A's/N: YIPEEEE! ANOTHER CHAPTER! :D Hey, I just noticed this story has twenty-four Reviews so far! XD Thanks, guys!
I think I mentioned this before, but I am hoping to do a Christmas themed chapter soon so that's part of the reason why the chapters are suddenly so long. XD I'm just hoping to get started on it and study enough for my last college final (yep, it's that time of the year again!) for the semester. I will be busy next week, so hopefully, I'll be able to update this story again soon.
Now for the warnings...
The following chapter contains harsh/sensitive material such as self-harm/suicide, mentions violence, spaying, foul language and you may feel the need to hug Koba after reading it.
Enjoy the chapter everyone! You're all about to go on an emotional rollercoaster ride!
"You did, what?!"
"He confessed to a crime! What was I suppose to do!"
"Forgive him! That's what!" Foster's face was red with anger.
Word had spread quickly in the group what had happened in the infirmary. Malcolm, Ellie, Blue Eyes, Luca, Stone, Rocket, and Maurice were now confronting Dreyfus, none of them were happy with him arresting Koba. Derek and Kempt appeared at that moment. Malcolm hoped the former FBI profiler could talk some sense into Dreyfus, maybe convince him to let Koba go. But in his heart, he knew it wouldn't be that simple. Kempt was fuming, he said nothing but frowned at Dreyfus. Derek, however, looked at the mayor with a calm expression, but the anger was still there.
"So, Dreyfus.." He started. "You arrested Koba. On what charges?"
"Attempt of murder and gun theft!" The pride in his face was irritating. "I told you the apes can't be trusted! That ugly fur ball was going to start a war and kill all the humans! The apes should be thrown out of the city immediately!"
"Dreyfus!" Ellie couldn't believe he was going that far.
"Apes! Innocent!" Blue Eyes protested. Luca, Maurice, Stone, and Rocket were now frowning at the human.
Despite the arguing, Derek's face remained calm and unimpressed. "I hear he confessed to doing this." He chose his words carefully, silencing the others. "Did he mention any other apes?"
"No." The question caught Dreyfus off guard.
"Then how do you know the other apes were involved?" Derek knew by now that Dreyfus wasn't going to let Koba off the hook so easily but if he could prove that the ape colony were truly innocent, then he'd leave them alone. "From what I've heard, it sounds like all you have is an ape with a confession and the would-be murder weapon-"
"Oh, that's not all I got!" Dreyfus grabbed his notebook and pulled out the ziplock bag that contained the hairs, surprising the others. "I found these ape hairs in Carver's hand! If I'm right and these are his, then that bastard killed Carver! Possibly McVeigh and Terry too!"
"Don't tell me you're going to try and charge him with actual murder now!" Protested Malcolm.
"That's exactly what I intend to do!"
Just then, Tori rushed in. Her pink hair flew freely, no longer in their usual ponytails. She grabbed Dreyfus and shoved him against the wall. "You moron! Are you nuts?!"
"Get your hands off me, Victoria or I swear I'll arrest you next!"
"Shut up!" Tori's eyes were jet black. She looked angry enough to bite the other human's face off. "I get you had a reason to arrest him, but why the hell would you lock him up with him?!"
"Tori, what are you talking about-?"
Tori whirled around so fast that her hair slapped Dreyfus in the face. "He locked Koba up in a cell in the jail of the old Police Department!"
Malcolm's eyes went wide. "That's where the soldier is!"
The apes began hooting angrily, Luca debated whether or not to go to the Police Department and get Koba out of there himself, Maurice glared at Dreyfus, Stone and Rocket were hissing at him. The only one who was silent was Blue Eyes, who was still recovering from the shock that his honorary uncle had tried to kill his father.
"Dreyfus, tell me you did not put Koba in the same cell as that scumbag!" For the first time, Derek had fear in his eyes.
Dreyfus snorted at them. "Do you really think I'd be that cruel? No, he's in the one across from him." He shoved Tori off of him. "Now, if you'd excuse me, I have a case to make." He said as he turned to leave.
"You're not going to get away with this!" Tori shouted after him, even though he did not respond.
With Dreyfus gone, Derek touched his head. Sighing to himself. "It's my fault he arrested Koba, guys. I sent him out to get him so I could talk to him myself."
"Talk to him about what?" Asked Ellie, calming down just a little bit.
The apes, now silent, looked curiously at the human. Even Blue Eyes.
Derek still had the file in his hand. He flipped it open to the page. "It's Carlos. He was a breading ape and his file listed the names of the children he fathered." He showed them the page. "Koba and Dolly's names are listed on it."
A shocked silence fell in the group, taking in the news. It was like everyone knew what that those names on the document meant, but no one had the courage to say it out loud. As if speaking it meant entering a new, strange world. A world where the lost, become the found. Even if they were believed to be gone.
"..Koba's..F-Father?" Blue Eyes suddenly understood why Carlos' picture had haunted him so much. The bonobo's eyes were Koba's and Dolly's. Exactly the same shade of green. No wonder he kept going back to that picture.
"Yes." Said Derek. "I wanted to ask Koba for permission to look at his file and his sister's to confirm it."
"Is he still alive?"
"According to Cooper, he's a servant to Colonel McCullough. The leader of the people who kidnapped him and the others."
Ellie thought of something. "Wait a minute...Koba said he wanted to start a war so he could get revenge."
"So?" Asked Kempt, who had stayed quiet throughout the whole conversation.
"What if something happened to Koba that made him hate humans?" She turned to the apes. "I mean, you apes all have a reason to dislike us, but none of you want to start a war with us, right?"
The apes all nodded and huffed in reply. Maurice had seen his fair share of darkness in the humans, so had Luca and Rocket, and Blue Eyes had heard enough stories about the humans to know they could be dangerous, but none of them would use those bad experiences as an excuse to raise a weapon at a human who didn't create the bad memory, to begin with.
Koba's scars suddenly appeared in their minds. Just how did he get those scars? Even the other Ape Council members themselves didn't know the full story of what their friend had been through.
"We need to look at those files. Not just Koba's, but Dolly's too." Said, Malcolm. "Maybe there's something in there that could help us understand why Koba did what he did."
Derek knew Malcolm was right but still didn't want to risk losing what little trust Koba gave them just because they read his file without his permission. But then he remembered that Koba was placed in the cell across from the soldier's. Could it be possible to interrogate that solider and get Koba's permission at the same time?
"I think I know what to do. Malcolm, you and I are going to talk to Koba, Luca, and Foster? You two get that soldier out of the cell and into the interrogation room."
Luca looked at Blue Eyes, who nodded.
"What's the soldier got to with any of this?"
"Cooper revealed some information about these people," Derek explained to Foster. "They call themselves Alpha Omega."
Koba belong in cage. The cold, dark cell was as close to a cage as Koba had gotten in the last ten years. The cement floor had a long, jagged crack in it, the wall was white bricked with some chips in the paint. The small cell consisted of a rusted toilet (which Koba steered clear of!), an old sink and an old bed with a yellowed, old pillow and sheet under a rag of a blanket. Koba was in the far left corner of the cell. Back leaning against the bed. Head down.
