Hello readers! I'm so sorry for the long chapter delay. The holidays had been a bit hectic and I've hardly any time to write. But fear not, as a promise to myself and you all, I am still working on this story and will finish it, even if I am unable to post regularly at times. Anyways, here is the next chapter. Do enjoy this newest chapter and as before, if there are any questions and or if you want to put any comments down, feel free to do so. But enough of that, Happy Readings!

Koba had found himself standing at the top of familiar looking stairs. Curiously he looked about and noticed that everything was a blur to him, with sounds of screeching, shouting and gunfire all around. He remembered this place well… it was… but it couldn't.

Koba suddenly perked up when he noticed a human at the base of the stairs, wildly swinging a pole at the younger apes below. Koba huffed in slight terror as he knew exactly where this was now. Suddenly another ape with scars riddling all around his body stepped out from Koba himself and made his way down the base of the stairs. The bonobo's own eyes grew wide when he saw the scarred ape below him took a hold of the human's weapon and snarled down at man into submission. The ape then took the pole and tossed it to one of the young apes.

"Kill him," Koba heard his own voice emanating from the other ape.

"No," Koba breathed, as his shoulders started to rise and fall quickly with each breath he took.

Koba then saw his past self signing towards the young chimp male - Ash, who reluctantly met the other scarred ape before looking down at the pole in his hands. Koba could then see the turmoil set within the usually cheery young male's face before he glanced back at the other Koba's way.

"Caesar would not have wanted this," Ash signed reluctantly as he lowered his shoulders a little. "He would have wanted us to have peace with these humans. They… they pose no threat to us."

Koba knew what came next, seeing his past self throwing a hand over Ash's shoulder, seemingly to agree with the younger ape.

But that was simply a lie.

Koba remembered well how much anger he held for the younger ape for disobeying his orders. And like before, the past Koba grabbed Ash by the scruff of his neck and dragged the young chimp up the stairway while he bucked, kicked and screamed in protest. This time though, Koba was ready to do anything to stop his past self from doing any harm. He was a changed ape after all and he was not going to allow this to happen again, if he could help it.

Baring his fangs, Koba reached out to stop his other self from dragging the screeching Ash any further. Surprisingly though, Koba instead only went right through the two apes. Huffing in shock, Koba turned around quickly and stood with the other young apes as they watched the other Koba dragged Ash toward the edge of the balcony and lifted the young chimp over his head.

This is it. This is where Blue Eyes was supposed to step in and stop him.

As Koba was just thinking that though, time seemed to have slowed when he noticed that his other self had suddenly launched Ash right over the edge of the railings.

"No!" Koba shouted as he tried to run but was seemingly stuck there on the spot.

There was a scream from Ash as he fell and then a resounding thump, far below, ceasing the young chimp's cry.

Horrified at what he had just saw, Koba was then able to find the strength to move his limbs again and quickly rushed on over toward the balcony and peered over the edge. There, far beneath them all, he could see the limp form of a body, with a dark pool of red spreading out from underneath it. Gasping, Koba moved away from the railing and rounded his head back towards the young apes for Blue Eyes, but didn't see him among the others. Panting, Koba turned back to angrily glare at his other self who slowly turned around to face them all.

"Apes… follow… Pope. Now," the scarred bonobo said slowly.

At the mention of Pope's name, Koba took a step back, his anger quickly replaced by confusion at what he had just heard. As he met his other self in the eyes, Koba then noticed that the other ape's face slowly started to peel away in clumps of flesh, blood oozing down his features. Slowly, fishnet scars replaced the left side of what was Koba's past self, with the right side of his eyes turning into a pale-green color, mirroring his left side.

"Pope…" Koba breathed, taking a wary step backward.

"Apes! Follow! Pope now!" Pope shouted as he rushed towards Koba and stood right in front of him.

Too shocked to say anything, all Koba could do was stand there and met the other ape in the eyes. Dead cold eyes.

"Look, Koba," Pope said softly as he pointed just a few feet away.

Koba followed Pope's finger and his eyes widened. The scenery had suddenly changed and Koba found himself back within Caesar's dwelling. Koba's blood then ran cold as he saw the bodies of both Cornelia and Blue Eyes laying on the stoney ground, they too surrounded by a pool of red.

