Planet of the Apes: Broken Chain
Ch.5
Caged Man
Pov: Robert
Sight returned once more. I was still in a bed of hay, in a loincloth, burned from the sun I got days prior, and trapped behind a cage. Sounds about right. Meaning all was well, in a really weird way.
I'm still breathing I guess.
I sat up and observed the cage, seeing my "Friends" still with me. All of the men were sound asleep until a gorilla came by with a bucket of corn in one hand and a batton in the other. Raising his stick, he struck the cage a bit.
"Wake up you dumb animals, it's breakfast time."
The ape then proceeded to throw corn cobs into the enclosure. My cellmates rushed up from their sleep and salvaged the food on the floor. Their eyes only saw the food, nothing else. Truly, they were like beasts.
I noticed one of the cobs landed at my feet. My arms hesitantly reached for it and I ate the uncooked kernels. It was about as bland as I imagined it would taste.
"This stuff is too good for you humans."
The feeder then walked off to give out the rest of the food to the other cages.
All I could do was watch as the rest ate. Each one was like an animal, growling with each bite in the corn. Soon the food we had dwindled down to one cob left. The three different men reached for it, making a stand off between them. Each one stared down at the other beside them and at once charged each other.
They started rolling around on the ground for food. A single corn cob…
I should break this up before they get the Feeder's attention.
Sitting up from my spot, I reached over and grabbed the fallen piece of food and broke it in thirds. It made a distinct crunching sound that made the others stop. My hand held out the food to them. They did nothing but stare. So I walked over and handed it out to them, caveman grunting at them as I passed it. They quickly took the small cobs and ate while glancing at me. Now it was too creepy being in there, and now there was no way out.
Malek said this would be my home until I get permission to go with them on "Training" me.
Speaking of the devil, he now chose to show up around the corner. The boy looked tired and not all there. He looked into the cage and spotted me, waving me over.
Obeying, I walked past the men and up to the front of the rustic cage. Malek looked both ways before replying, "Ok, you're clear if you want to talk."
I sighed in relief, "Good, I was getting worried. You didn't show up right away… Did something happen?"
"No… it was successful, something… else came up that I had to do. What about you?"
"Nothing really. I guess my new name is Red. And they tried to take off my loincloth. Other than that, nothing really… Oh yeah, got some cell mates."
I took a quick glance behind me to see an unusual sight, the men were staring harder.
"Red… It fits. Between your red… lower face hair and your skin."
I point up one finger, "Ok, so about my skin. It's burnt from all of that sun. Second, this…"
I pull the hairs under my chin, "Is called a beard. Calling it lower face hair sounds wrong. What do you call yours?"
"Lower face hair."
…
"What? It's what I called it."
"Ok, despite the 'original' name choice. What's the situation?"
"Good news is that I'm now an acting guard here, I'll be able to help keep you safe during the day."
I'm more of a bad news first kind of guy, oh well.
Before I opened my mouth, I felt one of the humans with me poking my cheek on the left side of my face. I did my best to ignore it.
"And the bad news?"
"We don't know when we can get official approval to take you out. It could be days, weeks. And I won't be here at night, if anything happens on your own-."
"HEY!"
The loud booming sound nearly made me jump while the other humans ran to the back in fear. It was the feeder from before, I feigned stupidity like a beast and grunted as I walked back hastily to the back of the cage.
"What are you doing back here? This is a research facility, not a petting zoo."
He then pulled out a pointing finger to scold the young ape.
"Don't go near the animals without permission."
"Sorry, I'm the new guard as of today."
"Another guard? These 'Things' worth protecting?!"
Malek looked to have gathered up as much confidence as he could and spoke in a firm tone
"M-maybe not all of them. But that new one is! We have plans for him. A-and you better make sure he isn't pitted against any of the bigger ones!"
As the words flew, a door opened up behind them. In came Dr. Zira with what looked like a doctor's bag. I'd say good morning to her, but my circumstances kept me quiet. My new norm. And I could say nothing if any arguments broke out in front of my cage.
I can't wait to get out of here already.
"Look, I'm a helper, not a doctor! I clean the cages, animals, and feed them! I'm holding this job till I get my approval to join the city guard. So leave that up to the assistants or Doctor Zira!"
"Leave 'what' to me?"
