I believe we're about halfway through War of the Planet of the Apes... Anywho, do enjoy the latest chapter!
By the time Caesar had gotten down to the canyon's pass and making his way on over toward the human zoo, night had since already fallen over the land, cloaking his form in the darkness. The moon gave him just enough light to see by as he made his way across the snow-packed ground.
The sounds of someone approaching from behind.
Grunting, Caesar turned around, ready to tell whomever it was, most likely Rocket, to go back or to leave. However, when he had spun around to address said figure, Caesar stopped himself as he saw the familiar figure of a one eyed ape stopping a short distance away from him. With the gentle glow of the moon's light, Caesar could see Koba standing there silently, watching him with that singular golden-green eye of his. After a moment, Caesar's expression changed and he glowered at the scarred bonobo.
"What are you doing here? I thought I said that I was finishing this alone," Caesar said lowly. "Leave!"
Closing his eyes momentarily and taking a deep breath, Koba met Caesar's gaze once more and shook his head slowly.
"No," Koba said simply.
Thinking that he had misheard Koba, Caesar cocked his head and kept his glare upon the scarred bonobo.
"What?" Caesar said quietly.
"I said no!" Koba repeated. "I'm not… I'm not leaving and I'm not letting you get killed."
Upon hearing Koba, Caesar's eyes widen briefly before he quickly glared daggers at the bonobo once more.
"Not letting me get killed?" Caesar questioned as he marched up toward Koba and got right up into the other ape's face. "You! Are not going to let me get killed?! And when is that your choice to make?!" Caesar said to Koba as he shoved the bonobo backwards. "When did you ever care about me or others, Koba? Where was this conviction of yours when you decided to attack the humans? Put the lives of the apes in danger and caused the death of many?" he hissed.
At this Koba kept quiet but held himself firm.
"I-"
"You what?" Caesar cut Koba off. "Did not think this will happen? That your actions would have caused this? All of this?" Caesar accused as he waived an arm around himself. "You never think of your consequences. About what it could do to apes if you were to act on them. But here it is now, Koba. Your perfect and ideal world. Human and Apes at war with each other, just like what you wanted."
Koba blinked and shut his eyes tightly before shaking his head quickly, side to side.
"No Caesar! This is not what I wanted!" Koba said loudly. "I just wanted… I wanted apes to be safe! To be left alone! To be free! You've never been hurt by the humans like I have. All those times I've spent alone, in constant pain. Cut open. Over and over again. Never knowing if I would ever make it out to the next day. That was torture to me. I never wanted an ape to experience what I had. Especially you!"
At this Caesar leaned back a bit, confused.
"After you saved me from the humans. I… I looked up to you. Respected you and did what I could to help and serve you," Koba spoke in a more soft voice.
A mournful look then appeared on Koba' face as he looked Caesar in the eyes.
"I know what I did… what I had caused could never be forgiven. And I regret it every single day... You have every right to hate me, Caesar but I'm trying to make things right… even if you don't forgive me. I… I just wanted you to know that I'm… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Koba apologized earnestly.
After Koba had spoken both he and Caesar stood there for a long while within the middle of the snow. The air was silent around them, only filled with the heavy breathing from the scarred bonobo.
"Pathetic," Caesar said lowly after a long while, causing Koba to freeze up. "Your apology is worthless. We should have left you back in the labs to rot in your own cage," he spat at the other ape.
Cocking his gun, Caesar rounded himself and left the stunned bonobo behind in the snow. Hoping that the traitor ape would leave him be this time and take his useless self back to the others.
Standing there with his head lowered, Koba's wide eyes stared at the snow on the ground by his feet. Did Caesar just say that to him? That he should have been left behind to rot in his cage? When they had first freed him? Of all the things that Caesar had said to him, insulted him, berated him for what he did. Why did this suddenly struck such a strong chord with him?
Wrapping his hands around himself, Koba suddenly lost the strength within his legs as he dropped to his knees. His shoulders started to shake as his body was suddenly wracked with a sobbing fit as his held in emotions started to erupt deep from within his being. Letting the weight of his actions fall upon him again, just as before.
"They were my family too," Koba whispered quietly to himself.
…
Taking a step back from his work, Rocket curiously observed the mound that he had built upon Luca's body. He had spent the better half of the evening burying his dear friend and he slightly lowered his head at the thought of the Gorilla. A large hand then placed itself upon Rocket's shoulder, causing the nearly hairless chimpanzee to turn and meet Maurice's solemn smile.
"He would have appreciated you for doing this," Maurice signed.
Rocket said nothing to Maurice but nodded slowly in acknowledgement. The longer the both looked down at the grave marker, did the two reminisce about their dear old friend.
"I was suppose to get back at him… for making that other ape ride with me," Rocket signed after a long moment. "Now I'll never be able to."