"No…" Koba breathed as he fell to his knees and could only stare with teary eyes at the bodies of both Cornelia, and Blue Eyes.

"Look. What you caused," Pope whispered into Koba' ear, placing his hands upon the weeping bonobo's shoulders "Ash. Cornelia. Blue Eyes. All dead. All apes dead. Because of you," Pope continued as he waved his hand around, showing Koba the masses of ape bodies that surrounded the both of them.

"I-"

Pope then shushed Koba before letting out a small chuckle as he stepped in front of the scarred bonobo and seemingly stared at Cornelia and Blue Eyes' lifeless forms. He then slowly rounded himself to face Koba again and gently placed a finger under the bonobo's chin, lifting his face up to meet his own decaying one.

"Apes. All die. Koba. Because. Of you," Pope whispered sweetly.

Not believing in what he was hearing, Koba reached up and placed his hands over his ears and closed his eyes, hoping to drive away at Pope's words that plagued his mind. That however, merely caused Pope to merely chuckle at him at the pathetic attempt. The dead chimpanzee then reached down and took a hold of Koba's hands and pulled them away from the bonobo's ears.

"Who. is fault?" Pope asked with a sneer to his bloody mouth.

Koba was silent for a moment and stared defiantly up at the bloodied chimpanzee who stood over him. However, the longer he stared at Pope the more the other ape reminded him of all the misdeeds he had done and Koba couldn't help but lower his head in shame.

"My fault…" Koba answered lowly, causing Pope to hum in amusement. "All my fault," Koba continued.

"Yes. All your fault," Pope agreed as he stood there.

While Koba was wallowing in despair, he then heard movement in front of him and he slowly glanced back up at Pope. The chimpanzee was fiddling with something within his hands and to Koba's surprise, he noticed a kitchen blade within Pope's fingers. Pope's dull glassy eyes looked back and forth from Koba to the blade and a gleeful smile spread upon his features before he leaned down and was face to face with Koba once more.

"Koba knows this blade, yes?" Pope asked. "Going to us it on Rex," he continued to state as he pricked his finger on the blade's tip, drawing some blood on it.

Huffing, Koba looked at the blade that was slowly being drenched in red liquid.

"Does Koba know what he should do?" Pope asked suddenly, confusing Koba.

The chimpanzee then raised the blade high over his head as he bared his bloody fangs down at the bonobo beneath him, startling the other ape.

"Koba. should die!" Pope shouted, as the blade came falling down, striking Koba in his chest.

With a gasp, Koba's eyes suddenly snapped open and he sat up quickly. Panting aloud, his breath fogged out of him with each exhale into the cold night air. Quickly glanced down at his chest, Koba found no indication of any wound there, all except old scars. Relief settling within his body, Koba closed his eyes as he took in a lungful of cold night air to ease his heart, which pounded deeply within his chest. Letting out a long drawn breath, Koba then opened up his eyes once more to look around him. There within the dark with the only source of light from the dying embers, he could see the silhouettes of the others, soundlessly sleeping around him.

Glad that he did not wake up the others, Koba stood up and walked a little bit away from the group and sat by the edge of their little camp. Pulling his limbs close to him, Koba once more brooded by himself as the actions of his past and events that had transpired from it, continued to haunt him. Grunting quietly, Koba then placed his head into his hands, digging his nails into his skull. He hated this. Hated these terrible dreams so much. Why couldn't he get rid of these foul nightmares.

As he silently sat there, Koba then felt something soft and small touch his shoulder. With a sharp intake of breath, Koba snapped his head at whoever touched him and was surprised to see the little human girl looking at him worriedly, who seemed to have jumped herself at his reaction. At first Koba was confused as to why the little human girl was here and not with Maurice, as she should be. Was she not able to sleep too? Why was she out in the dark with him? And looking at him with...

With eyes of pity.

He hated that look. That look that the others would give him because of his weakness. It did nothing but reminded him of the terrible things that he had endured and had done to others. He need not be reminded of what he had done, or had been done to him in the past. With a snarl, Koba scared the little human girl who jumped and quickly ran back and nestled herself into Maurice's form, causing the orangutan to snort, lift his head and then comfort the young human girl.