Caesar's words haunted him. Koba had never felt so alone before, it was as if his world had closed in on him. As if his life was crashing down all around him and there was nothing he could do about it. I am alone. He realized. Dolly was in no condition to help him, and he didn't expect Blue Eyes and the others to want to do anything for him either. Why would they? If his plan had gone without any interruptions, Caesar would be dead by now…And so would most, if not all, the humans in the city.
"Hey, I know you!" The soldier from across the jail room suddenly said. "You're the one with the blind eye and scarred face! The one that saved the pink headed girl from that ceiling tile-" The second he mentioned Tori, Koba lunged at the cell wall.
"Don't! You! Dare! Speak of Tori!" Just hearing the human describe her made Koba's blood boil.
The solider only mockingly laughed at him. "What's the matter? A little protective of your girlfriend? What are you in for anyway?"
Koba growled at him, turning away from the solider. He hoped he could ignore him, but the soldier's voice echoed in the jail, and he just kept going. "I bet you did something really bad, did you? You ugly son of a bitch. You're just a bad, little monkey are you? Come on, tell me! What did you do?"
It's not what I did. Koba answered in his mind. It's what I almost did. He kept the words to himself, not wanting this despicable human know anything about him. It was humans like him that had turned Dolly, his beloved sister, and Ash into bloodthirsty would-be killers and forced innocent children to murder their families. This human wasn't worth talking to.
"You know what ya do when you have a problem?" The solider would not give up. Though now his voice took a new, darker tone. "You end it. And the way to end it is to end yourself."
Koba frowned at the floor. What the heck was he talking about?
"Think about it, ape head." The soldier continued on. "You're all alone here, no one cares about you, everyone hates you. Why should you exist if no one wants you around? I bet all your friends and family has abandoned you. No one would miss you if you were gone."
He's right. The voice in his head didn't feel like his own, but Koba let it speak anyways. What would Dolly think when she finds out about his schemes? Would she reject him as her brother? Caesar had already rejected him as an ape, but Koba would be lost without his twin sister. He could already imagine the anger and the disappointment in Dolly's face when she finds out what her twin brother had been up to. If he lost her, he'd have no one. What if I already lost her? He suddenly missed his sister's company.
Suddenly, Foster and Luca appeared. They unlocked the soldier's cell door and took him out. "Let's go, more questions for you A-hole." Said, Foster, as they did. Koba didn't know that Derek and Malcolm were there until the older human said his name. "Koba."
The scarred bonobo didn't feel like talking. He kept his gaze at the floor, ignoring the two humans.
"Koba, we want to help you out of this-"
"Can't," Koba muttered. "I did this to myself. There is no getting out of it." He signed.
As horrible as it was, it was the truth. Even if he worked his hardest, Derek knew he couldn't do much for Koba. The best he could do was work on his defense, but he had a feeling that wasn't going to be easy. "We know." He replied. "But we're going to try anyway."
Koba huffed at his words, not meeting his gaze. He just couldn't bring himself to face a human who could have very easily have been one of his victims.
"Malcolm and I came to ask for your permission to read your file and Dolly's file. I know you still don't trust-"
"Don't care anymore." It no longer mattered to Koba that his past was going to be exposed to the humans. Tori had already seen his vulnerable side and Caesar showed everyone just how monstrous he was deep down. "Humans do whatever humans want..Just. Leave. Koba alone." With that, he turned his back to the two humans. Hoping they'd take the hint and leave.
Derek sighed, knowing they weren't going to get anything more out of him. He looked up at Malcolm, who nodded. With that, Derek stood up and left. Leaving Malcolm with Koba. The other human squatted down at the ground like Derek had and looked at the scarred bonobo.
"Koba?…You don't have to answer me, just listen." This was the first time since Caesar's verbal assault that the two had been able to talk to each other. Koba tensed up, waiting for whatever to come. "…What you did..What you tried to do...Was wrong. We both know that…But it's also not who you are."
Stupid human, what does he know? Despite trying his hardest to ignore him, Koba found himself unable to pull away from the voice. He was listening, no matter how hard he tried not to.
Malcolm knew better than to press him to listen. He just hoped that the bonobo was hearing him. "I mean, sure, you didn't like me and my group being in the ape village and working on the dam, and Caesar ignored you. I get it, you got mad and..I don't know, maybe your anger is from...Whatever happened to you. But the point is, I don't think you're a bad person deep down inside."
Surprised by Malcolm's words, Koba turned his head and looked at the human. He wasn't lying, the look on Malcolm's face was as gentle as a breeze and held truth.
"I know because you took that ceiling tile for Tori when you could have let it hit her. I don't know if you did it on purpose, or if it was just a reflex, but you still did it." It was nice to see Koba's face again, but it hurt Malcolm to see him like this. "And you helped us stop the machine attacks. That could have killed everyone, including all the humans in the city. But you helped stop it anyway. That has to mean something."
Koba stayed silent. He did do those things. No one told him to, but he did. Didn't he also save Caesar and Blue Eyes from a grizzly bear days earlier? Did that even count? Koba looked down at his hands, the very hands he used to kill, to steal, and fight with. Were these hands capable of doing good just as easily?
"We all still care about you, Koba." Said Malcolm, making Koba look back up at him. "I don't care what Dreyfus says, none of us do. You're still on our team and we want you back."
The scarred bonobo didn't know what to say. How could Malcolm say that? Especially since they both knew that if it wasn't for the bad humans, Koba could have killed them all. Still, the words touched him, and Koba held on to them like a child hangs on to their mother.
"But Caesar.." His voice shook as he said his leader's name. He desperately tried to keep it together.
"Caesar deserved to be mad, but I don't think he meant what he said." Malcolm was still in disbelief over the whole scene in the infirmary. "You saw how sick he is, he must have gone for days without sleep or something."
Neither wanted to think of what kind of suffering Caesar went through by the hands of his kidnappers but based on how he looked when he limped over to them hours ago, they had a pretty good idea. And they had a feeling Caesar wasn't just sleep deprived. In some ways, his condition was even worse than Ash and Dolly's. If Caesar's harsh words earlier were the result of delusion brought on by fever, than he couldn't have meant it. But it didn't make them any less hurtful. Never should have freed you Koba wrapped his hand around one of the bars of his cell, those words still weighing heavily on his shoulders.
He flinched when he felt a human hand wrap around his. When he looked back, he saw that his hand was now engulfed in Malcolm's.
"I forgive you, Koba. I want you to know that."
Koba's milky and green eyes met the human's own greenish blue ones. The scarred bonobo didn't know what he was searching for in those eyes, but all he found was a gentle gaze that was filled with sincerity. Malcolm was telling the truth. He felt numb, unsure of how else to feel. He doubted anyone would forgive him, but Malcolm was definitely the last person he'd expect it from. He was human after all, and humans never see apes as anything more but animals. Caesar was right...He thought to himself. Maybe there are good humans…And he's one of them...The others too...
"Malcolm." Of course. Dreyfus stood at the entrance of the jail, his glare intensified by his glasses.
