Maine: Ice-olation

First posted to alt.devilbunnies 18-22 January, 1998.
This story covers the basics of what happened in the State of Maine during the The Great Ice Storm of '98 and how this natural 'disaster' affected my characters in Maine.

© 1998 by Scott Bernier
First HTML-ized 27 January, 1998

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Monday, 5 January, 1998

"Good evening, the WCTB forecast for greatah central Maine is as follows: Light mixed precipitation overnight, tapahing to snow flurries by mid-day Tuesday. Overnight lows will hovah around the freezing point. Tuesday afternoon, fair with highs in the mid-30's throughout the region. Tuesday night, clear, lows in the mid 20's. Wednesday, freezing rain and sleet moving in by noontime. Wednesday night into Thursday, windy with more freezing rain and sleet, lows in the upper 20's, highs in the low 30's. The National Weathah Service has already put-out a warning that this will be a SIGNIFICANT ICING EVENT, meaning at least a half inch of ice is possible. What this means is that there maybe downed tree branches due to this icing, which in turn, can break power lines and cause power outages. Bettah batten-down the hatches. This has been Mainely Weathah meteorologist, Eugene Pomerleau, for WCTB radio."

Eugene sighed as he hung-up the phone line and looked at the computer models again. For once he prayed he actually was off the deep-end on this forecast and that the models were wrong. Elmer, he was even agreeing with the Weather Service folks, not one of whom were native Mainahs.

Wednesday morning, 7 January--Maine Fudd Volunteers, HQ

Eugene gazed out the window as the freezing rain started at 10am. He was off by only a couple of hours. He stared at the computer models, which had not changed significantly in the past 48 hours, except the moisture potential had increased four-fold. He picked-up the phone and called-up an out-of-state weather firm who he had contracts with to help cover their territory in times of trouble and vice versa and fill them in on the situation in Maine. He looked-up and met the gaze of the brown bunny who hopped to the entryway of his office.

"Come in, Steve."

Steve looked at Eugene with deep concern on his muzzle. "Are you sure you're right about this, Gene?"

Eugene sighed. "Pray that I and every other meteorologist in the northeast is wrong, Steve. Otherwise we'll find-out if you and Cathy can ice skate as well as bunny propaganda Disney films claim.

Noontime--Nahmakanta Lake, Maine Wilderness

(annoyflick) "What do you mean they left on patrol before getting a weather briefing?!?!? Couldn't they feel the change coming? Call them back."

(appologyflick) "I've tried, Ash. They appear to have a bad radio, or they don't have it on. We could give-out a warning scree, but they're miles from here by now and probably won't hear it. All we can do is pray the Spirit watches over them."

(sighchitter) "I hope they make it through this. I want everyone else advised to move to the warren on a moments chitter."

The other squirrel nodded and scampered-off, leaving Councilor Ash to herself, gazing across the frozen lake, praying that the scouting party would be alright.

Midafternoon--Whitneyville, just west of Machais, Down East Maine

Mariel bounded into the house and tossed her bookbag on a chair.

"I'm home, Mom! Guess what!" (pause) "They've already canceled school tomorrow because of the forecast." (sigh) "But I've got extra homework to do because of it." Mariel enters the kitchen looking about. "Jerry? Mom, have you seen Jerry?"

"He stepped-out, dear. He said he'd be back soon. You can always get started on your homework until he gets back."

"Now where could that bunny have gone?"

"He said something about going to see some of his friends for a couple hours."

"Oh." Mariel half-dejectedly retrieved her book bag and proceeded upstairs to her room.

"Things are going well with Mariel and her family," Jerry noddled to the other bun. "I'm making more progress with Mrs. Haynes, then with Mariel's dad, mostly because her dad works such long hours."

(praisefluff) "You're doing very well, Jerry. And you'll have extra time tomorrow. I've heard they've already canceled school."

(excitedfluff) "Really!? That means I'll have more time to spend with Mariel!" (hop) Jerry glanced at the carrot-shaped clock on the wall. (dismaypoof) "I'm late! I've got to get back. Mariel must be wondering where I'm at."

Jerry rushed-out of the small outpost warren and started making his way back towards the Haynes residence, a half-mile away. He found the rain discomforting, but put-up with it, knowing that he'd be able to warm-up by the woodstove at home.

