Morning, The Day after Geleel's breakdown
Geleel sat in his cage as he grimaced at the grate, his expression had been the same gruff one from since he woke up.
Maurice had taken note of it, and even though Geleel had told him that he was okay and nothing was wrong, the wise Orangutan had known the ape man more than he thought, something was clearly bothering him.
Geleel was taken out of his thoughts when he realized the new ape stirring awake in his cage which was right besides his own.
Right…the Landons had transferred both this ape and Rocket back to their cells while they were sedated.
After the ape had fully woken up, he then began looking at Geleel incredulously whilst raising his head up.
Geleel turned to him fully now, something about this chimpanzee was so odd…yet so familiar.
One thing was for certain though, he wasn't like the other apes, physically or neurologically.
For starters, his eyes were a gentle forest green with brown flecks scattered into them.
He rarely hooted or growled, his expression was almost…human in a way.
The ape definitely seemed smarter than the others, that was for certain, Geleel knew this simply because the chimp carried himself as if he wasn't a chimp to begin with.
While the other chimps, and even Geleel himself at times, often found themselves walking on all fours, this chimp was almost never on all fours, he always seemed to prefer walking on his hind legs.
Geleel didn't mind stretching out sometimes and walking on his hind legs, but walking on all fours had become a habit to him, he had been mimicking the other chimps in his troop since he was able to understand the world around him…
Emilia used to always find it funny how a man could walk so comfortably and fluently on all fours, she even tried to…Geleel shook his head as he tried to erase the memory of that woman…he had no idea why his memories kept being flooded with images of her.
Geleel then refocused on the chimp who was still glancing between him and the torn shirt that he was wearing before.
The ape man had decided to put this ape's assumed intelligence to the test, he seemed pretty smart, so Geleel would attempt to communicate with him through sign language.
"Are you alright?" Geleel signed to the chimp as the latter seemed almost taken back by this.
Geleel was taken back, the ape looked lost, maybe he didn't know sign language and was just an overly inquisitive chimpanzee.
"Yes I am doing better…" The ape signed back as Geleel fought the urge to let his eyes bulge in shock…it turned out his hunch was right.
"How do you know sign language?" The ape questioned this time as Geleel looked to the floor…not only was the chimp capable of signing, he was clearly fluent.
"Learned it in a human laboratory." Geleel answered after a point as the ape seemingly understood that, but he still gave the ape man a confused expression.
"What is it?" Geleel questioned him.
"You…human, why did humans put you in cage with ape?" The ape questioned as Geleel looked down at the floor again, it was still weird after all these years, even after realizing he was in fact a human being, he still felt odd when someone pointed it out.
"The same reason they put you in a cage with your…human clothes on." Geleel signed back after a pause.
The chimpanzee then looked down at his ripped shirt and the jeans he was still wearing, he didn't really know what to say to that.
They then sat in solitude for a bit before Geleel decided to continue the conversation.
"You have a name?" Geleel signed to the ape who seemingly smiled at this question a bit.
"Caesar." He signed as he formed a C with his hand and placed it to his chest as Geleel nodded in understanding.
"What do they call you?" The now dubbed Caesar questioned Geleel.
"Geleel." Geleel formed a G with both of his hands.
They were fully acquainted now, they knew who each other were by name at least.
The two young males then turned as they heard Maurice's rhythmic coos.
"Hurt bad?" Maurice signed to Caesar who looked at him with squinted eyes, expressing his confusion.
Caesar wasn't really shocked Geleel could sign, sure the human had exhibited what the chimp would classify as definite ape behavior, he was still human, so his brain capabilities were expected…but this Orangutan knowing how to sign, albeit incohesively, was a shock to him.
"You know sign?" Caesar questioned Maurice as Geleel faintly smiled, watching the Orangutan tell Caesar the same thing he was told all those years back.
Maurice often tried to bury his past as a circus Orangutan, but he wouldn't mind educating someone on his origins if they asked.
Caesar huffed out a laugh at the thought of such a large and powerful Orangutan like Maurice being forced to do circus work, the abuse wasn't funny, but the idea of him doing tricks was.
Before the conversation could continue, Caesar was confused when Maurice suddenly turned his back to them and abruptly stopped the conversation.