Unbeknownst to Koba and the human child, sat a bulky figure among the the leaves of the bushes. The nearly hairless form of Rocket peered out from behind his hiding spot and solemnly watched as Koba once more lowered his head and continued to languish by himself. This was not well for the scarred bonobo and Rocket knew it, but what could he do? Only Koba could rid himself of what was troubling him, only if he allowed others to help him… Maybe in due time Rocket himself and the others could do something. As of now though, they had other matters to attend to.

With that in mind, Rocket silently stepped away from his spot and made his way back to the camp area where the others rested.

...

Caesar woke with a startling gasp, finding himself lying on the ground near the now dead bonfire that they had all surrounded. Disoriented, he found Maurice standing over him, with the small human girl riding on his back, both peering down at him.

"The soldiers are leaving!" the orangutan signed urgently as he gestured to the opening of their secluded area.

Scrambling up to his feet, Caesar found Rocket, Luca and Koba already crouching behind the trees and bushes as they spied on the humans. He heard the rumbling thunder of vehicles and horses on the move as they all passed on by.

Walking up to the others, Caesar noticed an open space near Koba, who was also gazing out at the humans. Caesar had absentmindedly made his way on over toward the scarred bonobo but then halted himself. He stood there as he regarded Koba momentarily, but thought better of it and instead made his way past the scarred bonobo and squeezed on next to both Rocket and Luca instead. Getting a small greeting from the other two, Caesar observed and could recall Rex's words, telling him that the humans were heading on north to meet up with the Colonel, rendezvousing with more soldiers.

Apparently Rex had been telling them the truth… before he was murdered by Caesar's own bare hands.

If the soldiers were leaving to join the Colonel and the rest of these soldiers from the north, then his course was clear. Caesar himself was going to follow these humans. Follow them to the ends of the earth, if need be.

So that he could have his revenge.

…

Maxwell could never imagined that he could be so tired after recent events. The man had found himself sitting on some chairs and begrudgingly glaring out at the entryway of the makeshift infirmary that they were in. He and Nicholas had spent nearly all night trying to help this chimpanzee that they had found by the river within the redwoods. The ordeal itself, was terrifying for Max. Even after years of seeing such atrocities and things that no one ever should, he still felt queasy after helping Nick out with the procedures of healing this ape. Looking down at his hands Max could still see some blood on them and heaved out a tired sigh, while he leaned back into his chair. A few heartbeats later, Max could hear the sounds of footsteps coming towards him, and he turned to look.

"He seems stabilized now," Nick spoke quietly as he stopped in front of Max and looked at him questionably.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that we were both able to fix and mend the ape, keeping him from dying on us. Honestly, I can't believe we were still able to help him. With a head wound like that, it's… it's a miracle that he's still alive," Nicholas answered glancing back in the direction of their charge.

"So… he'll be okay then?" Max asked.

"Yes thankfully. For now," Nick responded with a tired smile, rounding back to face his companion.

"You know… I still don't understand why you did all this," Max said after a moment.

At that, both Nicholas and Maxwell grew silent.

"Anyways, you look like shit," Max said suddenly, causing Nick to blink up in surprise. "Go and rest up. I'll take first watch."

"But what about me telling you-"

"That, can be done later. Right now you need sleep, as do I… but one of us needs to stay up and look after our guy over there. You said that the ape is doing okay right? Meaning he's not going to die, right?"

"Well, yes. But-"

"Then if anything happens I'll wake you up and let you know," Max interrupted the other again. "Go to sleep. Don't need you passing out when you're needed."

Nick was going to say something else but heaved out a tired breath and simply smiled.

"Thank you, Max. I really mean it."

Max turned his dark brown eyes up and met Nick's pale blue ones for a moment before waving a hand into the air.

"Yeah, yeah. Just go and rest up already," Max grumbled.

At this, Nick chuckled lightly before he slowly sauntered off towards one of the beds within the room.

After a few moment, Max could hear the light snoring of his companion and he stood up and stretched his tired body. He then walked on over to where their patient was. There he could see the ape, whose wounds were cleaned and closed with stitches and other medical supplies that laid about. The chimp was hooked up with several machines that miraculously still worked, keeping the ape's vitals in check. The machine was powered by a gas generator that was still able to keep things running for at least two more weeks. At least, that was what Nicholas had informed him. Turning back around to look at Nick, Max wondered what secrets the other man was hiding from him. How did he know of so much things from here?

