"Come! Come! Look!" Bad Ape beckoned to the others behind him.

Bad Ape counted out his steps, intent on his feet as he led Maurice, Nova, Andy and now a curious Spear down the cleared tunnel. Reaching the end of the passageway, they all spotted Grey leaning heavily on the pole, waiting for them.

"...thirty-five… thirty-six… thirty! Thirty-seven!" Bad Ape announced as he spun around on the spot next to Grey, beaming at the others.

Bad Ape threw out his hands to show both his and Grey's handiwork of the area. Quite pleased with what they had both accomplished by themselves.

As he should be, Maurice thought, admiring the two chimpanzee's progress.

While Nova mutely joined Bad Ape in his jubilation, Maurice had made his way over toward Grey, consulting with the other chimpanzee.

"Did you two have any trouble?" Maurice asked the brown haired chimp.

"Not too much. We had to clear a lot of the wreckage that was blocking our way. To make a clear path for the others when they come on through," Grey explained. "He did most of the digging though," Grey indicated with a nod at the scrawny chimp.

Maurice glanced at Bad Ape and approached the lankier chimpanzee with a small compass in his hands. Once the device indicated that they were right where they should be, Maurice nodded approvingly at both Bad Ape and Grey before curiously glancing up at the ceiling. From his point of view, Maurice could just make out the small dots of bright light from above.

"What now?" Bad Ape had asked.

Now that was the question. What to do now? Since he is the biggest among them, someone had to climb onto his back-as sore as it was from all of the digging-but who? He couldn't ask Grey and the others, as they were already dreadfully tired from their own ordeals. He was lucky enough that the three wounded chimps had even the energy to stand and work. Nova was much too short and wouldn't even reach the ceiling even if she had climbed on top of him.

That only leaves…

With a grunt, Maurice quickly lowered himself and after settling into position, he gestured at Bad Ape to climb onto his back, just as Rocket had done so before. With any luck in mind, the scrawny chimp should weigh less than Rocket and the others around him, providing him some relief. Not only that, Bad Ape should be tall enough to be able to reach at the hole up above.

Bad Ape however did not seem to quite understand what Maurice was indicating. He looked up at the other three apes curiously before staring back at the shaggy ape with a baffled expression.

"What?" Bad Ape asked.

Maurice couldn't help but mentally sigh to himself, wishing that Bad Ape was more fluent in sign language, like the others. However, it couldn't be helped, since Bad Ape had not lived with their colony and had to use speech instead to communicate. But time was of the essence and they had to act swiftly. He quickly gestured to his back again impatiently to hopefully relay his message to the still confused chimp. Caesar, Koba, Rocket and the others were all counting on them.

Scratching his head curiously, Bad Ape pointed at Maurice's backside and then slowly let his eyes travel up toward the ceiling. It took him a moment as his mind pieced together what Maurice was trying to tell him to do. However, as it dawned on him, Bad Ape's face warped to that of utter terror.

"Ohhh, no," Bad Ape whimpered loudly. "No, no, no…"

He looked at the other three apes around him and at Nova for backup but only received stern glares and mute silence.

"Nooooo…"

It was here that Maurice slowly righted himself back up and was staring at Bad Ape who was backing slowly away. Heaving a sigh, Grey had just stepped in and was about to offer to climb up toward the hole when Maurice had let out a low, menacing growl from his throat sac, startling everyone within the vicinity.

Now, Maurice was very much a gentle soul, even among the apes within the colony. However, with that being said, Maurice was still an ape and prone to his emotions as well. Especially in dire circumstances that forced them to act on something.

Once Maurice had gotten his message on through to Bad Ape, the scrawny chimpanzee lowered his arms slightly, still keeping eye contact with the shaggier ape in front of him.

"Okay," Bad Ape responded meekly.

With a satisfied grunt, Maurice lowered himself back down while Bad Ape readied himself to climb on top of the orangutan. Meanwhile Grey, Andy and Spear looked at each other in mute silence and all shook their heads at each other.

…

Bad Ape swallowed hard as he handed his flashlight on over to Grey and timidly climbed onto Maurice's back. Rising up toward the hole in the ceiling with his arms held close to his body, Bad Ape slowly glanced back down at the others, his fear evident upon his tired eyes.

He was scared.

However, Grey and the other two chimps cooed out to him, reassuring him that everything was going to be alright. As he stood on the shaggier ape's wide shoulders, Bad Ape took in a deep breath before he breathed out deeply and stretched his arms above his head, reluctantly digging and making a shaft toward the surface. He couldn't believe that he was actually doing this, clawing his way up toward the bad, bad place. He of course understood that they were trying to free Caesar, Rocket, the angry one, and the others… but did they not know how hopeless that all of this was? The camp was full of terrible humans with guns, who beat up on apes and tortured them and sometimes even shot them. This also included the very bad apes who hurt others as well. It was no place for an ape… or even the little human child that was with them. Nova, they had started to call her.

