The Rabbit's Den

Making a Nest

"We can't bring the girls here." Rhys said. His light was still shining on the burnt pile. Kaleb sat down on one of the beds, it squeaked under him. "It's a decent building Rhys. Doesn't look like anyone has been here in years." Rhys shook his light at the pile, "Did you miss the giant pile of human remains?" Kaleb ran his hand through his hair then sighed, "These girls aren't delicate flowers Rhys, they'll be happy to be safe and away from WOLF." Rhys' face twitched, "Not delicate? Then what's going on with Trixie? Is that a normal state for her to be in?" Kaleb's head went into his hands; he didn't know what to do. His voice came from under his hands slightly muffled. "We clean this part up, then we go back."

Rhys was in disbelief, "Clean it up? How do you clean up a huge pile of mass murder?" Kaleb brought his head back up. "For now we move the bones outside, just out of sight in the trees. Then after the girls are safe here we dig a pit. Burry them all." Rhys didn't like the idea, but he agreed. He shone his light on their prime suspect, "Except for this bastard, I say we leave his bones in the woods."

As the sun came up over the building Rhys and Kaleb stopped what they were doing to survey the area. It was nice, aside from the stream there had been a large area that looked like it had once been cleared. Tall grass and weeds covered it, but it was an intentional square, void of trees and rocks. It would be good to grow food in. They also found some basic gardening tools, most of the rakes and shovel handles had long rotted away. They were moving the bones in the most respectful way they could. Gently placing them in a large blanket they found and hauling them out into the trees. They carefully picked up the loose jewelry and occasional tooth that fell from the remains. The saved the body against the wall for last, and they laid it further in the trees away from the others. "What do we tell the girls?" Rhys asked as they began to walk back. "The truth." Kaleb said plainly, he wasn't going to lie to anyone.

Back at the small temporary camp some of the girls were already up and starting to pack away the tents. "Where's Ester and Trixie?" Kaleb asked Sadie who was herself rolling up a tent. She motioned to one of the still standing tents, "In there. How is the building?" Before he headed to the tent he replied, "Good, we're going to take them all there as soon as we're packed up." Sadie had a look of relief on her face. Kaleb opened the flap of the tent to find Trixie lying on her back, eyes closed and Ester on her side, arms and legs wrapped around Trixie. It reminded him of when Ryan would sneak into Trixie's bed and his heart suddenly felt heavy.

He knelt down to Ester and gently touched her shoulder. "Ester." He whispered. Her eyes shot opened, then relaxed when she saw Kaleb. "How was the night?" He asked her. Still groggy she looked over at Trixie, then carefully unwound herself from her. She sat up and rubbed her face. "Rough. After we got Trixie to lay down, she went out almost immediately. But she woke up three times through the night just screaming. She stopped when I wrapped around her." She sounded exhausted. "And how was it for you?" He asked. She looked distraught, "I've never been around so much silence and noise at the same time. I swear I woke up to every bug, and critter out here. Like I said it was rough." He nodded; he couldn't imagine how hard it was for her even without Trixie being out of her mind. "We are leaving soon, get packed up. I'll grab Trixie from here." Ester nodded and slowly stood up.

Sadie was waking up the rest of the sleeping girls, telling them to pack up when Rhys approached her. "Sadie, I need to tell you something." His tone alarmed her, so she walked with him until they were away from the others. "The building looks like it would be great, but Kaleb and I found some disturbing things there." Her eyes searched his face, "Like what?" He took a deep breath, "Bodies, burnt in a big pile inside. And what looked like someone who committed suicide after." Sadie looked mildly concerned, "Are they still there?" She asked. "We moved them all outside, Kaleb wants to bury them after we settle in." She nodded, "Sounds sensible enough." He looked at her strangely, "You're not bothered by it?" Sadie smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "Young man there is much in this world that I'm not bothered by. As long as they're treated respectfully, it's just another part of life. We are always borrowing land from the dead; we just usually don't know it." It made him feel better, she was right it's not like where he was standing now someone hadn't long before him.