While lost within his thoughts, Max was startled when the sounds of their radio came on. Making his way on over to the radio, Maxwell quickly lowered the volume as to not disrupt the others and listened. It was mostly reports, given from the head honchos about meeting up with the Northern Army to stop McCullough. They were to all meet up at a rendezvous point before marching on as a singular unit to face the these so called "Alpha Omegas" head on.

With a sigh, Maxwell clicked the machine off and took in a deep breath. He knew for sure now that both he and Nick are not going to meet up with the rest of the army. They would need to follow up eventually but they would need a good excuse to as of why they had not shown up earlier.

Oh well… they'll just have to come up with something. Besides, in this day and age, many people can get lost out in the barren world, if strayed too far from safety. Rounding his head, Max then stared out of the window, seeing that daybreak was just now beginning and with that, he kept a watchful eye on their small little group.

…

Caesar and the others continued to ride after the Colonel's troops, maintaining their distance. The small army had headed eastward, leaving the coast behind in favor of the wooded valleys and canyons beyond. Gruffly, Caesar ushered his horse forward after them with the others following close behind.

Trailing after the rest of the army, the group all travelled through miles of rugged, overgrown plains and marshes. Through fields of high grasses with wildflowers and found themselves making their way through forgotten ghost towns that must have once been populated by human life. Now nothing more than rundown homes, overrun with vines and weeds.

In time, the snow-capped peaks of the towering mountains loomed before the group. Abandoning the plains and valleys behind them, they ascended into the rugged peaks beyond, where the climate grew colder. Their hairy coats provided some sense of degree of protection against the frigid cold winds, as they had done during the chilly winters back in the redwood forest. Even so, the harsh weather is a brutal reminder that apes had evolved to thrive in tropical climates and not this frigid wilderness surrounding them.

Caesar shivered atop of his horse, blowing upon his hands and fingers to keep them from going numb. His green eyes squinted into the blowing snow, as he observed the trail ahead. Concerned for the others, he glanced back over his shoulder to see how they were all faring. He glimpsed Maurice on his own horse, gently sheltering the human girl with his shaggy body. The mute child clung to the massive orangutan, seeking the warmth of his body. The snow dusted Maurice's orange fur, making him look prematurely ancient. Peering past Maurice, Caesar checked on both Rocket and Luca. The silverback seemed to be taking the weather stoutly, with his head held high but Caesar could tell that Luca was just as cold as he noticed the gorilla shudder every now and then. Rocket on the other hand… the nearly bald chimpanzee had little fur or hair on his body and Caesar himself hoped that his good friend was not suffering too severely from the flurry that blew around them. Letting his gaze wander, he then found Koba, the scarred bonobo rubbing his hands up and down his arms, mouth set into a constant frown. The more he looked at Koba the more he could see how miserable the other ape was. Like usual, Caesar himself felt nothing for the suffering bonobo. Both he and Koba briefly made eye contact and held it for a moment before the scarred ape quickly glanced elsewhere. Letting out a huff, Caesar turned back around, knowing that the others were at least well.

Eventually, the group came upon the human soldiers, the flurry of wind and snow still blowing around them all. Halting the group, Caesar pointed toward the camps where the vehicles could be seen and yelling could be heard.

"They stopped," Caesar said aloud.

Rocket rode up to Caesar's side and squinted at the army as well but before anything else could have been asked or said, gunfire rang throughout the air, causing all of the apes to duck their heads. The horses cried and bucked fearfully at the sound of gunfire with Caesar and the others quickly dismounting the startled animals and hurriedly taking cover behind some stoney crags. A few more gunshots followed and they all kept still.

"What are they shooting at?" Rocket asked as he had made his way up next to Caesar to sign.

"I don't know," Caesar answered honestly, shaking his head all the while.

The apes had lost track of time as they hunkered down the side of the stone crags. Eventually the blizzard around them had subsided, making it much easier to see and hear, but they all did not hear anymore gunshots. Emerging from their hidings cautiously, everyone scanned about, seeing if there were any hostile human soldiers along the trail. The fresh snow crunched beneath their feet as the moved about, but the noise attracted no gunfire.

Whatever they had heard before, it appeared to be over.