Both Geleel and Caesar turn as they notice John and Dodge walk up to a chimp's cage with a tranquilizer gun.
John placed the weapon through the grate as he fired a dart right at the ape as it screeched and immediately fell to the ground.
Dodge then began opening the cage to take the ape out.
"I want you working late tonight, Gen-Sys wants 3 more of them." John explained to his son.
Geleel noticed Caesar's confusion as he sighed thinking of a way to explain it.
"The humans take apes who seem smart for scientists to run tests on them." Geleel explained to Caesar, he had come to this revelation with the help of she who shall not be named a few years ago when he had the same question Caesar had.
Caesar was still confused on this subject though, a zoo that kept one singular human caged…but brought apes out of the cages to be experimented on?
Ofcourse Caesar knew all about human experimentation on Chimpanzees, his human father had explained that due to his history as a scientist…
Caesar looked down in disappointment…he didn't approve of this poor treatment of apes but…he couldn't worry about that right now, he only had one goal in mind.
"I have to get home." Caesar signed to Geleel who arched a brow at him, once you were locked in one of these cells it was practically the end, there is no home after that.
Geleel then realized something as he once again took note of Caesar's clothes and happy demeanor, a question arose.
"How did you even get sent here Caesar?" Geleel questioned the chimp who visibly tensed at this question…it must've been a sensitive topic.
"I…I was just trying to defend my grandfather, another human was attacking him." Caesar exclaimed as Geleel began putting the pieces together…it all made sense now, this ape was raised by humans.
"I attacked the human and saved my grandfather, but I ended up biting the human's finger off in anger…and they sent me here." Caesar finished the story as Geleel looked at him solemnly, though he wasn't too fond of the fact the ape was raised by human beings, he understood why the chimp felt sorrow.
If the humans truly raised him and treated him as one of their own, who was Geleel to judge? At least they accepted him and didn't abuse or murder him.
Geleel himself was raised by a troop of chimps…and no matter how much he hated this fact, he was a human, he was lucky to not have been slaughtered before even fully realizing he was a being.
"I…am sorry." Geleel apologized to Caesar as the latter fought tears back.
"It is okay…I will get home back to my family eventually, all of this suffering will stop soon." Caesar signed as Geleel let out a deep sigh at that.
The chimpanzee then wrapped his shirt up and placed it under his head, it looked like he was going to succumb to another slumber soon.
'Get back home huh? What a thought…' Geleel mentally trailed off as he rested his head against his wall.
Despite himself, he soon began falling asleep on the wall…until he was eventually out cold.
A few hours later Geleel was woken out of his sleep when he heard a cage click open.
He fully opened his eyes to see Caesar climbing out of his cage from the top.
Geleel then took note of the fact Dodge was the one to do this, but why? It was nowhere near playtime and Geleel knew that.
This didn't seem like a trick judging from the frown on Dodge's face…it was happening, Caesar was actually going to be free?
Geleel couldn't help but smile a little, he had doubted the young chimpanzees proclamation of soon being freed, but seeing him actually get his emancipation was a nice feeling.
Unfortunately, the other apes and himself, would not be sharing that same joyous faith, not in this lifetime at least.
'Goodbye Caesar…' Geleel mentally trailed off as he treasured the small interaction he had with the ape, even though it was very short lived, it was warming.
After a few moments had passed, Geleel thought it was best to get a few more winks of sleep before playtime, but he was interrupted from doing so when he heard loud hooting, these hoots weren't akin to any of the other apes in this zoo, Geleel knew that for sure, they sounded angry yet…hurt-filled at the same time.
He then eventually heard heavy footsteps approaching from above.
He arched a brow as he quickly noticed Caesar drop down into his cage with an irate expression on his face; he hadn't seen this chimp genuinely upset ever since he got here…here, what was he doing here? He was supposed to be on his way home with his human family right now.
Whilst Caesar breathed raggedly from stress and anger Geleel watched as Dodge smirked and locked the cage again before walking off.
Geleel couldn't even worry about Dodge right now as he watched Caesar grow more and more upset, what the hell did the humans do to him? What happened out there?
