Caesar rode along through the forest, a gun held in his right hand and the reigns to his horse held in the other. For a while it seemed as though Caesar had the woods to himself until the sounds of horse hooves beating the ground could be heard behind him. Turning his horse around, Caesar waited patiently within the wood's trail. Soon enough, he could see three apes riding from the far end of the trail. Maurice, Rocket and Luca trotted toward him on horseback, openly defying his decision to embark on this quest alone. The riders came to a halt only a few yards in front of him, braving his frowning scowl and smoldering glare.

He was not happy to see them as this was his risk to take, not theirs.

Shaking his head slowly from side to side, Caesar was going to tell them to go back but was stopped when Luca spoke up first.

"Human soldiers. Always moving," the silverback said deeply. "My guards think they know where they are. Let me take you."

"And you need me to back you up!" Rocket gestured in next.

"No," Caesar said firmly.

"Caesar," Rocket signed. "I may not know what it is like to actually lose a son... but I almost lost one myself. I know it is not the same. I do. But let me help you."

Rocket's heartfelt plea gave Caesar pause as he remembered a time where Rocket had almost lost Ash himself.

To Koba...

"I may not make it back," Caesar responded after a long silence.

"That is why I am coming," Maurice gestured now, with slow hand movements, making sure that Caesar was looking at him. "To make sure you do."

Caesar realized after a moment that his friends would not be dissuaded any more than he would if he were in their positions. And for a moment, his features soften momentarily as he met each of their gazes. Bowing to the inevitable, while hoping that he was not leading them to their deaths, he nodded and was about to turn his horse back the way he'd been going before, but stopped when they all heard a distant clip-clopping of horse hooves reaching their ears, preceding the arrival of another ape on horseback. They had all turned around and saw the approach of a dark chestnut colored stallion, who galloped towards them before slowing down to a stop as his reigns were pulled by the ape on top of him. They all stared in silence as they regarded the ape who had just rode in with a rifle strapped onto his back. One whose eyes were milky white and golden-green, like Caesar's.

"What are you doing here, Koba?" Caesar growled.

Koba lowered his gaze for a moment before turning his eyes up and meeting Caesar's on fully.

"To make things right," Koba explained.

"You can't make things right," Caesar said lowly. "Leave."

Koba shook his head side to side slowly, his features, that of guilt, sympathy and concern to Caesar's own stern and cold one.

"No. I won't leave you," Koba said slowly.

"Won't leave me? Caesar spoke up as he brought his own horse closer toward Koba's, never breaking eye contact. "Then I will make you leave."

There was a long moment of silence between the apes as the air grew silent around them. Rocket and Luca glanced at each other uneasily, the former hoping that another fight wouldn't break out. However it was at this time that Maurice had decided to step in.

"Let us not fight one another," he signed. "The day is going and the colonel is moving further away."

Caesar regarded Maurice for a moment before he shot Koba another hateful glare, whom the bonobo met with his own solemn ones.

"Please," Koba breathed. "I have done things. Terrible things that I regret. Let me go with you," he begged.

There was another long silent draw as Caesar now stared at Koba with a look of disgust before he growled out in frustration, knowing well that no matter what he says or do, the bonobo will still follow.

"Do what you will," Caesar spat out as he turned his horse around the way he had been going before and began riding away.

With that Luca and Rocket soon followed, leaving just Maurice there with Koba who kept his eyes on the group in front of them before he slowly turned to look at the orangutan. Maurice seemed to give Koba a knowing look, before he closed his eyes slowly and nodded at the bonobo before making his horse follow. Koba on the other hand took a deep breath and after a moment of hesitation, glad that Caesar and the others didn't force him back, trailed after them.

…

Riding on silently, with many things crossing his mind, Ash kept his eyes upon the back of his horse's head as he led the exodus. It had been a long while now and he could remember, as if only a minute ago, where his father, Luca and Maurice were by his side. But of course, they couldn't let Caesar journey on alone and therefore they followed the ape king to wherever he was going.