Both Gorillas looked to see the doctor, the helper spoke first.
"Did you know we were getting a guard assigned here?"
The doctor was just as confused, "No I wasn't told anything. Are you him?"
She pointed at Malek. Clearly he didn't like how she too also viewed him as a kid, "Yes, and before you ask I have the transfer form right here."
"Let me look."
The chimp took the form in her hand and skimmed through it. As she looked further down, she nodded her head displeased.
"Well, it's official. He is now the head of security of this wing of the academy."
"WHAT!?"
The shout came from both gorillas.
"Let me see that!"
Malek took the paper from her hand and looked over it and said one thing, "Father…"
A "Hm?" Came from the doctor.
"Oh, it's nothing. I was told I was just going to be the guard here. And uhh, sorry for ripping the paper out of your hand."
She waved it off, "It's alright. You're young. But I expect that to never happen again, alright?"
The kid did a salute.
"Yes, ma'am!"
The doctor chuckled and walked over to the cage, "We'll, I suppose it's a good time as any to let them out. Would you care to assist us…"
"Malek, you can call me Malek. And if you can, watch out for that one. We lost some apes on our last excursion, he's all we got to show for it."
The doctor smiled at the boy, "Alright, but I can only do so much out there. For now, you can watch our procedure so you can help out later. Ebar go get the leashes. After we get everyone out, we'll bring out the specimen from last night."
"Yes doctor."
Joy, leashes…
As the ape walked off, the doctor went to look through some paperwork across her desk. Malek followed her and asked a question.
"Umm, may I ask about this new specimen?"
"Hmmm? Oh, I brought in a new 'human' found in a barn at one of the nearby villages. Poor girl was asleep, clinging to herself among the hay. She appears to be a rare variant, larger in height and odd hair coloration. It's dark with green pigmentation, I believe it's with some of its eating habits, or a new change in humans all together. I think with enough time, I could-."
"Ready, Doctor."
"Thank you, Ebar! Well, enough talk. Let's get them out there."
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On my lonesome again. Well, actually, no. I was alone as Malek was outside the cage watching from far away. To top it off, other gorillas we're watching. Armed with the same type of rifle I had used not long ago.
The caged enclosure itself held all the humans they had at the academy. And of all people, my three cell mates had to follow, it was me. I felt uber embarrassed, what fascinated them to follow me?
Maybe because I talked in front of them?
Whatever the case, it was the game "Follow the leader", Me. An already burnt to a crisp man getting some more UV light from the sun. A sun that made me thirst. My mind did its best to keep itself distracted from that desire, but my eyes saw something else.
A puddle was in the center of our "Playground". Some of the humans already wandered over to the water to lap from it. That was enough to keep me far away from it. The solution to this problem that grew was to minimize my movement and hold out until we're brought back inside and hope they give us water.
As this ran through my head, I heard the door open.
Done already?
No. No we were not. Instead I saw what was the green haired specimen that Dr. Zira had been so fond to talk of. And taller didn't describe it.
She was about 7 feet, by guesstimate. Capable of towering over any of us in the enclosure. The woman's appearance was not one that spends her time at the mall or one who frequently visits the spa. No, she was ripped, not from any man made gym. Only from nature, survival. Her skin was tanned with the sun and scars across her arms and face. Possibly more, but the rest was hidden by her clothes. Speaking of clothes, it looked like some sort of animal skin that was weaved like a cover over her like armor, but held a skirt. It looked like the sleeves had been torn and other pieces on the outfit to shreds.
She was in a scrap of some kind…
The face proved my theory, she wasn't all there and looked to not even realize that she had been captured.
I noticed this, but the rest of the humans with us had not. Instead they were curious about the newcomer, as she was different. But you know what they say about the cat, this wasn't going to end well. If the apes had done a little more research, they would have noticed this situation.
Not like I could scream "Help!" Then I really would need help! All I could do was play ignorant and avoid whatever fight was going to happen.
And the spark to start it was none other than one of my followers. The young man walked over to the woman and started to poke at her, seeing if she was there.
She didn't stir too much. It was then when I realized something.
Hey, they must have drugged her! So maybe a fight won't break out!
I was soon proven wrong when he poked one to many pokes and soon his hand was grabbed and the man started screaming in agony! She had broken it!
