NOTE: Next week, on Friday 19th of April, I will be taking a little break from posting during Easter, so I can catch up on some chapter-writing :) This means there'll be no new Ape Inside chapter on this date - but fear not, as posting will continue as usual from Friday 26th of April once more! :)


Lydia

The next day, they had lost the soldiers because of the heavy snowfall, seeing as it had completely covered up the tracks their vehicles had made.

Caesar wasn't too pleased with it, Lydia could easily tell, but even the Ape King realised that they had had little choice on the matter. The weather had been too dreadful and had they actually gone through it to try and catch up, the little group would have been more likely to get truly and utterly lost instead.

At least now, in broad daylight and with the weather clear once more, they could make out their surroundings and do some proper tracking, rather than fumbling blindly in a blizzard.

And when they had found a tall power mast in a clearing, the apes had decided it would be a perfect opportunity to get a better view of their surroundings, while Lydia, not a keen climber herself, had elected to scout the perimeter, combining the task with some light hunting.

Though she wasn't having much luck with that either.

No animals, not so much as a single little rabbit, seemed to want to venture out from within their hollows in this frigid cold, and Lydia couldn't blame them. Still, it would have been nice to be able to return to the others with some results, be it either a lead on the soldiers' heading or a nice morsel of meat for them all to nibble on.

Storm, seemingly sensing Lydia's souring mood, gave a soft, seemingly compassionate whine and licked the tips of Lydia's cold fingers.

The human woman responded by scratching the canine behind her fluffy ear, noting how her stormy, dark grey fur had thickened considerably over the past few weeks.

"Let's head back to the others, huh, girl?" She spoke to her faithful companion, feeling compelled to keep her voice down due to the silence of the snow-clad forest.

Storm only stared silently up at her in reply, and it almost looked to Lydia as if she was trying, actually trying, to decipher what her owner was saying.

She smiled fondly down at the dog, giving her one last stroke before straightening up again.

"Come on, then."

They hadn't gone far from the small clearing, as Lydia knew it wouldn't take all day for the apes to get an idea of where they needed to go. Besides, in some places, the snow was reaching all the way up to the middle of her shins now – not the best conditions for trekking.

And the white glow seemed almost blinding as Lydia finally emerged from within the trees together with Storm, and she had to momentarily hold up a hand to shield her eyes from the harsh glare as she looked up at the metal mast.

Caesar and the others were still up there, seemingly conversing, though Lydia couldn't quite tell what they were discussing from this distance.

Returning her attention to ground level once more, Lydia spotted the little girl sitting atop Maurice's horse, playing with her doll as she patiently waited for them all to return. She was a sweet, gentle little thing, this human child, and by now, she and Lydia had even developed a tentative friendship of sorts.

The woman thought back to last night, when they had all been sitting around their little campfire and Lydia had freed her hair from her braid to brush it and rearrange it – her dark tresses had been trapped in the same hairdo for a couple of days and were in dire need of some maintenance. When Lydia had let her long hair loose, the girl had looked on with something akin to fascination and curiosity in her eyes, observing quietly as Lydia had pulled the brush through the dark strands.

Soon discovering that she was under such intense scrutiny, the adult had paused mid-stroke and made eye contact with the kid, who hadn't seemed the least bit bashful at being caught openly staring – as most others would.

It had only taken a moment's hesitation before Lydia had offered to help the girl with her own, light tresses, noting how tangled they were.

What had been revealed to them the other day had still been gnawing at Lydia's gut, thinking about the sickness that seemed to plague the soldiers – and the girl who sat before her. The woman had been – and still was – worried that she, too, would lose her voice. That she also would get that intense, half-wild stare in her eyes that the dying soldier had regarded them with.

But as Lydia herself had pointed out to the others last night, she hadn't felt any changes – and she had already spent a significant amount of time around the child. Granted, she had no idea how long it would potentially take for her to feel the symptoms, but the human woman figured that, after all this time, there was really no point in shirking away from the kid now.

