The following night, a small group of rabbits gathered in the ditch that ran alongside the warren.
"I wish I'd been able to convince my parents to come with us," Stan said. "But they wouldn't believe me when I tried to warn them about the threat. They seem to think if they just stay in their burrow when the humans come, they'll be safe."
"My mom 'n' dad didn't believe me either," said Butters. "They said I'd be grounded fer a month if I tried to leave. But as scared as I am of my parents, I'm more scared of gettin' run over by a bulldozer, so I snuck out after they went to sleep."
Kyle nodded. "My parents wouldn't agree to come either, but I managed to smuggle my baby brother Ike out of our burrow." He gestured to the smaller rabbit at his side. "At least I can save him."
"Bu-Bu-Bu-Bu-Bu!" Ike babbled.
Besides Stan, Kyle, Ike, and Butters, there was a fat rabbit named Cartman, a rabbit named Kenny whose ears always drooped down over his face, Kenny's little sister Karen, Stan's girlfriend Wendy, three of Wendy's female friends named Bebe, Red, and Heidi, and two male rabbits named Tweak and Craig.
Cartman had a big smile on his face. "You guys, this is gonna be so kewl!"
Kyle glared at him. "Knock it off, Cartman! This is not fun or cool. We're having to leave our homes and our families and go off into the wilderness. We might not even survive!"
"Come on, Kyle, where's your sense of adventure?" said Cartman. "We don't have to play by society's rules anymore. We can do whatever we wanna do!"
Suddenly, a big female rabbit dropped down into the ditch. She was Stan's older sister, Shelly.
"You're not going off without me, you little turds!" she said. "If you're leaving the warren, I'm coming with you. I'm not gonna stay here to get killed."
"Great," said Stan. He had mixed feelings about his sister coming along. Shelly was often ill tempered and aggressive, and had beaten Stan up a few times. But on the other hand, she was family, and with her fighting skills, she'd be useful if they ran into any trouble.
Butters was getting antsy. "Hey fellas, we better get goin'. I don't like the look o' things round here!"
"The sooner we're off, the better," Stan agreed. "Once they realize we're gone, the entire Owsla will probably be out after us."
"MmmmmmmmmMMMMMMMmmmmm," Kenny mumbled.
They started running along the ditch. They'd almost reached the end of it when a voice behind them called, "Stop right there, m'kay?"
It was Captain Mackey, one of the oldest members of the Owsla.
"The Chief Rabbit doesn't want you guys running off like this, m'kay?" he said. "She asked me to make sure everybody stays safe at home in their burrows."
"That's the last place we'll be safe," Stan replied. "You've gotta believe us, Captain Mackey. If we don't leave, we're doomed!"
"Now just stop that kind of talk, m'kay? Everything will be fine if we just OWWWWWWWW."
Mackey's sentence was cut off as Cartman ran up to him and kicked him in the nards. Mackey fell over, clutching his cojones.
"I'm sorry, Captain Mackey," said Stan. "We don't want to go, but we have to." He turned around and dashed off into the night, and the others followed.
"The Chief Rabbit will hear of this!" Mackey groaned as he struggled to his feet. But no one was there to hear him anymore. They were already gone.