From the introduction: Life has been good in the warren for what seems forever, with little sickness, few predators, and plentiful food. Scores of rabbit bucks and does thrive here, almost too many to remember, and healthy litters are plentiful. Yesterday morning, as the sun began to rise and the air to warm, you crept into your sleeping hole as you had a hundred times before, belly full and eyes heavy. Even a thunderous mid-day storm didn't rouse you beyond opening a single eye. But then came the flood, a violent deluge that set upon the warren, raging through every tunnel, every chamber. You remember being swept away, thrashing, gasping for air... and then only blackness.