The younger human had accepted the offer with a timid smile and pulled the hood of her thin coat and pelt cloak down to let Lydia deal with the tangled mess of long, blonde hair – and contrary to the way she dealt with her own tresses, Lydia was extremely gentle and careful.

"There, all done." The adult human had said once the final stroke of her brush had come through the blonde mass without any resistance, nodding in approval. "You want it up or just loose like this?"

The child had seemed to consider this question carefully, reaching up to run her small fingers through the strands before pointing to Lydia's own braid.

"Right, up it is, then." The adult agreed before turning to Maurice. All four ape males had been watching the interaction with varying levels of interest, though they had all seemed amused by it – even Caesar. "Come on over, Maurice."

The orangutan had grunted in mild confusion, but scooted over nonetheless.

"Why? Do you need my help with something?" He had signed, perplexed, his small eyes narrowing as a teasing smile had stretched over Lydia's face.

"Nope, but I'm going to teach you how to braid. If you're going to take care of a human girl, you've got to know how to help her with her hair."

Lydia had nearly snorted in laughter, despite everything, when Maurice's eyes had widened in surprise. The other three apes had all chuckled, enjoying their orangutan friend briefly being thrown out of the loop – it was rare that it happened, after all.

Nonetheless, Maurice had accepted the lesson, looking on in deep concentration as Lydia's fingers worked through the girl's hair, slow and deliberate so that the ape could follow and imitate the technique later.

And throughout the whole thing, braiding, undoing and re-braiding about three or four times, the little girl had sat diligently through it, petting Storm as Maurice's much larger fingers tugged at her blonde strands.

Lydia found herself smiling at the memory as she trudged through the snow, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her coat to keep warm – clearly, there was nothing to hunt here, so she slung her bow back across her shoulder, opting instead to keep her hands, currently only covered by thin, fingerless leather gloves, free from potential frostbite.

The human woman picked up her pace through the thick snow, eager to get back to the others – even if she came back empty handed.

Her stomach growled angrily at the thought, so loud that even Storm stopped sniffing around to perk up and stare back at her owner, giving a soft, confused whine.

"Don't worry, girl. I'll figure something out later today, I promise." The woman was quick to assure her canine companion with another scratch behind the ear.

She didn't know if it was more of a reassurance to herself than Storm at this point. Finding food out here in this cold was fast becoming a serious issue and their dried meat had all but run out by now.

Also, she had subtly given portions of her meat to the kid, the idea of letting her go hungry not sitting right with the woman.

Another deep growl came from Lydia's gut.

She just hoped the others would come down soon. Even if she was already tired and sore from all this travelling, something she hadn't done in years, moving was still preferable to sitting still in this freezing weather.

Lydia stopped dead in her tracks, however, when she spotted movement over by Luca's horse.

It was like a switch was flipped inside Lydia's brain the moment she saw it, instinct and years of experience making her move almost automatically into a slight crouch, hand hovering near her bow as she studied the potential threat.

Assessing the danger.

Calculating the risk.

It was a small shape, a figure of a tiny stature, which seemed to be wearing… was that a parka?

Was it a human, then? It could be, but…

Lydia looked briefly down at Storm, who had also spotted the stranger and was now on high-alert.

However, she didn't react the way Lydia would have expected her to when encountering a human. The way Lydia had trained her to do. She didn't growl or raise her hackles at the figure, and her stance wasn't tense in preparation for a fight.

Instead, the canine seemed curious, her ears perked up in obvious alertness, though she didn't show even a hint of fangs.

She seemed almost… playful?

Lydia grimaced in confusion, eyebrows furrowing and mouth slightly agape.

What was this? Who was this? What were they doing out here?

And were they alone?

But one thing Lydia did know – this person, whoever they were, was looking awfully sneaky as they rummaged through Luca's saddlebags.

Which in Lydia's book was not a good sign. Especially when the stranger, after having pulled out the binoculars and storing them away once more, took out the shotgun Luca carried with him.