The chimpanzee then roughly gathered up his ripped shirt and made his way over to his wall.
He then angrily huffed and growled as he wiped the symbol off of his wall rigorously, that was his symbol of hope, a hope to one day be home…but that symbol was false to him right now, a hopeless reality.
Geleel watched in somberness as Caesar had tired himself out with anger.
The chimp laid his head against the wall as tears streamed down his face; this was all feeling like Deja Vu to Geleel right now.
He felt bad for Caesar and he desperately wanted to know what had happened, but before he could question, the buzzer rang…it was time to go to the playroom.
The Playroom
Geleel and Maurice sat side by side as the Orangutan easily saw how upset Geleel was through expression alone.
Maurice had a feeling as to why the ape man was upset, he saw what happened with Caesar earlier too.
They both then saw Caesar run out into the playroom and make his way up the tree in the middle of the Playroom.
He was seemingly deep in thought, like something was running through his mind on repeat.
Geleel stood up as he had decided to go communicate with the chimp, but he swiftly turned to Maurice so as not to disrespect the wise Orangutan that had grown to be his greatest friend.
Maurice nodded to Geleel to let the latter know it was okay for him to go.
Geleel smiled at Maurice before swiftly making his way over to the tree.
Caesar was seated at the top as he quickly took note of how swiftly Geleel was climbing the tree; he'd never known of a human that could climb trees that quick.
It was like a parallel mirror for the two, Geleel had never seen an ape as smart as Caesar, even in his troop that was arguably more coordinated than this zoo full of ape prisoners.
On the other hand, Caesar had never seen a human so comfortable around apes, walking like one, communicating with them, climbing like them, even displaying strength as great as any chimpanzee in the playroom, it was uncanny.
Unfortunately there was no time to think of that as Geleel had made his way to the top besides Caesar, all the while passing different chimps who were on the lower branches of the tree.
"What happened with your family?" Geleel immediately signed to Caesar, getting to the point.
This had seemingly caught the chimp off guard, but instead of being sad about it like before…he seemed to have a new fire burning inside him…a look of determination marred his features.
"They said they would come for me…and they couldn't take me home because I…I am ape, I can't be accepted in a human society, at least not right now." Caesar signed to Geleel who was taken back by this, something was eerily different about this chimpanzee now…he was not the same clueless ape he was literally this morning.
Although Geleel was a bit glad that Caesar was no longer naive and clueless…a part of him was sad that the optimism Caesar had for going home was gone now.
Geleel once had dreams of eventually going home…but those dreams were crushed years ago now, he had accepted his faith, he was going to spend the rest of his life stuck in a cage or eventually sent back to Gen-Sys.
Caesar's hope filled nature was a breath of fresh air for the ape man, but…that hope was gone now.
"You have lost hope of getting home now?" Geleel then signed to Caesar who grimaced and looked down at his arms.
He was seemingly perplexed, the answer to that question was escaping him a bit…but he eventually made up his mind.
"No…I will still get home, and…I want you to help me." Caesar signed as Geleel was taken back by this…what was this chimpanzee talking about, there was no way out of this shelter.
"How? Escaping this shelter would be very difficult, virtually impossible." Geleel explained to Caesar who sighed.
"Cages are not right for ape…this isn't ape home, I want…I want to take apes, all of you…home." Caesar signed as he gestured outside of the glass dome that was above them.
Geleel was taken back once more, Caesar wasn't being selfish, he wasn't only thinking about getting himself home…he wanted to free every ape.
Free…it was his favorite word when Emilia taught it to him…not under the control or in the power of another; able to act or be done as one wishes…what it truly meant to be free.
He looked outside the dome again…the thought of being free had given him a bit of a spark…he had made up his mind.
"If it means freedom, I will help you." Geleel relented as Caesar smiled at that, they then took each other's hands in a sign of unity.
"Thank you." Caesar signed as their hands separated.
"You have a plan?" Geleel questioned Caesar.
"Not a strong one yet, but I need every ape to follow me if we are to be free." Caesar explained as Geleel nodded in understanding.
Caesar needed to become the leader but…straight up fighting Rocket for leadership wouldn't exactly help their cause here; they wanted to spread unity to the other apes, fighting for dominance was only going to lead to more division.