Not for the first time, Bad Ape wished that he had stayed on his mountain where it was safe. He had been alone, without any friends, but at least he had not been afraid all the time. Like he was now.

Dirt fell down from the hole upon Bad Ape's face as he kept on digging with just a bit of light filtering through. Bad Ape's heart both rose and sank when he had broken through the surface. Yanking his finger's back, he glanced back down at the others, whom were all expectantly looking back up at him. Taking a deep breath, Bad Ape strained his neck as he peered up through the hole-right at the boots of a human soldier.

Freezing up and eyes going wide, Bad Ape quickly darted his eyes upward to see that the human was distracted for the moment, watching the other apes being corralled into the pens. Slowly, Bad Ape then shrunk away from the hole and ducked back inside. As he continued to look up at the human's boot, Bad Ape then noticed one of the other apes-a gorilla white white hair-meeting his gaze and stared confusingly at him, blinking in surprise. Panicking, Bad Ape mouthed the word "no," while he shook his head side to side quickly.

The gorilla looked at Bad Ape a little longer, seeing his distress, but understood easily. Covertly, the gorilla glanced up at the oblivious soldier before casually looking away as if nothing had happened. Bad Ape watched as the gorilla nudged at one of the others and gestured something while still keeping his eyes forward. The other apes quickly glanced in Bad Ape's direction with their eyes, raised their brows but kept a straight face as well. Slowly the other apes around took notice but kept a neutral expression upon their features while they kept on the lookout, just in case.

Bad Ape was surprised to see how coordinative they all were. Especially with just a few quick gestures with their hands. But nonetheless, they kept his whereabouts secret, and that was all that mattered.

For just a moment longer the human soldier moved along, still oblivious of the hole right beside his feet and onward toward the gates. Peering his head up from the hole, Bad Ape watched along with the other apes as the humans closed the gates to the pens and locked it.

Letting out a relieved breath, Bad Ape took a moment to close his eyes and compose himself before he slowly turned his attention on over to the other apes and curiously look up at them. From among the crowd of apes, one of them shoved his way forward and met Bad Ape's gaze. The lanky chimp couldn't help but beam at the other individual, finally recognizing Rocket-his good friend. The bulkier chimp looked worse for wear, with his face all swollen and bruised, but a giant smile graced his lips and he knelt down slowly and regarded Bad Ape.

…

Rocket himself had never been so glad to see that silly ape's smile. For a while, Rocket himself had worried that Maurice and Bad Ape had not receive their message from Caesar, but all that doubt was cast away the moment Bad Ape popped his head right out of the ground.

It must have taken them a lot longer to dig than he had thought… No matter, the important thing was that they were here now.

"This is the ape I told you about!" Rocket signed at the others around him.

Upon seeing what Rocket had signed to them, the other apes stared at Bad Ape in fascination.

Winter-the gorilla who had spotted Bad Ape first-came forward and greeted the strange new chimp.

"Thank you," the younger male had signed in genuine thanks.

Instead of responding, Bad Ape had looked at Winter curiously. Confused the white haired gorilla moved a little closer to the hole where this strange ape was and offered him a hand. The others watched curiously as the newcomer retreated back into the hole before thin gangly fingers reached back out and took a hold of Winter's hand, shaking it up and down with a firm grip.

"Bad Ape," the others could hear the other chimpanzee introduce himself.

At this, more apes jostled forward to get a look at this new ape, greeting him warmly and Bad Ape shook each of their hands in turn. His earlier bashfulness evaporated and it seemed as though he couldn't meet all his new family fast enough.

Rocket could see the happiness upon Bad Ape's face as he met the other, the smaller chimpanzee's eyes becoming moist and voice full of emotion with each new greeting. Feeling fingers close around his own hand, Rocket turned his head to see Tinker standing by his side, a warm smile upon her features.

"This is the new ape that travelled with you?" Tinker signed.

Rocket grunted and nodded in confirmation as he turned back to look at the scene for a brief second before meeting his beloved's gaze once more.

"He must have been so lonely, all this time," Tinker continued.

"Yes, he was," Rocket agreed. "But he is here now. He is one of us. A part of our family."

"I would not have it any other way," Tinker confirmed as she leaned her head upon Rocket's shoulder.

…

Grey and the others peered up at the shaft, trying to figure out what was happening high above on top of Maurice. They could see that Bad Ape was practically dancing on the orangutan's overworked shoulders, while beams of artificial light invaded the tunnel from above. Something must have happened as Bad Ape was chatting up a storm with whomever he was speaking to.

"I wonder… who he is talking to?" Spear gestured curiously.