Making their way cautiously through the snowy trail the group found themselves approaching another set of crude wooden crosses, like the ones they had found before by the sea, staked into the snow on the side. These crosses, made from broken branches and the like, looked new, seeming to have been erected just a short time before. Approaching the crosses, the apes made another grisly discovery. Beneath those crosses laid three bodies, already being buried by the snowstorm before.

Curiously, Caesar crouched down next to one of the bodies.

"Caesar, don't," Koba spoke up.

Caesar however, ignored the scarred bonobo and tugged the fabric off of one of the bodies, revealing the face of a female soldier. Her eyes were closed upon her pale face and dried blood was caked beneath her nose.

Huffing Rocket had glanced on over to the next body and made his way on over towards it. Bending down, he too unmasked the body, revealing the face of a bearded male human with the same features. Eyes mercifully shut and with caked blood that had run down from his nose too. All of a sudden the human male's eyes snapped opened, along with a gasp, startling everyone around him.

The man cried out in pain and writhed on the snowy ground, reaching up to place his hand over his wound, panting in gasping breaths. Caesar and the others were quick to react as they all had aimed their weapons down at the human soldier while Maurice hooted in the background and tried to shield the child. The human however, kept his frightened eyes up at them while he breathed painfully. Seeing this, confusion overcame Caesar's features and he slowly lowered himself and reached under the human's head, gently bringing the man's head up, causing him to groan in pain.

"Caesar?" Koba breathed, his face looking back and forth from the human to the chimpanzee.

"Why did they shoot you?" Caesar asked simply.

The man, seeming to understand Caesar then opened him mouth to speak. Instead though, the human soldier was only producing guttural grunts and incoherent gasps in response, confusing the apes. Looking down at the human, Caesar's brows narrowed and a thought had suddenly crossed his mind. Turning his head slowly, he then regarded the human girl behind them all, with everyone else following his gaze.

"Like her!" Maurice signed. "He cannot speak."

Caesar kept his gaze upon Maurice and the human child while Rocket and Luca looked back and forth. Koba on the other hand, balled up the fist in the hand that didn't hold a gun and simply stared at the human girl, his features set into a frown.

"He will die of those wounds," Maurice finally gestured.

Caesar finally turned back to the human and gently placed the man's head back down.

"Let him die," Koba could be heard speaking up from behind.

Caesar could hear Maurice grunting behind as well, most likely signing something to the scarred bonobo.

"Don't care. Let him suffer," Koba growled in response. "They are the cause of this."

At this Caesar snapped his head in Koba's direction and glared up at the scarred bonobo.

"And you are one to speak!" Caesar growled.

Koba blinked once in Caesar's direction and after a moment, lowered his weapon, along with his shoulders. Koba looked as if he was about to say something, but thought better on it and kept his mouth shut. Instead he lowered his gaze down toward the snow beneath his feet and made no further comments. Everyone else had their eyes turned back toward Caesar and Rocket couldn't help but shake his head slowly from side to side.

"Luca..." Caesar spoke up, turning back to regard the silverback.

Understanding, Luca nodded and turned toward Maurice and the human girl, gesturing at the both of them for what is about to happen. Maurice glanced at Caesar for a moment and knew what the chimpanzee leader was going to do. He turned to watch Koba for a moment before finally meeting Caesar's gaze once more. There were many things that was going through the orangutan's mind but he thought best to address them at a later time. As of now, he needed to take the little human child away from what was going to occur.

Once Luca had seen that Maurice and the little girl had taken their leave, Caesar slowly let his gaze focus back to the human beneath him. Huffing, Caesar then pointed the end of his gun at the human who in turn closed their eyes, resigning himself to his fate. Gritting his teeth, Caesar hovered his finger over the trigger his weapon. He definitely had no qualms about shooting other humans before, but right now… he was at a crossroads. However, as he thought on it, if something was to cause an ape to suffer as much as it did this human, Caesar himself would have wished mercy upon them as well, whoever they may be. Even if they were…

Blinking, Caesar slowly turned his head and could see Koba standing just a few feet away. The scarred bonobo had a look of defeat about him with his shoulders slacked. It looked almost pathetic in a way to Caesar but indeed. He would have wished mercy for Koba too as much as it pained him to even think so.

With that in mind, Caesar pulled on the trigger to his weapon and the still air erupted with the report of gunfire.