A lump appeared in Lydia's throat as she watched the weapon gleam in the pale daylight, her blue eyes quickly flickering towards the unsuspecting little girl.

She had to do something – quick!

But before the woman could even get as far as figuring out what this 'something' ought to be, a deafening roar sounded from above them all, startling Storm into barking.

It all happened in a flash from that point on, as the tiny stranger quickly jumped onto the white steed and galloped away as fast as the horse would go. Lydia ran over to her own mount and practically scrambled into the saddle as the apes came down from the mast and hopped onto their horses, Rocket riding with Luca now that they were one steed short.

She rode just behind Caesar most of the way as the chase went on, taking them through the wintry landscape at break-neck speeds. Lydia had no doubt that she could catch up with the thief if given the opportunity. Her horse was of a faster, more nimble kind than the ones the apes rode, and Lydia's lighter body meant that her horse didn't have work as hard to maintain its pace.

But Caesar signed for her to stay back the one time she tried to ride past him, and Lydia quickly understood why when the thief turned in his saddle and pointed Luca's shotgun back at them, firing the weapon.

Though his aim was, luckily, very poor, and he hit the branches of a tree a few feet above their heads instead of his pursuers. It was then that it became clear to Lydia then that this person, whoever they were, seemed prepared to harm them if they got too close.

And so, she stayed back, lowering herself in her saddle every time the thief turned around to shoot at them. Behind her, Storm was running in the wake of the horses, barking whenever the shotgun was fired.

The bullets pinged against the metal frame of an old ski lift as the group rode underneath it, and Lydia became aware that the thief seemed to follow the structure up the side of the mountain, deftly avoiding the few old, rusty seats of the lift, which were still dangling from the cable above.

Where is he going? Where will he run to up here? Lydia's mind raced as she squinted her eyes against the icy wind. I hope this isn't a trap…

Losing their target about halfway up the mountainside, the group came to a sudden halt at the top, looking on in confusion as Luca's white steed, seemingly abandoned, walked calmly towards them without its mysterious rider in the saddle. Behind it stood a tall, strange-looking building with a sloping roof, several gaping holes exposing its beams to the elements. The entire structure was mostly made of large wooden beams, though the walls were halfway buried in snow.

Lydia immediately recognised the place as an old ski resort, and as if to prove her right, an elaborately designed metal sign in front of the building read: "1907. The Inn at Kettle Ridge."

Cosy… Lydia thought as she passed it together with the others, grabbing the reins of Luca's horse as she rode past it. The beast followed obediently, seemingly just happy to not be separated from its herd anymore.

They tied their steeds up to a tree nearby as they dismounted and cautiously went towards the old resort.

For such a large building, it was eerily quiet here.

"Lydia." Caesar spoke softly as they came up to a broken window through which they could get inside. "Protect Maurice and the girl. We will go first."

Well, at least he didn't tell me to stay behind and do nothing… That's progress, I guess.

Besides, it made sense, and so Lydia didn't argue. She only had her bow and hunting knife, so if push came to shove in there, it was better that those of them with guns went in first.

She nodded, hoping that her eyes conveyed what she wanted to say as he prepared to go inside.

Be careful.

Don't get killed.

You and I are not done.

She and Caesar hadn't exactly gone back to being downright affectionate with each other just yet, but they were on speaking terms once more, and it was clear that he was still trying to protect her.

She stayed outside the building with the orangutan and the child as the Ape King and the others made their way in, the trio in the back only entering when the others deemed it safe.

Despite the tenseness Lydia felt in that moment, she couldn't help the soft ache in her heart as Maurice stopped the little girl from following the three apes inside immediately, deep, protective chitters emitting from the aging orangutan's throat.

No doubt the child had grown on him.

Lydia inched her way inside before Maurice and the girl when Luca waved back at them, signalling that the area was safe to enter. Though, even as she kept her weapon ready and was still on high alert, she couldn't help but dwell momentarily at the sight that met them as they stepped further and further into the long-abandoned ski resort.

