Burke paused for a moment, consciously stopping himself from kicking in the door to the guest room. If he was really unlucky, other apes besides Zana and her pitbull were having a late breakfast in there, and would call the cops on him if he made a scene. So he just clenched his jaw and yanked the door open.
Their apes were the only two guests. As Burke marched towards their table, he noticed that Zana hadn't touched the food on her plate at all. She was staring out of the window, while Galen was cutting a banana into slices.
"Zana hates bananas," Burke said by way of greeting, and flopped into a vacant chair without waiting for the apes' permission. Neither Galen nor Zana reacted to his presence, but Burke had had too many girlfriends back home to be fazed by the silent treatment.
"But it's news that you also hate me an' Al," he continued, leaning in to Zana. "You're kicking us to the curb? You can't be serious!"
Zana slowly turned her head towards him. He expected her to say something, but she just blinked slowly, as if she hadn't really listened to anything he had just said, as if she was coming back from some gray daydream.
Instead, it was Galen who answered. "Sometimes, we need to eat things we don't like," he said, sliding the plate over to her. "And sometimes, we need to put distance between ourselves and... harmful influences, even if we have developed a fondness for them."
Burke chewed on the inside of his lip for a moment, to keep himself from saying something he'd regret later. "Harmful influences? You make it sound as if Zana needs to lay off the liquor."
"Whatever can be said about alcohol," Galen snapped, "at least it doesn't have a conscious will to destroy itself and anyone it comes into contact with!"
"Now hold on a moment!" Burke growled. "We don't have a, a conscious will to destroy you, or anyone here! That's just bullshit from your scrolls!"
"The scrolls say nothing about the monsters that your ancestors created!" Galen hissed. He thumped his fist on the table. "All those human cities weren't destroyed by apes! They were destroyed by man! Just like man created the deserts to the west, that huge wasteland that can't be crossed, let alone cultivated! Just like you intend to destroy this world again, with your insistence on returning to your own time!"
Burke rubbed his face, exasperated. "We don't plan to destroy anything, Galen, Al just wants to go home to his family..."
"He'll tell your Elders what will happen in their future, so that they can prevent it!" Galen snapped. "We'll be erased, we'll never exist!"
Burke's jaw dropped open as he stared into Galen's blazing eyes. It wouldn't be so bad for the poor bastards that you call animals, he thought, but he was careful not to let that thought show on his face. "C'mon, Galen," he said slowly, "you know as well as I that there's no chance in hell we'll ever get back to our own time. This world of yours just isn't up to sending us back, you've lost all that technological progress we had. You know it, I know it, and I bet even Al knows it - he just can't admit it to himself yet. He'll get there, eventually..."
"And how many ruined cities do we have to scour, before he'll accept it?" Galen asked sharply. "Do you really think I'd risk Zana's life... her health... a second time? It was my faulty judgment that cost the life of our baby, and destroyed our, our hopes..." He stopped, too choked to speak for a moment.
Burke flicked a glance at Zana's impassive face and swallowed hard. "Look, we..." He stopped, at a loss for words. Words simply weren't enough here.
But words were all he had, now. "You know we'd never have gone in there if we'd known about these things," he finally said. "We've been in two other zones before, and they were totally deserted. Hell, even Gres set up shop in one of our old bunkers! He thought it was safe, an' he was an ape!"
"Of course apes can make errors of judgment, too," Galen said through clenched teeth. "It was my fault to allow humans to lead, and I... we paid dearly for it. But that won't happen again."
Burke gripped the edge of the table. "Bull-shit," he said, enunciating every syllable. "You know, you're right about one thing: nobody forced you to come into the city with us. Al sure as hell didn't tell you to follow him, an' I didn't, either. But if you want to spread the blame, let's divvy it up: Al gets one quarter for having that idiotic idea in the first place, I get a quarter for not knocking him out and tying him to a horse, Zana gets a quarter for insisting that we need to stay together, an' you get a quarter for not putting your foot down and stopping her. How 'bout that?"
Galen stared at him, and for a moment, Burke thought he'd admit that it wasn't just Al who had brought this upon them, the human, harbinger of death.
But then Galen rocked back in his chair, and shook his head, and with a sinking feeling in his gut, Burke knew he had lost. At least they had the guns... they'd probably die soon, in a shootout with a patrol, but at least they'd go down swinging. And Urko wouldn't get his hands on him again.
"I want to keep them, Galen," Zana spoke up all of a sudden.
It was so unexpected that Burke was too surprised to bristle at her choice of words. She wanted to keep them around; he wanted to be kept around, at least until they had reached the mountains, and Urko finally was out of the picture.
"No, Zana," Galen said firmly. "I won't stand for that. After everything that happened..."
