Perhaps he didn't know he was being watered by a rabbit, some of the other rabbits mused. If this great enemy of all rabbit kind knew it was only the efforts of one rabbit keeping him alive, surely he would refuse. They half expected him to suddenly open his eyes, spot Angus, seize the little old rabbit and tear him in two with his bare hands. After all, that's what humans did, wasn't it?

Then, as they watched, they saw Angus wasn't alone. He had conscripted a few young rabbits to help feed the paramedic too. Peter recognised Sebastian, who had helped Mark earlier. He came forward with a toadstool held gingerly between his front teeth. It looked dry and slightly shrivelled, as if it had been taken from the rabbits' own store after being picked during the night. He took it up to the human and laid it down at his hand. A couple of other rabbits came behind and also laid toadstools and mushrooms by his side.

Angus filled his mouth with water once more but this time the man kept his mouth shut and the water ran down his chin. He frowned and turned his face away. He had had enough. Angus climbed down off his shoulder and slid down his steep chest and went over to the fungi pile the young rabbits were building. He bit one toadstool in two and took the larger half back up to the man's battered, bleeding face. Angus butted the paramedic's neck with the edge of the mushroom.

The man turned his head again slowly and opened his eyes. Pain had wearied him and his eyes were heavy. He didn't open them all the way, only enough to see a cute little rabbit sitting on his shoulder expectantly. He grinned, obviously not believing his eyes, then he closed them again. He pursed his lips and leant toward Angus as if to kiss him. Angus craned his neck up to push the toadstool half into the man's lips. The man almost dropped it, but his lips were far suppler than a rabbit's and he got a second grip on it after losing the first. Then the mushroom disappeared into his mouth, he chewed it once, then his throat heaved again.

As Angus climbed down to pick up the second piece of toadstool, Peter pushed through the crowd and met him at the pile. Angus looked up. Peter saw a floating, distant look in his eyes, like a rabbit that needed sleep. It was how Peter had felt himself - until he came through the hedgerow and saw this.

"Angus, what are you doing?" he asked.

"He needs food and water if he's going to keep his strength up," Angus explained. He pushed the half toadstool over with his foot, trying to find the best way to pick it up. He didn't look at Peter again.

"Angus, he's a human being."

"Yes, and one we now have a responsibility toward."

"A responsibility? How'd you figure that much?"

"Well," Angus said, stopping still. "Sebastian tells me we caused this." Peter noted how he said 'we' rather than 'you' and imbued 'this' with a disapproving tone, and maybe a disgusted one as well. "Is that right?"

Peter spoke to the ground: "If you'd been on the surface earlier then you would have heard me explain why we needed to do this. I was proving it was possible. But I don't expect you to understand that after the fact."

"Proving it was possible?" Angus repeated. "No, Peter, all you've proved is that we're as bad as some of them. We've killed that one over there and maimed this one here. That's the kind of thing they do."

"Exactly!" Peter hissed.

"No, Peter, not 'exactly'," Angus said accusingly. "That's what they do, so when we do it, we become as bad as them. It doesn't prove we're better. Which is why I am helping this one. These ones aren't like the others."

"Indeed they're not. They're the worst of the lot."

"On the contrary, these men are heroes amongst their people."

"Heroes? Angus, even the humans themselves fear these ones. They come screaming down the road faster than everyone else and all the other cars hurry out of their way. I know you've seen it."

Angus nodded. "I've also seen what they do at accidents."

"As have I," Peter interjected. "They smuggle the broken humans out of their broken cars and then get rid of them. They're carrion eaters. Vultures, Angus."

Angus shook his head. "No, you have only see an accident from afar," he revealed. "I, on the other hand, have seen one up close. Right here, in fact, a year before you came. I saw one of these vehicles arrive, men like these get out, and then they took a dead human out of a car and brought him back to life."

"So," muttered Peter, his eyes flitting back and forth quickly as he thought about this. "We have managed to defeat the most powerful type of human and you still think this places us on their level, or below it..."

At this point, a few of the other rabbits found the courage to get closer. They had seen Angus feed the paramedic like he was a helpless baby and felt a little safer in its presence. The elders, led by Hazel, with Nicholas still bringing up the rear, approached Angus. They had acquired their sixth member already.

"The time has come for a council of rabbits, Angus," Genevieve told him.

Angus looked around the gathered crowd and frowned. "Why? What's happened to Alexander?" He couldn't see the patriarch he himself had helped elect eighteen months before anywhere. The other elders looked at each other.

"He's dead," Nicholas said bitterly from the back. "Buried alive..."

The elders all nodded sagely. Angus looked at Peter. Peter looked away.

"Deciding new leadership for the colony is our first concern," Hazel said.

"We must commence rebuilding immediately," Genevieve added.

"We need a dynamic new patriarch to return the warren to its former glory."

Angus nodded. "And who are the candidates?"