Malcolm sighed, he didn't want to leave Koba by himself in that cell but knew he had no choice. The others needed him, and if he stayed here Dreyfus may only make it worse for him or for Koba. He looked at the scarred bonobo with worry in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I have to go now but I'll come back. If not me, then one of the others will." He gave the ape's hand a gentle squeeze. "Be strong, Koba."
Koba nodded, though he wondered just how strong he could be right now. He certainly didn't feel strong.
He was surprised to feel sad when Malcolm left. His company was nice and it did comfort him when it was there. Koba's hand suddenly felt cold without the human's hand to warm it.
"Don't get your hopes up, traitor." Dreyfus' voice was like ice. So cold, it was painful. "Even if they find anything remotely interesting in your file, it won't be enough to excuse your actions."
"That's. Not. What. They're doing." Koba replied with a frown.
"Don't talk back to me, you stupid animal!" Dreyfus shouted. "Derek is a fool. They all are. They think they can save you, they think you're worth saving, but you're not worth anything!"
Koba backed away from the cell wall, suddenly feeling grateful for the protection the cell gave.
"Your leader was right," Dreyfus said in a more calmer voice. "You're nothing." With that, he left. But his words echoed on in the silence.
The scarred bonobo sunk back in his spot, bringing his knees to his chest and hugging himself. Koba had never been so confused in his life. In one day he had gone from hating the humans, to not sure about them, from finally being free to leave the file room building, to being a prisoner in a jail, from hating Tori, to feeling safe around her, from plotting revenge against the humans and wanting to kill Caesar, to questioning his own actions and regretting them. And, despite everything, he found himself going from homicidal, to actually considering suicide. He didn't mean to let his mind go there, but he just couldn't ignore what Caesar had said to him...Even Dreyfus seemed to agree with him!
Koba belong in cage! Never should have freed you! Caesar once again haunted his mind.
I'm in a cage now...I may never come out again...He argued with it in his mind.
Koba coward! Koba weak! Koba thinks only for Koba!
I'll admit to everything I did…They'll know everything..No more secrets, no more lies...
Koba is nothing! Has nothing! Means nothing!
…I have Derek…And Malcolm and the others…They want to help me...They still care… For a moment, Koba allowed himself to feel some hope. Maybe it's not the end, maybe he still had a chance. If Malcolm was right, and he really did have some good in him, then maybe he can change.
Do you really? Koba suddenly found himself second-guessing. How do you know you could change? You're a monster. That's all you are and that's all you ever will be!
Koba looked up at the ceiling. Where he noticed a long, thick, pole ran across it. It was one of those poles that ran under the ceiling, possibly to help hold it up.
No one would miss you if you were gone...The words of the soldier suddenly made sense. He thought of Dolly, of his loving and protective sister. The one ape who had stood by him for most of his life. The only person Koba knew of who'd sacrifice so much of herself to protect him. Maybe she'd be better off without me...
He felt the burning in his eyes as the tears ran from them. He buried his face in his knees. This time, he let his emotions go. He didn't make any attempt to hide them. In the loneliness of the jail, he knew no one would see him cry…And no one would hear his sobs.
I am nothing…
"So you're an Alpha-Omega soldier, are you?"
The soldier smirked at Derek's question. "Yes, I am." He actually seemed proud of it.
Derek had seen many guys like this before. People who committed crimes would either admit to doing it but try to find an excuse for their actions, and some would deny it all together. But there are a few who'd be proud of whatever they did and want to brag about it. This man was definitely that.
"What can you tell me about them? Last I heard of you, most of you fled and those who stuck behind either died in the fighting or by the virus."
"True. We did." The soldier was only too happy to tell him. "Our Colonel, the almighty, decided to divide us into two groups. Half of us go and find a place for us to build our kingdom while the others, the most purest of us, stayed to finish off the weak."
"You mean to kill innocent people who did nothing to you?"
"They existed! That's what made them impure!"
"Ah, but you see, no one has control over that. Not even your 'almighty' can completely erase a person from the world. Something is always left behind in their memory."
"Maybe not, but he can control who deserves to live and who must die."
They were getting off topic. Derek composed himself, trying not to lose it in front of this madman. "What can you tell me about your leader?" He asked instead. "Why is he ordering you to take apes and other survivors away?"
"He's going to deliver us." The soldier spoke of McCullough as if he were a god. "He's going to free us, rid us of the scourge known as the apes, destroy the weak so the strong can prosper, and reclaim the world." He chuckled at the older man. "I'm surprised you lot are working with those filthy beasts, maybe you all have already lost your humanity."
Derek raised an eyebrow at him. "What does humanity have to do with any of this?"
"Of being human. Of acting and staying human." The soldier answered. "You may not realize it yet, but you'll lose what makes you human. Pretty soon, none of you will be mankind. None of you will be people. You'll all be equal to animals."
Foster and Luca, from the other room, looked at each other. The mirror in the interrogation room was a secret window for the room the human and gorilla were in. The two were watching and listening to the entire conversation. Neither of them had any idea what the soldier was talking about.
Derek was not impressed by his words. If anything, they just made him despise the man, and all he stood for, much more. "Humanity also means kindness." He said slowly. "Of showing mercy and compassion to others regardless of how different they are. Of sharing goodness and understanding with love and sympathy. Even to those who have done wrong." He frowned at him. "Something you and your 'almighty leader' and the other Alpha-Omega people have proven themselves incapable of."
The soldier rolled his eyes at Derek's words. "As if that means anything."
"Oh yes, it does." Derek was not going to let this man off the hook. "The apes may resent us humans for all the wrong we did to them, but they would never force human children to kill their parents. Or turn humans against their friends and families. Or abuse their own kind." A thought ran itself in his mind. "You know what I think? I think you Alpha-Omegas are afraid the apes are more human than we are." He leaned in closer just by a few inches. "And you know what else? They are. They're more human than you, and your leader will ever be."
That did it. The soldier lunged at him-or at least, he tried to. If not for the handcuffs attaching him to the table, the man would have tried to kill him.
Derek waited until the soldier settled down before talking again. "Now then, care to tell me anything else?"
The soldier, still snarling at him, only glared at Derek. The hate burned in his eyes like a wildfire.
"Fine then." Derek decided to ask something else. A question that hadn't been asked yet, and one that he was dying to know the answer to. "What your name?"
The other man breathed inwardly. Derek suddenly realized how young he was. He had to be in his late twenties. Close to thirty. "..John.." He finally said. "John McCullough…Son of the Almighty…Mark my words…Your feeble attempts at peace will crumble all around you. There's a war coming, a storm brewing. And you're all going to be swept away."
Once outside of the interrogation room, Derek, Foster, and Luca regrouped. "Is he really the leader's son?" Asked Foster.
"I don't know, he could be bluffing." Derek found it hard to believe that McCullough would send his own son out on an attack involving machines, but then again this was the man who ordered to death of possibly thousands of apes, either by his hand or by someone else's. "I don't think we'll be able to get anything more out of him today though."
"Shall we put him back in his cell?" Asked Luca.