"He needs to stop talking with the others and tell us what was going on," Andy signed impatiently off from the side with a scowl to his face. "We need to inform them of what to do."

"How are you doing, Maurice?" Grey turned to ask the orangutan who merely nodded his head once to relay that he was doing well.

While everyone else was preoccupied with whatever it was that Bad Ape was doing up at the shaft, Nova glanced over toward the tunnel and noticed something quite not right. Reaching over, she gave her guardian a few pats on the shoulder to get his attention before pointing down the tunnel. The others, sans Bad Ape, followed to where Nova was pointing down the tunnel and could see a small stream of water flowing toward them.

As the cold water suddenly pooled around their feet, Maurice and the others reeled back in alarm. Anxious to find out where the water was coming from, before it flooded the entire tunnel, Maurice was the first to rush forward to investigate it, momentarily forgetting the chimpanzee on his shoulders. With a surprised cry, Bad Ape tumbled down from off of Maurice's shoulder and right into the water beneath them.

Wincing at the sound of the loud thud from their partner, Maurice had quickly reeled back around to make sure that Bad Ape was unharmed. The lanky chimp however, glanced back up at the others, shaken but unhurt from the looks of it. Bad Ape's curious eyes then looked around him, surprised to see that water was flooding the tunnel. Glancing back up at the others momentarily, Bad Ape then turned his attention up toward the shaft, to where Rocket was peering down from, no doubt worried by the other chimp's sudden disappearance.

"What's wrong?" he signed.

…

Water gushed from one of the tunnel entrances that Maurice and Andy were working on before. Sticks, mud, and other debris were holding the water back but with their handiwork, they had dislodged an opening and allowed the water to push on through.

"We have to close this!" Grey signed immediately.

Agreeing, Maurice and Andy worked together with the brown haired chimp to close the manhole cover from above. After sealing the lid shut and securing the lock, everyone looked around themselves in slight horror, knowing well that the way to the children's pen was now blocked off.

"What do we do now?" Andy asked hesitantly after a brief moment. "This was our only path to the children."

"We must tell this to Rocket and others. Come!" Maurice gestured quickly as he led the way back to where the adult pen was.

…

Caesar and Koba pressed themselves against the bars of their cages, to better take part in an urgent discussion with the apes in the pen. Seeing Rocket sign with the others the nearly hairless chimpanzee then stood up and faced the both of them.

"We can't dig any further," Rocket insisted. "It will flood the whole tunnel!"

But Tinker and many of the other females among them refused to accept that answer from her mate.

"If we don't, then how are we going to reach our children?" the more petite chimpanzee signed from the other side of Rocket.

The anxious parents of many of the young ones agreed with Tinker, sharing in her concern. The plan had been to dig a separate shaft up to the children's pen, allowing them to escape via the underground tunnels as well, but the unexpected flooding had made that impossible. The agitated grunting grew louder as distraught apes demanded that their offsprings be rescued no matter what, despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacle posed by the leak.

Growing concern at the increasingly noisy debate from the others, Caesar held up his hand to quiet them all, sparing a glance around at the various guards posted within earshot of them. Right now, the apes' survival depended on silence and secrecy; the last thing they wanted to do was alert their foes on the very brink of their escape. But was it already too late? Rocket and the others looked up at the guard tower directly above Caesar and Koba's cage as a soldier stopped over to the edge of the catwalk to investigate the noise. As the soldier stood there for a few moments longer and seeing that the apes were keeping themselves looking as docile as they could be, the man grunted and walked back into his tower. Letting out a relieved breath. Caesar had then turned his attention to the others once more.

"We have to be careful," Caesar warned.

"Don't make so much noise," Koba added in.

All of the apes lowered their heads at almost being caught but Tinker stood her ground.

"We must keep looking down there," she had signed. "Find a way to reach our children. We will not leave them behind."

At this, Caesar agreed.

"And we must leave now!" Caesar followed up after Tinker, toward everyone else. "More soldiers are coming! Humans will destroy each other! And us with them!"

At this revelation all of the apes looked at one another in confusion and worry.

"What do you mean, Caesar?" Koba's spoke up from the side, catching the ape leader's attention. "What do you mean that more soldiers are coming? To destroy each other?" He continued with sign.

Caesar couldn't help feeling terrible from keeping this information from the others but now was a matter of time. Time that they did not have.

"No time to explain, just trust me on this," Caesar gestured quickly back around.

He then glanced behind him to where he could see his little Cornelius sleeping close to Cinder and Silver among with the other young apes in their pen.

"We'll have to get the children out above ground!" Caesar signed.

"How?" Rocket and Tinker asked at the same time.

At this question, Caesar was at a loss. The original plan was to use the tunnels as it would have been better, he thought. But now… Hearing a grunt from the other side of his cage, Caesar then turned to look at Koba whom was getting all of the other apes attention as well.