She let go of his hand only to pick him up and throw him right into his two buddies that ran to help him.
This show of dominance frightened all the humans in the cage and made almost all of the gorillas watching laugh at the display.
"Look at that! I bet that it kills a few of them!"
"I'll take you up on that!"
"Me too!"
As for me, the moment he broke the man's hand I ran from my spot. After she threw the man, I went behind her and swept her legs with the hardest kick I could muster. It brought her down to my level and I went for a neck grab. This was a mistake as she grabbed my arm and tossed me over.
Taking advantage of this she got back up and tried to bring a foot down on me. Reacting quickly, I rolled to the side and avoided the blow and broke free of her. The momentum made me keep my distance from the cave woman. She made no break for rest as she made her move.
As this was happening, I could hear the yelling of the other humans as they surrounded us. None of them dared approach any more than they had. Letting what was happening play out.
Her arms were out stretched aiming for my neck as she jumped towards me. I rolled to the right to avoid it. This worked, but at the cost of exerting my legs and back. And the results were short lived. The crazy woman turned and started right for me again.
Dred filled my mind. It knew that if this fight continued to play out, I would get caught by her and have no real strength to fight. Instead, I would need to go for the 'kill'.
Instead of letting her grab my neck I ducked down for a good kick to her stomach.
A gasp escaped her mouth, and I went for another kick, only I ran and jumped this time for more kinetic energy behind me. This one landed also.
Each kick brought out more roars from the humans and boo's from the gorillas watching.
Speaking of gorillas, I couldn't spot Malek anymore.
Sure could use his help!
The woman was breathing harder now, the energy she had before was starting to fade. More tired. But she leaned down to the ground to try to pounce on me like a leopard.
Before she could, a whistle in the air was heard. The woman flinched, touching her neck to pull out a dart.
Tranquilizer!
I rushed back further to the edge of the fighting area. Another was fired, still the woman stood, and another. She walked forward, pointing at me as she fell down. Soon asleep.
Now I was praying that I wasn't next, until I saw who the shooter was.
Malek!
He had an odd looking wooden long rifle aimed at the girl and started to shout orders, "Alright! Party is over! Somebody get them out of there! And restrain the green one while I get Doctor Zira out here for that injured one!"
Wow, he's taking to his new role pretty quick!
The boy spared me a glance and nodded my direction, I did the same in many thanks.
Not long after this, we were herded back inside the building.
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"Ebar! Get the operation room ready! I need to set the bone back in his hands!"
"Doctor, it's not worth wasting supplies-."
"Do it!"
The gorilla gave a grunt and went to do just that. Meanwhile, this happened while I was back in my cage. Forced to watch, and not say a word.
Malek busted through the door and still held the tranq gun in his hand. He rushed up to the pair preparing the equipment for the surgery.
"Ok! What was all that about! Why did that human go ballistic!"
The doctor tried to calm the boy while focusing on the major issue at hand.
"I don't know, but I intend to find out after this! Ebar, you gave her the shot marked green right?! The sedative?!"
The gorilla nodded hastily, "Yes, Doctor! I gave her the green one!"
"Then we'll take a look after the surgery!"
She looked down at the crying human and gave him a shot. After a few whimpers, the boy settled down and closed his eyes.
The doctor kept her eyes on the sleeping human and sighed in defeat.
"Just as I suspected."
Malek asked, concerned, "What that?"
The doctor seemed to cry a little at the sight of the man.
"I just used the red one on him, it was supposed to be an adrenaline shot. But look at him."
The logic I figured was that the shots were mixed up, and the doctor blamed herself.
Don't do that, it's not your fault! I'm sure…
Honestly, I didn't really know if that was true. But it felt like it.
No matter what I felt, she wiped away tears from her face and looked at Ebar.
"Get him to the room."
Ebar gave a "Yes, Doctor." And pushed him to the O.R.
"And I'll get Zeb. I'll need a spare set of hands for this. Want to tag along Malek?"
Malek then followed after the doctor willingly.
"Yeah. And on the way, you can tell me more about other procedures here. I'll need to make sure that Red doesn't get killed by the off chance something goes wrong."
"After that, I don't blame you."
With that, they were out the door. And Ebar returned. He was rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well so much for that idea."
What idea?
He walked over to the front of my cage.