Taking a deep breath, Ash then glanced up at the sky as his mind wandered back to Blue Eyes, slowly remembering their talk, so very long ago.

They had just found the perfect setting after traveling for so many moons. It was a vast area, full of trees, not as big as the ones back in their old home, but close enough, and a giant lake to fulfill all their needs. There was an abundance of vegetation as well, full of different kinds of animals too. Making this new place their home will take some time, but time that is worth it for them.

A place far away from the humans.

Walking up to Blue Eyes, Ash slumped on down next to his honorary brother and had let out a tired hoot into the air.

"We have walked for many days around this new land and still so many things to see!" Ash gestured happily before flopping down onto his back.

At this Blue Eyes had smiled at his dear friend before regarding the white flecked chimp beside him.

"There are many new things here," Blue Eyes spoke up, agreeing with his friend. "Maybe, this is the place, Ash. Our new home."

"I think so too!" Ash announced joyfully as he sat back up with a broad smile upon his lips.

Blue Eyes smiled back but as Ash watched his friend smile at him, his own features faltered and his brows furrowed in worry.

"Blue Eyes?" Ash signed. "What's wrong?"

Blue Eyes huffed and reached up to take a hold of the blue stone that hung around his neck, a gift from his beloved, as he turned away and looked at the giant lake in front of them.

"I think… I will die soon, Ash" Blue Eyes said solemnly.

A bewildered look overcame Ash, straightening himself up after he had heard his friend said those words. The lighter furred chimpanzee peered at his friend who was still not looking his way and was still staring at the large lake in front of them. After a few heartbeats, Blue Eyes took in a deep breath and slowly rounded his head to regard his friend.

"Why? What makes you think that?" Ash asked quickly, concern lacing his voice.

At this, Blue Eyes glanced away once more and slowly shook his head.

"I don't know," he answered honestly, unsure of the sudden feeling.

At that, Ash did not know how to answer or reply to Blue Eyes. What had suddenly made his friend think of such a thing was beyond him. He was here now wasn't he? Here and alive. That is what mattered, yet Blue Eyes' mind still thought of death. Turning himself fully to face Blue Eyes, Ash took a hold of his friend's head and brought their brows together.

"Don't die," Ash breathed with his eyes closed.

Pulling his head back, Ash stared deeply at Blue Eyes and he could see the turmoil set within his friend's face.

"Living things die, Ash. Nothing you can do, can change that," Blue Eyes gestured.

"Yes. Things die. But we," Ash spoke up as he gestured towards all around them. "We live too."

Ash then reached out and took a hold of Blue Eyes' shoulders.

"So much to still live for. Blue Eyes. Your family needs you. Lake needs you. I need you, too… so don't die," Ash pleaded.

Blue Eyes had taken a ragged breath and met Ash's gaze, about to say something but instead huffed out in defeat and nodded. Before more could be said about the two, there was a hoot and the two chimp saw Rocket and Koba approaching from the distance. Ash spared Blue Eyes a momentary glance to which the sky eyed ape smiled, prompting a bigger grin to appear on Ash's one features. The two then turned towards the two older apes and met them halfway.

Blue Eyes had swore to him that he wouldn't die… yet, the moment both he and his friend arrived back… Ash couldn't bear it no more as he looked down at his hands, bunched up in tight fists and his teeth gritting, causing the muscles around his jaws to bulge out. Feeling a hand wrap around his, Ash was snapped out of his thoughts and he turned his attention to Maple beside him, whom had a saddened look upon her features.

"You alright, Ash?" Maple asked slowly, noticing the distraught look upon her sweet heart.

Ash blinked at his beloved before he took in a deep breath and offered her a warm smile instead.

"Yes. Just thinking," Ash replied with slow sad movements.

At this, Maple didn't need to ask to know what Ash was thinking about and simply nodded quietly as she leaned her head upon her beloved's shoulder. She knew well that Blue Eyes was more than a friend to Ash. Those two were as close as brothers and it was hard to imagine one without the other. Now it was just Ash and it hurt to see him looking so lost and alone, even with her. Oh how she wished that they had not lost their prince and queen during the night.