"No. He may not be able to physically hurt him, but Koba is in a very fragile state right now. I don't want to risk leaving him alone with that man." Derek had a very bad feeling about the idea. Just the thought of having this 'John' feet away from a very emotionally unstable Koba, made him uneasy.
Foster glanced at the hallways, looking for Dreyfus. When he was reassured that the mayor wasn't there, he returned his gaze to Derek. "You know Dreyfus isn't going to like that right? What if he planned to use that room to question Koba?"
Derek already knew that was coming. Even if the fighting hasn't started yet, he prepared himself for the moment he and Dreyfus would fight over what to do with Koba and John. "If Dreyfus wants the room." He said as he took the keys to the interrogation room and locked the door. "He's going to have to get the keys first."
Lake hoped the shadows of sunset would hide her. The base was even scarier at night than it was in daylight. When it was daytime, the light made everyone, and everything, visible. But the long shadows from the buildings made it darker than normal so by nightfall, the base would be covered in a blanket of darkness so thick, that it made all who were inside completely invisible. Including the soldiers and the guards.
Andy and Lucky had begged her not to go out. They were convinced that she'd die if she were captured, but Lake was willing to take the risk if it meant freedom and if not, then at least a clue to what had happened to the others. She had glimpsed Pope, Dolly, Caesar, and Ash in the cell in the center of the slave cage, but never got the chance to talk to any of them and now it lay empty, with not a single soul in it. She had seen Red, Winter, and Pinto recently though, but the three were too far away and too preoccupied with surviving an attack by a deranged gorilla and Winter getting beat up by the soldiers to see her. And then there was Pepper, what did they do to that child?
She scanned her surroundings, often walking in circles. Taking slow, careful steps and not daring to blink. She could hear voices in the distance but saw no soldiers walking around. Once she got to the gate, she hesitated. Getting out of the pen was easy enough, all she had to do was climb out through the loose wire and logs, but the gate hummed with life.
That's not normal...
She wasn't sure, but to test it out she took a weed and lightly tossed it at the gate. To her horror, the plant burned and turned black. It's corpse becoming crisp and stick-like. Lake wasn't sure if she should feel sorry for the now dead weed, or herself for needing to find a way to get through the gate without suffering the same fate.
Looking around, she realized there was nothing in or around the gate that any ape could climb on to get out. She had a feeling this was deliberate. They want to keep her and all the slaves inside.
Great. She thought, sighing in frustration. Now I have to plan this out all over again.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps. She didn't need to look to know it was the soldiers. She ran as quietly as she could as she ducked under a wheelbarrow. Hoping it could conceal her just as well as the shadows had. She watched as they walked over to the pen and opened it. They appeared to be searching for something. After a good two minutes, they came out with an ape, a female chimp who Lake had come to know as Dot.
"How are we going to do this?" Asked one of the soldiers. He was the one they called Preacher. He didn't scare Lake nearly as much as the others did, there was something about him that she found only comforting.
She never seen the other one though. "Same as before. Take as many as we can, put them in the helicopter and go."
"What if he gets suspicious? Last time it was easy because of his plan, but this time it's just us going out."
"We'll tell him we're going on patrol."
"With our helicopter?"
"Ok, I'll drive one and you can drive the other."
What were they talking about? Lake strained to listen and wished her ears were as big as a rabbit's.
Preacher bit the inside of his cheek. He looked nervous about something. "She's getting closer, Will." She? Who's she? "If we're going to get Hazell out of here, we need to do it now before she goes into labor."
"I know, Preacher." Will glanced around before looking back at him. He had a feeling they were being watched but could find no one around. "We just need to get our plan straight first and then we'll make the move."
This would be so much easier if it hadn't been nine months. But honestly? Will and Preacher didn't even know each other nine months ago. Back then, Will had been nothing more than a training soldier Training gorillas to be donkeys by day and trying to find a way to rebel by night. Meanwhile, Preacher was the McCullough's, right-hand man. His yes man. He did whatever the colonel wanted without thinking twice about it. But then he met Hazell, and suddenly his eyes were open and he realized the pain and the suffering he and the others were causing. He didn't know what he had done until she began showing... By the time the two men had finally met and found out that they both wanted change, it was too late to get Hazell out. Ape servants are rarely allowed to be alone, especially if they happen to be pregnant.
"What's the plan so far?" Preacher already knew, but hearing it again always gave him newfound hope that it could work.
"We get Hazell, Carlos, Dot and anyone else we can get into the helicopter, fly out, take them to the city, and come back without anyone noticing." Repeating the plan helped Will too. It kept him from forgetting any details.
"And what if Hazell has the baby first?"
"We get the baby out of here as fast as we can." Neither of them knew what would happen if the colonel were to see that baby, but they knew if he found out, it would be beyond devastating. Not just for Preacher and Hazell, but for all humans and all apes and especially, to all those who dared to mix.
Their conversation abruptly stopped when they noticed one of the few soldiers who also wanted change made his way over to them. The look on his face told them all they needed to know.
Lake, still hiding, watched as they hurriedly walked over to a building. She wondered what that was all about. As soon as they were gone, she ran back to the pen and stayed in there for the rest of the evening. Deciding she'll try again later.
"Dolly and Koba, born to Tina at Primate Research Center on August 15th, 2000 at 4:30 and 5:01 AM. Father, Carlos-Yep, looks like we found their father." Said, Tori, as she read out loud Koba and Dolly's earliest documents.
After Derek and Foster had joined them, Malcolm, Tori, Ellie, Blue Eyes, Rocket, Stone, and Maurice were reading through Koba and Dolly's files. Meanwhile, Luca and Kempt had gone to the security camera room to see if the monitors still worked. It felt weird doing it at first, reading their past like this. But it quickly went away as they explored them.
"Did you tell Koba?" Tori asked Derek as she flipped through a section of Dolly's file. She recognized Tommy's name in it.
"No, I didn't want to tell him until we knew for sure."
"Aww, look," Ellie said as she looked through her findings. "Pictures of them."
Curious, Blue Eyes peeked over her shoulder. One picture was of Koba and Dolly the very day they were born. As newborns, they looked exactly the same. Impossible to tell them apart. In another, they were with a female bonobo. Dolly on her back, while Koba was being tickled by her. She must have been Tina, their mother.
"Oh my gosh!" Ellie giggled as she looked at the next picture. Blue Eyes couldn't suppress a smile of his own as he looked at it. Interested, Maurice and Stone looked too. Even Rocket couldn't resist.
The picture was of the twins dressed up for Halloween. Dolly was wearing a pink a white dotted Hello Kitty onesie with the white hoodie over her head. Koba was sitting behind her, he wore a Spiderman onesie but with a mask over his face. He didn't appear to like it, as his hands were over the mask. Possibly trying to get the thing off. There was another one like it, only it was a Christmas picture with the two dressed as Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. Just like before, Dolly was smiling at the camera while Koba struggled with the headpiece of his costume. Only this time, the white hat covered his face.
The apes gave humorous hoots at the pictures. Who knew Koba could look so adorable?!
