The Rabbit's Den

Tunnel Rat to Burrow Bunny

Kaleb, Walter and Cicero looked at the eroded entrance to the tunnel. "Do we know how bad it is yet?" Asked Walter. Cicero shook his head, "About thirty feet in is where it caved in, that we know about. It doesn't show from above, but I wouldn't walk over it. And with it still raining off and on nobody wants to go down. Can't say I blame them." Kaleb glared at Cicero, "I can't imagine why. It doesn't matter if nobody wants to go in, we still need to retrieve Rhett's body, remember him?" Walter nudged Kaleb in the rib with his elbow, "Settle down." Cicero's dirty look did nothing for Kaleb.

"The mud may actually be better to work in." Walter stated poking at the upper wall of the tunnel." This soil has a lot of sand, but there's a decent amount of clay as well. If we do real frames, every two or three feet, we can make it stable. And if it starts raining, we pull out immediately." He shot a glance at Cicero. His lips pulled tightly at Walter. "None of the men want to work on it anymore." Cicero blurted out. Kaleb began to walk towards him, but Walter reached out and grabbed him, pulling him back.

"Have one of your men go get Sky and Dove. Stop in on the other camp if Rhys can join us great." Walter said firmly. "You want to bring Dove here?" Cicero asked clearly surprised. "Tell her to dress like a man." Walter said still holding on to Kaleb. After Cicero stomped away muttering like an idiot Kaleb turned to Walter, "So that's the plan, the four maybe five of us take this on?" "You got a better idea kid?" He shook his head, "No sir, making sure I had it all. Wish I knew how they made the tunnel at the Den." Walter straightened up, "There was a tunnel at the Den?" "Yeah, but it was huge. Jacque said it was probably for body removal when it was a tuberculosis hospital. It went right under the river." Walter realized that idea wouldn't work for them, as there was probably more clay there.

Kaleb dropped into the mud, it mushed up around his shoes and he slowly started sinking up to his knees. "It's going to be worse the further inside we go." Walter said as he bent down with open hand to help Kaleb out. It took some time struggling to lift Kaleb back out, "I think we are going to have to wait until it dries out a bit more." He said scraping the mud off his legs and shoes. Walter stood up looking into the sky, "Pray it doesn't rain kid."

Someone had to be watching out for them, Kaleb was hesitant on the idea of God, but he didn't think it was by sheer luck he and Walter had made it out of the tunnel alive. He also couldn't credit luck for the fact that it had all but stopped raining. The mud had not dried enough to start working on the tunnel yet when Sky and Dove arrived. Walter made a good call asking for Dove to be dressed as a man. She wasn't in danger from her own men, but WOLF would investigate if she was spotted. She was sterile, but they didn't know that, and they would probably rip the camp apart and discover the tunnel.

Sky had brought a tin full of his special cigarettes and they spent the time waiting for the tunnel to dry collecting wood to make better frames. The other men in the camp weren't too afraid to help with that. Kaleb was disappointed in himself thinking these people had their shit together. They had a solid plan, but no idea on how to execute it. The tunnel was proof of that, and it had already cost one person their life.

"How far had you gotten when it flooded?" Dove asked. Walter folded his hands together, "Not sure, maybe two thirds the way, we were making good time." She nodded, "Well we can't make any more mistakes, we can't take any more risks." Sky nodded he head a seedy look on his face since he had arrived, "Kaleb I'm glad you knock the hell outta Cicero. Fucking coward." Dove looked at him annoyed, "Are you really still stewing on that Sky?" He looked up at his sister shocked, "What?" "We don't really have the time to be wasting it on daydreaming about beating up Cicero!" She snapped. Sky jetted up from his seat, "Look around sis, we have nothing but fucking time!"

Kaleb tried not to laugh; this wasn't his first experience witnessing sibling rivalry. Trixie and Ryan were best friends, but they had their share of arguments and fist fights, hell, sometimes Kaleb was even included in them. Sky was obviously right; he could safely stew on kicking the hell out of Cicero while they built the reinforcements. They really did have a lot of time to waste right now. Dove right now was just as impatient as Kaleb had been over a month ago, he got it.

They may have not been able to start digging, to finish the tunnel or retrieve Rhett; but they could start properly making the entrance stable. There was a heavier concentration of clay closer to the river, they would use it in between the frames and the ceiling as well as the walls. The threat of the tunnel flooding was still very real, even after they got into the city. There were no valves, or pumps that could be used. Walter knew that crank pumps had been used for years in the mines before gas and electrical pumps had been invented, but he didn't know how to make one; he doubted that there was anyone even alive from that era. They were just going to have to wait.