At this, Maurice smiled sadly at Rocket and turned to look at the grave marker as well.
"He was a good, kind and strong friend," Maurice offered to say. "He is with our other friends and families now. Wherever they are, after passing on from this world onto the next."
"Do you think that there is another place for apes after passing?" Rocket had asked unsurely.
Maurice offered a solemn smile.
"I do not know my dear friend. But I hope there is. For all of us and for the ones that had gone on first," Maurice responded.
The two apes were silent after that, contemplating if there was a thing, such as the afterlife for apes who had passed on.
After a few more minutes, both Rocket and Maurice turned around and were startled to see Bad Ape standing there, looking to be quite distressed. Confused, both Maurice and Rocket glanced at each other before approaching the smaller ape.
"Something. Wrong?" Rocket asked.
"Friends!" Bad Ape spoke up. "Friends not back yet. Sun is going down. They gone too long!"
Hearing this from the smaller chimp, Rocket looked to the skies and gauged where the sun was at, from behind the clouds. He did see that Bad Ape had a point though. It had been a while now since Koba had gone after Caesar and the sky was darkening, foreshadowing nightfall. Huffing and looking back down at the ground, many thoughts crossed Rocket's mind before he glanced back up at both Maurice and Bad Ape, determination set within his emerald eyes.
"Going after them," Rocket signed quickly
A look of concern crossed Maurice's features.
"You're going after them?" Maurice asked, his face laced with concern.
"I have to, Maurice. Who knows how much danger they could both be in, if they are not back by now," Rocket signed back.
Maurice took a deep breath and slowly looked around himself, unsure about it all. Rocket had stepped off to the side and picked up one of the weapons to which Bad Ape started to question the bulkier chimp on what he was doing and where he was going.
"Saving. Friends," Rocket responded, turning to meet Bad Ape in the eyes.
"Saving?" Bad Ape repeated slowly. "Friends?"
With a grunt and a nod, Rocket turned his sights in the direction that both Caesar and Koba had walked off to. Just before he took a step forward, Rocket felt a hand upon his shoulder, causing him to turn and see Maurice looking at him.
"If you are going to go after them. Then we all go as well," Maurice gestured.
"Maurice, its-"
Maurice held up a hand to stop Rocket from signing any further and simply smiled at the bulky chimpanzee.
"Caesar and Koba are my friends too," Maurice signed with a simple smile to his lips.
Rocket paused momentarily to regard Maurice for a long moment before a small smile appeared on his lips.
"Let us go and bring them back then," Rocket responded.
Maurice had then gone on over toward the horses and took one of the rucksacks containing the necessary items that they had found along the way. Removing the reigns from the horses, Maurice gently patted the four-legged creatures and set them off into the wild.
Bad Ape watched curiously, wondering why the orangutan had set the creatures free, but did not question it.
Slinging the rucksack over his shoulder, Maurice had then called for the human girl who silently walked up to him. Taking his hand, the shaggy ape offered the girl a reassuring smile before he too walked up to Rocket. The two apes turned to Luca's grave marker once more and bid their dear friend a final goodbye, before setting off in the direction that Caesar and Koba had gone off in.
"Wait. Wait," Bad Ape said aloud in a confused tone as they were all moving away. "All friends go? Oh. Oh no. Oh…"
Bad Ape fidgeted on the spot as he glanced to and fro, from the safety of the woods and then toward the others, unsure of what to choose. Whimpering to himself, Bad Ape skittered back and forth before mustering up the courage and finally followed the others.
…
After a long distance of walking silently by himself, Caesar finally slowed as he approached the X-shaped structures at the edge of the cliff. To him it seemed like whoever were building these strange things earlier had left when the sun had gone down. As he approached the strange shapes his hardened face slowly melted away to that of confusion as he made out figures roped to the crosses.
What is this…?
Confusion turned into horror as he drew near and saw that the pitiful figures were none other than apes, all seemingly deceased as they were bound to the X's by their hands and feet. Aghast, Caesar looked from ape to ape, his mind reeling at the awful spectacle before him. Not even back in the old days, when the apes had been treated like animals by humans, had he seen anything this barbaric or pointlessly sadistic before. He had seen war, and the horrors of war, but… never anything like this.
These humans… they were so much worse than he could have ever imagined.
Caesar staggered around the crucified apes, their imagery still a shock to him and was momentarily distracted by a disturbing murmur coming from the canyon below. His heart pounding within his chest, Caesar turned away from the crosses and rushed to the brink of the ledge, where his anguished eyes saw his worst fears confirm.
Hundreds of apes were crowded into giant outdoor holding pens in the middle of a sprawling prison camp, nestled at the base of the mountains, some several stories below the ledge that Caesar stood upon. The noise that had drawn him was the collective moans and cries and anxious chattering of the imprisoned apes, who, in their numbers could only be his very own apes.