*****BUNIX™ TIGHTBEAM TO BROWNY CRIMSONPAW*****

Sir,

Jerry is progressing superbly. He has not only been educating Mariel on the finer points of symphood, but has apparently been swaying her parents towards bunnydom also. Enclosed is an updated report on his progress since our last transmission.

Taffy, Whitneyvillewarren field operations.
*****END MESSAGE*****

Early morning, Thursday, 8 January--Maine Fudd HQ, China, Maine

"Sir, we just lost contact with North Deering Outpost..."

Eugene shook his head. That was the third Fudd base they had lost contact with since the start of the freezing rain. He gazed out the window. Already an inch of ice had coated all the tree branches. He was thankful that they currently didn't have any squirrel scouts on base at the moment. They would have been forced to remain cooped-up in the barracks. As he stared out the window, he watched another ice encased tree branch fall and shatter like glass as it struck the ground.

"Sir..."

"Let me guess, Private. Lewiston..."

"How'd you know, sir?"

"They'd be next on the list, Private...."

CREAK....CRASH. Everything went dark.

"Sir..."

Eugene stared at the private. "No need to tell me, Jennings, the world just lost contact with us, correct."

"Yes, sir....generators should be firing-up in about a minute..."

Eugene watched from the window as a couple Fudds rushed towards the barn out back, prop the door open and start-up the '72 Buick propped-up on cinder blocks that was used as the base generator. Blue smoke shot-out from under the car body as the lights came back-on almost instantly, but he knew it would be more then a minute before he'd know more as the FALCON VI rebooted. He wasn't about to give only half of a report to the Major. While waiting, he put his jacket on and went outside into the mess.

"Look out!" a Fudd cried.

Eugene looked-up and dove-aside as a 2 inch thick sheet of ice about 2 feet square fell-off the roof and landed where he had been standing in front of the doorway. The sheet broke into 6 or so pieces as it crashed onto the doorway threshold. As he rolled-out of his dive, he looked-up to see the communications tower, or what was left of it for that matter, a twisted hunk of ice-enwrapped metal. And of course, it fell on top of the satellite uplink. He got-up and looked towards the roadway where an ancient maple had fallen across the roadway, taking the powerline and two telephone poles with it.

"Great.." Eugene mumbled to himself. As he turned-around another ancient maple crashed through the roof of the storage garage, his brother kept his '78 Buick in. "Chris isn't going to be a happy camper..." he mumbled as he made his way back into the farmhouse and made a beeline for the Major's office.

As he passed through the communications center, the private at the controls called-out, "Sir..."

"No need to report, Private. The communications tower and satellite dish are scrap. The powerlines out to the road are down also..."

"At least we've still got a phone line, Sir."

"Thank you, Jennings. If anyone needs me, I'm giving a briefing to the Major."

About the same time--Nahmakanta Lake

Aldin rolled-over in his sleep as the ancient oak swayed in the wind. He mumbled in his sleep. Ash snuggled-up next to him lost in her own dreams. The other couple who had been assigned to sleep with them had discreetly moved elsewhere so the two of them could get closer to one another. Ash suddenly bolted-up at the sound of a branch crashing just outside the nest. Then she felt the tree shift under her.

SSSCCCRRREEEEEE!!!!! she shrilled at the top of her lungs as the far wall became the floor. Between her shrill, being thrown against the far wall, and the sound the oak made as it crashed, Aldin was definitely awake now. While he rubbed sleep out of his eyes, Ash made her way to the entrance, which (fortunateflick) was facing sideways and not down. She let-out a series of chits and chatters to alert all the other free squirrels of Namakata to make their way to the warren for shelter.

Aldin yawned and bounded next to her. "How bad is it?"

"Look for yourself." She gestured with her tail outside just as another three branches from a nearby maple came crashing-down, spraying them with ice.

Still a bit groggy, Aldin stared at his own tree. "I never thought I'd see the day...guess we'll have to look for a new nesting spot this spring. Come-on, we had best get down below with everyone else."

(concernflick) "I hope the scouting party is alright."

"I'm sure they are, Ash...."

Noontime, Thursday, 8 January--Whitneyville

"They've canceled school for tomorrow already!" Mariel called- out as she and Jerry listened to the portable radio. They had been without power since about midnight. The outside door opened and Mariel's father came in with a grim look on his face.

"DAD! You're home!"

"How's my little girl?" He hugged her and then ruffled Jerry's fur.

