You might want to bring some tissues along before you start reading this chapter...it was really difficult to write, and it's the longest one of this story so far! I want to say another huge thanks to all my readers, reviewers and followers :)
xxxx
I didn't know how long I had been trapped in this endless, white space. Time had no beginning and no end—such a thing did not exist. The space stretched on and on with no end in sight—and no one to join me in its eternal glow.
I was alone, and I was at an odd sort of ease with the fact.
...What if I gave into the white unknown? Would I go somewhere else that was equally as peaceful? Would I meet Blue Eyes and Cornelia again, or maybe even Cornelius? I shook my head at the thought. Cornelia was still alive now that we had been sent back to the past, and so Blue Eyes and Cornelius had yet to be born. Cornelia was the only remaining member of my family alive, and my sons would not come into existence again if I remained in this unknown space.
Feeling my side with a hand where the soldier had struck me with the arrow, I was surprised to find that the small, yet deadly weapon was no more. Since passing on in my human father's arms, every ounce of pain in my aching soul both physical and mental had vanished.
"Caesar..."
I stiffened, eyes widening as my name reached my ears in the familiar voice, slowly turning around to see a tall figure moving...walking in my direction. The blurry shape changed into the human I had just been thinking of—a man with brown hair and eyes who wore simple, human clothing. My breathing hitched as realization fully dawned that I knew this human. He had somehow crossed the realm between the land of the living and the dead, and now he was the only other being to keep me company in this strange and never ending place.
"Will? What are you doing here...what happened?" I questioned, heart pounding quick yet gently against my chest. If I was truly dead...then how was I still breathing? How did I still have a heartbeat?
I banished any further questions from my mind. I was gone. I was at peace.
"Can't really remember," Will admitted, blinking to try and ward off the fuzziness that mixed into the white. "I think I was driving...and then I fell asleep."
I frowned, worry pinching in my stomach.
"You were in an accident?" I questioned, remaining in my spot on the blank floor...or sky...I wasn't quite sure what the oddity beneath our feet was, but it was the least of our problems. Will couldn't be gone, too. Not the one who had taken me in and raised me as his own...
"I think I was trying to save all the apes from the shelter...we were so close," Will tried to remember the accident that had brought him here.
Warmth spread throughout my chest knowing that Will had tried his best to keep the promise he had made, but just as soon as the warmth had come, it vanished, replaced by a deep emptiness that couldn't be filled. Will was here in the realm of death, or almost death, and it was all my fault.
"I'm sorry, Will..." I whispered quietly, not an echo to be heard.
He frowned, gazing not with fear, but...curiosity at our blank surroundings.
"It wasn't your fault," Will assured. "Where are we?"
"I don't know," I answered truthfully, following his curious gaze. "I've been here for a long time...I think I'm supposed to wait for something, but I don't know what."
Will gave a small smile.
"Maybe you were waiting for me," he suggested calmly.
Waiting...was it why I could still breathe, and why I still had a heartbeat? Could it be possible that this was not death's realm itself, but the In-Between where one would wait to be reunited with those he knew?
"You have to come back," Will said suddenly.
Go back? No matter where I looked, I did not see an exit. How did Will know there was a way to go back? Soft beeping and humming reached us from an unknown source that we couldn't see, and Will's eyes widened the slightest bit in realization.
"I guess this is what happens when you have an accident like mine," he chuckled lowly. "But I can still wake up...and you can, too."
It wasn't possible. No, I was gone...I was here and I was at peace. Will took a step forward, but I just as quickly took a step back.
"Please...you're the only one they'll listen to. You can't just stay here," he said, his voice pleading for his only son to go with him back to the land of the living.
He wanted me to go back and convince his fellow scientists that the virus was dangerous. I wasn't so sure that such a tactic would be successful—maybe it would deter them from sealing their kind's fate with the virus, but I had an idea of what they would do to a talking ape after the convincing was done.