His friends and people.
With that in mind, Caesar lost the strength in his legs and dropped down onto his knees as he could only watch helplessly as his apes were corralled into the giant holding pens by the human soldiers, ruthlessly so.
Hearing movement to his right, Caesar did not need to turn his head to see and know who it was. Koba came into view out of his peripheral and he could hear the scarred bonobo letting out a quiet "no…" as well, while he too faltered on the spot.
Caesar had thought that maybe he had driven the bonobo away with his harsh words, but it too seemed that Koba was much too stubborn to leave him be. He wanted to feel anger at the bonobo, to yell at him, curse at him, anything. But the shock of finding out what laid before him, was too much for even him to direct his anger at the other ape.
But if Caesar were to be honest with himself, he was sort of glad to have another ape there with him. Even if it was Koba...
The exodus, they now both realized. They've been captured. All of them.
Guilt shocked Caesar like the electric cattle prods the ape handlers had used on him back at the primate shelter, so many years ago. He had let his apes go on without him, with Ash to guide them, and now…
Caesar and Koba then stumbled back from the edge of the cliff, both still overwhelmed by what they had seen.
"Caesar, how?" Koba asked in a hushed voice.
"I… I don't know," Caesar breathed out, shaking his head all the while.
There was a gasp of breath from behind the two apes and both rounded to see one of the crucified simian's chest rise and fall, breath fogging into the cold night air. Rushing on over quickly to the other ape, both Caesar and Koba quickly undid the ropes that bound the chimp's arms and legs, gently lowering him down onto the ground as they could.
Taking a good look, both Caesar and Koba recognized the chimp as none other than Spear, one of the valiant young chimpanzee that were in charge of assisting Ash to protect the exodus. Spear barely even resembled the vigorous chimpanzee who had ridden to battle against the human raiders not too long ago. His head sagged forward, chin resting upon his chest. His dark fur had lost its healthy luster, ribs protruded through his flesh, as though he had been starved. Scars adorning his frame and signs of swelling bruises indicated that the younger chimp was severely beaten as well. Spear was haggard and trembling, looking near death to both Caesar and Koba.
With a wheezing breath, Spear glanced up to see who had untied his binding and his eyes suddenly had a sparkle within them as he recognized the face of his worried king. Blinking slowly once, Spear eyes then hovered on over toward Koba and stared at the bonobo for a long while.
"What happened?" Caesar suddenly spoke up, drawing Spear's gaze back toward him.
"They came out of nowhere..." Spear mustered up the strength to sign as he met his king's eyes. "Attacked us. We thought that they will kill us all. But the Colonel stopped them."
At this Caesar and Koba both glanced at each other momentarily as Spear retold his story to them.
"There is madness behind the Colonels eyes," Spear continued as he took in sharp breaths. "He said… he said he would use us, before we died! And… and they brought us all here!"
At this, Spear starting to cough on the spot and Caesar tried his best to steady the wounded chimpanzee.
"Use you?" Caesar echoed.
"They've been forcing us to work…" Spear signed, suddenly losing the strength to keep his arms up.
"What? What kind of work?" Caesar continued to ask.
As Caesar and Koba thought Spear was going to answer, the younger chimp's eyes fluttered, closing and he started to lean forward.
"Wait. My little son. Is he here?" Caesar asked desperately but Spear was unresponsive.
Both Caesar and Koba glanced at each other, horrified of what they had just learned of what had happened to their ape and what they were being made to do. With a growl, Koba stood back up and made his way quickly on over to the other crucified apes and undid the bindings to help them down, seeing if they were still alive. Caesar on the other hand merely watched the bonobo desperately trying to find any signs of life before he glanced back down at Spear in his arms.
"Spear, try to hold on, please!" Caesar urged the wounded ape. "I will get you out of here! All of you!"
The ape leader peered into Spear's eyes as the chimp opened them back up just barely, looking up at him with such devotion and trust. Guilt crashed down onto Caesar as he stared at Spear. But he promised, even if it killed him. He will do everything within his power to save the apes from the Colonel.
"Stay here," Caesar breathed as he laid Spear's head gently onto the snow. "I'll come back," he promised.
Placing Spear down, Caesar was just about to go and assist Koba in freeing the other apes from their bindings. Just as he got up on one knee, the sounds of footsteps crunched in the snow behind him. Startled, Caesar turned around and the last thing he saw the the butt of a rifle, slamming to his face.
…
Scents in the air - unknown, yet familiar to the likes of him - comes first when he began to rouse from his unconscious state. After that the feeling of his skin, fur and the aches that came with it as well. Finally, eyelids opened to reveal cerulean irises, as colorful as the deep blue sea, gave sight to their owners-Blue Eyes.