"Guys, we're looking for information about Koba and Dolly's background. Not their childhood-" Foster was silenced when Ellie showed him one of the pictures. He laughed. "Ok, that is just way too cute!"
Malcolm smiled at the scene. This is how it should be. No fighting between humans and apes, no war, no resentment. Only harmony and laughter. He looked down at the papers he was holding, reading through them. Then his face fell. He read the page again, to make sure he read it right. But no, he read it exactly as it is. "Ellie?"
The concern in her husband's voice got her attention as Ellie looked at him. "What is it?"
"Do you know anything about a drug called.." He glanced at the page again. "Phee...Alza.." The name was weird, Malcolm didn't even know what that was.
"Phialaziphine?"
"Yes."
Ellie's face darkened slightly. Putting the pictures down, she took the paper from Malcolm and looked it over. She sighed, knowing what this meant. "Phialaziphine was a drug ingredient they were trying to figure out how to use. Several different labs all over the nation were testing it out on apes." Apparently, Gen-Sys had fallen into that category as well. Of course, they'd do that.
"And Koba and Dolly were two of them?" Derek was beginning to really dislike Gen-Sys.
"They weren't just two of the apes they tested it on." Ellie's eyes flew over every word on the document. "They both had severe allergic reactions as a result of it." She found what looked like the official report of the experiment done on Koba. She sighed. "Koba was injected with it. It made him sick...So sick that when they finally realized he was allergic to it, Koba was suffering from Appendicitis, Gallbladder problems, Septic Shock, had severe diarrhea and was vomiting profusely."
"Damn." Said Foster.
Maurice, Blue Eyes, Stone and Rocket fell silent. Glancing at each other in disbelief. They couldn't imagine any ape, let alone Koba, being that sick.
Ellie was shivering. She suddenly saw each one of Koba's scars in her mind. Only now did she know that each one were the long forgotten echo's of abuse and pain the bonobo had suffered under the hand of a human. And that was just Koba's, who knows where Dolly's came from? "He survived...They had to remove his appendix and gallbladder...But he doesn't appear to have suffered any life-long effects.." Her voice was full of sympathy for the scarred bonobo. She was beginning to wish he was in the room with them so she could hug him.
"Ohh…" The sound came from Tori. She held a similar document in her hands, only it came from Dolly's file. "..They did the same thing to Dolly...Only...It was different.."
"…Different how?" It took all of Malcolm's willpower to ask. There was something about the look on Tori's face that made him feel worried.
Tori looked mad and upset. Her eyes slowly turning dark, but not completely black like they usually are when she's angry. "They...Injected it into her…" Her voice trailed off, not wanting to say it out loud. She didn't need to, the humans and apes knew what she was talking about and they were horrified at it. "..They neutered her.." Tori said instead. "They destroyed her ability to bare children and just left her like that." She shook her head, her eyes now black. "I always knew my father was a monster, but...But this? This is more than I can take."
The silence that came was almost painful. They all thought of Koba, and of Dolly. Of this new information of what they've been through, and how it affects them now. Maurice made the very mental note to visit Dolly in the infirmary later. With Koba in the jail, she needed someone to watch over her and the orangutan didn't want her to wake up and find herself all alone…Especially with Caesar there. Maurice doubted his leader would actually attack her, and he didn't want to believe he would, but after how he treated Koba, he didn't want to risk it.
"It makes sense." Derek finally said after a long moment. "Koba hated humans because it was always humans who hurt him and his sister. That's why he wanted revenge."
"I don't think wanting revenge is his only reason." Said Ellie, looking back up. "He and Dolly witnessed their mother get killed, they were both abused by an owner, they were repeatedly experimented on in labs, Koba's been having anger issues and Dolly's been showing depression issues. It sounds like they may have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to me."
"If the screen comes on, make a noise!" Said Kempt from under the desk.
Luca chuckled at him, finding the human amusing.
The camera room consisted of nothing but a desk underneath several different TVs and computers. Each one belonged to a camera somewhere in the Police Department but the one they really wanted working again was the one inside the jail. They had tried several times, but had so far, only been able to get the others to work.
Kempt unplugged all the other TV's and Computers and left the one that connected to the camera in the jail. Instantly, Luca hooted. Signaling that something had happened. Kempt pulled himself out from under the desk and looked at the now only static covered screen. "Almost." He said as he began to fiddle with the wiring. "I think I just need to..Yep, there we go!"
The static went away, revealing a much clearer picture…But Luca and Kempt immediately panicked when they realized what they were seeing. They tried to get out of the room to stop him before it was too late, but to their horror, the door had locked on its own. They were trapped inside!
"So you're saying Koba shouldn't be locked up but should see a shrink instead?" Asked Foster.
Ellie shrugged. "Either that or at least talk to someone about his issues. I don't think he's necessarily a bad person, he might just be a severely damaged individual who needs help and doesn't know how to ask for it."
Maurice, Rocket, Stone and Blue Eyes looked at each other, feeling bad about this situation. Why didn't they see how bad Koba was hurting? If they had known about how bad his problems were, they would have done something. But the truth was, Koba kept so much of his past to himself. Dolly was more open about it, but Koba never spoke of their mother to anyone and preferred to not talk about his experiences in the labs. It wasn't like he was denying that it had happened to him, but rather he was trying to keep himself from remembering it. Is it possible that not even Dolly had any idea just how really sick her brother was?
Just then, the phone rang. A sound that had been largely forgotten by the humans, and startling to the apes. Ever since the power came back, lots of things that had stopped working had begun working again. The phone being one of them.
Malcolm picked it up, surprised to see the Police Department's number on it. "Hello?" He asked as he put the thing to his ear.
"Malcolm! You guys need to get down here right now!" Kempt's panicked voice was so loud, Malcolm had to hold the phone a few inches from his ear.
"Wh-Why? What's going on?"
"It's Koba! He's going to kill himself!"
Kempt had said those words loud enough that everyone in the room heard. Before they could react, Tori dropped everything she was holding and sped out of the room. She was out of the building within seconds. Malcolm let the phone fall to the ground as he and the others followed, though none of them could catch up with her. No one said anything, all they knew was that they had to get to that jail, to stop Koba from taking his own life.
Koba stood on top of the bed. The tide up bedsheets made into a noose hung in front of him as he prepared himself for what was to come. His mind was empty as he pulled it over his head. He felt nothing as he felt the tight fabric wrap around his neck. No one would miss you if you were gone...The words were the only thing that ran through his head. He thought about Dolly as he made sure the noose was strong enough to stay tied to the pole on the ceiling and would hold him up when he took the jump. He knew she'd miss him, but he also knew she'd have a happier life if he wasn't there. Sorry, Dolly... He took a final breath, ready for his plunge into darkness. I'm coming, Mother...
He closed his eyes.
He jumped off the bed.
"NO!" The scream fused with other voices bellowed just as the noose tightened itself and squeezed around his neck. There was a loud crash seconds later. Koba suddenly felt something grab him and pin him to the bed.