"I want things to stay the same," Zana said, and Burke thought he could detect a tinge of despair in her listless voice. "I don't think I'd have the energy to... to get used to change. Not another one."
For a moment, Galen was staring at the tablecloth before him, rubbing his thumb over the knuckles of his fist, deep in thought. Burke just sat there, perfectly still, letting him get used to the thought of giving in to his girlfriend yet again.
"If I agree to that," Galen finally said in a low voice, still staring at the spot between his plate and Zana's, "it will be under one condition." His gaze flicked up to Burke, sharp and piercing. "That from now on, my word is law. You and Alan will obey my orders, and I will not discuss my decisions with you."
Burke felt his hands clench into fists on their own accord. "Establishing the natural order, huh?" he growled. "Ape at the top, human at the bottom?"
Galen leaned slightly forward. "Well, we've tried it the other way round, and see how that worked out? You can accept my condition, or try to reach the mountains on your own. Though I must point out to you that you'd have no papers, no supplies, no money, and, most importantly, no apes pretending to be your legal wardens."
"Owners," Burke ground out. "The word you're looking for is 'owners'. And you were perfectly okay with kicking us out without all that, just a moment ago. Even though you knew it'd be our death sentence."
"If you'd asked nicely, I would've outfitted you with everything," Galen said cooly, "except owners, of course. But since you're so passionately against the concept, you can't complain about that, can you?"
"Yeah, right." Burke didn't believe for a second that Galen would've given them all those supplies. Not while he was in that mood.
"This is all beside the point now," Zana cut in tiredly. "Since you'll stay. I'll be happy for your company, Peet - I'll need a distraction." She put her hand on his fist and began to stroke it with her thumb, and Burke fought the overwhelming impression that he'd be her pet dog from now on, to be cuddled and wept into.
He drew a deep breath. "Fine. Let me bring the good news to Al, then."
"That can wait," Galen said, and threw his napkin on the table. "We need to get out of town as quickly as possible. I bought a new wagon that we need to collect. Get our horses; maybe you'll even meet Alan at the stables. But if not, you won't make any detours to go looking for him."
Burke rose with him, caught between relief to be able to withdraw his hand from Zana's caress, and fury at the imperious tone Galen was using on him. He bowed with a sardonic smile. "By your command, master," he intoned.
Galen just flicked him a cool glance. "I commend you for using the correct address by yourself," he said dryly. "I'll see to it that both of you will pay attention to appropriate behavior from now on, especially in the presence of other apes besides Zana and me." He leaned in with an insincere smile, a mockingly conspiratorial gesture. "Because from now on, I won't allow any further mistakes that could jeopardize our escape, or our lives." He nodded at him.
"And now go and do as you were told."
Virdon had been told to stay put in the tack room until Burke had hitched up the horses to their new wagon, but when he learned that Galen also wanted his friend to carry all their equipment downstairs from their rooms at the inn, he had snatched up his crutch, limped down to the horse's box, put the new harness on Tala and Apache, and had driven the wagon over to the inn himself. He knew the ape didn't want to see him, but he'd be damned if he'd let Galen burden Burke with all the work from now on. Since Zana had decided that she wanted to keep him around, her fiancé would just have to put up with having to see his face every day.
Pete had told him about Galen's decision with a mixture of fury and amusement while he brushed down the horses. Virdon had just completed the last saddlebag, and was half determined to sell them off under Galen's nose, so that they'd have at least a bit of money to buy some food.
He didn't know how to feel about the ape's new law. Until now, their group had been pretty egalitarian, with leadership shifting between him and Galen, and sometimes even to Zana or Pete. Now, it seemed that Galen was determined to establish a hierarchy that mirrored the greater power structure of this world.
Burke was already waiting at the side of the road; they hadn't been able to salvage much when they had been forced to abandon their previous wagon, but Galen had stocked up on their equipment, and bags and boxes were piled up beside Burke. His friend looked sullen; Virdon was careful not to ask for the reason.
He reined in the horses and climbed slowly down from the driver's seat. In the back of the wagon, he could hear Burke already heaving the canvas bags over the tailboard. When he finally reached the rear, Burke jumped out again, and grabbed the last bundle - the apes' bedrolls. He chucked it into the wagon.
"You can jump right after those, and put them away where they belong," Galen's sharp voice sounded from the door of the inn. Both men turned to watch him, as he slowly led Zana to the front of the wagon. The pair stopped at the passenger side; Galen turned his head and opened his mouth to call Virdon, then narrowed his eyes when he noticed that Burke hadn't moved. "Get to it, Peet," he snapped.