Looking around groggily, Blue Eyes could see that the world had turned dark due to the night. However, instead of being casted in darkness, there were the soft glow of the artificial lights around him, casting him in their warmth. With a huff, Blue Eyes had tried to get up from his spot but then found that his limbs were bound in some strange leather straps. Not only did these wrap around his arms but his torso and legs as well. Breathing heavily, Blue Eyes started to panic and struggle within his bindings.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
At the voice, Blue Eyes' head snapped up to see the human who had shot him earlier, sitting on a stool just on the other side of the bed he was on.
"You're going to hurt yourself if you keep on doing that," the man continued.
"Let me go!" Blue Eyes growled through gritted teeth.
"Can't do that," the man responded with a tired sigh as he leaned back in his chair. "Doctor's orders."
At this Blue Eyes bared his fangs at the man again and began to renew his struggling.
"Hey!" the man yelled out this time as he stood back up. "I said calm down. You're going to hurt yourself."
"Release me!" Blue Eyes growled back.
"Oh my G-. Okay. You know what? I can't deal with this right now," the man sighed as he held the bridge of his nose while shaking his head.
Suddenly the strap around Blue Eyes' right arm had snapped off. Noticing that one of his limbs was now free, Blue Eyes quickly reached around and tried to undo the other bindings that held him down.
"Dammit! Hey!" The man shouted again when he noticed what had happened.
This time the man pulled out the handgun to his side and aimed it at Blue Eyes, causing the wounded chimpanzee to stop momentarily in his struggle.
"Don't make me shoot you again," the human warned. "I'm not going to kill you but I will hurt you if you don't stop."
Keeping his icy cold glare upon the man and then to the gun in his hands, Blue Eyes slowly lowered himself back onto the bed, complying to the human's request. The moment he had laid his head back down, that was when the other human suddenly emerge from the other end of the area, a giant white fabric stuck onto his cheek.
"What happened?!" the other man asked as he approached them.
"Your monkey here tried to escape again," the one with the handgun explained, causing Blue Eyes to bare his fangs at him.
"Put that away, Max," the man with the bandage said aloud as he placed his hand over the soldier's handgun and lowered it.
The human with the weapon, huffed and glared at his companion before shoving the weapon into his gun holster and raised his hands.
"Alright… don't complain to me when he's bashing you face in again," Max uttered as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Ignoring the other soldier, the man with the pale colored eyes then turned back to Blue Eyes and approached him. Seeing this, Blue Eyes tensed up at the approach, causing the man to stop in his tracks and slowly hold up his hands like before.
"Its okay. You don't have to be scared. You're safe here," the pale-eyed man said softly. "I'm just trying to help."
Blue Eyes on the other hand, was none too trusting of this human and his trigger happy companion, who apparently had abducted him. He was still unsure of their intentions of what they were going to do to him.
"Help?" Blue Eyes asked.
"Yes, we're here to help. My name is Nicholas," the man started to introduce himself. "That guy over there. He's called Maxwell."
At the mention of his name, the other human nodded his head once in Blue Eyes direction.
"Don't trust you," Blue Eyes said lowly.
At that the supposedly friendlier of the two humans straightened himself back up and offered a somber smile.
"Yeah… I understand," the man said quietly. "After what you've been through and if I were in your position. I probably would have said the same thing. But I promise you. Your with good humans here," Nick reassured the wounded chimpanzee.
Still unsure, Blue Eyes frowned at the two humans, his icy glare darting between the two, judging if what was being relayed to him was true or not.
"Well… even if you don't believe me. I just want you to know that I want to help," Nick said after a few heartbeats. "Does you hurt anywhere?"
At the questions Blue Eyes tested his body and felt a numerous amount of pain that radiated throughout his whole being. Most of it of course, was around the top left of his head, causing him to grimace and reach up to it with his right hand.
"No, don't do that," Nick said aloud as he reached out, only to stop when Blue Eyes growled at him. "You'll only cause more harm to yourself," Nick said quietly.
Feeling the strange fabric wrapped around his head again, Blue Eyes lightly pulled on them before heaving out a tired sigh and letting his arm fall back down to his side. Everything was happening so fast around him and it was making him sick, with processing so many things at once in such a short time. Closing his eyes tightly to regain his composure, Blue Eyes opened them back up and looked down at the uncomfortable straps that bound him. Reaching toward them with his free hand, Blue Eyes began to undo his bindings.
"Hey-" Max started but stopped when Nick merely held a hand out and simply shook his head.
Not happy with this, Max turned his sights back to their charge and watched as the chimp effortlessly undid all of the straps.