The interior of the building was, despite years of decay and exposure to the elements – or perhaps because of these things – strangely beautiful.

The structure was held up by large, carved wooden pillars, and a winding staircase with naturally gnarled, wooden banisters led down to a huge, open space, above which a tiered chandelier of elk antlers hung proudly. Everything, even in here, was covered in ice and snow, and icicles of varying sizes reflected the light streaming in from an enormous façade of, surprisingly, mostly intact windows.

To Lydia, it almost looked like a fairy-tale setting, perhaps the castle of an ice queen? The thought would have been amusing if she hadn't already been so tense, walking in front of the orangutan and his little charge with careful steps as she watched the three other apes further down the stairs. Storm walked close as well, though she was by far the most relaxed of all the group's members.

And Lydia still couldn't figure out why.

The Ape King and his armed commanders were following a set of booted prints in the snow, which lead to the giant stone fireplace on the level just below Lydia's part of the group. Once they reached that point, the prints disappeared into the dark, sooty hole in the wall.

What the hell was going on?

She, Maurice and the girl began tentatively making their way down the stairs, but stopped the moment Caesar, Rocket and Luca stood in front of the cave-like hollow, hesitating briefly before cocking their guns. The sound was loud in the otherwise eerily quiet room and was underlined by a quiet snarl from Luca as the trio pointed their weapons at the dark opening of the fireplace.

It was a warning. A threat to whoever was hiding in there.

And in response, a clatter sounded as something was thrown out of the darkness.

From her current position, now at the bottom of the winding staircase together with Maurice and the girl, Lydia could only just catch a glimmer of Luca's shotgun hitting the snow-covered floor. It was soon followed by the pair of binoculars the group had scavenged earlier on their journey.

And then, a moment later, a small figure inched out of the dark fireplace – the same, small figure who had stolen Luca's horse, their head lowered and obscured by a large, fur-lined parka hood.

Though they held their hands up in surrender and Storm continued to seem unconcerned by the stranger, Lydia still tightened the grip on her bow – ever vigilant, as experience had taught her to be.

But her suspicion and alertness were both soon exchanged for total and utter surprise as the stranger raised their head to look up at Caesar, Luca and Rocket, their face scrunched up in regret and fear.

Their ape face, that is. Wrinkly, weathered and distinctly male.

A small male chimpanzee, who then spoke, loud and clear to them, his voice echoing throughout the large room.

"Bad… Ape."

Lydia loosened her bowstring, her arms going lax as she stared, mouth slightly agape, as the small chimp spoke again.

"Bad Ape."

And if Lydia thought she had been confused before… now she was completely bewildered, much like the three apes standing in front of the stranger were. Luca and Rocket both started asking him questions in sign – who he was and what he was doing there – but the strange chimp only gave a gentle start at their jerky hand movements before staring at the apes in front of him in obvious confusion.

Caesar remained quiet for now, still with his gun in his hands, though he seemed too preoccupied with studying this strange ape in front of them – Lydia did much the same, only looking away once to share a brief, flabbergasted look with Maurice.

"I don't think he understands." Luca deduced as the small chimp cocked his head curiously at their continued signing.

Well, that was plain to see. Lydia had plenty of experience with that, having watched people's confused faces when her brother, Matthew, had tried to sign with them, thinking – or perhaps just hoping – that he would be understood.

"I don't recognize him." Rocket added matter-of-factly. "He's not one of us."

Caesar pursed his lips for only a moment at that, before he finally addressed the ape himself, his voice dark, yet soft as he spoke to the obviously confused chimp in front of them.

"Are you alone here?"

A spark of understanding finally seemed to glow in the stranger's green gaze and he nodded vigorously at the Ape King in reply, the hood of his parka bouncing with the movement.