"Just fine, Dad. I just wish we could have had snow. It's tough being stuck in the house like this." (pout)

"I know, but at least we're safe here. It's not pretty out there and I'm afraid we're not going to have power for some time. You know the real, real tall powerlines? The big ones just outside of Machais?" Mariel nodded. "Well a couple of them look like burnt matchsticks, dear. It'll take some time for them to fix those."

Jerry (dismaypoofed) as Mariel's mother came into the living room.

"The Browns have a generator but no woodstove," Dad continued. "So they're going to move in with us until this is over. We're going to share resources. I just have to go help them drain their pipes so they don't freeze. I'll be back shortly."

By late afternoon two other families, the Farringtons and the Ogdens joined them. Other families teamed-up at other households in Whitneyville prepared to get a little friendlier then normal with their neighbors for the next few days.

That evening, Mariel's mother was in the kitchen preparing a pot of coffee for the woodstove when she heard a scratching at the kitchen door. She answered it to find a beige bunny on the kitchen step. This didn't faze her much for Jerry had explained that not all db bunnies lived with humans and there was a group of such bunnies near Whitneyville. Jerry had made several trips to see them during the day while Mariel was in school.

"Jerry, it's for you!"

Jerry had a hard time containing himself when he saw the bun at the door and stepped-outside to talk to it, closing the door behind himself.

"What are you doing here, Taffy?" (concernruffle)

"The warren has lost power, Jerry. So, no heat or water until it can be restored. Despite our pleas, we're too small a warren to warrant emergency rehook-up. Or at least that was the last reply we got before we lost communications. We won't get our power back any sooner then the humans."

(sighpoof) "They just announced on the radio that some of the outlying areas may not get power back for two weeks...and Mr. Haynes said that the major transmission lines outside of Machais are damaged real, real bad."

(worriedfluffle) "It's too icy to transfer the entire warren back to Cherryfield, which has problems of its own." (scuffpaw) "I don't suppose the Haynes would be willing to put a few of us up. Some of the others have gone to other homes where we know the humans are bunny friendly."

(nervousfluff) "If it was just them, I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem, but there are three other families here also..." Jerry filled Taffy in. "If you still want to risk it, I'll ask."

(bigBambieyespleadfluff) "Do so."

Ten minutes passed. Jerry pleaded, crying big bunny tears and got Mariel to help him to sympathize for his poor friends and finally Mariel's parents agreed to let three db bunnies stay for the duration of the storm. Taffy was excited to hear the news and hopped back to the warren immediately to get two other recruits and to see how the others who went asking at various homes for help faired.

"Now remember," (STOMP!) "No toe nibbling whatsoever. We won't be able to keep warm for long if we start eating our hosts. Also we have a golden opportunity to sway more to our cause, but only if we behave. Frith be with you."

By 8pm, there were 4 bunnies and 16 humans in the Haynes house. By 10pm all four buns, Jerry included, were all fluffed-out from being petted and cooed at and fell asleep in a pile around Mariel and three children from the other families.

Mid-Afternoon, Friday January 9--Maine Fudd Volunteers HQ

Major Blake hopped back and forth in the communications center in agitation. The communication equipment was useless. The main antenna and uplink had been destroyed and there was too much ice build-up on the secondary equipment. He had already given the order that no one was to venture outside alone after eight of his men were sent to Doc due to injuries from falling on the ice or having ice fall on them.

"Major?"

Steve didn't reply other then a "hmph" as he turned in his pacing again.

"STEVE?" A foot stepped in his way, blocking his path. He looked-up at Eugene. "Go home. I'll hold-down the fort. Nobun sane would be out there with all those branches and that ice falling. Spend some time with your family."

Steve sat for a moment and (sighpoofed). "You'll let me know as soon as we have communications again."

"Of course, sir."

Steve nodded and hopped-out and headed for the front of the farmhouse that served as his family's living quarters.

Once he was sure Steve was out of hearing range, Eugene turned to the private working on the equipment. "Enough, Jennings. There's no point to doing that until that ice outside melts a bit. I want three men shifts in here monitoring the radio to be relieved every 4 hours. If something changes, I want to know immediately." John nodded as Eugene headed to his own office and dug-out a book to read by the kerosene light and turned-on the transistor radio.

About the same time--Whitneyville

"...I got a ring!" Mariel squealed with delight. Everyone else quieted down in the other room and turned-up the volume on the transistor radio a little.

"WWBX and WABI, Hi you're live on the air with STORMWATCH..."

"Hi!"

"Hello, can I ask who's calling and where you are calling from?"

