It had been three days since Laura had left the little village and set out for the Ape City, and Laura was starting to run out of food. When she had explained to Lilah that she had to get to the city to hopefully save her friend, Lilah had been kind enough to give her some supplies for the hike there. Also, the directions she had given Laura had been very helpful as well. Laura made sure to eat only as much as she needed to stretch out her food as well as her water. At night she would find small caves or even trees she could climb up into to sleep.
It was the middle of the afternoon now and sweat was starting to appear on her brow. Laura used her shirt to wipe her face and gave out an aggravated groan. She was tired, so very tired of trekking through the damn jungle and tired of being tired. At this point, all she wanted was a bed and a shower. But seeing as how she doubted she would be coming up on either any time soon, she continued her hike.
I swear I'm actually in hell. I died in that crash and now I'm in hell.
Just as she thought that a scream echoed through the jungle and all around her. Her eyes got wide and she quickly placed herself up against one of the many trees. Lots of footsteps could be heard then and more screaming. Laura leaned her head back against the tree and cursed under her breath. Then came a different kind of noise, hooting, and screeching rang through the jungle as well. She remembered that noise all to well from all the time she spent with the apes on the station. All the noise soon combined into one loud cacophony as they all seemed to be coming closer.
Fuck. I need to find a place to hide!
Looking around her frantically she realized that across from her about a yard away was a tree with a hollowed-out middle. She ran as fast as she could and slammed herself into the hole just as the huge crowd reached her. Humans of all colors, shapes, and ages ran past her tree and all around her. Looking out from her hiding spot a bit she could see apes swinging from the trees and throwing nets and catching the humans.
The apes are wearing armor, holy shit! I have to stay hidden, I can't let them find me!
Just as she was pulling her head back into the tree to keep hidden a little girl tripped and fell right in front of her tree. An ape landed right beside her and snatched her up from the ground and started to carry her away. As much as Laura wanted to stay hidden away, she just couldn't bring herself to let this happen. Putting all the rage from her situation into her movement she charged from her hiding spot and tackled the ape to the jungle floor. He lost his grip on the young girl and she rolled away from them.
"Run now," Laura screamed at the girl, who didn't think twice and booked it out of there.
Of course, she was quickly overwhelmed by the ape and he picked her up and threw her to the ground so hard she lost all the air in her lungs. He didn't give her a chance to catch her breath before he reached down and grabbed her by the hair and started dragging her towards the way he had come from. Laura tried to struggle but his grip wasn't budging and at this point, she was only causing herself more pain. So she took the petty route and just went limp, letting all her weight drag and she could tell it was getting on the ape's nerves.
See, I can be an asshole too.
She wasn't dragged far before the ape snatched her up and threw her into the back of a carriage with a large cage surrounding it. Looking forward she could see the cart being pulled by a pair of horses. Standing up she could see the other humans around her, they were all filthy and some had bruises and blood running down their heads from being tackled by their captors. She turned to see out the bars of the cage and watched as some of the other apes climbed up onto horses.
"The apes can ride horses," She whispered to herself in disbelief. Turning back around she slowly sunk to the floor of the cage.
Well, this is one way of getting into the city.
Not what she had planned, not that she even had a plan, to begin with, but this would work fine. The carriage rocked and moaned as it made its way through the jungle at a pretty steady pace. Suddenly the irony hit her that she had been complaining about walking and then this happened. It was enough to almost make her chuckle to herself, but she didn't want to draw any unwanted attention.
When she started to hear more voices she looked back out of the bars and saw the giant walls of the Ape City. Turns out she hadn't been too far from it. Riding through the city she could barely register what she was seeing. Apes in clothing and walking upright like humans, hell she swore she saw one getting a haircut. The houses and some of the businesses were built into trees and walls of rock. Vines and moss grew everywhere and the whole place was beautiful.
