The rabbit lay there, head slightly elevated by the taut snare around its neck, body lifeless against the ground. Dark blood stained the fur where the wire had cut into its flesh while it had struggled to escape, every movement dooming it as the trap grew tighter, cutting off its breathing. The animal’s last moments were of fear and pain, and Nick felt really bad about this.

“He who gazes into the abyss…” Nick muttered. It sounded profound in his ears, appropriately sombre for his first kill.

the rabbit was limp in his hand as he unwove the snare, body already cool. Nick had set up three snares in the woods near his tent the night before, and this one was the only one that’d turned up anything. He brought it back to his campsite where the more difficult task awaited – butchering the carcass.

Nick hadn’t decided to start trapping game because he was out of food – no, he had his stable goods – but the plants he’d been foraging hadn’t been terribly satisfying, even supplemented by wild bird eggs. He knew he needed a source of protein, and short of planting a field of soy beans, small game seemed to be his best bet. The wilderness survival guide had instructions for both snares and bows, but Nick had only ever fired arrows once before and hadn’t been very good at it.

Nick lay the rabbit out on a flat stone, knife in one hand, Wilderness Survival Guide in the other.

“Okay. Step one. Skin the rabbit. Make a lateral cut in the hide across the spine as in fig one, then grab both folds of skin and pull in opposite directions.”

The book had a diagram of where to cut, so Nick lay it down alongside the rabbit, a branch across the top to keep it open to the right page. He looked at the drawing, placed his hunting knife against the rabbit, confirmed the location, reset his knife, looked at the diagram again, read the instructions

once more, and adjusted where he was holding the blade.

Do I saw through? He wondered. How deep does the hide go? Probably not very – rabbit skin is pretty thin, right?

After checking the book one last time he sliced through the rabbit’s hide, then degloved it as suggested by the survival guide. The muscle below glistened in the sunlight.

That wasn’t so bad. He felt like a hunter.

“Watchoo got there, bro?” A deep voice asked.

Nick dropped the knife and turned to see a big guy walking his bike down the trail near his campsite. “Oh shit, you startled me.” He wasn’t sure why he felt like he’d been caught red handed.

“Sorry man. That a rabbit?”

Nick looked down at the rabbit, then up at the big guy. It looked like he’d been sleeping in his clothes for a few nights, and he was pretty built… despite having the knife, Nick was pretty sure the guy could overpower him and take his kill if he wanted to. “Yeah… I set up some snares.”

“Good idea, man.” The guy nodded. “Name’s Kev. You want some help?”

Nick looked back at the book, the rabbit, the knife he’d dropped. “I think… maybe?”

Kev leaned his bike up against a tree. “What say I help you dress the rabbit, maybe you give me some of it?”

That was fair. “Sounds good.” He picked up the knife, wiped it on the grass, and handed it to the guy. “You ever done this before?”

“Nah, man, haven’t cooked with rabbit since school, and it’s already prepped when we got it.” He smiled. “But hey, many hands make light work – you read the instructions and I’ll do the knifework?”

Nick started to agree, but then stopped. He’d have to learn how to do this soon enough, and getting over his squeamishness was the first step. Plus, the knife was the closest thing to a weapon he had if this guy was one of those people who turned into bandit killers after the apocalypse. “You read, I’ll cut. Sound good?”

“Fine by me.” Kev picked up the book. “Okay, you got the skin off. Next step… cut off the head, feet, and tail.”

“Just right into it,” Nick said. “Okay… hm…”

“Hold on, use my knife.” Kev drew a large bladed knife from a sheath on his belt and held it out, handle first, towards Nick.

“That’s a nice knife.” Nick took it. “You a chef?”

Kev laughed. “I wish, man. No, I’m just a cook in a diner. I had an interview lined up, but…” He turned his head east, towards the city, and shrugged. “It all went to shit. How about you?”

Nick felt that same old moment of shame he’d feel whenever anyone brought up careers or life goals, but he quickly pushed it aside. It didn’t matter, anymore – unless the military pacified the zombies fast, nobody’d be meeting their five year plans, not anytime soon. “I just ran out here soon as it started to go bad.”

“Yeah.” Kev took in Nick’s campsite. “Unfortunately I was just out on a bike ride when I got the emergency alert on my phone. Took one look at the roads… I did a few tours in Afghanistan, figured I could hide out here until things chilled a little. But man, all my survivalist training was for the mountains and desert, not… this.” He gestured at the flora surrounding them. “More diggin’ ditches than building lean-tos, you know?”

“Yeah.” Nick hoped the guy wouldn’t invite himself to any of Nick’s supplies. Or ask for help. This cooperation wasn’t so bad, though. “What do I need to do again?”

“Cut off the head, feet, and tail. You got this?”

“Yeah.” Nick took Kev’s knife in hand.