It was only then, as Storm gave a soft whine which echoed in the large space, that they all became aware of Lydia, Maurice and the girl standing at the bottom of the stairs, and Lydia quietly stowed away her bow and arrow after a brief moment of eye contact with her mate.

This little ape posed no threat to them, she had decided.

Though the three apes in front of him seemed to think differently when, all of a sudden, the stranger began reaching for the zipper of his parka, prompting them all to turn back sharply and point their guns at him once more, Rocket chittering in warning.

The stranger immediately stopped what he was doing to look up at the trio, his lips pushed into an o-shape as he tried to explain his actions.

"Cold…" He said gently, earning himself several confused stares as he began shedding his parka to slowly reveal a mostly-hairless body.

It was then that it struck Lydia that this ape must have been old. At least older than she had first been led to believe. He sported thin, greying fur on his arms, shoulders, back and legs, and the last, wiry hair on his chin was as white as snow.

She involuntarily shuddered at the sight of his bare chest and bald head, almost able to feel the frigid air hitting her own skin by just looking at the poor chimp.

Though her heart immediately warmed when he held out his parka for Caesar to take, pointing at the little human girl still by Lydia and Maurice's side.

"Cold." He stated once more, making everyone turn to look at the little human.

And sure enough, she was shivering, having moved closer to the aging orangutan for warmth. The fur cloak Lydia had made could only do so much, and the woman doubted her summer jacket would be of any help.

But this ape, this stranger, upon seeing the girl, was exposing his nearly-naked body to the freezing cold to offer her his own shield against the elements.

Lydia tilted her head, staring at this new ape in quiet fascination.

Who was this ape? What was he doing all the way up here? Why was he all alone?

And why would he show such kindness to a complete stranger? A human, no less?

And just then, it seemed to Lydia as if, with every turn they took on this trip, a new mystery lie in wait.


Rocket

Sitting by a large campfire inside the building later that night, the group got to know the strange ape a little bit better.

At least Rocket couldn't help but think so – that he was strange, that is.

Physically, he was rather small for a male chimp, and had even less fur than Rocket himself. He seemed in good health, though, despite the freezing temperatures.

The strange ape sat with his back towards the fire, seeking warmth in the absence of his human clothing, and Rocket sat beside the Ape King in front of him. On Caesar's other side was Lydia, Maurice and the little girl, who had Storm lying against her side for extra warmth. Luca had elected to sit a bit away from the group, facing the large wall of windows to act as a guard, should anyone notice the light or smoke from the fire.

Rocket doubted that anyone would, though. They were high up in the mountains in a desolate, wintry wasteland, after all.

Pursing his lips, the balding ape's mind returned to the conversation at hand once more.

Even now, after a few hours with them, the stranger still seemed ecstatic to have discovered that he had encountered other apes, seemingly unbothered by the presence of Lydia and the little girl now, except for when he reprimanded the latter on picking up things lying around the floor.

"How long have you been here?" Caesar asked with no small amount of astonishment and curiosity in his voice.

"Long time. Long, long time…" The new ape replied, his voice growing quieter towards the end of his sentence.

Then, suddenly, his face changed, his eyes widening and his mouth making a large o-shape as he did a single, excited hoot. He quickly rose to his feet and darted over to a pile of things in the corner, shoving items aside until he found what he was looking for and promptly returned, holding it in hand.

It was an old human toy. One of the soft ones made of fabric, sown into the shape of some animal – a crocodile, if Rocket remembered correctly. He had heard some of the apes from the zoo talk about them, as well as other creatures trapped in there.

The strange ape handed the toy to Caesar as he explained that it was home. His old home.

It was indeed from a zoo, Rocket learned as he leaned over to inspect the item in his king's hands. He had learned his letters well enough to read what the text sown into the toy creature's belly said.

Sierra zoo, it read, in bold, black lettering.

It seemed to stir Caesar somewhat, and he lifted his gaze from the toy in his hands to once again speak to the strange ape.

"Are there more like you? more apes from zoo?"