The cart rode through what looked like some kind of bazaar and came to a stop before a large hole in the rock. The humans all stood up and Laura followed their lead. From the opening in the rock, a scraggy looking orangutang walked out and started looking over the cage with a scowl on his face.
"Alright let's see this new batch now," He said looking over the humans in the cage. His small eyes looked over every single one of them. When his gaze landed on her it made her feel really uncomfortable. With a scoff, he turned back to the apes who had captured them all, "This is what I get to sell, they all look ragged and mangy."
He's talking! That fucking orangutang is talking!
From the look on the captor's faces, she guessed this wasn't the first time he complained about the humans that came his way. The orangutang still bought them all and screamed out for them to get taken out and cleaned. Some other apes, mostly gorilla from what Laura could see, came out from the opening and slammed open the door of the cage. The gorillas then reached in and snatched the humans out one by one and shoved them over to other gorillas who began sorting them all. Laura got pulled and shoved into a line with the other women, which Laura didn't understand because then she was shoved into a cage with both men and women.
She wondered what they meant by cleaning when she noticed a gorilla picking up a hot iron with a brand at the end of it. Laura almost keeled over. There was no way in hell that thing was going to touch her. They swung open the cage doors and another gorilla reached in with a strange metal arm with a claw at the end that grabbed a man by the neck. He then took the human at the end of the arm and held him down while the gorilla with the brand stuck it to the man, then threw the man back into the cage.
Just as they were about to reach for another one, three new apes appeared from a set of stairs in the rock. One was clearly a chimp and the other two were gorillas, the chimp and one of the gorillas were dressed in armor. The other gorilla was older and wearing rich robes of blue and silver. They all seemed to be in the middle of some kind of discussion. When the older gorilla raised his hand up to silence the chimp, the chimp seemed pretty damn annoyed.
"I know what your thoughts are on the human concern General and you know mine, continuing to bring up this topic won't change my mind," The older gorilla moved towards the cages and gestured at the humans inside, "They are no real threat to us, they can barely survive as it is."
Although Laura hated to admit it, looking at the humans here, it didn't really look like they were much of a threat. Apes were already much stronger than humans, match that with their intelligence and humans didn't really stand a good chance.
"Their numbers grow every day, even with the raids, their numbers keep swelling," The chimp growled eyeing the humans with disgust, "They are more of a threat then you know, or are willing to admit."
Before the gorilla in robes could respond, the scraggy orangutang was on them. "Senator Nald, General Thade, Commander Attar, what can I do for you today?"
Senator? General? Commander? All of these apes have prestigious titles?! None of this is going to make sense any time soon.
The Senator seemed grateful for the interruption and turned his attention back to the cages. "Limbo, I am here to get a slave of my own. I hate to admit it but I am getting on in years and could use a human to do chores around the house and to run errands."
"Excellent," Limbo exclaimed clapping his hands together. The general didn't seem too thrilled with the idea. He glared from the Senator to the cages. By chance, Laura met his gaze and she felt a chill run down her spine. Yet, she didn't look away. It felt like them staring at each other was some kind of dominance showdown, and Laura was just stubborn enough to not back down.
Suddenly the cage was smacked and it made Laura lose her focus. It was the Commander glaring at her through the bars of the cage. Looking him over she was almost willing to bet money he was a silverback. "Keep your eyes down human!"
"Leave her Commander, the last I checked it wasn't against the law for them to look at us," The Senator chastised as he made his way over to Laura. The Senator was indeed older than the others as he had white hair running through his black. His eyes were inspecting her and held both curiosity and something else she couldn't place. "Tell me, girl, can you speak?"
"Senator it's rare -"
"I believe he was directing the question at me," Laura said interrupting Limbo with a raised brow. Limbo seemed flustered by her words but didn't bother to reply.
"Well now, that answers that," The Senator chuckled, "This girl seems rather fearless, most humans wouldn't dare make eye contact with you General."
