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I clumsily tried to put the harness on myself but all I could manager to do was tangle myself in it. Katy wasn't in the mood to watch me fail, she took the bag she finished packing and dropped in on the ground, then swiftly walked over to me to put it on correctly.

“Don't fidget!" Katy demanded as she untangled the harness and strapped me into it. “No let's go... but you're gonna have to walk yourself this time."

Katy was definitely in a hurry. I could barely keep up as we walked out of her room. My chest was finally starting to feel better but Katy's constant tugging on the leash wasn't helping. She practically dragged me down the corridor. We took a left and we ended up in the room with the cages. “Katy is that you!?" Nyanni's voice called out.

“NYANNI!!!" I screamed. “Is that you!?!"

“Shhhh..Shush Collen! Nyanni! Everyone calm down and be quite, we have to leave!" Katy demanded.

“Where are we going?" Nyanni replied.

“Out of here." Katy said as she opened Nyanni's cage. “You going to have to follow us on foot, I only have so many hands. Here, we'll use this shirt, you'll have to give your baby a piggy back ride out of here. I'll tie her on your back." She said as she pulled a shirt she had packed out of her bag.

Katy put my baby on Nyanni's back and wrapped the shirt around her and the baby and tied the sleeves across Nyanni's chest to secure her.

“She's a bit heavy for me to carry her like this Katy.." Nyanni said begrudgingly.

“You'll just have to make do; I can't hold everyone." Katy said. She picked up Nyanni and our child and placed her on the floor next to me.

She grabbed her bag again and we started out the door again. Down the hall I could hear a commotion. People murmuring and footsteps heading our way. Katy rushed us out of the room. We took a left and then another. Down a hall, right turn, then down another hall. We were in such a hurry. I looked back and I could see Nyanni struggling to keep up. She was ready to leave this place too and was more than willing to put in the effort. She must have felt something in Katy's voice that told her we were in trouble. Katy typically has a more tactful attitude. But now she was all business.

For just a moment we slowed down, just long enough for katy to kick a door open to the outside. It was raining again. Outside was dark and windy and wet. I could only get a view of the world for the split second between lightning flashes. Katy cried out over the sound of the storm, “Just follow me!"

“Nyanni come on!" I hollered back to Nyanni who was barely paying attention. She was trying to catch her breathe when Katy opened the door. She bared down, closed her eyes and charged out of the doorway.

“Where are we going?" I shouted at Katy, but I got no response. Katy was laser focused. We worked our way up a muddy hill. Nyanni, trailing behind, was having a lot of trouble. Between the thunder cracks and wind howling I could faintly make out the sound of our child crying. No doubt this was terrifying for a baby, with the wind, noise, and bouncing around. I was having trouble myself trying to get up a hill but Katy kept yanking me up with her. Katy made it to the top first, she looked down at me, I was still watching Nyanni, and Nyanni was 10 feet from the top struggling for every step.

“Collen, I have your leash, grab a hold of her and I'll pull you both up!" Katy yelled above the noise and rain.

“Nyanni! Just get to me and I'll help you up!" I called out, Nyanni mustered the last of her strength to fight against the mud and got up to me. I wrapped my arms around her as tight as I could then Katy pulled us up by my leash. Perhaps the leash was helpful in this one instance, but I would still rather she didn't belittle me like this. Once we were at the top, we all caught our breath. Katy tossed her bag to the mud and plopped down on her butt to rest.

“I'm a scientist… not a mountaineer…" Katy said with heavy breath.

“How much farther?" I asked.

“It's still a ways out, but no more hills. There is a dirt road…or trail.. or whatever you want to call it. Should lead right to the house. We have to hurry if we want to keep from getting caught."

“A house? Where are we going?" I asked.

“You'll see soon enough, just get up and lets go!"

“Nyanni, are you OK?"

“Nyanni will have to be OK, we have to go!" Katy interrupted in a stern voice I hadn't heard her use in quite some time. She definitely felt the severity of the situation much more than we did. Much more than we could understand. It's likely she finally felt her freedom on the line. Why should we care about her though? Our freedom had been taken away long ago; let her suffer for all I care. But I wasn't in the position to argue. Besides, maybe if its just us and Katy, me and Nyanni could find a way to escape from her and really be free for once.

I tried to encourage Nyanni to keep digging for strength, “Nyanni, come on! We're not leaving without you! It should be easier from here on out." A recently pregnant bunny does not make the best hiking companion. Nor does a panicking lab rabbit.