"We can still save the children!" Koba signed quickly, causing the others to look at him confusingly. "Like Caesar said. We have to get them above ground. Look!"

Everyone followed to where Koba was pointing and there they noticed for the first time, two giant poles at each of the pens with electrical wires connected to them. At that point it was all made clear to them.

That was how they will get the children out.

…

"Would that even work?" Grey signed up skeptically at Rocket.

"It will work," Rocket signed back down. "Humans are very quick to anger."

With that the bulky chimpanzee disappeared from the opening, leaving the others to simply stand there and wait for the signal.

"What is he planning to do?" Andy asked Grey, to which the brown haired chimp simply shook his head side to side in dismay.

There was an uneasy feeling between the apes who stood there who knew Rocket well. Not to say that they did not trust their good friend by any means. But Rockets way of going about things were… quite temerarious, even for ape standards. But Rocket wouldn't be Rocket if he didn't go about doing things his own way.

"Come, we'll have to be ready when the time is right," Grey gestured to the others. "Help me up."

...

"Father… what are you doing?" Ash asked skeptically, as the older ape bent down and started to gather up something.

Ash took a step back as the older ape rose up from the ground and formed what looked like a mud ball within his hands, smiling all the while. Mud? Where did his father find mud? Especially on a cold night like this? There was no way that there was any source of water that would be used to make a mud ball, especially since it was such a life sustaining substance. However, the longer he thought about it, the more it slowly became clear to him.

"Father is that?" Ash asked in surprise, as he glanced up at the smirking older ape.

Glancing at his mother, Ash could see the disgusted look upon her features, knowing absolutely well what his father was doing.

"Watch and see," Rocket signed to his son, whom only stared back confusingly.

The nearly hairless chimp then raised his head and glanced up at the catwalk from below to see that the human soldier walking around on it. Once the human had turned around, Rocket then took aim and then launched the mud ball right into the back of the man's head. Rocket's smile widened as he saw the human soldier's head flinch from the impact before reaching a hand back to touch at the mud caked to his head. Rocket and if not all of the apes could see the vein throbbing furiously upon the man's temple as he turned around and glared down at them.

"Hey! You animals!" the man shouted angrily.

Watching the human soldier charging down from the ladder, Rocket quickly bent back down and started to gather another mud ball. Just as he rose back up from the ground, Rocket could see the human soldier storming into the pen, sliding the gate shut behind him before raising his rifle at waiving it at the lot of them.

"Who did that?" the human soldier demanded as he ventured further into the pen. "Who did that?!" his voice rose a little higher.

Seeing one of the chimpanzees-this one with white flecked colors around his mouth-the man glared at the ape and pointed his gun at him.

"Who was it?!"

The chimp however glanced at the man's weapon and simply met his eyes very slowly.

"Was it you?" the man asked in an icy tone.

Just then, another wad of the muck struck into the side of the man's head, stunning him slightly. Still stunned, the man turned his head slowly to the side, seeing many of the apes scampering out of the way, exposing the culprit who had been hiding among them. It was none other than the bald chimpanzee who had been caught sneaking into the camp the night before, the same one the soldiers and other donkeys beaten up before.

Rocket glared at the man while tossing the ball of matter up and down in his hand.

So furious was the human, he pointed his gun right at the nearly hairless chimp, failing to notice two furry hands rising up from the ground, just right behind him. Before the man could fire his gun, the hands quickly latched themselves around the man's ankles and pulled backwards hard, yanking the startled soldier out of sight and into the hole.

The apes waited in anticipation as they peered ever so slightly and flinched when they all heard a loud thud from below. The sound could only mean one thing and to the apes it only meant that the man would not be threatening them all anymore, or ever again. Before long, a set of keys flew out of the hole and landed right beside it.

Quickly dropping the material, Rocket then cleaned his hands before rushing over to where the keys were. Picking it up, he then peered into the hole where Maurice and the others were handing the human soldier's rifle back up toward him.

"Good job. All of you!" Rocket commended.

"You too!" Spear gestured back up before looking off into the direction where Grey and Andy were dragging the human's body away.

"We must hurry!" Maurice quickly reminded the others.

With a grunting nod from all parties, Rocket stood back up and walked over to the gate of their pen and showed both Koba and Caesar the keys within his hand. The two other apes couldn't help but let relief settled upon their faces that the plan had actually worked.

Things are moving along now. There still quite a bit of things that still have to be done before the apes are able to free themselves.

Also for curiosity's sake, I promise I did not forget about Blue Eyes. The lad is just taking a much needed rest in the back burner. He did just suffer a bullet to the head and he's going to need a lot of time to recover. We'll get back to him soon.

If anyone is still enjoying the story, do feel free to leave a comment. For all of you who are still sticking with this fic, I do thank you.

Happy Readings!