"Peter and Nicholas," Hazel said roughly.

"I see." Angus nodded again.

Above him, the paramedic's mouth hung open. From time to time he closed his lips together, as if chewing the air. Angus looked around at the pile of mushrooms and toadstools. Sebastian and the other rabbits Angus had conscripted waited for new instructions. He ruffled some more dirt out of his coat and stood back up.

"We shall convene beyond the four points," Genevieve decided.

The other elders departed. This time Nicholas wasn't allowed to follow. He nodded in acknowledgement at Angus and glared at Peter. Then he went over to the dispersing crowd to sweeten them all up to the prospect of his leadership. Angus watched him go disdainfully, then he turned to Peter.

"If it's rabbit superiority you feel like expressing, Peter," he said quietly. "You could do worse than help these kids feed this human. It's never a courtesy they extend to our wounded when they're responsible, after all." He paused. "Is it?"

Peter said nothing. He just looked at Angus.

"Or, if you don't feel like doing that," Angus continued, even quieter. "You just might want to consider making your peace with Nicholas. And I'd recommend sooner rather than later, Peter. Just in case."

Peter nodded slowly. Angus raised both bushy brown eyebrows at Peter - a critical expression - and then limped past. Peter turned and watched him go in the same direction as the other elders. The old rabbit was stiff and shaky, but it would surprise Peter if he didn't outlive half the warren. As soon as he was out of sight, Peter looked back up at the paramedic to find Sebastian had taken Angus' place, feeding the man from his shoulder. Peter sighed and gently shook his head.

Mark watched this all from the edge of the hedgerow with Tom and Travis. He couldn't hear what was said from that distance but he could tell his father wasn't very happy with Peter. Despite their differences, Mark knew Angus was smarter and more rational than any other rabbit in the warren. He wouldn't support Nicholas under normal circumstances. The question was whether Peter was still in his good graces. Peter, the son Angus never had. Mark didn't envy the pressures and responsibilities of still having to live up to his father's expectations. It was easier to be hated.

Peter looked over at Mark. He didn't look hopeful he would win. Benjamin Bunny thought Peter was looking at him. He bounced past Mark and his brothers and hopped over. Peter wasn't in the mood to humour him and walked away.

"Let's find somewhere quiet to talk," Mark said in a low voice to Tom and Travis. His two brothers nodded. They left the remnants of the crowd in the long grass and returned through the hedgerow to the roadside. There were more rabbits hovering around the roadside exit so they headed up along the curb a short way. Then they sat down overlooking the gutter and looked out across the empty motorway.

"I guess we better get ready to leave," Tom said dejectedly.

"I don't want to go back to that hole in the ground!" Travis cried.

"No," Mark muttered. "Neither do I. That's why I've been thinking..." He trailed off. He nodded across the four abandoned carriageways of the A12. The rabbits hadn't seen or heard a single vehicle pass by since the crash. As Tom and Travis followed his line of sight, all of a sudden the eastern side of the road didn't seem so far away. And they both knew what was over there.

"Peter's old warren?" Tom asked.

"It makes sense," said Mark.

"D'you think they'll have us?" Travis cried.

"I should think so," Mark continued. "I mean, we're Beatrice's brothers. That makes us Peter's family. He's undoubtedly told them about us. Who we are, I mean, not what we did. And let's face it, life's gonna be a lot easier over there in the coming months. Even if they did let us stay here, we'd be sleeping on the surface."

Tom and Travis nodded.

Just then there was a rustling in the grass behind them. Somebody had followed them. The three brothers leapt up off the curb and rounded on the rabbits that emerged from the grass. The pair of them looked sheepish and conspicuous, like they knew they shouldn't have been listening. Mark recognised the speckled brown rabbit with truncated whiskers as William, who had helped him reach the door handles on the back of the ambulance earlier.

"Come out where we can see you!" Mark hissed.

"What are you doing back there?" Tom growled.

"We weren't listening!" one squeaked. "Honest!"

"H-he's telling the truth!" William stammered. "My name's William. His name's Elliot. We saw you sneak away. We figured you wanted to talk about things you didn't want anyone else to hear. We thought that might mean you were thinking the same things as us..."

Mark glanced at Tom. "Well, William, tell us what you were thinking and we'll tell you if you're right."

William gulped. He looked at Elliot. Elliot nodded. William needed the encouragement. "W-we were thinking about that man..."

"Well, too bad, we were thinking about ourselves," Mark said quickly.

"We're not alone, you know!" Elliot piped up.

"What? Alone in thinking about that man?" Tom asked.

"No," William whispered. "Alone in wanting him dead."

Mark, Tom and Travis all looked at each other.

"All right," said Mark. "We're listening."

Peter Rabbit was physically very tired. He found a grassy spot close to the forty-metre limit north of the warren and hid there from Benjamin Bunny. He lay down and curled up and tried to sleep, but after a while he gave in. He just had too much to think about to relax. Part of his brain was worried he'd never sleep again.

