I’ve been so busy lately but I finally got this finished! It’s a new POV by the way.

Stale bread. That’s all I’ve eaten for weeks and that’s what was served to me today. The guards tossed it onto my cell floor and I ate it hungrily. My teeth hurt as I gnawed the rock-hard loaf, but it was food. My gaunt body ached and I couldn’t help but wonder how much longer I could live like this. Footsteps raced down the aisle. Who caused trouble this time? I didn’t hear about anything.

“How many?” A buck’s voice asked.

“As many as we can,” replied a doe.

“There are more upstairs,” a young familiar voice said.

I sat up straight, I knew that voice.

“I know, but there are more guards up there, we can only take what’s on this floor. Danny, do you have the picks?”

I heard rummaging and then the sounds of metal on metal. More footsteps, only one rabbit this time, ran down the aisle toward me, pausing every so often. The footsteps were quick and light, a younger rabbit. My heart gave an excited leap, but I snuffled it quickly, I didn’t want false hope. The rabbit finally made it over to me. I couldn’t see her clearly, only a rough outline. She stopped when she saw me and came over slowly.

“Danny,” she said to the rabbit behind her. “Can we light a torch?”

“Luna?” the buck’s voice asked, confirming the doe’s question.

Although I couldn’t see, I imagine Luna nodded, because a dull light suddenly flickered across the young doe’s face. I squinted at the minimal light, my eyes so used to the dark. The young doe ran away toward the light and came back to me with it. I heard the other prisoners groan and mumble confusedly at the sudden light, we were constantly in the dark. I held up my hand and begged my eyes to adjust to the light, I wanted to see this doe.

“Danny, Luna, someone come do this one.” Her voice was on the brink of excitement, I heard the familiar tone of someone who wasn’t sure if it was safe to hope. Hope is a dangerous thing, I’ve learned. It keeps rabbits going, but it can also wreck someone when it’s taken away. I have also learned that you can’t take away hope that isn’t there. This doe seemed to know these things. She was trying not to hope.

Another rabbit came and began picking the lock of my cell. It finally dawned on me what was happening, we were being broken out! I lowered my hand and peered at the two rabbits. The door clanged open and I got to my feet. The doe slowly walked toward me, holding the torch out in front of her. We looked at each other for a moment, neither of us believing our eyes.

“Papa? Papa, is it you?” She asked, beginning to cry.

“It’s me.” I embraced my daughter for the first time in years. “Is Mandy here? Is she with you?” I looked around hopefully.

“N-no, Mandy’s not here.” Eve squeezed me tighter. “But you’re here now. I came to find you.”

It was a mistake to hope. A new sense of loss crashed over me, Mandy was gone, my sweet daughter was gone. It was like losing her all over again. I hugged Eve closer to me, trying to focus on this one good thing. Even if all else went wrong, Eve was here and she was alive.

“That’s the last one,” a different buck said.

“Good,” said Luna. “How are the explosives doing?”

“We’re about to set them off!” said a new voice.

How many rabbits were here?

All the prisoners backed away from the door and we were instructed to plug our ears. Even with them plugged, I couldn’t block out the ear-splitting bang that followed.

“Great!” said Luna to the bucks, it turned out there were only three of them. “Go help the Captain, Eve and I can take care of these rabbits. Just make sure to come back.”

The three bucks saluted and exited through the doorway.

“Okay, everyone, we’re getting you all out of here. Right outside this door is a gaping hole and we’re going to jump through it. It’s a small drop to the ground but you all can handle it. I’m going to need you all to follow my orders if you don’t want to be killed. Do you understand?” A general murmur of agreement followed. “Good. After that we’re headed for the woods, be expected to be chased and expect to have to fight.” She began pulling out knives that had been hidden in various parts of her clothing and handing them to the prisoners. “There’s an entrance concealed in the woods but we need to be sure that the enemy does not see where it is. If even one soul lives to see it, we are all doomed.” I gripped my knife tighter. “All right, everyone, let’s ruin this Victory Day.”

Cheers and whoops arose from the small crowd. New hope began to flicker inside of me but I pushed it away, best not to count on the impossible.

But Eve is here. A small voice said inside of me.

And Mandy is not. I argued back.

We stood waiting for a few more minutes, Luna checking for the right moment. We all had our pray marks on, the goal was to get as far as possible while blending in with the crowd. How we were going to do that after jumping out of a hole in the building, I wasn’t sure.

“Okay let's move,” Luna said.

We all raced out into the hall. I looked out of the hole. My heart ached for all the parents out there, even from here I could see the tear-stained faces of mothers and fathers. I squeezed Eve’s hand, maybe we could escape this place, maybe I could watch my daughter grow up and live a happy life. The thought was drowned out by a horrible screech. A falcon swooped low over the crowd and landed next to Winslow.

“Now’s our chance. Move!” A few prisoners cautiously jumped from the hole and blended into the crowd. “Keep going! Move it! Move it!”

“Luna,” said an exhausted-looking rabbit who had just entered the building.

“Captain, what are you doing here? Where’s Whitbie?”

“You were taking too long, I came to check that everything is alright.”

“Didn’t Danny and the others come to tell you? They were supposed to help you and then come right back.”

“No, I haven't seen them.”

Luna looked out of the hole and into the crowd. “Where are they going? Why aren’t they being cautious of the guards?”

The Captain, as Luna had called him, also looked out at the crowd. “Where are they? Oh, I see them.” He frowned. “Is Danny talking to that guard?”

I too looked in that direction. I found Danny and another buck talking to a group of guards, pointing toward the city’s edge.

“I don’t like this,” Luna said, frowning.

“There’s only two of them,” The Captain pointed out.

Eve pointed to the balcony where Winslow stood. Next to him was the third buck who was whispering Daggler.

“Oh no,” said Luna. “We need to move fast!” But the prisoners weren’t moving. “What’s the hold-up?” She moved to the edge, looked down, and cursed. There were many guards below us, swords at the ready. “To the front door!”

“I wouldn’t go that way if I were you.” I turned to see even more guards behind us, pushing us to the edge.

Eve squeezed my hand tight as we shuffled towards the edge, towards our death. The falcon gave another terrifying screech, but it was coming toward us this time. Death was inching near. I struggled to keep my footing as the crowd pressed in around me. I was forced to let go of Eve’s hand out of fear that I might pull her down, my heels were no longer on the ground. A guard shoved a rabbit which sent a ripple down the crowd to me. That was it. I fell out of the hole and down towards many waiting swords.

“No!” Eve’s scream haunted me as I fell. It seemed to go on forever, Eve’s screams, the air around me, swords waiting.

Why now? I wondered. Why after I had just reunited with my daughter? Why after I finally had hope? Why not while I lay in my cell, wishing for it to end? Why now?

Because it isn’t over yet. It was the same small voice from before, the one I tried to drown out so many times. It was the voice of hope.

I was suddenly tugged upward by strong sharp claws. They pierced my shoulder and I yelled in pain. A tug on my leg sent another wave of pain through my body and I grit my teeth. A rabbit was hanging from my leg and was now climbing up my body. Luna expertly climbed up to the falcon’s claw and began slashing. The bird screeched in pain and dropped me toward the ground. It was over as soon as it had begun, I was falling again.

Okay, so I’ve been trying to write without just flat-out saying what’s happening, like instead of saying “The stealth team helped Tuck betray everyone” I would let the audience put that together while reading, but just to make sure that wasn’t too hard to understand with the jumble of everything that happened, I thought I might as well put it down here 😁