It felt as if time had gone in slow motion. The voices were slurred and hard to make out but he could feel the alarm in them. They were shouting. He could feel hands touching his face and chest but he let them. He didn't make any movement until his eyes blinked open. It was blurry, and he felt dizzy, but Koba could make out Ellie's face as she loomed over him and he could almost see flashes of what looked like orange fur and pink hair.
The scarred bonobo must have mentally blacked out because when he finally felt normal again, he found himself sitting on the floor of the cell with his arms restrained and the weight of Luca's hand over his shoulder. They had stopped him..Why?...Don't they see that they'd be better off without him? That he's nothing but a waste of space?
"I don't understand this, why the hell would he do this?!"
"I don't know! Luca and I didn't know he was doing it until we saw him on the screen!"
"This doesn't make any sense!" Ellie looked at the apes. "Has he-Has he ever done this before?"
"No!" Blue Eyes immediately replied, still shaking at what he'd just seen. He had never known his honorary uncle to be suicidal and it scared him to his core seeing him hanging like that.
"This is more serious than we thought." Said Derek, the only one who had calmed down enough to speak semi-normally. "Malcolm and I talked to him just two hours ago, he was fine then."
"Then how did Koba went from ok-ish to wanting to kill himself in just two, short, hours?" Asked Kempt.
Foster eyed the jail. "He's all alone in that cell, in this...Dark, creepy place..I'd probably lose it too." He said.
"No one decides to kill themselves just because they lost it!" Argued Kempt.
Tori didn't take part in the conversation. The ax she used to break the cell door was still wrapped tightly in her hand. Her eyes were locked on the ever silent bonobo. There were so many things she wanted to say to him. That she understood what it feels like to want it to be over. That she had wanted to die too. That it doesn't have to be this way. But these were words best spoken when all the shouting and confusion goes away.
"Ellie, are you sure he's alright?"
Ellie glanced at Koba. Due to his long arms, they had to restrain him by wrapping his left arm across his body to his right side and his right arm across to his left and tie a rope to each hand behind his back. It was exactly how a straight jacket would look. It didn't look the least bit comfortable, but it was the only way to ensure that the bonobo wouldn't be able to hurt himself, or them if he decided to.
"I think so, he was only out cold for ten seconds."
"Why isn't he talking?"
"Because, Dummy, he just attempted to kill himself and we stopped him! He's probably recovering from the shock of it." Tori snapped at Kempt.
"Hay, hay! I'm only asking!" He said defensively.
"We should have visited him. Maybe keep him company." Signed Stone, who sadly looked from Koba to Rocket and Maurice. It had been the orangutan who had grabbed Koba and untangled the bed sheet noose from his neck.
"We should have known something was wrong the moment the humans first appeared," Maurice answered. Over the ten winters, the orangutan had come to know and care for the scarred bonobo and for his sister as if they were his own siblings. But he'd always been especially close to Dolly, who had always admired him for his gentle heart and love of teaching the young ones. In a way, not seeing the warning signs in Koba, and not preventing him from trying to take his own life, made Maurice feel as if he had let them both down somehow.
Rocket huffed sadly. "I wish none of this had ever happened."
Blue Eyes kept looking at Koba. He wanted to know why, but part of it was out of fear that his own father...What he had said to Koba...Had driven him to attempt suicide. The prince didn't know which was worse. His honorary uncle wanting to kill himself, or the possibility that Caesar had made him feel that way.
"What the hell is this?" Speaking of trouble, Dreyfus appeared right at that moment. With him were Werner and Finney, his two minions.
Malcolm immediately walked up to him. "Ok, Dreyfus what did you say to him?!" He demanded.
"What?" Dreyfus looked confused.
"When I left, you were here and Koba just tried to kill himself! Now, what did you tell him?!"
Dreyfus didn't see that coming. "Just that he wasn't worth saving-but I swear, I meant that as he's not worth changing! I didn't intend for him to harm himself!"
"Don't put the blame entirely on him," Derek spoke. "With all Koba's been through and what Caesar had said to him today, it's likely anything Dreyfus said to him just added to his motive."
"Damn, Dreyfus!" Whistled Finney. "I knew you hated the apes, but I didn't know you hated them that much!"
"Shut up, Finney!" Dreyfus elbowed him in the side. "You know what I think? I bet that bastard did other crimes and he doesn't want to tell us-"
"Dreyfus, you are either going to leave right now or else I'll make you leave!" Ellie looked worn out and angry.
"Not until I get the keys to put that soldier right back in his cell!" Dreyfus shot back. "Derek forgot him in the interrogation room!"
The soldier? The same idea hit the humans and apes like a wave. "Crap, that guy's cell is right there!" Said Kempt, pointing at the empty cell just feet from them.
"Don't tell me solider-boy planted some shit weed in Koba's head!" Said Foster.
"Well, he was alone with him the longest!" Argued Malcolm.
Dreyfus blinked at them. "What's the big deal, he's just a soldier."
"No, he's not." Said Derek. "That man told me he was the son of the Alpha-Omega leader. If he's telling the truth, then he needs to be as far away from Koba and the apes as possible."
"Oh, so apes matter and humans don't?!" Dreyfus knew he was stirring the pot but he didn't care.
Werner got in-between them. "Ok, ok! Enough!" He glanced at Koba, who was as still as a statue. "Shouldn't we talk about this somewhere that is not in earshot of an ape who almost killed himself today?" He asked.
"He's right, Koba shouldn't be hearing this. Not in his state, anyway." Said Derek.
Dreyfus snorted but said nothing in reply.
"Ellie." Malcolm returned to his wife's side. "Is there anything we can do for him?" He asked.
"I have some anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medicine, but medicating him won't fix him." She glanced at Koba. She wished he'd say something. Anything. Even an insult from him. Just to let her know he was ok. "We need to have him on suicide watch for the night. He can't be alone right now."
"I'll stay with him in the cell." Said Tori, making everyone look at her.
"Absolutely not!" Spat Dreyfus. "He could kill you, Victoria!"
Tori's black eyes seemed to take up her entire face. "Doofus, I'm already pissed off at you as is and I'm holding an ax in my hand! Do NOT make me swing it at you!"
Dreyfus glanced from her to the ax then at her again. "You're bluffing!"
Tori held the weapon up. "Am I?"
Dreyfus made the smart choice and stepped back from her.
"If I were you, I'd let her do it." Offered Werner, who was also being wary of the enraged girl's ax.
"Ok, so Tori will stay with Koba." Said Malcolm, trying to defuse the arguing. "And I'll watch from the monitor." He volunteered.
"Me too." Said Blue Eyes.
"I'll will too." Said Dreyfus, ignoring the dirty look from Blue Eyes.
"Fine." Said, Malcolm. "But only if you promise to keep your mouth shut."
Luca hooted, getting their attention. "I'll keep watch." He signed.
With that settled, Ellie sighed tiredly. "It's late. The rest of us should go to bed." She said.
"Is the cell clear of anything Koba could use to harm himself with?" Asked Derek.
"Yeah, Rocket, Stone and I took care of that." Answered Kempt. "We even got the noose." He said as he held up the tied up bed sheets.