Meanwhile, the sun rose slowly over the eastern horizon. Peter watched sunbeams break through the tangled hedgerow and thought of the warren on the other side of the road. It didn't feel like home anymore. He was truly dreading the possibility of Nicholas' ascension if it meant he was going to be exiled too.

From where he hid, Peter could see the council of rabbits. They met in a grassy clearing right in the corner of the field where the farmer's machinery couldn't go and corn wasn't planted. They were too far away to hear, but he could tell from the solemnity and calmness of the elders' movements that no heated debate was taking place. As far as Peter was concerned, that could only mean the elders were unanimous in their leanings, even if they didn't like the prospect. Peter hoped against hope this was only because they felt he was too unpredictable to be patriarch, but deep down he knew it was because they had already chosen Nicholas and were trying to convince themselves he was the right choice.

Peter was still watching when Mark came and found him. He cleared his throat and Peter turned. Tom and Travis were with him. When Peter stood up to acknowledge them he found another fifteen or so rabbits skulking nervously in the grass behind them. He turned and looked at Mark and frowned.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Lots of talk," Mark said.

"I don't follow," Peter said wearily.

"You've got people talking, Pete," Mark continued. "Sure, they're doing it quietly, but I'm really getting the impression those senile old clowns down there are gonna have to listen to you this time."

"Why? What are people saying?"

Mark called back over his shoulder: "William..." The young rabbit hopped forward through the long grass and stopped in front of Peter. "Tell Peter what you told me your brother told you your parents told him."

Peter frowned as he worked out the connections.

"W-well," William began. "They were talking about w-what Alexander said earlier, about h-how you'd bring calamity if you made humans crash here. And they said if we k-keep this one alive more will come."

"Tell him what they said next," Mark said.

William looked around at the rabbits' faces, hoping he might see Elliot amongst them to give him that approving nod again. "Well, they said they thought you were right. And that you've started something, and that there's no going back now. And that it's k-kill or be killed."

Mark stepped in front of him, coming in real close. "Trust me, Pete, they're not alone. Those rabbits back there, they're just the volunteers. They want to do it now, before it's too late."

"Do what?"

"Kill the human."

"Look!" cried Tom suddenly. They all spun to follow his eye line. He was watching the council of rabbits. It was over. The elders were dispersing. Even Peter thought they would have taken longer to deliberate.

Mark went nose to nose with Peter. "It has to be now," he hissed, staring Peter right in the eyes. "They're gonna come over here and announce Nicholas as patriarch and as soon as they do that you, me and this whole plan of yours are finished."

Peter stepped out of that clinch. "There's not enough time."

"Fifteen of us, Pete," Mark said. "How much time do that many need?"

"I don't even know how to kill a human being."

"Savage him like a fox would savage us." Mark shrugged. "Go for the neck."

Peter looked at the fifteen eager rabbits standing in the grass behind Mark. They were all young. All younger than Travis, who previously had been the youngest rabbit ever to be exiled. It wasn't bloodlust he saw in their faces, it was determination. The same sense of purpose he felt in his heart. He nodded.

The fifteen young executioners, with Peter and Mark leading and Tom and Travis bringing up the rear, bounded through the grass and into the corn and didn't stop until they reached the clearing made by the crashing ambulance. But they were too late. Angus was already there, supervising the paramedic's care. He turned to regard Peter. Peter's new gang quickly dispersed. Peter walked over slowly.

"So, it's all over, then," he said quietly.

"No, not quite," Angus said. "They're looking for Nicholas at the moment. I have until they find him. A few minutes, at least."

"So he won, then?"

"No, not yet," Angus continued, shaking his head.

"Well, did you vote on it or not?"

"We voted." Angus nodded. "But we were split."

"Split?" said Peter, quite surprised. He wasn't expecting to get a single vote, let alone half of them. Then he realised. "Hey, wait a second, there were seven of you. An odd number doesn't split two ways."

"No, it doesn't."

"So who didn't vote?"

"Everyone voted."

"Well, how does that work?"

"You only got one vote."

"And how many did Nicholas get?"

"He got three votes."

"That leaves three who didn't vote by my count."

"No, they voted."

"Who for?"

"The third candidate."

"Huh? What third candidate?"

"He was a late entry."

"Angus, what third candidate?"

Angus blinked.

"Me," he said.

NOTES:
Funnily enough, for a situation so engineered, it only came to me as I wrote it. I'm probably one of the only ones who liked the political machinations of the new "Star Wars" trilogy, so I'm trying to incorporate a little of that in this story. Animal politics is hardly a topic for serious writing, so I'm going to play this for laughs in the next chapter. Angus is also coming to the fore, even though I trapped him underground a few chapters ago with the intention of getting rid of him. I'm going with it.