"You. You had to go up and stand up for that other human. What did you get out of it anyway? Your kind always betrays each other for scraps. And yet the Doctor wants to waste good food on all your lot. Better to just kill you all and be done with it."
Wow, he must be great at parties…
"And now we still have the same number of mouths to feed!"
I flinched back at his yelling.
Woah, chill out!
"I guess I'll have to try something more than switching the shots up."
….
As the words exited his mouth, I stared at the ape, harder than I ever had before. Emotions bubbling that I couldn't let free, chained. Not if I wanted to have a hope of returning home. Anger still resided over my facial expressions. It was all I could do.
"...Stop looking at me like that!"
I didn't, not after he made the doc cry for something she didn't do.
"Stop pretending you know what I'm talking about!"
The humans in the room started howling at the ape as he whacked the cage I was in.
"I don't care how precious you are to that wannabe soldier. I'll kill you if you keep looking at me!"
In my best judgment, I ignored his demand.
Before Ebar struck the cage again, the doors opened. Walking into the room was the assistant from the night before and the pair that fetched him.
"Ebar, we'll need you to assist with light while we work."
An unheard huff escaped the said gorilla's mouth as he moved away from the cage.
"Yes, doctor."
All three of the apes then entered the operating room, leaving Malek alone to talk with.
"Boy, what a hassle. I guess even doctors make mistakes."
"They do, but she didn't."
"Heh?"
I moved my head outside the cage to whisper closer.
"Listen, watch out for Ebar. He switched the shots on the doctor."
Shock came across his face.
"What?! How do you know?!"
"The ape confessed it to me."
"Why would he-?! Oh."
"Yeah, because I'm a dumb animal."
Malek looked at the direction the ape had gone.
"Well let me go and have a talk with him."
I quickly grab his arm whilst behind the cage.
"No."
"No? But that ape is in there with them now! I just have to tell them that-... Uhhhh."
My hand let go as he began to realize the problem.
"Yeah, no proof we're willing to share. Either we find something that points to him, or we beat him at his own game."
"And how do we beat him at his own game?"
"I don't know."
The boy rolled his eyes and walked over to the table with the medical equipment and leaned on it. I went on with my analysis.
"Those are the two options. Maybe some investigations into the shots themselves might reveal something. DNA, fingerprints around the labels, or-."
"Hair."
"Yeah hair, or-."
"No, I mean hair!"
He rushed from the table with the red labeled empty shot and brought it up to eye level.
"Look at the hair under the label? Whoever switched this left this strand behind."
I looked at the hair, but visually it wouldn't tell a chimp from a gorilla.
"Ok, that's a start, but how do you lead into it?"
"Huh?"
"You can't just say, 'Hey! I think you're innocent! Let's check this hair real quick! You need more than one piece of evidence. Too bad you don't have cameras."
"We have cameras."
"Video cameras?"
"..."
"I'll take that as a no."
"No."
With only one piece, this won't make it far. What else do we need…
"So the next thing would be a motive."
"Ok, did he tell you why?"
"Yeah, doesn't like humans and likes making fewer mouths to feed."
"Ok, so how do I bring it up then?"
I looked around the room for anything, but all I saw were some terrified humans from Ebar's outburst…. Terrified humans…
"I got it! Just say that you didn't like how the humans reacted to him. That it made you suspicious about what really happened."
"Ok, but how would the humans…"
The ape went silent as realization came across his face
"Figured it out yet?"
"Yeah, sorry it's just… hard to see you as human."
"Crazy how that works, huh? I'll take it as a compliment. Now wait till after the surgery. It's a bad idea to bring up foul play in an operating room."
Horrors happen for no less.
"And let's practice, we might come up with something else with it."
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It was an hour before they were done. And the doctor looked exhausted. She, along with the assistant, walked out with the human on the mobile cott. The boy and a cast on his hand, and was still out like a light.
"Thank you for coming in on short notice, Zeb."
"It was my pleasure, it was the experience I was waiting for."
The doctor flinched at that remark.
"I'm glad you got it. Now let's get this one back inside."
They led the cart to the cage where I was in, Ebar was in tow right behind them. Malek stood outside to open the door at the right time.
"I'll get that for you."
"Thank you, lad."
Zeb thanked the gorilla he hadn't met before. The "Lad" rolled his eyes.