It would have been a tantalizing prospect, Rocket had to agree. If they could find more apes like this one, more apes from other places who had become smart… More apes to join them. New blood. New possibilities.

But the small chimp immediately answered in the negative, killing off that possibility with a few, matter-of-factly spoken words.

"Dead. All dead… Long time" He replied, his voice transforming into a mere rueful whisper, and Rocket felt a pang of sympathy for the smaller ape. "Human get sick. Ape get smart. Then human kill ape."

It was a simplified version of what had happened, Rocket could easily tell, but it covered what needed to be. It wasn't difficult for anyone, even the dullest of apes, to imagine how the story had played out in detail by themselves.

"But not me!" The stranger was quick to clarify. "I run!"

Throughout this talk, Rocket couldn't help but quietly marvel at the ease with which this ape talked out loud – something Rocket himself was still not comfortable with doing, even after all these years. The small chimp's speech was choppy, though Rocket deemed it to be the result of a lacking vocabulary rather than inadequate practice. At no point did this ape stop to take in heaving breaths between words, and the dark, balding chimp couldn't help but wonder how he had managed to get to that point with no one to practice with.

And why he would bother to do it at all, completely alone as he was?

It seemed like the Ape King was wondering the same thing.

"You learned to speak…?" Caesar asked, disbelief clear on his face.

"Listen. Human." The strange chimp replied with wide eyes and a finger pointing to his ear. Then, his face turned serious, brows furrowed and a frown on his face as he directed his index finger towards Caesar. "Bad Ape!"

Just as quickly, the stern look disappeared, and he pointed at his own chest.

"Bad Ape."

He seemed to believe that was his name… Maybe it had been – the one given to him by the humans, or he had another name once, but the humans he had known hadn't bothered to use it. That wasn't uncommon either, Caesar's second-in-command remembered.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rocket saw how Lydia's expression turned sad as she, too, came to this conclusion. She often felt guilty for what her kind had done to the apes – what they were still doing.

It was foolish, of course.

She had no control over other humans' actions and besides, she had turned her back on them long ago.

In that moment, the girl picked up another item lying around, and the chimp… Bad Ape, Rocket internally corrected himself, moved over to gently pull it from her hand and place it back down.

"No. No touch." He gently reprimanded her, and Rocket noted how Maurice seemed slightly agitated at the correction. He was becoming very protective of the little human.

"Tha-That's mine." The smaller chimp spoke softly once he turned back towards the Ape King, as if to explain his action, though he quickly rose to his feet once more with an excited gibber and ran back towards the piles upon piles of objects he had stacked all around the place.

He disappeared completely from view and a loud crash was heard from beyond the darkness.

"I'm okay!" The strange ape was quick to reassure, and Rocket couldn't help but stare past Caesar to share a doubtful look with Lydia.

"I think being alone has been hard on his mind…" The woman signed rather than spoke, being discreet, even when the ape in question was not close enough to hear.

Caesar nodded, a thoughtful look on his features as he pursed his lips.

"Still, it is amazing." Maurice signed, chittering lowly in his throat as the strange ape still rummaged wildly through his belongings. "Aside from Orion and Roy, we have never met others. Apes like us… And now we find one all the way up here. I often wondered how many there might be in the world."

"Well, counting by the zoos alone, I'd say quite a great number… unless they got killed or captured to be tested on for a cure." Lydia answered, her brows furrowing gently.

It was what they had done to Roy and Orion when she had first found them, Rocket knew, and even now, the mere thought of someone doing that to those she held dear seemed to make Lydia tense.

Yet she kept it in check when Caesar's hand gently brushed against her arm, the woman breathing a subtle sigh as the king withdrew his limb once more. The contact had been brief. Fleeting. Barely noticeable, even.
But after the look Lydia had sent Caesar's way the day they had found the girl, Rocket had begun noticing these little things more and more, even when the two hadn't spoken at all.

He didn't try to address it, though. Didn't even know how he would have gone about it.