After Blue Eyes had freed himself he thought on his current situation for a long while as he laid there. What are the possibilities he would do if he were to suddenly escape? Where would he go? Would he be able to go back to the forest? Where his family and beloved are? But what are the chances that they are still there? Back at the hidden fortress, since after the attack…? Did they all leave for their new home that he Ash and his uncles had charted for them? They must have, in order to escape. That would be the most logical reason to do so. Or maybe they were all still fighting? Blue Eyes didn't know. However, if they did leave to their new home this only means that Blue Eyes himself would need to follow them. But in his condition now… that would not be possible. Even he knew that… With so much thoughts going through his head again, Blue Eyes couldn't help himself as he grimace in pain and gently placed his hands on top of his head.
"Hey?" a quiet voice said to the side, causing Blue Eyes to look up at Nick with one eye.
The other man was looking back at Blue Eyes with such concern for him, that it was almost alien to him. Not many humans would offer apes such a look of sympathy and they were very few out in the world that he has been in.
"You look like you're hurting?" Nick said softly as he pulled up a stool and sat next to the chimp. "Maybe I need to look at that head of yours again. It was pretty bad when we found you."
"Found… me?" Blue Eyes managed.
"Yeah… Max and I found you by the river during out scouting mission," Nick answered.
Blue Eyes vaguely remember something like that a while ago. He remembered the scent of the river, falling into its cooling embrace and then found himself washed up onto the side. Back then, he didn't know what was going on and could only remember two strange figures, accompanied with the weird noises they were making. Then all was dark after that.
"Why… help me?" Blue Eyes asked after he recovered enough from the pain to speak.
Max had then turned to look at Nick as well, a curiosity to his own dark eyes to which Nicholas simply let out a tired smile.
"Yeah, why help out this particular ape?" Max jumped in as well.
At the questions, Nick closed his eyes and took in a deep breath to gather his thoughts.
"Because I made a promise," Nick started. "A promise that we'll find other humans who would understand you apes. Let them know that that your kind only wants peace. And that if any of you ever came around. You'll have a place to stay, with humans who understands."
The moment these words were uttered, something clicked within Blue Eyes' mind and memories so very long ago started to emerge from them. Images of humans in cages running about when they were freed from the apes. One couple, a raven haired woman and a red haired man, thanking both Blue Eyes and Ash for saving them from the the other apes.
Blinking, Blue Eyes took another look at the human, called Nick, again. He could now see that the man sported red colored hair and was accompanied with pale blue eyes. The man was older now, but Blue Eyes now recognized the man that he and Ash had saved, so very long ago.
"Human. From the human cages," Blue Eyes breathed.
"Yes," Nicholas beamed at the cerulean eyed ape, "yes, I was."
Of all of the humans to meet, Blue Eyes couldn't quite believe that he would meet the strange man again who had decided to stay and help the apes, after they were taken as prisoner. He had thought that his father had sent them all away, to live their lives freely. Yet, here was one of them, back again to provide aid and assistance when he most needed it.
"Nick-coal-less," Blue Eyes tried to say the man's name.
"Nick," is just fine," Nicholas responded with a light-hearted laugh. "And Max, just for the other guy."
"I can speak for myself you know?" Max spoke up from behind.
A thoughtful look then crossed Nicholas' mind and he eyed Blue Eyes once more.
"I never got your name," he then said.
Blue Eyes stared up at Nick and then turned his head slowly to look at Max as well before eyeing the red haired man once more.
"Blue Eyes. My name. Is Blue Eyes."
…
As soon as they left the protection of the woods the small group of three apes plus one girl silently tread across the snow covered ground. Rocket would stop every once in a while and then glance down at the snow and would continued on. Wringing his hands together nervously, the hairs on Bad Ape's body stood on end, the further they continued toward their destination.
Later the four of them came upon what looked like markers of some kind, all etched up in rows in the forms of X's. Rocket raised his fist up to halt the others as he spotted these enigmatic X-shaped structures at the edge of the cliff. The bulky chimp glanced up at the watchtower, just slightly off a ways away from the arrangement of X's and could see that there were no light within them. Meaning that the watchtowers were most likely empty. He then signaled to Maurice and informed the older ape that he was going to go check out those strange things.
The older orangutan cautioned the brawny chimpanzee to be careful as the other ape slowly made his way on over to the strange assemblies. Maurice and Bad Ape watched Rocket from afar and could see that the lone chimp rounding himself to look at the things. At first there was a look of confusion upon Rocket's face. Immediately however, the nearly hairless ape's face contorted to that of horror. All of a sudden, Rocket had dropped his gun and reached out to the X structure and began to undo what look like rope upon the things. Confusion settled upon both Maurice and Bad Ape, the two and the human girl quickly approached their distraught friend to see what was the problem.
As they neared, Maurice could now see the shadowy figures that were roped to the crosses that Rocket was unbinding. The figures of an ape. Surprise, shock and horror etched itself upon the older orangutan's features as well as he immediately approached Rocket and started to assist him too.