"My name's Mariel Haynes and I'm in Whitneyville..."

"Whitneyville? Wait, I know where that is, it's over by Machais..."

Mariel nodded her head, then remembered she was on the phone. "Yes, we've been without power since yesterday and Dad says it doesn't look like we'll have any for some time."

"Oh, we've got a woodstove and we've got a generator to run the well pump thanks to the Brown family. They've moved in with us until we get our power back. The Farringtons and Ogdens have also moved in with us."

"Wow, sounds like you've got quite a crowd over there."

"Uh huh.."

"So, do you have any tips for the other listeners out there?"

"Don't sit at home alone. You'll get real bored."

"And how have you and the others passed the time."

"We play cards and tell stories. Then I play with Jerry and his friends..." Jerry looked at Mariel in panic.

"Is Jerry your brother?"

(giggle) "No, silly, he's my pet bunny..." Now Jerry was waving his paws frantically. (pause)

"You still there, Mariel?"

"Yes, but I have to go. Mom wants to talk to you."

"Ok.."

Mariel passed the phone over and Jerry leaped into her arms.

(concernedpoofsnuggle) "It's real, real important that you don't tell the outside world about us!"

Mariel pouted. "Oh yeah. I'm sorry, I forgot those bad men might be listening in..."

Maine Fudd Volunteers

Eugene sat frozen for a moment as he had just heard the little girl's voice on the radio and then her mother explaining to the listeners that to make perculated coffee on the woodstove you let it perk for no more then 8 minutes. He said a silent prayer to Elmer and made a note to give to the Major once things got a little more normal.

Early afternoon, Saturday, 10 January--near Maine Fudd HQ

"Over theere way!"

"Are zou sure?"

"Oui, I got zee faint readINg."

The group of Lumberjack Fudds fanned-out. All were wearing hard helmets to protect against the falling ice. The skies had cleared that morning and the temperature had risen to the low 40's. They were on patrol for the base cuton geometer network had been knocked off-line like everything else thanks to the storm. Occasionally, a shower of ice cube sized ice chunks would fall out of the trees above them.

"Over here!"

The others rushed over to there comrade to find about 20 bunnies encased in ice. All had met a grizzly end under a huge 12 inch maple branch that had crashed-down upon them. The fortunate ones had been crushed instantly, the rest froze to death, pinned under the branch.

"Start diggINg so we can dispose of the bodies."

"Wait...I've got another faint readINg...over zeere," the Fudd pointed to a pine about 40 feet away.

"Be careful, she could be ZEe trap, NON."

The Fudds fanned-out and approached the tree. They could see a hollow at the base of the ancient white pine, mostly blocked by ice.

"It eeze comINg from within, sir."

"Bon...stARt diggINg. You two, keep your shotguns ready, just in case."

Within the hollow, a snowshoe rabbit huddled against the cold. He could no longer feel his tail or hindpaws as he violently shivered, conversing with the Black Rabbit, pleading with him to take him away from the cold and let him rejoin his platoon. The Black Rabbit only stared at him, and shook his head in the negative. A spade head struck down into the entrance.

"Come on out, Fluffah!"

The bunny didn't hear the voice at first. He had already resigned himself to death, but death denied him so far. Death had taken the rest of his platoon but had tortured him, letting him suffer alive. He turned back to the Black Rabbit to plead again, but he had vanished. He did hear the voice the second time.

"We know zou ah in there, fluffah, come-out!"

(weakvoice) "I'm coming-out...just..just do it quickly..." (pleadfluff) The bun dragged himself out of the hollow into the sunlight and collapsed, welcoming oblivion, giving thanks to the Black Rabbit for finally answering his pleas. Two Fudds approached the bun cautiously and examined him.

"He eeze alive, but barely. Just about frozen to death."

"Wrap him in a blanket and get him to Dr Matthews."

"What?"

"You heard me, private. I'm sure the Major will want to question him and he can't question a corpse."

"Oui!"

That Evening

"I've got him wrapped in an electric blanket inside the security cage, but he's still unconscious, but should live."

"Should?"

"Well, he lost his tail and part of his rear paws and eartips to severe frostbite. It's a wonder the bun was still alive when they found him, Gene. I've clipped his front claws for safety, but there isn't anything I can do about his fangs short of defanging him. He's on an intravenous drip, due to dehydration. It'll be at least three days before I'll allow anyone to attempt to question him."

"Thank you, Doc. I'll let Steve know."