And he didn't want to either. It wasn't his place to do so.

But he did wonder when it had started. Exactly how much had he been missing in his absence from the colony? How had it even come about?

Surely, the spark which he now saw hadn't been there when he had left the apes two years ago.

Suddenly, Bad Ape was back, startling Rocket out of his musings as he came hopping over while carrying a package. He quickly opened it and spilled its contents on the floor in front of them as he sat back down, panting with what seemed to be equal parts exertion and excitement.

"Eat!" He encouraged, putting the bag aside as he stared at each of them in turn, even Lydia, who he gave a tentative smile. "New friends! Special day!"

They all grabbed one brown package from the small pile that had come out of the bag, examining them closely – though in Rocket's case, mostly to find a way to open it. Their hunts hadn't been very successful recently, and the balding ape was beginning to feel the dark void of hunger in his belly by now. The one who suffered the most because of this, however, was probably Lydia, who had discreetly forgone both half and whole meals in favour of offering them to the little girl. Rocket had pointed out to her that it wasn't ideal to do so, seeing as she was one of their best hunters – in fact, hunting was Lydia's primary task on this journey (if one didn't count her goal to make sure Caesar came back to the colony alive – a goal they all shared).

The fact remained, though, that if Lydia couldn't perform her duty because she was starving, then it would soon reflect on the rest of the group as well. The girl included.

Clearly, both her and Caesar had more restraint than Rocket, as they each examined the packages closely before even attempting to open them.

"Where did you get this?" The Ape King asked urgently, catching everyone's attention.

"Bad place. Long time ago." Bad Ape spoke after having partially chewed on some of the food.

Everything that ever happened to this ape seemed to have been a long time ago, Rocket thought as he finally managed to rip open his own package.

"I go look for food. I find human zoo. Zoo for sick." He spoke before swallowing his food to speak more clearly as he made broad movements with his arms. "Big walls. Sick human climb. Bad human kill… And then all get sick. All dead for a long time."

Throughout his explanation, Rocket noticed how Caesar's face got steadily sterner, his brows knitting together as he connected the dots.

"Bad humans?" He asked, eyes narrowing. "Soldiers?"

Rocket looked on with bated breath as Bad Ape's expression morphed into one of sadness and regret. It was clearly not a memory he was comfortable returning to.

And by the look of it, neither was Lydia, who looked quite disturbed by what the strange chimp had told them, staring blankly down at the still-unopened package between her hands.

Rocket left her to her own musings for now, as he realised what conclusion Caesar was beginning to reach.

"A deserted military camp!" The balding ape exclaimed. "On the border!"

It made sense. Now, after having looked at the empty packaging of his own food and read the words, Rocket realised what Caesar was pressing Bad Ape to tell them.

This place. The border Winter had spoken about. The one the soldiers were headed for – it could be the one where Bad Ape had found these bags of food.

Which meant that Bad Ape could potentially lead them to that place.

"Maybe the Colonel and his troops are going there?" Luca caught on soon after, having followed the conversation even if he was technically on guard-duty.

"Is it far? Can you take us?" The Ape King asked with a voice now brimming with urgency.

But the answer wasn't the one he had hoped it would be.

"Human zoo?" Bad Ape asked, his expression quickly turning into one of fear. "No. No go back there. Everyone dead. I come here, very safe. Never go back!"

"Please, you must take us!" Caesar pleaded, though his voice was bordering on anger. It had Rocket gibber in warning as Bad Ape jerked back harshly from them.

"No! No! Cannot take!" He kept saying, the terrified expression never leaving his face.

And then, Lydia seemed to return to the present from whatever dark place her mind had been visiting, her deep, blue eyes regaining their focus as she reached out to her right.

"Caesar." Came her voice, calm and imploring as she put a hand on the Ape King's forearm, distracting him and lessening his anger instantly as he turned to stare down at her. "Don't push it. Please."