Once the bindings were undone, the bound ape fell into both Rocket and Maurice's arms and they lowered the ape gently onto the ground. Bad Ape then slowly approached and peered from behind the shaggier ape's shoulders, trying to see and understand what is going on.
Letting out low guttural sounds, Maurice gently tried to wake the other ape up and was relieved when the wounded chimpanzee, Andy in this case, opened up his eyes slowly.
"You're. Alive!" Rocket breathed as he held onto the other chimp's shoulder.
"Rock-Ket?" Andy uttered in a hoarse voice. "Mur-reese?"
Maurice guttural gently in response as he reached out and held onto Andy's head comfortably. Letting the wounded chimpanzee know that he was there.
With several slow blinks and realizing that both Rocket and Maurice were real, Andy offered the two ape a smile of gratitude for releasing him from the cross that he was bound to. Before he could say anything, Andy's eyes slowly closed again.
At this, Rocket's eyes widened and he quickly shook Andy, to keep the other chimp from dying on him.
He was not going to lose another friend.
After a few moments, Andy tiredly opened his eyelids back up once more and stared blankly up at both Rocket and Maurice.
"He's alive," Rocket signed in relief.
"Yes, but barely," Maurice responded. "We need to check on the others as well," Maurice signed back quickly.
Nodding in agreement, Rocket offered the wounded chimp to Maurice, so that he could be looked after and stood back up quickly. The little girl, who had still been curiously looking about, knelt down next to Maurice and gently petted Andy's forehead, hoping to bring some comfort to the damaged ape. Spotting Bad Ape off to the side, Rocket made his way on over to the smaller chimpanzee and placed his hands upon the other ape's shoulders, causing him to yelp in surprise.
"Look! For others!" Rocket said desperately. "Save! Them!"
With wide green eyes and understanding the serious of the situation at hand, Bad Ape nodded quickly at Rocket's pleading request. Whoever these other apes were to his new friends. They were important to them and so in extension, they were important to him as well. Taking in a deep, albeit, hesitant breath, Bad Ape glanced around him and immediately set off to find any other surviving apes that were tied to the crosses.
Still shaking with what he had just discovered, Rocket turned his eyes upon the human zoo and stared at it hopelessly. From his vantage point he could make out the figures of apes. Their apes. All crowded within the pens below them.
What had the humans done?
Shaking his head quickly, Rocket himself did not have time to dwell on that and he had to save as many of his brothers as he could. So, like Bad Ape, Rocket made his way to the next cross to help the ape who was tied to it.
…
"Grant and Lee…" a voice echoed out.
As Caesar painfully regained consciousness, his eyelids opened and he noticed a figure standing right above him. As his blurry vision cleared, Caesar could soon make out the image of one of the human soldiers whose lives he had spared before, aiming a bowgun right down at him.
Preacher, they had called him, as his namesake etched onto his uniform of clothing.
The youth looked tense and uncomfortable as he watched over Caesar, but held the military-grade crossbow at the ready nonetheless.
"Wellington and Napoleon…" the voice continued, causing Caesar to follow it's voice to see the image of a man walking into view. "Custer and Sitting Bull… You're probably not much of a reader" the man said as he tilted his head off to the side, as he looked down at Caesar behind his dark glasses. "But this is a big moment." The man continued with a slight smirk to his lips.
Caesar's eyes widened as he recognized the Colonel immediately. He glared fiercely at the murderer of his wife and firstborn. All awareness of his physical pains was incinerated by the white-hot rage ignited at the very sight of this particular human.
The man's brows the furrowed as he stared down at Caesar, as if curious about something.
"Where were you?" The Colonel suddenly asked. "We came upon your herd. We got lucky, but I was surprised… you weren't with them."
Seeing red, Caesar had let out a growl as he quickly got up and crawled on over toward his enemy, intent on ripping out his throat for what he had done to Cornelia, Blue Eyes, Spear and the rest of the apes. Just as he got close enough to basically taste his revenge, Caesar suddenly found himself unable to reach the man, held back by something around his neck. He was suddenly yanked back by the binding around his throat, causing him to momentarily stop and see who had done so.
To Caesar's surprise he saw Red standing just a few feet away from him, hands holding onto some metal chains that connected itself to the collar around his throat. Along with that, he also felt shackles around his wrists and ankles as well. The turncoat gorilla tugged cruelly on the chain, obviously enjoying Caesar's humiliation and discomfort. While keeping his eyes upon Red, Caesar's gaze then wandered on over toward Preacher, who leveled his weapon right at him. At this, Caesar scorned at the young man, whose situation had once been reversed, not so long ago.
"I hope you don't come to regret sparing his life," the Colonel said aloud, once everything started to settle down. "He's quite a good shot."
The man then took a step forward and looked down upon Caesar.
"Have you finally come to save your apes?" the Colonel asked.
At this, Caesar's golden-green eyes blazed murderously. "I came for you."