"I can't..." I whispered sorrowfully with a soft shake of my head. I wanted to help my father, I really did. But no matter how much I loved Will or the good humans who had helped apes, their species had proven time and time again that they just couldn't be trusted. I'd let the humans go in the woods, showing mercy to their Colonel in the hopes that the war between us would cease. In the end, one of the humans I had freed sent me to my end.
"You still have a chance to come back...take it. Help me keep your promise," Will pleaded, determined not to give up as easily as he had when he'd left me behind in the shelter. I had wanted to go back home with him so, so badly...but just like now, I knew my place. It was time he learned his.
I shook my head gently again, already firm on the matter. I had made my choice to stay—now all my father had to do was accept it. Maybe only then I could truly pass on in peace...
"I can't," I repeated, "you must fulfill my promise on your own."
"We need you," Will pleaded again, his tone growing desperate. "Please come back...don't leave me again. I finally found you and I'm not leaving until you come with me."
"You need to go," I said.
"What?" His voice hurt, offended that I wanted him to leave so quickly after he had just arrived.
"Caesar..."
"I don't want you here." He didn't deserve to be here. He may have made a lot of mistakes, but out of every human I had known, he was among those who deserved the unexpected second chance that had been thrust upon us without warning.
"I can say the same about you."
I let out a low and tired sigh. He may not want me here, but I wanted to be here. After so many years of pain, it was finally time to rest.
"I understand now...I have to let go...to accept that my time has come and gone." I was dead, shot with an arrow by the very same human I had allowed to leave the woods.
"It's not your time yet," Will argued softly.
"My time has already passed. I'm dead," I confirmed more to myself than my human father.
Something sharp poked my side. Feeling with a hand, I discovered with shock that the arrow had returned once again. Breathing in and out turned into a chore, thousands of angry needles pushing deeper. I wobbled, and Will reached out his arms to try and stop me from falling. I resisted, regaining my balance and hissing in discomfort.
"More like half dead," Will said, thoughtful and sympathetic. I blinked in surprise at the statement, holding a single arm around my waist to alleviate the stinging pain.
"Caesar, I may not know what happens when we die, but I'm pretty sure we're not fully dead...this is the past, so you haven't gotten shot with an arrow yet...your body just thinks it has, like mine still thinks I'm sick."
The thought that Will may have died from the virus itself in the future left me unsettled. After all this time of not knowing his fate, now I knew and instead of bringing me comfort like I had thought knowing the truth would, it had only made things worse.
I couldn't take it anymore.
"Will...I'm tired. Since your death in the future, there has been nothing but war and pain that you were fortunate enough not to witness...my wife and son gone because of humans who couldn't stand to leave us alone, burdening us with the blame for the virus that caused the downfall of your race."
Will wasn't having any of it. He knew as well as I the real reason that the virus had escaped, though neither of us wanted to admit it. He was owning up to his mistakes, holding onto the hope that somehow, he would be able to fix his wrongs.
"It was all on me, Caesar. I wanted to heal my dad, to cure him from a disease that didn't want to be cured no matter how hard I tried. I see that now, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the pain that I caused because I wasn't strong enough to let go, because I couldn't accept that all good things come to an end."
He paused, as if uncertain whether he should say his next words. His expression softened, his decision resolved.
"But it doesn't have to end yet," he said with such certainty I almost wanted to believe him. The humans' world was going to come to an end if we did nothing, leaving everything they had created and left behind for the apes to claim. We had built a home for ourselves—a future. Then what little humans remained used every force they had to take it away from us, destroying countless lives in the process.
I turned away from him, refusing to meet his gaze again.
"How can I ever trust humans again? If we go back...they won't understand. They will be afraid. What they fear, they destroy. We will never be free..."
Will was quiet for a moment.
Then...
"You said you trust me."
My head shot up, turning back in his direction. Will smiled, glad that he'd regained my full attention.
