Disclaimer: I do not own Planet of the Apes

The morning after was cloudy and cold.

When Ava woke, she was greeted by the sight of apes sitting outside of her tent. It jolted her awake but she soon relaxed. Each member of the team woke at the same time, all of them feeling a little disconcerted about having all of the apes around them. Nevertheless, they all got dressed, packed up the necessities, and then started on the hike towards the dam.

When they reached the dam, Ava spotted Caesar riding up on his horse with a few other apes. She didn't say anything to him, instead, she quietly slipped in the entrance. Malcolm led the way, down a rusted ladder where they found a tunnel. Ava, Malcolm, Foster, Kemp, and Carver rigged up a pulley system to make traveling through the tunnel easier. Once the rig was up, the five of them settled on her stomachs and pulled themselves through the cramped tunnel.

One by one, they exited into the engine room. The five of them stood to face a huge pile of rubble that was blocking the engine turbines. Ava blew out a silent breath. There was no way they would be able to work with all of this rubble in their way.

"We're gonna have to rig up explosives, get all of this debris out of the way." Malcolm directed. "Come on, let's go."

The group got to work with the wiring. Ava helped with setting up the explosives on various parts of the rubble. From there, Malcolm tacked on the wiring. Then, they each got on their respective scooters and began to pull themselves back through the tunnel. Ava felt her nose sting at the strong scent of mold and dirty water. A ten-year buildup of god knows what. She had to bite her tongue from saying anything when her hand touched something slimy.

Oh god.

"Woah, wait, hold on!" Malcolm called out. The others stopped. "That's all the wiring we have left. So, brace yourselves."

That didn't sound good at all. "You're gonna detonate it while we're still in here?" Ava questioned, trying not to give away her panic.

"We have no other choice. Here we go."

Ava tried to brace herself.

Malcolm pressed the button. The entire ground beneath them shook. Ava jumped when she heard the explosion. Then, without warning, the tunnel began to collapse. Chunks of cement fell in front of her, splashing water in her face. A massive force fell on her back, pinning her down. A scream slipped past her lips. While there was some pain, her reaction was based more on the sudden force. It scared her more than anything.

Ava tried moving, pausing when the piece of debris dug deeper into her back. "Shit," She cursed under her breath. The weight of the debris pinned her down, preventing her from being able to move. Then, she started to panic, her throat began to tighten. It was almost claustrophobic, being pinned down in a wet, smelly tunnel with no way of getting out. Ava tried taking deep breaths but they only came out as wheezes. She tried moving again, stopping when the pain in her back spiked.

"Ava, are you okay?" Malcolm called out to her.

She closed her eyes, huffing deep breaths in an effort to calm herself. "I-I don't know!" she yelled. "I'm pinned down! A piece of debris is pinning me down!"

"Just hold on! We'll get out of here!"

Right, okay, just hold on.

Ava had no idea how they were going to dig their way out of this tunnel. She was trapped under debris, not knowing how much. As for the others, she didn't know if any of them were hurt. Although, someone was definitely in pain and it sounded like Carver. Ava decided to focus on keeping calm. Panicking won't help her situation and it will only make things worse.

Calm down. Just calm down.

"Malcolm!" Ellie's voice filtered into the tunnel. "Just hang on alright, we're gonna get you out of here!"

"You hear that Ava," Malcolm called out to her. "Just hang on a bit longer."

"Okay, okay." She breathed out.

Ava focused on trying to remain calm. The debris crushing her made it a little difficult. The slightest move seemed to agitate it even more. She remained completely still, her face was nearly touching the dirty water. She tried closing her eyes, hoping to tune out everything that was going on around her. And it seemed like an eternity, but she could feel herself being pulled. She glanced up and nearly yelped at the sight of Kemp crawling towards her.

"It's alright," she spotted a tool in his hand but said nothing as he stopped in front of her. "We need to break this piece of debris enough to move it, so just keep your head down."

Ava did just that. She kept her head down, flinching every time Kemp would hit the debris. Small chunks of concrete cascaded down her face and splashed into the water. She just wanted out. She wanted out of this tunnel and to be able to breathe in fresh air. A pair of arms grabbed her, prompting Ava to lift her head. Kemp was right in front of her, face glistening with water and dirt. He had a hold on her arms and began to pull her out of the tunnel.

Kemp pulled her through the opening and helped Ava to her feet. Immediately, she felt a deep ache in her back. She stumbled forward and Ellie was able to catch her before she could fall.

"What's wrong?"

"My back," Ava whispered.

"Okay, I'll take a look at it when we get out of here."

….

The moment she stepped out of the power plant, she took in the biggest breath of her life. The sound of the river, and low grunts of the apes as they escorted them out. Just to be out of that tunnel made her feel incredibly grateful. She managed to thank a few of the apes as they walked by her, they only responded with a quick start. Kemp had an arm around her, helping to guide her to the spot Ellia had deemed acceptable for a quick base set up.