…

The party rode in silence for a time, as they made their way through the woods. Soon enough the five of them came out of the forest and approached the bay's side, eventually coming upon to what appeared to be a small farm of some sort. Stopping by the edge of some mounds, Luca then huffed and pointed to the shack with smoke billowing out of it.

"My guards think that the soldiers are here," the silverback signed. "Always fire burning."

The others turned toward Caesar, waiting on what he was going to do. The ape leader however, merely grunted and rode forward, paving the way toward the distant smoke. Rocket, Maurice, Luca and Koba all glanced at one another before eventually following Caesar down toward the shore, as well.

They all slowly rode into what looked like a small farm of sorts with run-down dilapidated shacks, docks, and boathouses with most of the paint peeling as they were exposed over the years to the elements. Seaside shrubs and grasses were overgrown, climbing up the sides of the shacks as if nature were reclaiming what was once a man made place. Overhead hanged a wooden sign that welcomed visitors, its words faded through time. The place felt so… empty and devoid of life. The one exception to any sign of anything still alive there was the smoke that still spewed out gently from one of the shacks that seemed to be better maintained than the rest.

Getting off of their horses, the apes then decided to crept around the area on foot. Looking around briefly, Rocket had then approached Caesar.

"No one here," Rocket gestured as he kept his wits about.

"Search the area," Caesar ordered.

Koba looked around, feeling uneasy about the place and couldn't shake off this feeling that he was having. If this Colonel's army was here, then why would they stay in such a run-down place? Maybe this is not where they really should be? He himself found it unlikely that this Colonel and his troops would be able to cram themselves within such an area. He then made his way on over to where Caesar stood.

"Caesar, I don't like this place. I don't think it has the Col-"

"Then you can leave!" Caesar cut Koba off.

The malice within Caesar's voice did not go unnoticed upon the others as they watched their friend glare right at Koba before walking past the bonobo toward the side. Still feeling the hatred from Caesar's words, Koba couldn't help himself as he dipped his head a little. The way Caesar was lashing out at him, it was understandable. His friend. His Caesar, had just lost nearly all of his family and there was nothing he could do to bring them back.

Watching Koba quietly, Maurice then chose to lumber on over to where the bonobo stood.

"Come, let us look around," the older orangutan suggested calmly with a small smile upon his lips.

Koba blinked when he saw Maurice's signs and then met the orangutan's eyes. Ever since he had gotten back from their journey, Maurice had been one of the very few apes to have not shunned him. Even now, the older orangutan was doing his best to ease the situation at hand to the best of his abilities. For Maurice's kindness towards all, Koba was grateful for.

Moving aside, Koba let both Maurice and Luca moved on forward, while Rocket had walked up to him and placed a reassuring hand upon his shoulder. Looking at the bulkier chimpanzee, Rocket tilted his head a little to which Koba lowered his gaze. Huffing out, Rocket gave Koba a few pats and silently followed the others as well. Standing there for a few moments longer, Koba glanced in the direction that Caesar had disappeared off to and decided that it was best to not follow the fuming chimpanzee and trailed after the other three.

Just as they all rounded a corner the four of them came to a halt when they saw a lone human emerging from the trail to the beach, bearing an armload of wood. The human looked… dirty, unshaven with tattered clothing, clinging onto his body. A look that did not suit as what the apes would consider a human soldier that they were used to. This human, looked more like a ragged survivor as the man regarded the apes in front of him and swallowed hard.

However, survivors will do anything to live, especially that of humans and Koba knew that well. Slowly, his hand was already inching toward the rifle that was slung around his back.

"I'm just gonna put this down," the man said, indicating the wood in his arms as he slowly began to lower his burden.

The man abruptly dropped the wood and reached behind himself to whip around the hidden rifle that he had strapped behind him. Koba was quick to react as well as he snarled and was already rounding his weapon toward the human. Before Koba could fire his gun and before the man could even aim his to the apes in front of him, there came a loud resounding report off to the side.