It was true. I did say that I trusted him upon returning home, and it was true...he was the one human I could trust, a human that wouldn't hurt apes or blame them for a virus that wasn't their fault. He would never hurt me, and he would never allow any other human to hurt me or my family.
"Let me show you. I'll protect you, Caesar. I promise. I won't let anyone lay a hand on you or Cornelia, or the others. You're not the only one who still has a chance..." He begged, confirming the trust that I had placed in him.
Please come home...if you come home, I'll protect you, Will's words from our goodbyes in the woods came rushing back as he had tried to convince me to go back home with him. Had it not been for the others, I would have followed without hesitation. But I had become their leader, and I knew I couldn't have left them behind, choosing to stay in the woods.
I knew that Cornelia was still alive in the past. She had avoided her deadly encounter with the Colonel, and I had made the choice to warn Will about the virus so it wouldn't happen again. Blue Eyes and Cornelius still had a chance to be reborn...what kind of father would I be if I denied them that chance, simply because I was afraid that the same future would happen again when we had the chance to stop it?
The arrow's stinging sharpened like knives, and I gripped the wound tighter with a hand. Warmth and red seeped onto my touch.
"It hurts..." I let out in a gasp.
"I know it hurts...I'm hurting, too," Will said in an attempt to try and comfort me; I wasn't so sure it was working. I was meant to die, and I was at peace with the fact in spite of the pain that didn't want to go away. "It has to hurt reliving how you die, if that's what this is...but you have to try. No more wars...no more pain."
"How do you know...what I'm feeling?" I ground out. I didn't want to try...I couldn't. It was too hard...even if we were successful in saving the humans, they would only destroy apes once their future was restored. Didn't he understand?
"If you really wanted to leave...then you wouldn't be here with me. We can do this...together."
Stinging from the arrow lessened as his words passed my ears. The warmth on my hand began to fade, the red vanishing.
"Apes together strong..." I whispered, feeling the arrow still lodged in my side. Apes strong with or without me...I could remember telling Maurice.
"Maybe...apes and humans together strong this time," Will added in, full of hope that such an impossible feat could work. Could it really be possible? Would humans accept us at last, leaving us be to live out our lives in peace?
"Mr. Rodman?" A voice I found somewhat familiar echoed without a source to be seen; a female's voice belonging to the one who had cared for my bullet wound after being shot by Koba. But where...?
I scanned our white surroundings and Will followed to try and find where the voice had come from, but it was just as blank with no other ape or human in sight.
"It's almost like..." the female's voice began, unsure.
"He's having a conversation with someone," another familiar voice echoed across the vast, blank space. I blinked, eyes widening in surprise.
"Malcolm...?" I questioned more to myself than Will. He looked back at me with confusion.
"Good human. He helped apes," I explained fervently. "Long time into the future. Must be with you in the living world..." But how did he find him?
"A world we can still save," Will pushed. "The more help, the merrier."
Maybe it wasn't so hopeless...pointless...
I found that I could stand a little straighter, feeling for the arrow in my side again.
It had vanished, completely gone.
Maybe Will was right...it wasn't my time yet...
"And I'm your dad, so you have to do what I say," he said with a small grin, holding out a hand for me to take.
I couldn't argue with the statement, giving a soft smile in return and stepping closer, reaching out my own hand.
For Cornelia.
For Blue Eyes.
For Cornelius.
For Maurice.
For Rocket.
For Lake.
For Luca.
For Buck.
For Bad Ape.
For Red who had been turned into a Donkey by the humans he thought would protect him in the end, and even Winter who had betrayed my family because he thought they would leave us alone.
For the hope that apes and humans could find peace and tranquility without worries of war and violence...
Together.
We couldn't stop now.
"I'll...try," I panted the last word as my hand grasped his.
xxxx
"Why isn't this one gone yet?"
The human leader of the lab stared at me with a deep frown, waiting for an explanation from the other two humans who had tried to get me out of my cage.