"No you won't, doctor's orders. He's been too stressed lately. No need to give him more stress until my patient is well enough for questioning. The Major needs his rest too."

'"Very well, Doc."

Mid-morning, Sunday, 11 January--Maine Fudd Volunteers

The bun within the blanket stirred. He felt warm all over. So this is what heaven was like, cuddled in Frith's bossum! At least he wasn't cold anymore. He tried to wiggle his tail, but couldn't feel it. He opened his eyes and realized he was in hell as he stared-out of a wire cage at an elderly human.

"I see my patient is finally awake. What's your name?"

The bun stared at him, still a bit groggy and not willing to cooperate with monkeys.

The human sighed. "I'm Dr. Matthews, but folks around here just call me, 'Doc'. You nearly froze-to-death. You had severe frostbite on your tail, hindpaws and ear tips. I'm sorry, but I had to amputate them."

The bun (shockpoofed) as he looked-down and saw that the last inch of his rear paws were missing and wrapped in bandages. He felt behind himself to find a bandage where his tail had been. He lowered his ears to see similar bandages on them. He flexed his forepaws and found his claws had been clipped and glared at the monkey anew.

"Yes, I clipped your claws for my safety. You'll also find it's not in your best interest to bite through the wires. They're hollow and filled with blessed urine. I didn't like that, but the Sergeant insisted on using the cage for my personal safety."

"So I'm at the Fudd base?"

"If I answer your question, will you give me your name?"

"Mustard..."

"Yes, you are a guest of the Maine Fudds." Doc physically calmed a bit getting over the initial fear that his patient would have attempted to rip through the cage, killing itself, rather then hear him out first. "I'll bet you're hungry."

As if on cue, Mustard's stomach grumbled and he nodded cautiously. "And what must I do to be rewarded with food?"

"Nothing. I'm a doctor, you're my patient. It's my job to ensure you live." He got-up and walked towards a woodstove in the corner. "I can't offer you Spam ™ for obvious reasons, Mustard, but I do have some chicken noodle soup here."

Doc poured some soup into a small bowl and brought it over to the cage. Mustard waited for the human to open the door, but Doc put the bowl outside the cage and started spooning the soup.

"I've dealt with more then my share of bunny patients in the past. I'm afraid I'll have to spoon feed you through the cage."

Mustard (sighpoofed) in defeat and started to accept the indignity of being spoonfed by a monkey, which was awkward through the cage. He was too weak to have tried to escape anyway. After the soup, he felt sleepy and snuggled into the warm blanket again and fell back to sleep, silently cursing the Black Rabbit for letting him live.

Mid-afternoon, Monday 12, January--Down East Blueberry Operations, Cherryfield, Maine (halfway between Ellsworth and Machias)

"Sir, I have Scout Unit One on the comm."

"Put them through..."

(salutefluff) "Sir, we have arrived at Whitneyvillewarren. It has been abandoned. Everything is frozen in here."

Browny CrimsonPaw glared at the comm link. "What do you mean abandoned?"

"The warren is empty, sir, but we did find a note. It reads:

'We have lost all power, heat, and communications due to the ice storm. Last report we received stated it would be weeks before we get power back. To ensure our survival, we have split-up and moved-in with several human families in the area until power is restored. Will radio-in our status as soon as things get close to resembling normal. Taffy, Whitneyvillewarren'"

"Come-on back, Scout Unit One. Don't bother trying to find where they all went. But some heads are going to roll if they've blown our cover Down East."

"Yes, sir! Scout Unit One out."

"Comm Tech, any word from Scout Unit Two?"

(negativefluff) "Though they should have reached the Calais Warrens by now."

"We'll give them two more days in case the problem is with their radio equipment. If they radio in, I want to know immediately."

"Yes, sir!"

Mid-Morning, Wednesday January 14--Maine Fudd Volunteers

"My patient has recovered enough for some questioning, Steve, but go easy on him, he's still weak."

"Does the prisoner have a name?"

"Mustard."

(dumbfoundlook) "And you say he's a snowshoe hare? The name doesn't fit him half the year, does it?"

Doc lead Major Blake into the infirmary and over towards the cage. Mustard was awake and stared at them intently.

"Mustard, this is..."

(STOMP!) (wincefluff) "I know who the traitorbun is!" He glared at Blake.

Doc leaned down close to the cage and whispered. "Don't do that. Stomping your feet like that can pop the sutures. It's in your best interest to not upset the Major."