They all saw as the man fell backward onto the ground, his own gun firing off into the air before it landed right beside him. Turning their heads slowly, the four apes could see the barrel of a gun slowly emerging from one of the shacks and with it, Caesar himself.

Koba watched as Caesar turned his attention towards them, regarding them with a face that was impassive and stern, showing neither anger nor remorse toward the human he had just killed. A look that eerily reminded Koba of himself. He then realized that the slaughter of Caesar's family had broken something within his dear friend, and it might well be that Caesar would never be truly whole again. A tender portion of Caesar had died that night as well, along with Cornelia and Blue Eyes and is now being controlled by his anger… much how he himself was, with Pope.

Lowering his weapon, Caesar had walked past the others without a word toward the lifeless body of the human he had just killed. After a little bit, he was then joined by the others as he observed the dead human, noticing the AΩ symbol that was crudely tattooed onto the man's neck.

The symbol of his family's murderer.

Luca glanced around, seeing no indication of other humans about. Turning to the others he signed in confusion:

"What's he doing out here alone?" he had asked.

"Maybe he is a deserter?" Rocket shrugged, whilst shaking his head side to side.

"Maybe," Koba spoke up this time. "But now we won't know," he indicated to the dead body.

A muffled crash, coming from the shack, caused all of the apes to turn their heads toward the source of the noise. Within moments the five of them barged through the door, knocking it off of its hinges as they held their weapons at the ready, all except Maurice who peeked from behind. Sunlight lit through the murky interior of the shack, but its inhabitant could not be seen. Looking around the apes saw various broken jars and other stored foods that was spilled out onto the ground, signaling that there was someone here at least.

With their guns still drawn, they all cautiously entered the shack, on guard in case there were any sneak attacks. The interior of the shelter was narrow and cramped, hardly big enough for even Luca to move about but they moved on. Seeing a door at the far end of the shack the made their way there, sure that whoever was still within this place was hiding there.

Caesar turned back to regard both Rocket and Luca behind him, ignoring Koba and gestured for them to be ready. Within a few seconds, Caesar was the first to burst through the door, slamming his shoulder into the cramped bedroom, sweeping the muzzle of his gun in front of him, in case of any surprise attacks. Rocket, Luca and Koba quickly filed in right after the ape king and looked around as well, making sure there was nothing to attack them.

At the sound of a noise, Koba swung his gun around, like the others and pointed it at something that curled itself at the end of what looked like a bed. Breathing through gritted teeth, Koba's eyes fell upon the figure.

Instead of a soldier, poised to attack, the apes found themselves staring down at...

A scared little girl, cowering like a frightened animal in the bottom half of a bunk bed, a blanket pulled over her small frame.

Heart thumping within his chest, pumping adrenaline through him still, Koba swallowed hard as his rifle was still aimed at the little girl. Heaving, Koba blinked a few times before he let his gaze wanted on over toward Caesar to see how the other chimpanzee was taking this piece of news. The look on Caesar's face showed that of shock, unsure of how to handle the situation that laid before them.

Soon enough a shaggy orange hand had then reached out and rested itself upon the barrel of Caesar's weapon, gently forcing it down so that it was aimed at the floor instead. Then another hand reached out and lowered Koba's as well. Then both Rocket and Luca followed as they also felt no need to aim their weapon at a defenseless human child.

Standing there, Koba steadied his heartbeats that pounded away within his chest, calming himself down before he glanced from Maurice, to the human child curled within her bed and then finally toward Caesar. Hearing Caesar's unsteady heavy breathing, the chimpanzee then took a step back and turned away from the little human girl. It was here that Caesar was met face to face with Koba again and the two simply stood there for a moment before the former of the two, walked past the other.

"Look around," Caesar said gravely as he stopped momentarily to glance back at the little girl before turning away once more. "Take what you can."