Virdon more felt than saw Burke stiffen, but his friend just growled, "Yes, boss," and vanished into the back.
Galen pursed his lips for a moment, but said nothing. Virdon assumed he knew that Burke would never address any ape with 'master', except to mock. This was the most he could bring himself to.
With a sigh, Virdon grabbed the bow and pulled himself up. Burke left whatever he was doing, and came to lend him a hand.
"Damn that leg," Virdon gasped, and let himself fall onto the bundle of bedrolls that still lay where Burke had thrown it. "I'm so sick and tired of it acting up."
"It'll get better over time," Burke assured him. With a jerk, the wagon began to move.
Virdon turned his head to regard the apes for a moment. "You better get Zana's bedroll out," he murmured and moved aside to hand the bundle to Burke. "She won't be sitting on the passenger seat for long, she's fresh out of surgery."
Burke took the bundle, but didn't move. He stood there, swaying a bit to balance out the wagon's movement, and stared down at him with a frown.
"What?" Virdon asked tiredly.
"You gonna call him 'master'?"
Virdon rubbed his face. "Not if I can avoid it."
"And if you can't?"
Virdon sighed. "I'll probably call him 'boss', like you do."
"What a fucked up situation," Burke murmured. He moved to the front of the wagon and began to lay out Zana's sheets. The new order positioned the apes at the front of the wagon, the humans all the way back against the tailboard. Virdon suspected that if the weather allowed it, he and Burke wouldn't be sleeping inside the wagon at all.
Burke returned with a flask of water and some dried fruits, and they shared a meager breakfast. The sun was spearing through the clouds, throwing beams of golden light at the roofs and city walls of Silan, as the town slowly retreated from their view. The roofs were low and round, utterly alien to Virdon's eyes. The dried apricot in his mouth was so sour that it made his eyes water, and suddenly he fervently wished for bacon and eggs. And coffee. He'd give his right leg for a cup of coffee right now.
"Are you still doing your katas?" he asked Burke.
Burke slightly turned his head and gave him a sideways glance. "They aren't called that, but yes, I'm still doing them," he said. "Not that they'd do me any good against an ape... Why do you wanna know?"
"I was thinking, maybe you could teach them to me," Virdon said hesitantly. "I have no ambition to become a martial arts fighter, but maybe they'd retrain my leg. I can't go on crutches for the rest of my life. Not in this world, not if I want my life to last longer than a few months."
Burke nodded. "Sure. I can do that. Good idea, Al."
They were both thinking the same thing: once they had crossed the mountains, they were out of Urko's reach. The need to stay together as a group would end then, and with the way things had developed, the apes wouldn't want them to stick around, either.
"It seems the northern apes aren't that strict when it comes to humans traveling unsupervised," Virdon remarked. He pondered the dried fig in his hand, then put it away. "Provided they have all the necessary papers with them."
"They even allow humans to carry weapons," Burke added. "Leander said something about humans being trained as bodyguards for them. That means I can keep Betsy." Galen had confiscated all the other guns Burke had captured from the apes. Virdon wondered if he had sold them - the money for the new wagon had to have come from somewhere.
"Better keep that gun out of Galen's sight," he cautioned. "I doubt he'd tolerate a weapon on either of us now."
"Betsy and I saved his hairy ass," Burke growled. "An' I'm not giving up my knife to an ape again." He was wearing his ANSA knife hidden under his shirt. Virdon assumed that Galen knew about it, but chose to ignore it, as long as Burke didn't blatantly push it into his face. As furious as the ape was with them right now, he hadn't lost his cool pragmatism.
"So what are we gonna do with our freedom up North, Al?" Burke leaned against the plank and stretched his legs. His fingers played with the cap of his water bottle. "Are you still determined to dig through every damn nuked city from coast to coast?"
Virdon smiled and watched the sky. It would rain later this morning. "Yep."
"Jeez, Al!" Burke muttered.
"I don't expect you to stay around..." Virdon began.
"C'mon, you know I can't let you get yourself killed," Burke interrupted roughly. "Gonna make sure you don't get eaten by mutants." He was silent for a moment, probably struggling for a diplomatic way to phrase his next words.
"But really, Al, that's no way to live!" he finally exploded. "What if you'll never find a way? How long do you wanna try before you finally admit that this world is just too backwards to get us home? Five years? Ten? Twenty, assuming we live that long?"
Now it was Virdon's turn to search for words. "Right now, I can't imagine I'll ever stop looking for a way home," he murmured.
Burke sighed. "So that'll be my life then," he said, frustrated. "Chasing your Fata Morgana."
Virdon glanced up to him. "You still haven't told me what kind of life you think you can have here. A life worth living, I mean."
And this time, his friend had no answer.