Kemp sat Ava down on a large rock, knelt next to her with his hand still on her back. "How bad is the pain?"

Ava hissed, trying to stretch out her muscle. "I-it's not like a pain. It's just really stiff."

"Here, I got her." Ellie marched over and took Kemp's spot. "I need you to go over and help with Carver until I'm done here."

Kemp nodded and quickly went to tend to Carver.

Ellia offered Ava a quick smile. "You need to tell me where it hurts."

"Literally, in the middle of my back," Ava gently removed her jacket. "A piece of debris fell on me but I'm positive it's not that serious."

"No," Ellie gently pressed against the area on Ava's back, feeling for any kind of fractures or breakage that may be present. "If your back was broken, you wouldn't even be able to move without significant pain. So, that's one good sign." She pressed gently against Ava's spine, "does that hurt?"

"It's a little tender." Ava casually glanced up and saw Caesar staring at her. She could recognize the concern on his face. She raised her hands and quickly signed, "I'm okay." The ape was able to relax.

Ellie went to pull up the bottom of Ava's shirt, then paused. "I'm gonna need to lift this up a little, do you wanna move somewhere for privacy?"

"No, it's fine. It's not like I'm stripping down or anything."

"Okay." Ellie pulled up Ava's shirt, just enough to where her back was exposed for a better examination. There was already a large red spot on the middle of Ava's back. Ellie gently prodded at the area and heard Ava hiss. "Okay, I don't feel any fractures, I just think you got bruised up really bad."

"Good, the last thing I want is to lay out on my back."

"I do have some painkillers, though."

Ava pulled down her shirt and took two pills from Ellie, using her canteen of water to wash them down. After, she slid her jacket back on and stood from the rock. Ellie was adamant that she rest for the remaining time, but Ava dismissed it. She was fine. Albeit she was still sore, she could still walk around and help the others. While Ellie tended to Carver, Ava sat with Kemp and Foster, who were taking care of their minor injuries.

"How are you doing?" Kemp asked.

"I'm alright, my back just got bruised, it wasn't that serious." Ava took a drink from her canteen and straightened her back, hoping that the painkillers will start to kick in soon. "Do you think we'll still be able to fix up the dam?"

"No doubt," Foster replied. "We'll just need to clear away the debris, although, we may need to extend our length of time here. With with the seven of us, we won't be able to clear that tunnel out in time."

Ava nulled over Foster's words for a few moments. She looked over at the apes, seeing Caesar talking with Malcolm. "Maybe we can ask the apes for help."

"You really think they would?"

Ava shrugged. "I mean, if we ask nicely, they might end up helping. They want us out of here just as quickly, so if we explain the situation, maybe they can help."

"Can I ask you something?" Kemp was the one who spoke up this time. Ava nodded for him to continue. "How is it that you're always so calm around them? I mean they're talking apes, their intelligence level is beyond anything that we've ever seen. Are you not intimidated?"

She didn't know how to respond. One of the ways she could handle this was to expose everything. Tell Foster and Kemp who she was, who she was related to, the fact that she's known Caesar since he was a baby chimp. She could just tell it all. A part of her wanted too. Keeping a secret like this was exhausting, and her reuniting with Caesar just made it all the more complicated. Though she surmised that soon or later, she'll need to come clean.

"Of course I am a little intimidated," she began, making sure to be careful with the words she used. "But, I know that with their intelligence they can negotiate like we do, understand terms, honor agreements. I told him that we aren't here to hurt any of them and I promised that we would hand our guns if it made them feel better. They don't want to hurt us. I don't know I just...find them fascinating I guess."

There was a small sound, almost like a faint whimper. Ava glanced down and next to her was a baby chimpanzee who couldn't have been more than a few days old. She smiled at the small chimp and set her canteen down.

"Hi there," she reached her hand out to the chimp, who inspected it before jumping into her lap. Ava looked up at Caesar who was admiring the scene before him. "This is your son?" The ape gave a slow nod. Ava focused back on the baby chimp, her smile never faltered.

The entire group watched the interaction. They noticed how calm she was and how well she handled the animal. Malcolm took note on how it almost seemed like second nature for her.

"You're so precious." Ava raised up her arm, allowing the chimp to jump up and it slowly crawled up the length of her shoulders, pausing at the back of her neck, the chimp placed his hands on her head to balance before hopping down. She should have paid attention to where the young chimp was going.

The next thing she heard was Carver yelling. She stood up and turned, seeing Carver trying to strike at the young chimp, who was rummaging through one of the toolboxes. In that small window of time, she couldn't understand why he would be so up in arms about it.

"Carver, don't!" Ava called out in an attempt to get him to stop.