Seeing the others file out of the room after Caesar, Koba stood there quietly as well and turned to look at Maurice, who still had his attention on the human girl. Turning his attention upon the little human, Koba was reminded about the ugliness of the human race and he wanted nothing more than to end them all. However… this was but a human child, one that, like many other small ones, were innocent to the world around them. Grunting, Koba rounded himself and followed after the others.

…

Watching Rocket, Luca and Koba follow Caesar back into the cluttered heart of the shack, to sort through the provisions piled there, Maurice stood alone with the human girl. Turning back to the small little human, Maurice approached and observed her curiously. He then felt something touching his knuckles and he gently looked down to see what was lying there. Letting out gentle grunts, Maurice bent down and retrieved the object on the floor, which turned out to be a crude rag doll, fashioned to resemble a human.

Maurice observed the item within his hands, looking back and forth from it to the human girl before he offered a sincere smile and held the doll out towards her. The child eyed the crude doll for a long moment, before she glanced back up at Maurice whom nodded at her. The human girl then accepted the object and held it close to her while she watched Maurice with her big eyes.

Then to Maurice's surprise, the girl tried to say something but only a low, inarticulate whimper escaped her. Blinking, Maurice observed the human child curiously, knowing well that such young ones were very capable of speech. Yet, the little one was having trouble saying anything at all. Seeing the girl trying to struggle and say something, Maurice knew that he had seen enough and he gently raised a finger as he let out a deep chittering noise. The sound had frightened the girl, but Maurice continued and reached on over to gently stroke the head of the doll within the girl's hands, the notion having a calming effect.

…

Koba assisted the others as they rooted through the shack's contents. Turning to look at Caesar, Koba saw that the chimpanzee had stopped in his search to simply watch Rocket and Luca continue, having no success on his end. After a moment Koba returned to scrounging through the various things, reaching on over and pulled what look like a pair of binoculars from the side while Rocket and Luca were both successful in finding working flashlights. With these items, they could prove to be useful later on. Hearing approaching footsteps from behind them, they all turned when Maurice stopped in front of them and grunted, quickly glancing backward once before he signed to them.

"Something wrong with her," Maurice signed. "I don't think she can speak."

At this, Koba was confused as to why Maurice was so worried about the human child. Caesar on the other hand regarded Maurice sternly before looking away.

"Come," Caesar said and left.

Rocket and Luca frowned at Caesar's response but the two apes quietly followed nonetheless, their findings within the sacks in their hands. Koba however had paused and turned toward Maurice, noticing the orangutan looking away from him and back the way toward the run down bedroom.

"Let's go, Maurice," Koba spoke up, causing the bigger ape to turn around and look at him.

The scarred bonobo turned around and followed the others while Maurice hesitated and glanced back behind him once more, noticing that the girl had chosen to remain within the confines of the bedroom. Having no choice, he soon followed the others out into the open. By the time they had left the shack, everyone was all ready to mount their horses and continue on their journey. Slowly ambling on after the others, Maurice glanced up and saw that Caesar had gotten on his own steed. However, Maurice noticed that Caesar had his gaze upon something behind him and he too followed Caesar's eyes to see what he was looking at.

Maurice noticed that Caesar had saw the girl had followed them all out into the open. Curiously she wandered on over to the body of the dead human, which was still lying on the ground beside his gun. The child had a look of confusion on her face for a moment before she bent down and reached out to touch the man. When she had gotten no reaction from the man the girl finally realized what had happened to her him and her eyes began to well up. Her small frame shook as she reached up to cover her mouth as tears rolled down her face. Whoever the human man was to the girl, either her father or a guardian of some sort, he was now gone, life taken by Caesar, leaving the girl truly alone in the world now.

Turning back around to face Caesar, Maurice then grunted to get his attention.

"She'll die out here alone," he had signed.

A flicker of sympathy passed through Rocket and Luca as they watched their two friends and the human girl. This child was not their enemy, yet they agreed with Maurice. If she stayed out here, all alone, she will surely perish without her guardian. As this world was as harsh as it was beautiful to all.