Mustard was (dumbfoundedfluff) at Doc's statement. It was absurd that the monkey would still be concerned with his heal when it was obvious he'd die shortly.

Doc Matthews turned to Blake, "Please try your best not to skin him alive in here." Doc then left, leaving Blake alone with Mustard.

The bun sneered at Blake. "I won't talk."

(finefluff) Blake sat down outside the cage and just stared at Mustard. Mustard stared back, the two locking gazes for a good minute before Mustard started fidgeting and broke eye contact. Blake continued to stare, blinking occasionally, nose twitching for the next several minutes.

"Stop it!" (STOMP!) (wincefluff)

"Stop what? You won't talk, and I have questions that need answers. What else am I suppose to do?" (curiousfluff)

Mustard straightened himself-up with false bravado. (determinefluff) "You can torture me all you want, you won't get a thing out of me. You might as well kill me now. I won't aid Fudd monkeys." (thump)

"Well, obviously, you and your group of bunny-cicles had planned to spy upon or even raid my base before your mishap. I need to know what bun was stupid enough to order you out in that storm so I can contact them to negotiate a trade. I have my hunches, you know.... that new bun in Bangor would probably be stupid enough to do this... what's his name...RazorClaw?"

Mustard stared at Blake in disbelief. "He won't trade. I'm already dead in his eyes for failing."

"So RazorClaw IS behind this?"

Mustard stood rigid. "Mustard Snowpaw, techbun, 8-PINK-4-5-0..."

"Alright, we'll play your game. When you're recovered enough to be released from the infirmary, you'll be taken to our 'guest' quarters where after a stay, maybe your memory will improve. Once power is fully restored you will be provided with read-only access to the Internet as is prescribed under current prisoner treatment policies that most of your kind ignore. The only way you'll die here is of either old-age, you attack one of the guards, or you try to escape."

Major Blake got-up and hopped off the table the cage was on and headed for the door.

"Alright, take it easy theeya!" The Fudd Corporal was directing clean-up around the base. The crew he was directing was hoisting a huge maple off the remains of the garage that had housed Chris Pomerleau's Buick. Chris was not present as he was busy making repairs to the electronic equipment that helped run the base. "Easy..easy...ok, let her go!"

The tree fell safely to the ground away from the remains of the garage. Another corp of Fudds moved in and removed the splintered timbers of the garage one at a time, watching-out for broken glass. As the last layer of plywood and shingles was removed, one of them gasped at the site underneath.

"Totalled, isn't she?" the Corporal commented.

"No, sir! You won't believe this." The Fudd crawled under the debris and out of site. A moment later, a muffled engine roars to life and the debris pile starts to move. Fudds at what use to be the front of the garage leap out of the way as the remains of the garage door crash forward and the dark blue '78 Buick Electra LTD drives-out from under the debris. Behind the car, the remains of the garage collapses. The "Big Ugly Indestructible Car Killer" is unscathed, or so it seems. Chris would later discover a minor nick in the left rear tail section of the trunk caused by the Fudd who drove it out from under the rubble. He would add the silhouette of a maple tree next to the dozen or so bunny silhouettes on the driver's side door to commemorate the occasion.

4am Thursday, 15 January, Maine Fudd Volunteers

A cheer went-up as four road crews pulled-up in front of the farmhouse with spotlights and began the work of clearing the debris, replacing the poles and repairing the power lines. Fudds kept a steady supply of coffee and food going out to the courageous road crews, one from Central Maine Power, one from Dunwich, MA Co-Op, and two from South Dakota Power and Light. By noontime power was restored and Maine Fudd Volunteers HQ was back on the net.

Mustard was transferred mid-morning to the 'guest room' prisoner cell. It was rather spacious for a bunny. There was a nesting hollow, sink and a separate bun-sized bath. The walls were wood, but he suspected there was wire meshing underneath just like on the solitary window that revealed he was on the second floor of one of the barns. The so-called net-access was too uncute for him to go near though, an old Commodore 16 keyboard and a monochrome monitor.

Late Afternoon, Whitneyville

"Bangor Hydro reports that it will be several weeks before they can repair the major transmission line into Machias. Eight miles of that line lie on the ground and the replacement cable is being manufactured out of state. They have bypassed the line as a temorary messure and are now working on the distribution network. It could be two more days before people on the main roads see power again in the Machias area and a week or more for the outlying areas, and even then occasional outages and surges can occur until the transmission line is repaired..."