"He talked," the first white-coated human said, his face still filled with shock at what had occurred the night before. He and his partner had removed the collars from my neck, allowing me to return to my cage.
"What?" The human leader asked to make sure that he had heard correctly.
"Not him," the second human said, his voice shaking as he looked at me.
"Koba," the other revealed, pointing at the bonobo's cage. Since I had been left alone by the two humans, Koba hadn't spoken another word. The two argued that they must have been dreaming or had heard things, but even so, they had been too nervous to try and get me out again. I was safe for now, but relief had yet to come that I wasn't going to be sent to death like my family, tears stinging at the corners of my eyes.
"And what did he 'say?'" The human leader asked.
"He said the word no," the first human answered. "While we were trying to get the orangutan out of his cage."
"That's why we didn't get rid of him...Koba stopped us," the second human said to help his friend.
The human leader reached a hand up to rub his face. "And has he 'said' anything else since?"
The two scientists hesitated.
"He hasn't talked since saying no," the first admitted.
"And there's not the slightest chance you could have dreamed it?" The human leader asked, his tone becoming frustrated. It was morning now and the lab was bright. He wanted nothing more than to get a head start and test the virus like he had originally planned.
"We were both awake!" The first human argued. "At least, I think we were..."
The human leader was not impressed, giving me another harsh glare.
Should I speak now? Though Koba had risked his voice to save me, he hadn't said anything more. Was he playing with the humans to make them think they were crazy? While I had to admit it was somewhat entertaining, we still needed to warn them that the virus couldn't be tested.
"I want this one gone in the next hour," the human leader said, pointing right at me. "We just don't have enough room for it. Pick an ape for testing and get it over with."
"Yes sir," the second human said in defeat. He moved towards Koba's cage while the first watched, his terrified gaze glancing back and forth from me to the scarred bonobo that had talked.
"We know what you said." He pounded the cage hard with a single hand, as if to threaten Koba into speaking. The bonobo remained silent and unfazed, but a dark grin slowly stretched across his features—the last straw for the two humans who would no longer tolerate being played with.
"Why not use you for the virus, then?" The second human asked, snapping on a fresh pair of gloves for dramatic effect. Koba just continued to stare, as though he was actually waiting for them to bring him out of his cage for the experiment. "For embarrassing us in front of Jacobs and making us think we're crazy?"
"Sounds fair to me," his partner agreed, a bit reluctantly.
No, my mind raced. No, no, no. Why wasn't Koba saying anything? Hadn't he finally realized that humans deserved their second chance after our talk?
But it was then I knew that he didn't want the humans to be saved at all. It had been his plan to talk, to make them angry for making them think they were crazy—to make sure that he was the one and only bonobo they would use for the test. I hadn't been present the first time it happened...maybe it had just been an accident that caused the virus to break loose. But accident or no, Koba had plans to make sure that the virus was going to break free even if he had to make it happen intentionally.
I opened my mouth, ready to speak and finally warn them of what was sure to happen if they went through with the test.
Stop!
...What?
I tried to speak again.
Stop.
I was only able to think the word, my voice compromised.
My throat was sore from the two collars that the scientists had used, squeezing my neck so tight I could hardly breathe. My voice was...gone? Just like Nova's, but for a different reason altogether! I panicked, and my eyes widened as the scientists had no trouble luring Koba out of his cage, for it was what he wanted. They put one of the choking collars around his neck, and he did not resist.
The bonobo followed willingly besides them, turning his head around to look at me.
We made eye contact.
Tell them, I pleaded with my eyes, heart smashing against any hope I had left. If you've really changed and have any ounce of honor within you...tell them!
He said nothing to the humans as they continued leading him away.
Tell them! For Caesar! I screeched in my mind. If the humans weren't warned of the virus that would be the cause of their end, then Caesar's final wish would go to waste.
Koba only grinned, his plan for the humans' demise becoming a happy reality for the bonobo who had been so tortured.