Ebar went to help Zeb bring the boy inside, and I did my part of the plan.
As soon as the gorilla entered the cage, I made low grunting noises at the feeder. Soon copied by the other two humans with me. I walked up close behind him and started him the best I could.
"Keep back! You!"
Zira went for my defense,
"Oh he's harmless!"
"You didn't see him fight. Kicking around like he was."
"Hmm."
Malek jumped in the conversation in his own way.
And Ebar didn't like his tone.
"What?"
"It's funny you mentioned that fight. And Isn't it interesting I told you just this morning that I didn't want him pitted against the bigger humans? And that's just what happened."
The gorilla then cage in a hurry and soon towered over the boy.
"And what are you implying?!"
Instead of caving to the pressure of the older ape's gaze, he kept at it.
"Oh nothing not at all, just that I happened to mention a fight to you and it happened? That's a pretty big coincidence?"
The worker tried playing it off, "Look, that stuff happens all the time. And it was an accident, the doctor said so herself."
He looked to the doctor who looked down in shame, "Yes."
"So you're seeing something that isn't there. Now go off and do whatever. The adults are busy here!"
The boy held up his hands, "Alright, my mistake."
He started to walk off as if he had other duties to attend to.
One
"Good riddance."
Two
"That boy, he's been-."
Three
"Oh and by the way, I thought you would want to know that the labels got switched."
This stopped the ape in his tracks, a glare that I had seen showed upon his face.
"What's that, boy?"
"Well, it got me thinking. Why would the doctor put the wrong medicine in something so blatantly obvious for even a caretaker? So I checked the shot left on the table. At first I found hairs, but that was really nothing to go by. But then I realized that the label had to have been removed at some point for the hairs to get there."
The anger grew across his face as he turned to the two medical professionals, "You see this doctor! They send this runt to mock your research, and to get more control over it I bet! He planted those hairs there!"
The doctor looked between the two of them and didn't know what to think.
But Malek had the solution to the equation, "Fair enough, I could have done it to this one. It was out here and I was alone with the evidence here."
"See!"
My friend raised one finger, "But I hadn't touched the green one."
The room was silent, and still. Ebar looked between Malek and the Doctor. realization across his face at his blatant mistake. Their silence that followed was only broken by Zira.
"Ebar, let me see the shot…"
"Doctor-."
"NOW!"
Ape sounds that were clearly for distress left the animal keeper's mouth. He reached into his pocket and handed it to the doctor with his head down low. As soon as it was passed, he took two places back. These actions were liken to a kid caught with his hands in the cookie jar.
Zira looked at the shot and peeled the label back to easy, and sure enough, hairs were found underneath.
"Ebar."
"Doctor..."
She took a seat in a nearby chair, holding back a flood of emotions while looking at the ground.
"I want you back in here tomorrow if you want to keep your job, you'll write a report on what you did and it will be brought before the committee."
"Please, Doctor!"
"Leave."
Tears were falling from the chimp, her hands rubbed together all nervous.
Zeb decided to take charge, after looking at the disturbed zoologist, "Go on out of here! That is if you still want to keep your job!"
The gorilla stormed out of there and before the criminal left, he spared a glance at Malek. And longer at me.
Deep down I knew the two of us were on the top of his hit list. And he could strike at any time.
Zeb bent down to the doctor's level.
"Doctor, go ahead and take the rest of the day off. I can conduct the treatments the rest of the day. Go be with Cornelius."
The Doctor did her best to wipe away her tears, "Thank you for the offer Zeb, alright. I'll stay a little longer and tidy a few things up."
I felt all kinds of guilt from what we did, seeing how broken up she was made me wonder if our strategy could have toned it down. Though deep down I knew it had to be this way. Malek looked equally disappointed. He voiced his concern.
"Doctor, I'm sorry about, well, all of that. But it had to be that way to get the truth. Like I told you, my job is protecting that human. And if a threat, even a little one like that is left unchecked, then he suffers for it."
The leaking tears stopped for a moment along with surprise on her face, "Suffer? You care about how humans feel?! I… I never expected that from a gorilla."
Robert shuffled a little, "We'll, maybe not all humans. But at least this one."
She chuckled a little and looked my way with a small smile, "I won't ask why, just that that's a first. Now I'm more interested to find out about him."