The Colonel's brows furrowed curiously, wondering why Caesar had said such a thing.
"For me?" he asked as he stared down at Caesar. "Who did I kill that night?"
"My wife. My son," Caesar said aloud.
The man was quiet for a moment before he stepped closer and knelt down close to Caesar. He stared at ape leader for a long while, seemingly to contemplate on something before letting out a deep breath of his own.
"I'm sorry," the Colonel said, in seeming sincerity. "I was there for you."
Caesar ignored the worthless apology from the man. He glowered at the Colonel, who was almost but not quite within reach, thanks to Red. The man took off of his sunglasses, seeming fascinated by the legendary ape he had been hunting for years.
"My God, look at your eyes… they're almost human," the Colonel considered the prisoner before him. "How did you and that other one, know that I was here?"
Other one? At this question, Caesar curiously glanced behind him only to find Koba's limp form laying just a few feet away. The bonobo must have been knocked unconscious too and from what Caesar could see, the other ape was also bound in chains and shackles. Holding onto his bindings though stood a couple of chimpanzee turncoats whom Caesar couldn't see clearly. Shutting his eyes, Caesar slowly turned back to face the Colonel.
"I was told you were coming. That more soldiers from the North… would be joining you here," Caesar spoke gravelly.
"Joining me?" The Colonel echoed.
"To finish us off," Caesar continued. "For good."
The Colonel smirked at Caesar, as though at a private joke that only he knew.
"Who told you that?" The man inquired.
At the question, Caesar held his tongue, not about to betray Bad Ape's confidence, let alone alert the Colonel of Maurice, Rocket and the others. Caesar had to wonder to himself though, how long had both he and Koba been unconscious for? If the sun hadn't risen yet, then his friends would still be waiting in the woods just beyond the canyon. He had told them to leave and join the others, but that was before he and Koba had discovered that the exodus was already doomed. He wasn't sure what he wanted them to do now, or what they are doing, since news of this information.
He just hoped that they were safe.
There was a sudden commotion behind him and Caesar could tell that Koba had woken up with a start. Glancing over his shoulder, Caesar could see that the bonobo slowly getting up from his positing and then noticing the binding to his neck and limbs. Most unpleased with his current condition, the scarred bonobo began to struggle against the turncoat apes, only to earn a hard smack to the face from one of them.
"Don't you move!" Preacher could be heard, warning Koba as the young man pointed his weapon right at the bonobo's chest.
This seemed to have the necessary effect that was needed as Koba immediately calmed down as he took in the situation that both he and Caesar were in. Koba turned to look at Caesar and could see the disappointment within the ape leader's eyes, causing shame to fill his being. However, as looked just slightly over, he recognized the rusted furred ape that held onto Caesar's leash and Koba couldn't help himself as he bared his fangs at the gorilla.
After the bonobo's commotion, the Colonel glanced back at Caesar and sighed in resignation. He was not surprised by Caesar's refusal to answer his question, so instead he nodded at Red and the other apes.
"Okay, let's go."
Red and the other apes yanked on both Caesar and Koba's leashes, bringing the two roughly to their feet. The action had caused Caesar's head to spin momentarily, as the collar dug into his throat, choking him so.
Preacher also moved in toward Caesar and Koba, keeping a close watch on the two captive prisoners, as he, Red, the other donkeys and the Colonel himself marched out of the depot into the frozen prison yard beyond.
It was still dark out, but electric lights lit the area harshly with its artificial luminescence. Walking past the compound, to their left both Caesar and Koba could see many of the human soldiers standing about as they stared at the two new prisoners.
As Caesar was roughly pushed along, he then turned his attention to the pens, where his people were being held against their will. Countless chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and bonobos were crowded into several large holding pens. The apes, they were all shackled to each other, making it impossible for them to escape by climbing out of the enclosures. Many of the apes stared aghast at both Caesar and Koba, through the metal bars of the fences, stunned to see the two of them. His heart aching for his people, Caesar tried to meet their eyes to let them know that he shared their distress, but, to his surprise and dismay, the majority of the apes averted their gaze. Sullen expressions and resentful scowls only greeted Caesar in return.
It was here that Caesar realized that many of the apes had lost faith in him. Because he was not there for them when they needed him the most. The realization that his own people felt that he had abandoned them jolted Caesar to his very core. Koba on the other hand, silently followed and met all of the resentful glares that were directed at him.
Then from among the crowd of apes within the pens, one particular ape hooted and caught the attention of both of the prisoners. Turning their heads both Caesar and Koba spotted a familiar looking chimpanzee, whose coat was that of ashy in tone, accompanied with white fleck coloring upon his snout and bright green eyes.
Ash.