Koba on the other hand felt no sympathy for the human child as he observed from the side. Or so he would think. The longer he watched the little girl cry for the lost of her father or guardian, the more he started to feel something tug within him… something that reminded him of his mother so very long ago while he was in the same situation, and he didn't like that. Angrily he turned away from the sight.

"We cannot take her Maurice," Caesar said firmly.

Exhaling deeply, Maurice glanced back around to peer at the crying child and then rounded himself right back toward Caesar.

"I understand," he signed calmly. "But I cannot leave her."

Frustrated, Caesar glared at the stubborn orangutan before his cold eyes wandered on over to the girl.

"Then do what you will," Caesar growled as he kicked his horse, causing the steed to trot a few paces away.

Watching Caesar leave, Koba glared back down at the ground and calmed his senses. Shutting his eyes tightly, he took a deep breath before he turned around and saw Maurice still observing the weeping girl from where he stood. He then approached the orangutan.

"Why do this Maurice?" Koba asked, not truly understanding why the orangutan was so adamant on wanting to take the human girl with them. "Why worry for her?"

Maurice paused for a moment and seemed to be in deep thought before he regarded Koba with a sad smile.

"I do not know," he answered honestly.

With that said, Maurice finally lumbered toward the human child, leaving Koba, Rocket and Luca there to wait for him.

"You two make sure that Caesar does not leave us," Luca signed to both Rocket and Koba.

The two other apes regarded the silverback and nodded in agreement before they hefted themselves onto their own horses and followed Caesar. As Luca patiently waited for Maurice and the little girl, he took a step back as the older orangutan gently brought the child on over. Still silently weeping and holding onto the stuff toy within her hands, Luca couldn't help but feel for the little girl.

"Get on your horse, I will help her up," Luca signed to the older orangutan.

Maurice nodded in thanks toward Luca and slowly ambled up onto his own steed. Once situated, he had turned back to look down at the human child and noticed that she looked hesitant in approaching. Curiously, Maurice then turned to look at Luca, whom seemed to have noticed this as well.

Not knowing what to do, Luca glanced from Maurice to the child in front of him. They had to hurry, lest they were left behind by Caesar and the others, who could keep him around for so long. Thinking quickly, Luca knelt down to make himself look smaller so that the human child would approach. Of course, this didn't help too much as Luca's frame was much too big and it had only amused Maurice slightly, to Luca's annoyance. This however, seemed to work a little bit as the child instead took a step forward and curiously met his eyes. Blinking, Luca then reached a hand out towards the human girl and waited patiently for her. The human girl seemed to hesitate for just a couple of heartbeats before she wiped away at her tear streaked eyes and slowly reach out towards his hand.

The moment her hand was in his palm, Luca met the child's gaze and gently closed his fingers around hers. Hesitantly the child step toward him and he instead let out soft pants to hopefully ease her. Once she was in front of him, Luca picked up the child and placed her up onto Maurice's horse. The moments she was situated behind the orangutan, she quickly clung onto the back of his fur, like an ape child would. Luca stared curiously as the human child looked back up at him and a slightly sweet smile appeared on her lips, even if her eyes were still red and puffy from just crying. Seeing this, Luca couldn't help but offer a small smile of his own.

After a second or two, Luca's gaze wandered on over toward Maurice and he found the older orangutan smiling at him. Quickly regaining his composure and putting on a more imposing posture, Luca grunted.

"Something wrong?" Luca asked.

"No," Maurice gestured back before nodding at the silverback. "Thank you."

"Think nothing of it," Luca simply signed back as he went on over to his own white horse and got on.

Maurice couldn't help but smile amusingly at his dear friend before he made sure that the girl was secure enough to move his horse onward with Luca following closely behind.

…

...

...

Light filtered through the trees of the Redwood forest, the sun's rays beaming in through between the trees and casting the undergrowth in a golden sheen of light in the mid early morning. There was a running river by the side and by it's shore, squatted Nick, who was busy refilling his canteen with one of their spares. As he was doing so, there was the sounds of someone approaching from behind and he glanced behind to see Max walking up to him.