They both then heard a loud roar from below which obviously belonged to Buck, a chimp had walked too close to his cage.
Caesar and Geleel both stared at his cage in thought, the former was formulating a plan that revolved around liberating Buck now.
The buzzer sounded before they could discuss this any further…the idea of being free still felt like a fantasy to Geleel but…it was worth a shot at least, Caesar just had this air about him that seemed trustworthy.
Later
Geleel slept soundly in his cage as it was pretty early in the night, sure he was tired but, he mainly did this because Dodge had set the tarp up to block his cage off from anyone's vision.
The ape man knew this meant that humans were coming into the shelter, and if he was seen, the Landons and Gen-Sys would be finished.
Caesar on the other hand, being an actual chimpanzee, had no tarp over his cage, and could easily see that Dodge was bringing other humans his age into the shelter.
Another male, and two females, they were seemingly on some sort of hangout.
"Wow! There's hundreds of them!" One of the females shouted.
"This is like your own private zoo!" She added in.
"More like a prison for hairy dudes." The other male said with a snigger.
"They watch TV?" The other female questioned as she took note of the TV hanging from the middle of the room.
"We call it enrichment." Dodge joked as he led them through the zoo.
"Aww, this one's so cute!" The first female shouted as she stopped in front of Cornelia's cage, the female chimp was sleeping.
"What's his name?" She then questioned Dodge, who walked over slyly.
"Uh, name's Cornelia, it's a she." Dodge corrected the girl as she smiled at him.
"Ooo! Why is there a tarp on this one?" She then questioned as she reached her hand out to move the tarp from Geleel's cage.
"No! No…you can't uh, see that one." Dodge said frantically as he held her hand away from the tarp, she eyed him suspiciously.
Suddenly the other female shrieking in terror drew both of their attention, effectively saving Dodge from an array of questions.
They quickly noticed both of the others were standing in front of Maurice's cage.
The old Orangutan didn't feel like being bothered so he turned away from them.
"Oh my God…" The girl said after regaining her barings.
"Don't get too close!" Dodge warned her.
"This one scared me half to death." She said through ragged breaths.
"That big guy's called Maurice." Dodge informed her of his name.
"Hmph! He's no fun." The girl said in an unimpressed tone as Dodge arched a brow at her, challenge accepted.
"Here, I'll show you something fun." Dodge said with a smirk as he brandished an electric stun baton.
He then turned the baton on as he shocked the cages which resulted in a giant electric spark that effectively riled up every ape that was awake as they began screeching and beating against their cages angrily.
Dodge laughed evilly as the girls gave him a disgusted look…they weren't really feeling this, the only one that found it cool ofcourse, was the other male.
"You uh…you shouldn't be in here!" Rodney shouted as he opened the door behind them and tried to assert himself.
"Hey! You're next!" Dodge threatened Rodney as the latter immediately shrunk back in fear.
Dodge chuckled to himself as he turned and began sharing a laugh with the other guy.
He then noticed the girls weren't sharing their amusement as his face swiftly morphed into a frown.
"Come on, let's go, spend too much time here as it is." Dodge said with a scowl as he turned and began walking to the door; the ladies followed.
The other male had decided that he didn't have enough fun yet, so he decided to walk up to Caesar's cage with a beer in hand.
Caesar was hiding under the bench that was in his cage for some reason.
"Woah…check out this guy." The man said as he waved the beer bottle around all the while Caesar was motioning for him to come closer.
"Yea that one's a pain in the ass, thinks he's special or something." Dodge said in an exasperated tone.
"Freaky…hey, come here." The male kept coaxing Caesar over with the beer bottle.
Caesar then walked over slowly on all fours, trying to feign cluelessness with the use of a dopey smile.
Then as soon as the male turned away Caesar stood up on his hind legs with a glare piercing through the man's skull.
"It's like he's thinking or somethin-ack!" The man exclaimed as his face was swiftly slammed against the cage.
Caesar had grabbed him roughly by the collar and held him there.
"He's got his throat!" One of the girls yelled as Caesar watched the man struggle to get out of his grip, the chimp's green eyes still locked firmly on his squirming body.