One of the older apes charged after Carver and pushed him to the ground. Foster and Kemp tried coming to his aide and hopefully calm the animal. The ape screamed in their faces, intimidating them. It all happened so fast, Ava had no time to react.

Carver pulled a shotgun from his toolbox, the one where the young chimp had been rummaging through. He aimed the gun right at the ape.

"Carver put the gun down!" Ava shrieked, completely numbed by the fact that he kept a gun in his possession.

Caesar stalked up, grabbed the gun from Carver and slammed him into the ground. He raised the gun above his head, about to bring it down on Carver. Ava reacted fast. She ran and put herself between Caesar and Carver, her arms raised up.

"Caesar, don't." She stared at the ape, the menacing look in his eyes dimmed slightly. "Please, don't." She tried again.

Caesar lowered the gun and glared at Ava, feeling somewhat betrayed. She promised him that they would give over all of their guns. Yet, one of the humans just used one to threaten both of his sons.

"I didn't know." Her voice was weak but genuine.

Caesar held the gun in his hands, raising it into a loose aim, directly at Ava. The action made her heart stop. "I said. No. Guns."

Ava swallowed hard. She could feel the sting in her waterline as she stared at the gun. "I know. I swear, I didn't know."

Caesar turned to Malcolm, the menacing look in his eyes remained. He demanded an explanation, though it wouldn't do any of them much good. Malcolm raised his hands, "I didn't either. None of us did."

The answer wasn't satisfying. Caesar swung the gun to aim at Ellie and Alexander. Both Malcolm and Ava reacted at the same time.

"No!"

"Caesar, no." Ava stepped into the aim, her hand raised in a calming gesture.

It didn't do anything. Caesar turned the gun onto Foster and Kemp.

"Caesar, please!" Ava begged. She just wanted him to drop the gun.

After eyeing every human, Caesar raised the gun and threw it into the river. The act allowed some of the tension to ease but now everything has changed. This incident wasn't going to go unnoticed.

Caesar scooped up the baby chimp into his arms and glared at Ava. "Leave." He marched past Malcolm, "Human. Leave. Now!"

She flinched at his voice but remained in her spot. No one said anything. No one knew what to say. Their chances of restoring power was gone. Ava could feel a cold chill go down her spine. If they return as failures, Dreyfus is going to come up here and slaughter each and every one of them. She can't let that happen...she just can't.

He was still in her sights as she stalked back to camp. Her anger was boiling within her. It was a type of anger she never thought she was capable of feeling.

"You fucking idiot!"

Carver stopped to look back at her. He only got a swift punch to the face. He went to swing at her but Ava blocked it. Before they could go into a full out brawl, Malcolm grabbed Ava from the waist and pulled her away.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Carver spat.

"You fucking piece of shit!" Ava screamed, trying to wiggle out of Malcolm's arms. "I told you. No guns!" Ava finally got free from Malcolm's hold. "You just fucking ruined everything! Are you proud of yourself?!"

"It's a good thing I kept it!" Carver defended. "That ape would have killed me."

"Because you threatened one of them!" Ava could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She was so angry, her eyes were cloudy with tears. "God, you know I should've let Caesar just beat the shit out of you!"

Carver went to charge after Ava but was stopped by Foster. "You really would've let that happen!"

"Yeah, I should have. You would be less trouble!"

"Fuck you!"

"That's enough!" Malcolm stepped in-between them. He then turned to Carver. "Why did you keep the gun, Carver? We weren't supposed to have any."

"I don't trust those apes. We were just sitting ducks out here, waiting for them to make the first move."

Ava scoffed and wiped at her eyes. "For once in your life Carver, you should have trusted me. I gave them my word, they trusted me. You fucked over us and everyone else at the sanctuary. If we go back there without restoring the power, Dreyfus is going to come up here and slaughter all of the apes."

"Maybe it's for the best."

Ava lunged after him, only to be stopped by Malcolm, once again. The only thing she managed to do was scratch Carver on the cheek. The three red marks were instantly noticeable. Foster made sure to have a hold on Carver, to prevent him from going after her.

"Both of you need to calm down, fighting isn't going to fix this situation," Malcolm said, hoping to reason with both of them.

"No, but I know what will." Ava turned and started back up the hill. Ellie tried calling after her but she managed to ignore her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Malcolm and Ellie walking next to her. "What are you two doing?"

"We need to make this right. I'm going with you this time."

"Suit yourself."

A/N: Wow, okay. I am SO SORRY for how long this update took. In all honesty, my muse for this story just been kind of, meh. Mostly because I am so focused on my Marvel series, I just haven't been spending much time with this story. Also, I feel like this chapter was crap. But, I am still pushing through, I am determined to finish this story.

A review would be much appreciated, especially since my muse for this story is so spotty. Any words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated! Until next time!