It had never been more obvious to Rocket what was going on between his two dear friends – the way Caesar's huffing breaths immediately seemed to slow and even out as he stared into Lydia's eyes. The manner in which Lydia squeezed his arm, only letting go when his posture was relaxed once more.

The look on her face as she spoke, as if haunted – and the Ape King's fingers twitching in response, as if he wanted to reach out to comfort her.

"I can understand why he doesn't want to go back there…" She spoke softly, and to Rocket, it seemed as if she knew more… as if she had seen something akin to what Bad Ape had described.

The strange chimp must have had the same thought.

"You… you see it too?" He asked tentatively, speaking to Lydia specifically for the first time that night. "Human zoo?"

And just as the balding ape had suspected, Lydia nodded, making both Rocket, Luca, Maurice and Caesar stare at her in surprise. She had never spoken to Rocket about this and, evidently, she hadn't revealed it to any of the others either.

Not even Caesar.

"Yeah…" She replied quietly, and even the little girl stared at the woman with a soft gaze – Rocket had no idea whether or not she understood exactly what it was they were discussing, but she was sensing moods expertly nonetheless.

"When was this?" Caesar asked, confusion evident on his face. His demeanour had completely shifted from impending anger at Bad Ape's refusal, to concerned by what Lydia had revealed. "You have never spoken of it."

The woman shrugged.

"It was when we moved to the human colony back in Minneapolis. Saw it on the news first – then drove right past it when we came to the city…" She explained, her voice still quiet. "In the beginning these places were meant as quarantine zones, to keep the sick from spreading the disease, though it was already too late by then. Didn't take long before people started wanting out of there. These places were notorious for their horrible living conditions. If the virus didn't kill you, it was the lack of food and clean water… Or the military in charge shooting you as you tried to escape."

She was trying to be dismissive, even casual about it, but Rocket could hear the catch in her voice. The underlying, barely-there tremble.

Rocket couldn't really blame her for, as Caesar had pointed out, never having spoken about this. It was only on rare occasions that Lydia had ever talked about her life during the time the apes now referred to as The Change, and the balding ape had little doubt that this time had been horrible for the woman – as it had been for all humans. No wonder she didn't want to revisit such memories, much less discuss them with others.

Lydia seemed to notice the sympathetic stares from the apes around her, straightening somewhat and clearing her throat.

"Anyway, it's snowing again out there, which means that, in any case, we're not going anywhere right now. We might as well stay here, at least for the night and sleep on this matter, huh?"

"Yes! Stay here. You eat! You rest! Stay here with me! New friends!" Bad Ape was quick to agree, nodding eagerly and pushing the piled food packages towards them all. Then, he turned towards the little girl, picking up the metal item she had tried to examine several times before, and gave it to her. "Here, you keep."

He turned back to Caesar as Maurice and the child studied the metal object intently, the latter running her fingers softly across its surface.

"She keep." Bad Ape explained once more, slightly placating as he looked at the Ape King.

Rocket could tell Caesar wasn't too pleased with the delay, or the small chimp's obvious reluctance to take them where they needed to go, but a brief, sideways glance at Lydia, who discreetly nodded her head, seemed to seal the deal for the Ape King.

They would stay the night. Rest and eat, storing their worries away for now.

That suited Rocket just fine. The balding ape didn't think he would be up for a long, cold night of riding through the mountains anyway. He doubted any of them would, honestly.

And so, Rocket, together with everyone else, made himself comfortable for the night, feeling better than he had in a long time with his belly finally properly full and his body going slack with fatigue against the soft pelts underneath him. It was pure bliss compared camping out in the open, shivering through the night while trying to keep a dying campfire going against the frosty winds of winter.

And yet, even as he laid there, beside a roaring fire with his stomach quiet at last, Rocket still felt oddly dissatisfied.

Restless and disquieted.

Wondering where his mate might be right now.

Rocket sighed heavily against the furs, trying his best to mask it as one of relief rather than longing as he finally closed his eyes.

Despite these comforts, he knew it would be a long night.