“Hold it like this.” Kev held up a hand. “Middle, ring, and pinkie on the handle. Index finger flat against the blade by the handle… okay, now curl it. Thumb on opposite side. Give you more control. And just… push it through.”

Nick sliced through the rabbit’s neck, feeling hardly any resistance at all. “This is a really nice knife.”

“Should be. Cost me a whole paycheck.”

Nick cut the rabbits feet off above where the hide still clung. “Where do you work that they make you buy your own knife?”

“Man, they didn’t make me.” Kev laughed. “But their knives were all shit. Dull knife, you have a better chance of hurting yourself. Besides, I needed a good one.”

Nick cut off the rabbit’s tail. “Okay, what’s next?”

“Okay…” Kev consulted the book. “This is gonna be… we gotta gut it. Get the intestines out, without cutting the large intestines and spoiling the meat. You up to that?”

“Easiest way is to start at the anus.” The unexpected voice was deep, but flat, unamused.

Nick turned and saw that the Ranger had walked up, silently, to tower over both himself and Kev.

“Shit man, gimmie a heart attack,” Kev said.

The ranger drew a finger up his chest. “Cut up the front through the pelvis and breastbone. Pull out the windpipe and entrails. You got a permit, Mr. Foster?”

Nick looked down at his kill. “For the rabbit?”

The ranger smiled, but not kindly. “For the rabbit.”

“No, I… it didn’t even occur to me.”

“I suppose it doesn’t matter – rabbits are out of season.”

“Man, what the fuck,” Kev said, folding his arms. “Who gives a shit about permits, what’s going on?”

“State laws don’t go away just because the Department of Natural Resources site is down, Mr. Palencia.” Anger crept into the sheriff’s voice. “Surprised to see you back in the park, after you were so adamant you weren’t squatting.”

“So I like to exercise.” Kev indicated his bike. “Park has some nice trails.”

“I bet.”

Nick could see that the men were sizing each other up, so he decided to break the tension. “I’m sorry about the rabbit, Ranger Tanner. I’ll get rid of my snares.”

“Trapping is a separate permit,” the ranger grumbled. “Since the network is down, I won’t write you any fines, but I want you out of the park Monday, you got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And don’t forget to clean up the guts. Don’t need the coyotes coming into the campground areas.”

“Yes, sir.”

The ranger gave a gruff nod, then peered out from under the brim of his hat towards Kev. “I see you again, we’re gonna have more than words. You get me?”

“Yeah, I hear you.”

The ranger departed. Once he was out of earshot, Kev spit on the ground. “Man, fuck that guy. Let’s finish up, I want my rabbit. I’m hungry as fuck.”

“Okay.” Nick held the knife, pointed at the rabbit. “Cut from the anus to the breastbone, he said?”

“Yeah.” Kev picked up the Guide. “What it says here, too.”

“Okay. Say, Kev… you’re squatting, right?”

“Yeah. Didn’t have the cash on hand for a site. Didn’t plan this, and who carries cash?”

Leaving wasn’t an option… but the ranger was being clearly unreasonable. He’d have to move deeper into the woods… which was fine by him. “What’s that guy’s problem? Who gives a shit about fines and permits and shit?”

“Guys like that…” Kev thumbed towards where the ranger had left. “They get a little authority, treat it like their personal kingdom. Saw it all the time in culinary school. Something threatens that authority… they don’t know how to cope, turn into little Hitlers, you know?”

“Maybe.” It felt deeper to Nick. “Guy’s in denial, maybe. Acting like everything’s fine. Or that this is going to be cleaned up quick, get back to normal soon.”

“You don’t think it will?” Kev sounded guarded.

Nick hesitated, wondering if he should play things off, deciding the guy deserved to hear the truth, even if he didn’t believe it. “No. No, this is… it’s too big to bounce back from. I mean… you know it’s zombies, right?”

Kev chuckled. “It sounds so stupid, to just say it…”

“Yeah, but it is,” Nick said. “We have to be honest about that if we want to survive. Even if they can get everything under control again… this changes everything. There’s no going back to the way it used to be, and when people act like it is – make important decisions that impact people’s lives based on that idea – we have to shut that shit down fast.” That was where zombie movie characters always went wrong. Nick would not make that mistake.

“Even if the zombies all die or disappear… it’ll be a whole new world in their wake. That’s what we need to prepare for. Or for a collapse lasting a long time.”

“How long?” Kev asked. “I mean, if you had to guess?”

“Could be years,” Nick said. “And it’s all guessing… but for sure, we’ll be something else when we come out the other side.” If we come out the other side, he didn’t add. “Let’s get this rabbit dressed, and you can show me how to cook it.”

“Good deal,” Kev said. “And don’t sweat that ranger fuck. He’s all talk.”

All talk, Nick thought, sizing up the rabbit. And height, and muscle, and probably guns back at his cabin. But yeah, other than that? All talk.