(sighpoof) "At least two more days..."

"I know, Jerry, it's tough. It seems so crowded in here. And I'm getting sick of board games. And I'll bet your friends are sick of playing house/warren....Maybe Taffy has another story to tell."

"Let's find-out..."

Mariel and Jerry headed downstairs where, indeed, Taffy was getting ready to tell another story. The story was another valent tale of DB bunnies versus the evil Fudds. The buns in the room smiled as the humans present were captivated by how evil Taffy portrayed the Fudds and how the buns were just trying to live in peace and help others save the planet from greedy destruction. There was no doubt in any of their minds, they had or were about to recruit every human in the house for the bunny cause.

Noontime, Friday 16 January--Nahmakanta Lake

Ash stared at the destruction in the forest around the former bunny warren. It was devastating in spots, especially in clearings, such as along the lake shore where 50 trees had snapped in half and fallen and along the logging road the Fudds used to get to the squirrels. It brought tears to her eyes for every squirrel loved trees for obvious reasons and it hurt so much to see them damaged as such. She froze for a moment.

(chitterscree!!!!!)

Ash perked up and listened again. Yes, it was distant, but distinct. It had to be the scout group. She answered. (SCREEE!!! CHIT, CHIT, CHATTER!!!!)

The reply was louder and Ash didn't need to ask others to help as a dozen squirrels scampered-off to do so. A half-hour later the missing scouting party arrived, intact, but injured. Of the group only three were uninjured. The rest suffered sprains to paws, or injured tails. One had lost the last quarter of his tail. All were brought into the warren and cheered as heroes. After they were treated for their various injuries, they spent the rest of the day and most of the night relating their adventure. How they escaped falling as the branch under them collapsed or dodging ice down below. How their rations ran low on the fourth day as they couldn't dig through the ice to forage for food and finding the hidden stash of acorns that some one was thoughtful to place in a pine tree hollow. The courageous rescue of one of their members who had fallen into an ice swollen stream and had been nearly swept away. Stories that would be retold for some time to come.

Ash sat in front of Aldin in the assembly hall of the Namakata Labs, mesmerized like a kit listening to the tale of the courageous scouting party that had survived the ice storm. Her head rested on his chest, their tails intertwined, though Aldin never noticed as he, too, was intently listening to the brave adventurers' tale. As the tale finally wound-down, Aldin reached-around and hugged Ash semi-consciously, drowning in her scent.

She turned-around, smiling coyly at him, and caressed his chin with her tail tip before shooting-out of the room. Nature took over as Aldin was close on her tail chasing her out of the warren and into the ice-filled wilderness landscape. They wouldn't be spotted again for several hours.

Midday, Saturday, 17 January--Whitneyville

The various members of the Odgens, Farringtons, Browns and Haynes hugged each other in delight and whooped and hollered as the power came back on. The buns in the room cheered with them. Over the next several hours the baseboard heating systems in the various homes would be refilled with water and brought back on-line. All would take long-yearned-for showers and the following morning, several humans would turn-out to help their new bunny friends repair their warren and bring it back on line. Whitneyville was now firmly in the paws of the buns.

Midday, Saturday, 17 January--Down East Blueberry Operations

"Sir! I have Whitneyvillewarren on the line!" (excitedpoof)

"Put them through."

"CrimsonPaw, sir!" (salutefluff) "This is Taffy, head of operations here at Whitneyvillewarren. As you know now, we are back on-line."

"Where have you been?!" (STOMP!)

(cringefluff) "We lost power and the warren was getting too cold for us to stay there so we went-out and stayed with some humans. Some went over to the Hodgekins, others to the Bretons, while I and two others stayed with Jerry and the Haynes.

"Each of these human families had also put-up several other families during the outage. While staying there we explained to them about Gaia and our fight to save her against the evil Fudds. By the end of the outage, I'm proud to report we have recruited 78 new symps to our cause....this in addition to the work we were already performing on the aforementioned families..."

(disbelieffluff) "In just over a week you recruited nearly one quarter of the town to our cause???"

(humblescuffpaw) "Well, it was a crisis situation, sir, and we couldn't just move in without blowing our cover to the other families and we couldn't let them know about us and let them live.." (wink) "without educating them properly."

Browny CrimsonPaw was taken aback. "My apologies, Taffy. Keep-up the good work Down East. Have you heard anything from Calais?"

(worriedfluff) "Not a word, sir. Should I send somebun up there to check on them?"