"Let go!" Dodge shouted as he forced Caesar to let go by prodding at the chimp's arm with the baton.
The man that Caesar had grabbed swiftly backed away, inadvertently placing his back onto Rocket's cage as the latter immediately slammed against the cage to let him know to back off.
"You okay?" One of the girls questioned the man as Dodge and Caesar continued their stare down.
Caesar was planning to back down until Dodge led his friends away.
Dodge eventually cracked before Caesar anyways as he chuckled.
"Told you not to get too close, man." Dodge joked with his friend as he turned away from Caesar who was still glaring at him.
"Come on guys, let's get out of here." The girls coaxed them as they walked up the stairs and out of the doors, the other male followed.
Dodge took one last look at Caesar's stoic expression before finally deciding to take his leave.
When Caesar was sure they were gone he swiftly went back over to his bench and kneeled down.
He swiftly brandished a pocket knife that he pickpocketed from the guy…
The chimpanzee then looked over at some sticks that were scattered in his cage…this was going to be his makeshift key.
Later on that night
Geleel slept soundly in his cage, the rain and thunder outside helped with that as it made him extra comfortable.
However, as soon as he heard the click of a cage opening, his eyes all but shot open.
He swiftly got open as he immediately looked up to notice the top grade had slid back…and of course there was Caesar smiling at him.
Caesar noticed Geleel's confused expression as he showed him the makeshift key he had created…so that's how he opened the cages.
The chimpanzee then motioned for Geleel to follow him as the ape man climbed out of his cage and they began walking down the hallway at the top of the ape cells.
They both watched as Maurice eyed them in curiosity, he wasn't sure how they escaped, but he was interested in what they were doing.
Geleel nodded at Maurice reassuringly before he walked towards the play room with Caesar.
The ape man then grew curious as he stopped Caesar as to what the rest of their plan was to free everyone.
"What's the next step in the plan?" Geleel signed to him as they were at the entrance of the playroom now.
"We free Buck." Caesar answered as if that was just a normal plan.
The chimpanzee then began walking over to the large cage that housed Buck.
He was confused when Geleel leaped in front of him with his hands outstretched.
"Are you sure it is wise to free Buck? He is very large and aggressive." Geleel reminded Caesar of the gorilla's nature to roar loudly and beat against the bars of his cage in anger.
"I wish to free every ape…we cannot choose who gets freed and who does not, Buck deserves freedom just as much as any of us." Caesar exclaimed as he gestured between himself and Geleel.
The ape man then thought this over…Caesar had a point, Buck's roars didn't always sound angry…they sometimes sounded anguished and sad…like he was lonely and upset about being caged and having his freedom taken from him…a faith they all shared, Geleel thought as he along with every ape in this zoo knew how it felt to be a captive.
"You're right…we must free him." Geleel affirmed to Caesar who nodded.
They then idly made their way to Buck's cage as they noticed the gorilla was seated in the middle of the cage…why wasn't he sleeping?
No time for that, Geleel gave Caesar one last wary expression before reminding him to be careful.
Caesar then placed the makeshift key into the lock of Buck's cage as he slowly turned it.
With a metallic clank, Buck's cage had opened…a mixture of dust and rust falling off of it…a testament to how long it had been since the cage was even opened.
Geleel and Caesar both worked together to pull the cage door open fully.
Buck had still yet to realize their presence as they gave each other wary looks, they both wanted to liberate the gorilla but…this was still the largest and strongest ape in this shelter, if things went wrong they could get themselves killed.
Caesar chuffed at Geleel as he motioned at Buck with his head.
Geleel then arched a brow at him, he wanted HIM to go poke the gorilla first?
The ape man shook his head as he reminded Caesar that this was HIS idea in the first place.
The chimp relented as he stepped in front of Geleel as they both stepped into the cage carefully.
Caesar then slowly outstretched his hand to poke Buck in the back.
Buck immediately felt this sensation as he swiftly turned around with a loud grunt.
Geleel and Caesar slowly back out of the cage as Buck continued grunting and growling, they didn't want to make any sudden movements so as not to upset him.
Buck roared loudly as he advanced both of them and beat his chest aggressively, they lowered their heads as a sign that they were not there to fight.