Half a minute later, the group became just six which became two when Malcolm, Dreyfus and Blue Eyes went to the camera room and Luca went behind the entrance of the jail. Tori finally put her ax down as she walked over to Koba. She sat down a few feet from him, letting him have his space. She stayed silent for a while, only watching the scarred bonobo as he stared at the ground with a detached, emotionless face. But the pain in his eyes was unmistakable.
"You know you really scared everyone, right?" She asked in a soft voice.
Koba answered in the form of a nod, which relieved Tori. He's back...He's mentally back...
Taking a breath and letting it out in a long sigh, Tori prepared herself for what she'd say next. "..I did that too, Koba.." She admitted. "..I didn't try to hang myself, but I tried to take my life once too.."
The scarred bonobo stayed still and quiet, but Tori could feel him listening. It took a moment for her to build up the courage to tell him the story. If her childhood wasn't secret enough, this was the one thing Tori had always believed she'd take to her grave. A secret that no one, not even her mother, had known.
"..That day…Caesar freed you all...I told my parents I was too sick to go to school.." Tori never thought she'd miss school, she always hated it so. But now that it was gone, it felt like her old life belonged to a different world. "My mother had to run errands, and my father was at work…When I was alone, I..I locked myself in the bathroom and emptied a capsule of sleeping pills in my hand…" She shut her eyes for a second, suddenly remembering the smell of those tiny, white circles that promised to take her away all those years ago.
"..I was going to take them...But then, you apes escaped and scared the entire city...I was so afraid I dropped them all and hid in the shower…I didn't come out until my mother came home.." When Tori looked up, she realized Koba was now looking at her. He had been crying, she could tell. His eyes were red, and his face had faded tear stains running down his cheeks.
"In a way, Caesar saved me that day just as much as he saved you and the other apes." It was strange reciting that day. Tori remembered doing it, she remembered the feeling she felt as she prepared herself to do it, and she remembered her reasons as clear as day. But the person she was ten years ago, wasn't who she was anymore and it almost felt more like a bad dream than a memory.
Koba blinked at her. taking in the story. He found it hard to believe Tori, a female human with pink hair and a bold attitude could possibly want to take her own life as he had. But it was different with her. Tori had never tried to kill her leader or try to start a war. He turned his head back to the ground. Sighing.
"Why did you do it?" She asked. "No one tries to take their life for nothing."
He expected tears. He could feel the heaviness in his chest as he breathed. But Koba's eyes stayed dry. He wondered if he had cried enough tears to make himself dry and empty inside. "..Apes.." His voice was low, like a whisper. "..Humans...Better without...Koba.."
Tori tried to hide the anger in her heart, but she could feel her eyes darkening again. "Who told you that?"
"C-Caesar…Dreyfus…The Sol...The Soldier…"
"They lied." Tori scooted closer to him. "Koba, do you know why I forgave you for killing my father?
"He hurt you." The last person Koba wanted to talk about right now was Jacobs.
"That's not the only reason."
Surprised by her words, Koba looked at her.
Tori gulped, knowing this will be hard. "I was abused by my father all my life...I tried to run away, but...But Dreyfus, when he was a cop, kept picking me up and sending me back...All I wanted was to escape, and when running away failed, I decided I had to kill myself.." Tori tried not to shed tears at the memory, but one managed to fall anyway. She dried quickly it away. She knew that very human was watching them and he could very well be hearing her, but she honestly didn't care anymore. Let him figure it out.
"It was Caesar that saved my life that day...But I know I would have tried again…Koba, when you killed my father, you saved me...From me."
Koba was still. First came the numbness, then the full weight of Tori's words and what they meant hit him. He and Dolly, Pope and all the other apes from Gen-Sys had suffered at Jacobs' hands, but it wasn't always there in their lives. There had been a time in each of their lives when he wasn't there. Tori, however, had been dealing with it...Probably since the day she was born...And by killing him, the tormentor they all shared, he had freed her from him…Just as Caesar had done for him and the apes...
Koba sniffled as he turned his head away. Surprised to find that he still had some tears left. If killing Jacobs meant saving Tori, then does that make it a good thing? "Koba..K-killed other humans." He saw no reason to keep that a secret. What's the point if so many of his other secrets were not secrets anymore? "Carver and...Two humans where the...Guns are.."
Tori knew who he was talking about. Terry and McVeigh. Those two party-heads who couldn't follow a simple order even if their lives depended on it. And then there's Carver. The annoying, paranoid moron. She knew she wouldn't miss them.
"Why did you do that?"
"Carver...Attacked Caesar's sons... K-Koba...Wanted...Revenge…Beat him to death…Shot the others...With gun...Stole it, to..Shoot Caesar."
So that's how he got that gun. Tori thought back on earlier that day. When Koba almost shot her with a different gun. She had returned it to the gun warehouse when she changed back into her regular clothes. At the time, her only worry was anyone noticing the sand on the firearm and getting suspicious about it. That was turning out to be the least of her worries.
"Do you still want revenge for what had happened to you?"
Koba bit his lip, blinking away fresh tears that burned his face as they fell from his eyes. "..Don't...Don't know anymore.." After everything that happened, he just wanted the day to be over. The revaluation that Tori was a victim of Jacobs just as much as him and the apes from the labs were, that third soldier running around like a crazy man, Ash and Dolly attacking him, Rocket and Tinker because of they were brainwashed to do so, Caesar reappearing and confronting him for what he had done, finding all those children whose parents were either dead or not in their lives at all, being arrested by Dreyfus, having his file read, attempting to kill himself but being stopped..All Koba wanted at that moment was for it all to end.
"How about war? Do you still want that?" Tori felt weird asking that question, but she needed to know and Malcolm, Dreyfus and Blue Eyes, if they could hear what they're saying, need to hear this too.
The scarred bonobo was silent before answering, seemingly thinking about the question. "..Apes…Humans…Already in war…" He finally answered. "But not..the way...Koba wanted.."
He's right. She realized. The humans and apes were in a war, but not between each other. The war was them against the Alpha-Omega group. But they weren't together. The apes and humans agreed to a temporary truce, help each other find and rescue their loved ones and heal their wounded. But they weren't united. They were tolerating each other, throwing punches only when they had the chance to. It was as if the humans simply would not accept the fact that the real enemy was the same race as they were and the apes were still trying to distinguish the good humans from the bad ones. Something that Tori was now beginning to have trouble with herself.
Koba was shivering now, which was hard to watch with his arms tied together like that. Tori reached over and pulled the only thing from the bed that wasn't used in his suicide attempt: The blanket. She wrapped it around him, but she knew he needed much more than just warmth from the oversized rag. She was taking a risk, but she knew what she had to do.
"Are you going to hurt yourself again?" She asked.
Koba answered with only a shake of his head.
"Are you going to try and hurt me?" She highly doubted he would in the state he was in, but she knew she had to make sure anyway.
Again, he shook his head.
"Are you sure?"
This time, his answer was a nod.
