground. Much like it had been when Jacque had brought his family to this Mecca with the hopes of living for all, not just survival. Unlike the pristine emptiness then, inside amidst the broken glass and shell casings, bodies littered the floor. They would decay like the world around them already had. The rabbits were gone, smoked out and caged.