We walked for about 20 minutes along the dirt road Katy led us to. We were all tired, wet, and covered in mud. The baby had stopped crying, perhaps asleep? Hard to imagine she could while being rained on. In the distance the waving trees finally gave way to grass and the lights of a house peered through the rain like a beacon. As we got closer, I realized where we were. We were back at the Hare Ranch. Lizzy's truck was no where to be found. Just what looked like a red Toyota Corolla was left in the driveway. There were a few lights on in the house, but it was awfully dim. We walked through the muddy driveway and climbed the stairs to the porch. I turned back to make sure Nyanni was still behind us. She was barely keeping up. I went to her as far as my leash would allow to help her up the stairs. Once she finally made it up she just collapsed on the porch breathing heavily.

Katy knocked on the door ever so slightly, as though she didn't want to make too much noise. The dim light glowing through the window turned brighter and cast a vast beam into the driveway. Erin opened the door wearing pink plaid PJ's, “Oh my god! Katy!!! What a pleasant surprise!!"

“Shhhhhh..Shush!" Katy demanded. “We need a place to hide."

“Oh… right right, come on in." Erin capitulated.

Katy immediately started walking inside dragging me and her bag with her. I wanted to help Nyanni who was still laying on the porch with our baby tied to her back. I looked up at Erin, “Can you please help Nyanni?" Katy was still dragging me away. I kept looking back to make sure Erin was helping her. Erin was a sweet girl and was more than happy to help. She picked up Nyanni and our baby, walked inside and closed the door.

We were all soaking wet. What water our clothes couldn't absorb our fur did. The wood floor of the house was now home to a trail of water and mud that led from the front door to the kitchen. At least it would be easy to clean; we were polite enough to avoid going to the living room carpet. Erin placed Nyanni on the floor with her baby there in the kitchen, “I'll have to run upstairs to get some towels for you all."

Erin walked out of the kitcken and up the stairs to get some towels, I looked up to Katy, “Why did you take us here? If Lizz gets back she'll turn us in to the Abbess for sure!"

“Don't worry little one, I've been keeping tabs on this place for a while" Katy said confidently. “Lizz left shortly after you were turned in and hasn't been back to the ranch. Erin is trustworthy, albeit a little naïve."

“We aren't that far from the burrow… we should get out of here…" I said. I avoided eye contact with Katy out of shame of my own fear.

“haha! No we are far from the burrow, just close to lab. Did you think we were at the burrow?...haha!" she replied with a hint of smug. Katy knelt down to get closer to eye level with me, “Now, we have no money, nothing to exchange. If I get caught outside for any reason, we're fucked, and you and Nyanni's forms are too weak to be too terribly useful. We are going to have to rely on Erin for quite a bit from here on out. I know her well, she and Lizz have been my primary source for supplies for the Lab for years; and power come to think of it…"

“So Erin is willing to help us? We haven't even explained to her what happened." I explained.

“Well… I know Erin pretty well. And she has a thing for bunnies so… I don't think that should be a problem…haha" Katy said, just as Erin started walking down the stairs with the towels.

“Hey guys I got the towels!" Erin started tossing the towels to us and one on the floor for Nyanni. I tried to go over to Nyanni to help her out but the leash stopped me just short of reaching her.

“Katy, can I get this damn leash off please?" I demanded.

“Language Collen… we are guests after all…Bad boy!" Katy said giving a light yank to the leash as punishment. She left the leash connected to the harness but took the harness of instead. A much better idea, the harness had been digging into my arm pits and chest the whole time.

“Here Nyanni, let me help you." I said as I started to take our child free from her back. Our baby slipped gently to the floor and was still asleep. I took the towel and started to dry Nyanni off. Nyanni looked up at me. I could see the exhaustion in her eyes but also a sense of relief now that we were finally out of the lab.

Once Nyanni was sufficiently clean, I took this chance to grab her face and bury my snout into hers. Nyanni was taken a bit by surprise but ultimately succumb to it.

With a brief disconnect of our lips I said, “I missed you so much Nyanni…"

“I missed you too Collen. Don't leave me again!" she replied. I laughed a bit inside; her banal platitude flew in the face of facts. I never had a choice in leaving her all the previous times. Though I knew what she meant and hugged her more tightly all the same.

While me and Nyanni were taking advantage of the moment, the doctor was conferring with Erin. Erin had a big smile on her face, her hands clinched together in front of her chest while Katy was speaking too faint for me to hear.