"Well, that's why we need your help. But we can talk another time about it. Is there any list of procedures I should go over before you head out?"
She pointed towards the direction that the other chimp went.
"Yes, there's one in my office on my desk if you want to take a look. The door's unlocked."
"Alright."
Now it was just me and the other two humans behind the cage that was unlocked, and the Doctor as she turned to look at us.
"Bet you're hungry, let me get you something."
She went to a container and gathered a few pieces of something. She entered the cage and went to the other humans first and handed them each a small white cube.
Sugar cubes?
"You've more than earned them after that 'scary' incident. I suppose she won't be ready for a long while. I-I was hoping that…"
Her emotions got the better of her again and the tears came out.
She was a Doctor through and through. And this still felt all lepted upon her, as if it was her fault.
Despite my chains, both physical or psychological. I only could do with what I had. While her attention was turned to the two humans, I crept up behind and gave a gentle hug over her shoulders.
Her crying continued until a sniffle escaped as she slowly turned around to see who was hugging her.
"Red!"
She was shocked at first, but soon returned it in kind to me. She held on for a couple of minutes before Malek returned with the papers.
"Alright, Doctor. I-."
He paused to see what the doctor was doing. I turned my head and gave him a wink, and he gave me a heavy eye roll.
The Doctor let go slowly and regained her composure.
"Sorry Malek, I just… Where did you get this one again?!"
He leaned on a railing, and answered with some pride in his voice, "The forbidden zone, at least a couple of days in. We believe he is the key to finding a new food supply. Right now we're gathering a team to use him."
The Doctor moved closer to the bars that divided them, "And who is on this team."
Malek's confidence came to a halt flin having to admit the truth.
"Two, me and my uncle. But I sure know we'll get more. And for sure we need a doctor badly on our side. Would you?"
"Yes! This is an opportunity I've been waiting for. A reason to go back to the forbidden zone!"
"Great!... Wait, you've been there too?"
"Oh yes, with my husband. We went to a coastline to study fossils and artifacts. Unfortunately, none of us were allowed to bring them due to such things causing controversy. And still we're not allowed to bring it up to the public."
Huh, guess they got that kind of stuff here too. Secrets… And I wanna know.
"But if you'll have me, I'd be glad to assist in any way I can! I can even help you when you go out there!"
Malek's voice grew worrisome, "N-now hold on, I'll need to bring this up with my uncle. He makes the final call."
"Well, I'll get a hold of him tomorrow then."
Malek scratched his head, "Well, he's pretty busy during the day-."
"No, I demand to meet with him."
Malek gave into her demands, "Alright, I'll get him tomorrow."
"That won't be necessary."
The air became still for me. The kid's uncle appeared out of nowhere, and all of us jumped. For great benefit the doctor had her back turned from me and didn't notice. Derek gave me a glare, telling me to watch myself.
"Uncle!"
"Malek, good to see you're doing well. I heard there was a situation at the cage today."
"Yes, and might I say your nephew handled it splendidly. No permanent damages."
I inwardly chuckled at her statement.
She's really trying to butter him up.
"Yes, on that note. Good job handling it, soldier."
The nephew gave his salute with a blank expression.
"Thank you, sir."
"As for you doctor, what is it you wanted to discuss?"
"This team you're making, I want to be a part of it."
The gorilla said nothing at first as he began to size her up by walking around her. After a little bit of time he asked, "Do you think you could defend yourself out there?"
She chuckled, "There's hardly any real threat out there now."
A nod came from her response, but he lowered his voice, "Can you keep a secret?"
Zira mimicked that level of quiet.
"Of course."
"Well this will be a test… The Ravagers have returned."
As soon as the words left, she started to chuckle, "Oh, sir! You're joking!"
Drek just watched, and waited for her to finish. After she was done, he gestured to his missing arm. It was in his silence that the doctor realized it and terror came across her face.
"You're not!"
"That's right, the stuff we were told about as children are real… They destroyed our entire patrol, Leaving only my nephew and I to tell the tale. Cost me my arm too. And all we got out of it was this human."
She was frightened. It was the equivalent of learning that the boogeyman was real and in numbers. And seeing the monsters first hand, I don't blame her.
