The girl watched as the apes climbed the tower, looking over the icy mountain. as she stared up at them, she failed to notice a figure slowly making their way to the horses. once the figure reached it, they dug through the bag and took some binoculars. then, Luca saw this and howled loudly, alerting the others. The figure quickly jumped on a horse and took off with the horse. The apes quickly got down and followed the figure.
As the figure disappeared around the corner, the five of them saw the horse galloping back towards them, away from a large building with busted windows and frozen flooring. The apes rush inside, guns ready as Blue Eyes stayed with the girl. He felt himself fingering the necklace around his neck as he stared at the building. When he felt eyes on him however, he looked down and saw the little girl staring at the necklace. He turned to it and smiled sadly at the scuffed name on it. Mina was barely noticeable anymore, but he still caressed it lovingly. The girl pointed to it confused.
"This...belonged...to a very...important person." He explains as best he could.
The girl smiles and takes his hand, hugging his arm. Blue Eyes smiled and pulled the little one close, smoothing down her unkempt hair as he continued to look at the pendant. It was the last thing he had of Mina's. the music box broke when his little brother tried to play with it, but he didn't get angry. At least the music part still worked, and he still had the necklace. He then looked up and noticed Maurice nodding to him to come in. he got off and helped the little one off the horse, taking her hand and walking with her inside. When they came in, Blue Eyes was surprised to see an ape in human clothes. When the older ape saw them, he quickly took off the coat and pointed to the girl.
"cold." He says.
Blue Eyes looked over and noticed the girl was indeed shivering. Blue Eyes motioned her over and with his nod, the girl moved to the old ape, smiling in thanks as she slipped on the still warm coat. The ape then started up a large fire in the huge fire place and they all sat around ready to hear his tale.
Mina was tired; when the colonel and a handful of soldiers moved out yesterday morning, she was dragged out of bed and shoved into the back of a small truck with a couple apes without a word from any of the soldiers or her father. They cuddled for warmth once they hit the mountains and when they arrived at the base, mina instantly regretted her choice of clothing. She wore nothing more than a thin coat and some torn up army pants she made into shorts. Thankfully, the colonel dressed her in warmer clothing when he brought her up to the base in the mountainside, which surprised her but she took them and quickly got to work with the others.
One day as she was moving supplies to the cages, the colonel called for her. She walked in his office and sat down as he finished shaving his head. She was looking around when she noticed a metal frame near his cot. Confused, she got up and picked up the picture. It was the same woman from the locket she had, her mother. But the man was different; it was him. Next weird thing was a boy beside them. she cocked her head at the somber look the boy had on his face.
"I see you found the proof." He says behind her. She turned to him confused and he sighed.
"Have a seat." He says. She sits with the picture in her hands.
"Look sweetie, I know I been hard on you. But there's nowhere you can go now; too far to go back and too cold to try. You wouldn't survive the night." He says sitting in front of her.
'why do you have this picture?' she lifts up the frame. He sighs through his nose and takes the frame, shaking his head as he stared at it.
"I loved your mother. And your brother, but the simian flu got to her and she died. He survived it but the virus began to evolve. It was still in his system, so he succumbed to it. It was like a switched turned off on his head. He stopped speaking. Blood coming from his nose..." he says standing and pacing. Then he stopped, staring down at her.
"He became primitive. Like an animal." He finished.
'why are you telling me this?' she asks.
"I know what you think of me. I'm a bad man who took you from a loving home. But that's not it." He knelt in front of Mina and put his hands on her knees, making her tense.
"I want to protect you. You are the only thing I have left in this world." He says, his hand grazing across her cheek. She frowned in confusion; was she wrong to think he was the bad guy? Was he really trying to protect her?
"Look, I know I took you from them but its only to keep you safe. The virus could get to you, make you like them. an animal; a mindless beast. It broke my heart having to shoot my son. I won't do the same to you, not if I can help it." He says standing and patting her shoulder and moving to the empty cot, throwing a blanket on it and fluffing a pillow.
"Here, stay here out of the cold." He says motioning to the bed.
'why? Why be nice to me now?' she signed, but he ignored her, patting the dust off the blanket and moving around her to finish his work.
He sat down on the table and waited for the soldiers to arrive tomorrow morning. Mina wordlessly stood, slowly making her way to the bed and sighing, slipping in the blanket. The bed was rough and bumpy, but it was better than the floor. Although the apes provided warmth and softness as they cuddled around each other to keep warm. She almost missed being with them, but her tired eyes drooped and soon, she was asleep before she knew it.
That next morning, the soldiers woke Mina with their horrid shouting their march. She rolled her eyes as she stood, stretching out the kinks in her back before moving to the window. Her father was standing by the balcony, smiling as he stared down at the soldiers. When he heard footsteps, he turned and smiled over at her.
"Morning sleepin' beauty, time to get to work. We have some unexpected guests."
Guests? Mina walked up next to him and looked down, gasping aloud at the sight. The apes were here!
The soldiers were shoving each species in each cage. Gorillas with one cage, chimps with another, and the infants in the next. Mina shook her head in disbelief as she watched the apes being mistreated. She was about to run to them, but the colonel grabbed her elbow.
"Hey, hey!" he held her shoulders.
"You remember who you are girl! You're my blood! You are not a part of them."
'you are not my family.' She signs and rips her shoulders from him, stomping out the door and rushing to the area. Soon, she was in front of the soldiers as they corralled the apes into the cages. She glared at them and ran up to stop one from throwing an infant on the ground, and slammed into his side knocking them both over. He grunts as he lands on his side, eyes darting all over with his gun raised.
"You little bitch!" he shouts as Mina backs away, helping the infant up.
As they stared at them, she heard someone hoot at her. She turned and breathed out a sigh at the sight of Cornelia on the other side of the cage. Mina ran to her and put her hands through, hugging the queen around her head.
'you're alive! I'm so glad to see you! Is everyone alright? Where is Ceaser? Blue Eyes?' mina signs almost so quickly Cornelia could barely register. She took the shaky girl's hands to stop her.
'Ceaser and Blue Eyes went to find the soldiers. I don't know where they are.' Cornelia replies. Mina blinked in surprise as she nods.
'I will protect you, I promise.' She signs as the cage doors shut. As she glares up at the colonel, she moved from the cage and to the soldier who had the key.
'give it to me.' she signs grabbing at the key, but the soldier held it up with a chuckle so she couldn't reach it. Rex, who was shoving the last orangutan in the cage, turned to Mina with a sigh. Poor thing was being teased so bad by the soldiers. He moved to them and huffed, alerting the soldier.
"Here Donkey, take this and keep it safe." The soldier says handing Rex the key. With a nod, he took it and put the beaded chain around his neck and looked down at Mina.
'give it to me, I have to set them free.' She signs holding out her hand.
'I'm sorry Mina, I can't. They would kill me if I did and I don't want you to get hurt.' he signs back as he shook his head.
Mina stared at the gorilla a moment before sending him a glare, balling up her fists. Without a word, she turns back to the chimps, signs something to them where he couldn't see and turned from them, sending him one last glare before walking away. Rex sighed sadly; he hated the thought of her being upset with him. He looked back to the chimps and saw a female chimp glare at him.
'traitor.' She signs and turns away. Rex felt a pull in his heart and he sighed, following Mina to the supply shed and started unloading supplies.