The gorilla brought his front limbs down as his knuckles touched the ground.
He immediately stopped roaring as he was taken back by this…it was…it was outside, this was outside of his cage.
Buck then gave Caesar and Geleel an incredulous look as his brown eyes stared at them in confusion…were they the ones that freed him?
They both then motioned for him to come outside and enjoy his freedom.
He was very taken back by this, so ultimately he retreated into the shadows of his cage.
Caesar and Geleel looked at each other in confusion before turning back to the cage.
They then swiftly had to dodge out of the way as Buck charged forward swiftly.
The young males were caught by surprise at first but they swiftly made their way up the tree as they sat on the highest branch and watched Buck from a safe distance.
They thought the gorilla was trying to attack them but…when they saw him running around and playing with all the toys in the shelter…they realized he only wanted to have fun, he wasn't trying to hurt anybody, he just wanted to enjoy his newfound freedom.
Buck lets out a triumphant roar as he beats against his chest eagerly.
He then looks up at Geleel and Caesar and offers them a thankful coo…they were the ones to thank for granting him freedom after all this time.
Caesar nodded at Buck as Geleel offered him a faint smile.
The ape man was kicking himself for being so ignorant all these years, he was mad at his own freedom being stripped away that he failed to realize that Buck was only behaving just like he was…angry and upset at the world because the world continued to wrong you.
But this ape…Caesar, he came to the shelter on a whim…rekindled Geleel's spark…and granted Buck freedom, all the while teaching the local ape man a lesson in compassion.
"So…what's your plan for taking leadership of the apes?" Geleel signed to Caesar who thought that one over.
"I will need you and Buck to help me." Caesar said as Geleel arched a brow at him, this should be interesting.
A bit later
Rocket was sleeping soundly as his mouth hung open like the oaf he was.
Unfortunately, his beautiful slumber was taken from him when food was thrown at his face.
He swiftly got up with a growl of annoyance as he looked around angrily trying to find the culprit.
The bald chimp then looked up to notice the top grate of his cage was opened.
He was very confused as to why it would open now of all times but…he still climbed out of the cage and began making his way towards the playroom.
As Rocket angrily made his way towards the entrance on all fours, he prepared to absolutely eviscerate whoever did that to him.
Unfortunately, as soon as he made it into the playroom he was stuck sharply in the back of the head with some sort of metallic object as he went tumbling down the steps and onto his back.
He immediately looked up, trying to ignore the pain ringing in the back of his head.
The bald chimpanzee noticed that the culprit that hit him was none other than Caesar.
The chimpanzee clad in jeans made his way down the steps menacingly.
Caesar then rose the same gas can that Rocket had thrown at him a few days ago in the air.
Rocket looked up in fear as Caesar seemed so ready to slam this can down on his head and finish him off, he wouldn't be spared like Geleel did all those years back he thought.
He thought wrong…because after a while, Caesar just threw the can to the side, effectively confusing Rocket.
Rocket stood up on his hind legs as he looked from the can to Caesar, who stood tall over him, in confusion.
He huffed at Caesar who only snarled at him and gestured behind Rocket.
Rocket then turned behind him to see Buck standing on all fours with Geleel right next to him glaring menacingly with hardened fists.
Geleel jutted his head towards Caesar, silently telling Rocket to submit leadership to Caesar, without a bloody fight ensuing, they didn't want that.
Rocket looked back at Caesar who continued to glare down at him.
The bald chimp had so much pride, so seeing the other apes wake up and bear witness to everything that was happening right now was killing him inside.
Rocket wasn't the smartest but…he knew it…he knew he was outmatched…outsized….and most of all, outnumbered.
So naturally he relented and dropped to all fours before placing his right hand out to Caesar…he was actually doing it, he was submitting power.
Buck then grunted at Caesar to comply with Rocket's resignation and become their new leader.
Geleel watched as Caesar slowly walked over to Rocket and brushed his fingers against the chimp's open palm.
Everyone witnessed this…it was official, Caesar was the new leader of the San Bruno Primate shelter.
Geleel knew that this was a step in the right direction, if Buck had been freed, all they had to do was keep pushing unity amongst the apes, and soon enough they could all be…free.
Chapter Fin