Laura couldn't help but smirk at his words, she wasn't going to be intimidated by someone just because they shot her nasty looks. Taking the opportunity, she looked back over at the General and held his gaze again. This time he didn't seem interested in playing, he immediately rushed towards the cage and grabbed Laura by her shirt, pulling her up against the bars.
"This human doesn't know her place yet Senator. You shouldn't allow such disrespect towards us all. Your weak heart will be the death of our people," He growled and with the way Laura had her head turned it was right in her ear.
"Do you always get this close to people you've just met or is it just me," Laura asked as she locked her hazel eyes with his dark green ones. The glare he gave her was deadly, and she knew that if there wasn't a cage between them, she would probably be dead right now. Being this close to him did give her a chance to look him over though. His hair was dark brown and under his chin was a stark white beard. His gaze held nothing but malice and it gave Laura chills. In the back of her mind, something was desperately telling her to back down, which she ignored.
The sound of bellowing laughter disrupted the tension between them and they both looked over at the Senator. "I like this human," Nald said as he stepped over towards Thade. "Release her General, this is the slave for me."
"You don't want a slave that snaps off at the mouth Senator," Thade replied, "Let me cut out her tongue first."
Nald did not seem impressed and let out a growl of warning, "You will do as you're told General and release her."
Thade wouldn't look at Laura as he released her shirt and he took a step back. "I didn't mean to anger you, Senator, you know I put our safety above everything. Peace between our kind and theirs can only lead to our destruction."
The Senator sighed heavily, seemingly exhausted by the argument. "I will speak to the others about your reports. That is the best I can do for now."
Thade seemed appeased by his words but he still seemed upset. Laura guessed this wasn't the only time this discussion had happened between them. She didn't want to agree with the General, but the fact was, after all the kidnappings, raids, and slavery, she didn't see a way that peace could be achieved. There would be humans who would want revenge and would go to great lengths to get it.
"Now if this conversation is over, Limbo, I want her," Nald said waving a hand in Laura's direction. Laura didn't have to look at Thade in order to feel the hatred radiating off him. She turned to look at him but he wasn't looking at her, his eyes were directed at the Senator.
"Of course Senator, let me just get her branded and she's all yours."
Laura grew pale at the slaver's words. She knew she would have to think fast in order to get out of this situation. Moving forward she gripped onto the bars and said, "Surely the Senator doesn't want a slave that's been tarnished by a brand? How would other apes take me seriously while I'm out doing his bidding?"
The Senator gave a chuckle and looked towards Limbo, "She has a point, I will take her as she is."
Relief rushed through Laura but she didn't dare show it.
"This human is too slick for my liking, she's going to be trouble," Attar muttered to General Thade.
Laura ignored the words as Limbo got one of his guards to open her cage door. She walked out and went and stood next to Senator Nald. Limbo scratched the back of his head and asked, "So what will you name her Senator?"
The girl visibly prickled at the slaver's words, "I already have a name, it's Laura."
The Senator looked down at her with a look of boredom, "That name may have worked for other humans, but now you are my property. You need a new name for your new life," He seemed to think for a moment before he looked down at her with a smile. "I think I shall call you Dahlia, what do you think about that?"
She hated it, she hated that she felt like she was leaving her old life behind. Laura calmed and reminded herself that this was all pretending to her, a means to an end. With the Senator on her side, it might be easier for her to find Leo and get back home. Even if he didn't know it yet. Her eyes seemed to search out the General and she realized she could still have some fun while she was here. He seemed so uptight and all that made her want to do was push his buttons. She would have to be careful of it though.
"I love it," Laura replied to Nald with a sweet smile.
"Good, then let us be on our way, your going to need a bath and some new clothes."
The Senator was already starting to leave and Laura followed behind him. She could feel eyes burning holes into her back, she looked and saw the General glaring at her so hard his eyes were mere slits. Just as she and her new 'Master' were about to disappear around the corner she shot the General a playful smirk and winked at him.