"Heard from the others that McCullough and his men are on the move again," Max spoke up as he patted the radio within the sack on his back. "Said that they might be heading up towards north, to one of the old bases up there. Seems like we scouted out here for nothing," he finished.

"I wouldn't say nothing. We did hear the fight go on yesterday and saw who McCullough's forces were going against with," Nick explained calmly.

"Yeah…" Max answered slowly. "Apes of all things."

After filling his canteen, Nick stood back up and put the object away before he patted down the front of his pants.

"Well… as long as we don't bother the apes, we should be fine," Nick responded, gazing out into the distance.

"And what makes you so sure of that?" Max asked from behind. "We're only going after McCullough cause he went AWOL and has already killed people since then. If not him, I'm betting that we would be fighting these apes too."

"Yeah," Nick frowned as he answered and glanced about. "I bet we would…"

"Come on Nick, lets get back to our truck-" Max started but stopped when he had sighted something while he walked down the river's path.

Confused, Nicholas quickly followed behind his companion.

"Hey what's wrong?…" Nick had started to ask but stopped himself too as he now saw the reason why Max had stopped in his tracks.

There on the banks of the river was a body. Not just any body as well, but the body of an ape. Slowly the two crept up toward the figure, a chimpanzee no less, and looked it over. The creature had a terrible head wound of some kind that streaked across the left side of its cranium. Along with that the ape had what looked like old scars as well that ran across its torso area. Curiously Nick bent down to examine the creature a little closer, a look of concern overcoming his features.

"Hey, should you be getting so close to that?" Max asked.

Ignoring Maxwell's words, Nick noticed something around the ape's neck and he reached out towards it. Pulling the item back from the body, Nick observed what was in his hand. There situated within the middle of his palm, sat a beautiful stone that varied in shades of light to dark blue hues. Curiously though the stone looked like it had been struck by something hard, leaving a spiderweb fracture upon it with bits of stones missing.

"What is that?" Max now asked instead as he walked up toward Nick to see what the other man had found.

"It's a necklace… this ape was wearing a necklace," Nicholas responded, as if he was saddened by such a thing.

Curious as to why his companion was acting such a way, Max turned to look down at Nicholas.

"What has gotten into you?"

The two were suddenly startled as a gasping sound that came from the ape's body, causing them to both jump back. Maxwell was quick to aim his gun at the body of the ape while Nicholas simply stared with wide eyes. The ape laying on the bank of the river gave a shuddering breath before the creature's eyelids opened, revealing irises the colors of the cerulean sea.

A blue eyed chimpanzee.

"Holy shit. I thought it was dead?" Maxwell breathed as he kept his weapon on the ape as the simian huffed on the spot, seeming much too weak to be able to move.

Pocketing the stone into his pants, Nicholas quickly held out his hand in front of his companion, confusing Max. He turned turned to look at Nicholas whom seemed to be observing that ape before them for a long while before the man's eyes widened slightly.

"You can't be…" Nicholas started but quickly shook his head and turned toward Max. "Help me!"

"What?" Max asked.

"Help me take him back to the truck. We need to take him into the city," Nick said quickly.

At this, Max took a step back away from his companion, confusion written all over his face.

"Nick, what are you talking about? Take him to the truck and city? There's nothing in the city. It's deserted-"

"Please!" Nick cut the other soldier off. "I'm begging you. Please. We need to save him."

Swallowing hard, Maxwell look from Nick to the chimpanzee on the bank of the river and lowered his gun slowly. Closing his eyes for a long while, Max heaved out a breath and slung his weapon around his back as he turned back to look at Nick's pleading face.

"You owe me an explanation," Max said to the medic.

"I promise, I'll explain everything," Nicholas said to his companion before rounding himself to look at the blue eyed chimp. "It's going to be alright."

Hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the story still. Also... I wonder who Nicholas and Maxwell found?