The feeling of terror was overwhelming. It pounded in my chest and flowed quickly through my veins. My breathing was labored and shaky as I desperately tried to calm myself or at least hold my breath. The screams of fear were louder than the angry bellows of the apes. Gunshots exploded to my left and I clung tighter to myself, huddled under the broken office desk in the shadowy room I had run to. Tears cascaded from my tightly shut eyes and down my cheeks. I rocked back and forth. I was scared. I was terrified. I was going to die.

This was the end of human history. We were first struck with the simian flu. I should have died then. Our vacation in San Francisco had turned into a nightmare as the ALZ-113 virus took my father and sister, leaving my mother and I by ourselves in a city we didn't belong in. We had just managed to find a few other survivors and clung to them until we found the human stronghold. We were accepted graciously and for a little while I felt okay. I made a few friends and we were safe.

Then the power shortage happened. I felt nothing but dread upon hearing the news that a team was going to be sent to fix the dam in hopes of restoring power. We all knew of the stories of those dreadful apes that had escaped to that forest. While we did not know if they were still there, we knew the dangers of wild animals. Since I was still young, a teenager, I wasn't allowed outside of the colony for extended periods of time. Not that I would want to go outside of the cologny. I was safe and at home in the tower. The team being sent to fix the dam threatened the security there if something went wrong and they didn't fix it.

Low and behold, they found the apes. It was one of the few times I had been outside the tower when they first came through. I had hid in an abandoned car as they passed. It was horrifying to see them all. We never stood a chance against them. It wasn't too long before they returned with guns and war. The day a chimpanzee crashed through the window of a room where a few older survivors and I had been hiding was the first day I had pissed myself in years.

It had screamed at us with all the rage and fury it had and swung a gun wildly, shooting a seventy-year-old man who had tried to move in between the ape and the rest of us. I had known him. His name was Charles; he used to be a journalist. All the memories of the few conversations I had with him flew past me as I was splattered with his blood. The two others and I had been forced out of the room and into the mass of terrified humans that was being pushed and herded into barred prisons while an angry ape yelled above us.

The apes had started the war. They had attacked us. It was all their fault. We had been scattered into small groups, lost and terrified. My safe and secure tower had been taken and destroyed. It took me a week to located my mother, she was injured and weak. In that week military hit the city. They tore through the crumbling wasteland for a month before they began to run out of supplies. They took in survivors, but that was worse that rummaging in the streets. Rumors of labor camps quickly spread. We were victims of apes and humans alike. No where was safe. I should have died then.

Now, our luck had run out. Our group of ten had taken shelter in an abandoned office building, and someone had lit a fire. The apes were quick to take action, as we were too close to the bridge. They attacked in the middle of the night. We scattered in half-asleep terror. I was separated from everyone else and once again, alone.

The soft click of the door made me flinch and suck in a breath. This was it, I was going to die. A low hoot came from behind me, on the other side of the desk as the ape stepped into the room. I heard the soft footfalls on the carpet, and the clink of metal on metal. I bit my lip hard as the tears fell faster; it had a gun. Another low hoot sounded and I shook with fear. They were monsters. They destroyed my home. They were why the military was here. They were to blame. They were going to kill me.

Another soft call came for just above me. The broken desk wobbled and dust was shaken and filled my nostrils. Not a second later I sneezed. My eyes snapped open, stretching wide in terror. Slowly, a face peeked over the edge of the desk. More tears rushed down my cheeks and I completely stopped breathing. Bright, blue eyes stared me down for a few seconds, only to disappear in an instant. A few heartbeats later a chimpanzee was crouched in front of me, using those same soft sounds. It seemed like it was trying to sooth me.

It reached towards me and I whimpered, flinching away. The large hand retreated and my eyes followed it, only to stop and and lock on the gun held in it's other hand. Those large blue eyes caught the movement and it cautiously set the gun down and held it's hands up to show me that it was completely unarmed now. I scooted back to the corner of the desk, choking on air and tears. Why would this beast play with me like this? Why didn't it just kill me.

"Not...not going to hurt."

I covered my ears and sobbed. The voice was hoarse, but soft and comforting. It was lying. Apes were not kind to humans. I shook my head and wailed, "Please just kill me. Please, please kill me."

I wailed again, louder this time as a rough hand of the ape gripped my forearm. I barely heard the words of false comfort spilling from the ape's disgusting mouth. I sobbed harshly and weakly tried to pull myself from it's grasp. I was going to die. Why did this thing drag it out?

It grunted and stood, pulling me to my feet. Hurriedly, it ushered me out of the dark room and down a flight of stairs to a small group of five other humans. My mother was among them and she screamed upon seeing me. The dark brown haired woman rushed towards me, only to be shoved back by a large ape that hissed menacingly at her. I wailed loudly and lurched towards my mother with my free arm reaching out towards her. The blue eyed ape that held me was tugged at my sudden movement and hissed in surprise, probably assuming I was trying run. I cringed, but I was too close to a familiar safety to care.

"Amelia!" my mother cried, trying to get past the ape blocking her. I tugged against my captor again. Thankfully he complied by letting me stumble my way into my mother's arms. I cried and clung to her. She stroked my hair and shushed me, "It's okay. It's okay, we're okay. Don't cry baby."

My tears finally stopped, but I still shakily clung to her. I was more aware of what was going on now. Those who fought back were dead on the ground and the apes were gathering those who tried to flee. They were careful not to hurt us, but they were not about to let us escape. We were prisoners once more. As long as we stayed quiet and kept in our little group, we were not harmed.

Roughly an hour later the group had totaled to seven humans and fifteen apes and we were being led away from the city and into unknown ape territory.