"Ok.." With that, Tori reached over and untied the rope. Once it was off, she threw it outside the cell. Partly to prevent Koba from hurting himself again if he really did intend to, but mostly so no one will criticize her for not doing it. She then scooted closer to the scarred bonobo, who immediately threw his arms around her the second she was close enough. Tori returned the embrace, knowing how badly he needed this. She felt her shoulder get wet, and realized he was crying again.
Tori considered it for a moment. Koba needed comfort, and Tori knew a good way to give that to him. But this was something she hadn't done in years, and she never liked doing it in general. She took a breath, knowing that it didn't matter. Koba needed this right now.
"You with the sad eyes...Don't be discouraged, oh I realize...It's hard to take courage, in a world full of people. You can lose sight of it all. The darkness inside you can make you feel so small."
Tori thought she'd never hear those lyrics again. She thought she'd forget them before singing them. But they came as easy as ever as if the song had been laying dormant in her mind.
"Show me a smile then. Don't be unhappy, can't remember when I last saw you laughing. This world makes you crazy. And you've taken all you can bear, just call me up. 'Cause I will always be there."
It was her mother's favorite song, the very one she sang the most often. Tori had grown up listening to it just as she had seen her father beat and abuse her mother. Singing it again was like being reunited with a piece of her mother and being reminded of the past at the same time.
Koba was still as her voice echoed throughout the jail. He had heard humans sing before, but never to him. Apes rarely sang, and even if they did, it was almost always in sign language. They usually didn't use their voices. Still, as Tori sang to him, he felt a strange, calming warmth surround him. It was as if the song itself was hugging him. Wrapping him in its melody, and protecting him from all the pain and all the fear that lived in the world.
"And I see your true colors shining through. I see your true colors, and that's why I love you so don't be afraid to let them show. Your true colors, true colors are beautiful." Tori wasn't born with her mother's singing talent. She hated the exposure and the vulnerability that came with singing. But surprisingly, she didn't feel it this time. Maybe it was because Koba was already as exposed and vulnerable he could possibly be and being that way too made them more united than they had ever been. "Like a rainbow."
Koba felt safe enough to close his tired, tear drained eyes and rest his head on Tori's shoulder. He let the comforting song lull him to sleep, leaving behind all his fear, all his anger, all his sadness and all his pain as he slowly fell into a deep, peaceful slumber.
This was the second time Koba had cried in front of a human, but the first time in ten years that Tori had sung and uttered the last words her mother had ever spoken.
The infirmary was lit only by candles, they were mostly meant to be 'night lights' for the children who still didn't feel safe enough to fall asleep in their new surroundings. But it felt peaceful with so many candles everywhere. Almost as if the wounded were being watched over by fireflies as they slept. Maurice took careful, silent steps as he made his way to Dolly's bed. He saw Tinker with her head rested on Ash's bed. She hadn't moved at all. Cornelia was snuggled on the bed with a sound asleep Caesar. Cornelius snuggled into his mother's arms.
Maurice pulled his gaze from his leader to the female bonobo, who looked pitiful in her bed with no one snoozing by her side. He wondered if anyone had visited her at all since Koba's arrest.
He took her hand and held it in his own. He looked at her face, wondering if she was dreaming. He hoped that if Dolly was indeed dreaming, then she was lost somewhere far away. A place where brothers don't attempt suicide and leave their sisters behind, where betrayal and hurt doesn't exist. Where the Alpha-Omega could never go to. A place where only peace, love, and happiness lives…Somewhere that they all would like to go to...
Maurice sighed. Bringing the female bonobo's hand up to his lips and kissing it. He'd never do this if she were awake, but it felt right to do it. "Sweet dreams, Dolly." He whispered, placing his other hand over hers. "..May you wake up...To happier tomorrow.."
The screams will forever echo themselves in Pope's mind. If he didn't think the humans could go any lower than they already had, he was wrong. If he didn't think the colonel could get no colder than he already proven himself to be, he was horribly mistaken. Dot was sitting next to him, her hands were wrapped around his arm. As if she were hoping he'd protect her if the humans discovered them-And Pope knew he would. At this point, he'd protect anyone from these humans...Even if they were other humans...
It had been Cortez who woke him up and took him and Carlos out of their quarters. A human who they called Will had Dot, and two other chimps with him. He held a bundle in his arms, and he looked nervous. They had just gotten into the helicopter when the colonel…What had happened next was something far worse than anything Pope had ever been experienced.
The fishnet scarred chimpanzee shut his eyes and tried to block the scene from replaying in his head. All he knew was he and Dot, Carlos, the baby in the bundle and the two other chimps (one with a wire sticking out of his head and the other with one eye green and one eye gold) had to stay quiet if they were to get to the city unseen by the helicopter pilots. It was only when the flying machine took off that Pope realized he had left Lake, Lucky, Andy, Red and Winter back there. He immodestly felt horrible for leaving them in that hellhole and wished he had remembered them sooner. I'll come back for them.
One thing he was convinced of was that Colonel McCullough and all who followed him were the most dangerous, most evil humans Pope had ever had the misfortune of meeting and he was relieved to be going back to the city. He still didn't like the humans there, but at least they don't cause the sort of pain that McCullough caused today.
Dot poked him with her finger. It was the first time they ever touched, and her calloused and dry hands felt cold against Pope's skin. "Where are we going?" She asked.
"Somewhere safe." He told her. "There are humans where we are going, but they're different than these ones. They don't hurt apes. We'll be safe there." Pope knew better than to tell her all the abuse and torture he went through in that city during his days in Gen-Sys.
She looked frightened. "How can we be safe if there are humans?"
"Dot, no one in that city will hurt you. They are all good humans, they don't follow the colonel."
"How do you know?"
"Because I've seen them. I know some of them." Pope was suddenly glad that Malcolm and the other humans had come to the ape village. He knew that if the other surviving humans were like them, then they'd be safe.
Dot was biting at her lip. Her teeth peeling away the tender skin. A habit that Carlos had shown and it seemed Dot had it too. "Stay with me?" She asked.
Pope took both of her hands in his and leaned in closer to her. "Always." He whispered in her ear, just loud enough for her, and only her, to hear.
A's/N:...Man, I wish I could put some music in those scenes! XD Oh wow! And I just noticed this chapter has more words than the last one! LOL!
Since I haven't read Revelations, I have no idea what role John McCullough played in it or if he ever met the apes at all, but I couldn't resist making him be that solider from chapter 6. Who knows? Maybe this 'son of the almighty colonel' could become useful later...XD
That song that Tori sang, if anyone is wondering, is True Colors. It was used in the movie Trolls, which was a cute movie I'll give it that, but I like movies with a little more heartache if you know what I mean. But I did love the True Colors song, and I felt it would work for that particular scene with Koba. (if anyone is wondering what Phialaziphine (Phee-Alz-Aphine) is, it's a random drug thingy I made up. XD)
WoooHooo! Guess who's coming home for the holidays! Hint: He was last seen in Firestorm!...Yup, he's officially appearing in the next chapter! Family/childhood buddy reunion time! =D
And finally...If anyone has an idea of what happened between Preacher and Hazell, please don't spoil it...Wait for the drama to start first! XD
Thanks for reading and please review!