(STOMP!) "No! You can't take the risk, Whitneyvillewarren has just become too valuable. Stay were you are and continue to work on the new symps. If you need a few more buns to do this, just give me the word. I'll send another scout party to check-on Calais. CrimsonPaw out."

Midafternoon, Sunday, 18 January--Maine Fudd Volunteers

Eugene walked into Blake's office and saluted.

"Sir, we are back-up to full operations. We are no longer using any secondary equipment. Chris has even repaired the Cuton Geometer ™ network. All that is left is the clean-up and removal of trees from non-vital areas."

"Very good. I want a monitor brought into the room of our 'guest'."

"Yes, sir." Eugene saluted again and left.

Once in place, Blake hopped into the communications center and had the comm tech on duty open a line.

*****TIGHTBEAM TO DOWNEAST COMMAND*****

I know you're out there, fluffers. Your plan against my base was an utter failure. We've piled-up about 20 frozen bunny bodies. Buns who never even got to see a Fudd ax. Mother Nature killed them in the ice storm. We have one bun who survived. If you care to keep him that way, you will respond...

*****CLOSE LINK*****

"Major, we're receiving a reply."

"Understood. I want this piped into our 'guest room'."

"Yes, sir."

A jet-black bunny stares across the screen. After a moment, it said, "I don't negotiate with traitorbuns."

Blake stared back. "RazorClaw, I presume?" The bun gave the slightest of nods. "One of your buns did survive the ordeal, Mustard Snowpaw, claims to be a techbun. Care to have him back alive?"

The bun buffed his claws nonchalantly. "He's worthless to me. He and his hole platoon failed me." He leaned forward. "If I got him back, I'd tack his hide to the warren entrance as a display for others to see what will happen to them if they fail ME!"

"So there is nothing you'd be willing to offer in exchange for him?" (twitchear)

(STOMP!) "As I said, I won't negotiate with a traitorbun. If you want to send him to me as a gift, that would be fine." The screen went blank.

In his room/cell, Mustard curled into a ball and cried himself to sleep after watching the exchange. He slept for several hours until the door creaked open and shut. He looked-up to see Major Blake sitting there looking at him.

"Come to finish me off, Major?" (resignedfluff)

"No, I've come to give you another chance."

"No."

(baffledfluff) "But you saw how the conversation went. He's already betrayed your trust. All he wants to do now is turn you into a trophy if I give you back to him...."

"I won't serve Fudd monkeys." (indignantfluff)

"Who ever said anything about serving the Army of Fudd? I just want some answers."

(sighpoof) "It doesn't matter anymore. We failed and I won't die easily or painlessly. The Black Rabbit refused me before, I doubt he'd change his mind so soon."

Blake looked at Mustard strangely. "I must protect those I'm in charge of. I don't throw away the lives I'm charge of protecting. I need to know what RazorClaw's plan was to better protect this base in the future."

"And why should you trust me?" (STOMP!) (wincefluff) "If I still had my claws, I'd try and kill you where you stand!" Mustard flexed his paws responsively trying to will the trimmed claws to reappear.

Blake sat there a moment. "I've got little to loose in listening to what you have to say. I've dealt with many, many rabbits and can tell when the majority of them are lying. It's you, who has a lot to loose. Give me what I want and you'll have that second chance at life the Black Rabbit gave you."

"And if I don't, you'll kill me..."

(negativefluff) "Not directly. I've already covered with you the only ways you'd die while under my scrutiny." (howeverfluff) "I'll turn you over to someone who will. There are those who'd love to get their hands/paws on a live devilbunny." (smirk) "I hear there is a group down in Massachusetts that's found a new use for a captured Spam-O-Matic ™ for example..."

Mustard's ears drooped. Blake observed his prisoner carefully.

"However....if you cooperate, you will live and you won't be turned over to RazorClaw. But I wouldn't be able to let you simply go free here either...."

"Not much of an offer."

(wearysigh) "Let me finish. We have contacts with some...neutral warrens who'd take you in. You'd have to agree not to rejoin the bun military, however. Or...." Steve paused. "Then there is the mentat I owe a favor to who is in need of a henchbunny." He added in a whisper, "You'd be trusted with that mentat's deepest secrets as his rightpaw assistant.

"Think about it, Mustard. I'll see you tomorrow." Steve pawtapped on the door and was allowed out of the room.

Mustard's Tale to be continued under separate title

End