"So can you see why we want to make something of value from those lost? If we can get anything out of this, it will be through him."
The doctor was silent. Then after what looked like some personal reflection, she gave her answer.
"Alright, I'll keep quiet about this. Even with those monsters out there, I want to find the truth out there."
A large grin smeared across the High ranking Ape.
"Good! You got the spirit for it. Now was there anything else?"
"No."
"Then after a week, we'll fill you in more on what we know."
The doctor nodded and started for the exit.
"Alright then, I better head out."
As she left us alone, I sighed, "Well, I hope I can last a week before she finds out. And Malek, good job."
"Thanks, Robert. But don't you think you were running it close with the doctor pulling that stunt?"
"What? Come on, it's not that unusual to comfort someone in tears. Even animals do it."
The General's brother wagged his head, "Dare I ask what happened while I was gone?"
I clear my throat, "Well it's like this…"
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The General's was up to date with the situation, and had concerns about Ebar.
"Hmm, I don't think that was punishment enough. But the doctor has control in this case… Still keep an eye on him from now on. Another note, congratulations are in order on your new position Malek."
The said ape did a quick bow, "Thank you Uncle, I just wish I earned it for real though."
"Nonsense, Malek! You've shown today that you did by pulling through for Robert here!"
"Still, I didn't get this for anything I did."
My hand outreached his shoulder and nudged him a little.
"Your uncle is right. And if you don't feel like you earned it, then earn it."
"Y-yeah! I'll do that! Next chance I get I'll prove that."
A cough escaped his relative's mouth, "Well, you'll get your chance tomorrow."
"What?"
"Tomorrow is a hunt, and you've been invited to attend."
"..."
"..."
"... Can I refuse?"
"Not if you want to prove yourself."
Poor Malek…
"But… Can I hunt humans… knowing what I know now?"
"That's up to you. Besides, not everyone kills one. Do what you think is best."
These words calmed him, if only a little.
"So rest well, you'll be leaving early."
"Right."
"We'll meet up again tomorrow. As for me, I'm going to be doing some research into your case Robert. Something we missed in scripture. It is our history and I want the truth."
Secrets are hidden for a reason. I just hope it's not life threatening.
"Alright, but don't get caught doing whatever it is."
One arm gave a nod and walked off.
"Welp. Guess it's back to sleeping."
"Yeah, live it up. Ebar might keep his job and he'll be watching you tomorrow."
… Rip.
I was now left to my own devices as I looked at my two other bunk mates who were asleep and soon joined them.
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A click was the next thing I realized. Currently awake, my eyes were on the wall and I felt feet creeping up behind me. I didn't dare make a move. Soon I felt a rag get plopped into my mouth and another over that one. I struggled against my abductor to see the face on the ape who was shunned earlier that day.
Ebar!
"Heh, now it's time for some payback! And show that boy who's better!"
A foreign voice drifted in as I continued my struggle.
"Hey, Ebar, not so loud. We don't want to alert anyone nearby. And remember, you promised me a way into the army when you get in."
"Yeah yeah, let's make this fun now. I wanna see who would have won from this morning's fight!"
What?... Oh, no!
They lifted me up and dragged me by my feet as I tried my best to yell for help. Futile with the rags over my mouth, and it would blow my cover. And that last fact would matter little if I was dead.
They stopped at a metal door, and Ebar grabbed the keys to the side and unlocked what I assumed was the solitary confinement that Green was held in. Though what I saw was a very dark room, too ominous.
"Here you go! Unfortunately I won't see the results until tomorrow. Goodbye, pet!"
I was hurled into the chamber, and the door shut tight behind me with a click.
First thing I did was rush to remove the rags around my face and quickly sat up to bang on the door. I did this a couple of times. No avail.
Survival instincts took president now. I tried my hardest to let my eyes adjust to the dark. Very little light was shown through the barred window that made itself visible by starlight. But what I did notice was hay near the far end of the room. And out of that space a tall figure arose. It walked forward to the small light in the room. This was enough to prove my fears true. The green haired super human.
I took my best stance as she charged but she punched me hard on my stomach. The monster tried to pull for another only to find that I had grabbed a hold of her arm. Grinning through the pain and only one thing on my mind.
If I'm going down, I'm at least going to make her work for it!
I thought this in spite of my cage…
End Chapter