The young male beamed hopefully at the two older apes, given his rugged and worn visage. Meeting Ash's eyes, Caesar's features slowly turned into that of guilt. He should have never burden such a responsibility to the younger male when he had left. The responsibility was his and his alone and Caesar could not describe the feeling of what he had put the young chimp through.
Shamefully, Caesar turned his head away from Ash, not noticing the look of confusion appearing on the younger chimps face.
Ash had then looked to Koba for answers as confusion formed upon the younger male's face. Koba on the other hand, merely shook his head slowly from side to side in response as they moved along.
Staggering on numbly, on the verge of losing all hope, Caesar lifted his head when he heard a frenzy of plaintive shrieks from another pen. Turning rapidly toward his left, Caesar could see that this particular pen held the ape children of their colony, heartlessly separated from their parents. Helpless and frightened, the children all gazed up pitiably at both Caesar and Koba, looking at them for deliverance of some kind. One small chimpanzee cried out helplessly as he pressed himself against the fence, trying to desperately keep pace with Caesar, who was devastated to behold the terrified face of his only surviving son.
Cornelius!
The little one's tearful eyes pleaded for his father. Tiny fingers stretched through the bars of the fence, pathetically trying to reach out toward Caesar, who wanted nothing more than to comfort his motherless child.
"Father!" the little ape kept on signing over and over again, desperately as he cried out in despair.
Seeing this, Caesar wanted to lunge toward his child, to comfort him in any way he can, chain or no chain as he stopped in his tracks. However, Caesar forced himself to hold back for acting on this. He glanced anxiously at the Colonel, terrified that he would take note of the little chimp's frantic reaction to Caesar and figure out that he hadn't killed all of Caesar's family just yet. Better that the Colonel thought that he was just another ape child of no special importance.
The Colonel stared at Caesar momentarily and then back at the crying small one, and Caesar feared that maybe the man had figured out his connection to Cornelius. Thankfully, Red shoved him from behind, causing him to stagger and glance back at the turncoat. With a quick nod from his head, the Colonel directed both Red and the other turncoat ape to push Caesar and Koba to the adult pens, leaving Cornelius' desperate cry behind them.
The gate slid open and both Caesar and Koba were hurled to the frozen ground with more force than was strictly necessary. Red then grabbed ahold of both Caesar and Koba's legs, shackling them with the others as he unshackled their collars and wrists.
While this was going on, Caesar looked upon the Colonel with despair upon his features. He knew that at this moment, he was bested and there was nothing he could do in this current situation.
His work done, Red returned the key to Preacher, who clipped it back onto the crowded ring on his belt. Preacher, Red and the other turncoat apes, followed the Colonel out of the pen, slamming the door shut behind them. The group glanced back once at the fallen ape leader before silently walking off.
After the Colonel and his followers had left, Caesar found both he and Koba reunited with their people, bu there was no heartfelt homecoming, joyous or otherwise warm welcome for them. The captive apes all but ignored their presence, at most casting furtive glances at them while murmuring and signing amongst themselves. It was this bearing sight that Caesar knew that he had lost confidence of those who had once revered him.
Propping himself onto his elbows, Caesar looked around and then met the soft features of both Tinker and Lake. The two females offered Caesar a look of sympathy as they made eye contact.
"Tinker. Lake," Caesar breathed.
"Forgive them," Tinker had signed. "We have been through a great deal."
Hearing this from Tinker, Caesar nodded slowly and lowered his eyes for a moment before staring back up at them.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't protect Cornelius," Lake apologized.
"Don't be," Caesar breathed out, wincing as he could still hear Cornelius' anguish cries for him. "There was nothing you could do."
Tinker had then reached on over and took a hold of Caesar's hand, grasping it firmly within hers to draw his attention.
"Rocket?" Tinker asked, her eyes already glistening. "Where?"
"Safe," Caesar responded in a soft voice. "He's safe."
Upon hearing this, Tinker had let out a relieved breath as she closed her eyes, hands held close to her bosom and tears rolled down her cheeks. Caesar then turned to look at Lake and confusion crossed his features.
"Your parents?" Caesar asked the younger female.
"Mother is chained further down," Lake explained before her soft features broke and she shook her head quickly. "They hurt father and took him away when we first got here. With many others. I have not seen him since. I fear the worst has happened to him," she explained tearfully as Tinker reached out and held onto her.
When Lake had mentioned that her father was taken away, Caesar noticed Koba stiffen slightly to the side and he turned to look at the bonobo. Meeting Caesar's gaze, Koba simply frowned and shook his head before pointing to Lake. Not needing to know what Koba meant, Caesar glanced off in the direction where the X-shaped crosses still stood in the darkness and his face fell.
"No…"
If anyone still doesn't recognize who Nicholas is, please refer back to chapter 17. Thank you!
Also, it seems that maybe Rocket, Maurice, Bad Ape and Nova may be able to help some other apes as well.