I growled, though the sound came out low and pitiful. How could I be such a fool to think that Koba had changed, that he would allow the humans to live?
He disappeared around the corner with the two scientists.
I reached my arms up, pounding the glass of my cage in desperation.
The other humans in the lab immediately took notice of the orangutan going 'crazy' in its cage, yelling and scattering only fueling my determination to get out and stop the scientists from taking Koba into the testing area.
Glass shattered, unable to hold itself together under my weight.
You can't do this! I wanted to scream. My throat tightened further under the pressure when a collar was suddenly wrapped around my neck again just like the night before. The virus is dangerous! It's what he wants!
I didn't even have to look at the human next to me, who had raced to get the one weapon that he knew would stop my terrifying actions—the weapon that would make me fall asleep. I doubted I would live to see the next day if he didn't miss his target.
A second collar was thrust around me. I swiped with an arm just out of the human's reach and he leapt back with a scream, almost letting go of the pole that connected to the collar.
Please...listen...I begged, the world becoming hazy as the two collars squeezed even tighter. I stared into the human's eyes and he stared into mine, a flicker of understanding passing between us. Maybe he understood...? Maybe he would stop the scientists from testing on Koba?
Then it was gone.
The silver gun was aimed directly at me, and it was then I knew that all hope for a better future with both human and ape was lost.
xxxx
Caroline had returned to the hospital first thing in the morning. She had made arrangements for someone to visit Charles and stay with him, so she could stay with Will for the day.
"He was talking in his sleep," I told her when she had become settled enough as we sat together in Will's room.
Caroline listened intently, believing every word I said. If talking apes didn't faze her, I didn't know what would. Certainly not the fact that Will had apparently been talking to someone in his coma.
Ellie explained that she'd helped give me what was left of the virus that Will had given to Maurice so I could try and remember more details.
"He said something about—" I began, but was promptly interrupted.
The man—Will—shot up without warning, gasping wildly in his bed with the wires and IV still attached. Ellie raced to his side, but he resisted any help she tried to give.
"We have to stop the virus...free the apes...but I got into a crash!"
His shoulders heaved as he panted out the words, his heart monitor beeping out of control.
"It's alright, Mr. Rodman," Ellie comforted to try and bring the beeping down before any relaxing medication would be needed.
"We understand, Will," I said for equal comfort. "We're going to stop it. We're going to help the apes."
"Malcolm..." he gasped, staring right at me.
If it was weird hearing an orangutan speak my name, it was even weirder hearing a scientist speak my name when I hadn't even said what it was.
"He told me about you," Will explained, the beeping becoming slower by the minute.
"Caesar?" I questioned. Caroline had told me that he was dead; that he'd died in Will's arms after his arrow wound from the future had returned.
The virus had worked, or at least, I thought it had. Ellie said there wasn't much left, so maybe it was why I could only remember little things about the future.
Little things like an ape named Caesar who, like Maurice, was intelligent beyond belief. Little things like meeting Ellie during the apocalypse, and that was why we were so familiar to each other, though she hadn't been injected with the 112 along with me. Little things like Alex witnessing horrors that no kid should have to witness. Little things like a man I couldn't remember the name of pointing a gun right at the center of my head, pulling the trigger.
No wonder I had a splitting headache; I had been subconsciously recalling events that had already happened to me. Maybe the things I was beginning to remember really weren't so little...
But getting shot was the least of my worries.
We had a virus to stop that was going to be the end of all humanity if we didn't do something!
He glanced at Caroline. We were going to have to discharge him a little earlier than what the hospital probably liked, especially after an accident like the one he'd had.
Ellie adjusted his pillows. "You need to lay back down, Mr. Rodman. We won't let anything happen."
"No," Will resisted, reaching an arm over to pull at his IV. Ellie stopped him just in time, meeting his pleading and determined gaze.
"We have to get to Muir Woods."
