It was a new day at the San Bruno primate shelter.
Geleel had woken up due to the usual banging of a metal bowl, courtesy of Dodge Landon doing his usual rounds and handing the apes their food.
"Still not talkin after 8 years huh ape man? Well get used to eating this crap for the rest of your life." Dodge said as dropped some very repulsive brown sludge into Geleel's food slot.
Geleel glared at the man as he per usual, made no effort to eat that disgusting food.
Dodge thought he was so smart...so superior to the apes, he didn't even realize how much Geleel had grown in terms of height and muscle, that required real nutrients, so it was amazing that this idiot didn't realize Geleel was eating ACTUAL food from elsewhere...Emilia...wherever she was, Geleel hoped she'd be back soon enough.
After Dodge gave Geleel the usual side eye whilst walking to the next cage, the latter took note of the ape that was in the once vacant cage next to him now, it was that new ape from yesterday.
Geleel finally got a chance to examine this ape, he was a chimpanzee, a pretty tall one too, certainly taller than Rocket or any other male chimp, but he was ever slightly shorter than Geleel.
What baffled Geleel the most about this chimp was his strange mannerisms...he didn't behave like any ape he'd ever seen before, and the fact he was clad in human clothes made him all the more weird to Geleel.
Unfortunately Geleel's mental scrutiny of the ape was cut short when he noticed Dodge chuck the slop down into the new ape's feeding pen.
"Go on, that's grade A Primate Chow." Dodge taunted the ape who decided to inspect the disgusting food.
The chimp took a sniff of the food and immediately drew back in disgust, the smell was putrid.
Dodge chuckled before turning to his coworker, Rodney, who only gave him a shaky expression, the man seemed genuinely terrified of Dodge.
Suddenly the new ape flung the putrid food through the grates of his cage, the disgusting contents of it spilling all over Dodge's face.
Dodge stood there in utter shock as he processed what had just happened.
The new chimpanzee huffed out a laugh as he turned to Geleel with a smile plastered on his face, seemingly hoping the latter would find his practical joke funny.
Geleel didn't particularly laugh in return, sure Dodge was a evil individual, but Geleel couldn't revel in this because he knew Dodge was also vengeful, and that could mean trouble for this new chimp.
"You think that's funny huh?" Dodge shouted, confirming Geleel's worries.
The Chimp continued laughing as he failed to notice Dodge picking up a hose.
The chimp's smile fell into a scared expression as Dodge placed the hose through the cage door.
The ape had no time to react as a powerful stream of water burst forth from the hose, the pressure immediately slammed the chimp into the wall as he gasped and sputtered when the water went into his nose and mouth.
Geleel closed his eyes tightly as the ape continued to screech and huff out pleas of mercy, all the while Dodge continued spraying him with the water.
Dodge finally shuts the hose off as the chimp is given room to breathe.
Dodge glares at the ape as he coughs a few times before laying on the ground in defeat.
"You'll learn who's boss soon enough." Dodge affirmed as the chimp cowered.
Dodge then turned his head to Geleel as they both glared at eachother.
"What are you lookin at?" Dodge questioned Geleel who could only frown at him, he's been on the wrong end of that hose enough times to know not to want to see it again.
Dodge scoffed to himself before dropping the hose to the ground and walking away in anger.
Geleel then looked down at the ape as he looked up at the former with a hurt expression.
The ape man offered him a look of pity, what just happened was a wake up call, a testament to the life of a prisoner at this facility.
The chimp was already conflicted about this new situation, Geleel confused him because he was a human behind a cage, but he seemingly understood apes...and he was the only one that didn't screech or get aggressive when he looked in their direction...but all of that didn't matter, he just wanted to go home right now.
Geleel turned his head away from the defeated chimp on the floor; it was such a depressing sight, he didn't know any better.
Suddenly the sound of a rock scraping against another rocky surface drew Geleel's attention.
The ape man turned to see the ape had drawn some sort of odd symbol on the window.
The Chimp laid his head against the strange symbol as Geleel was extremely confused yet intrigued by this behavior.
The ape looked at Geleel with those distraught and loss green eyes, a very odd eyecolor for an ape, the former was still very lost, what did this symbol mean for the ape?
Later
It was now playtime as Geleel made his way into the play area, he saw Cleo by the entrance as she huffed out a greeting which he returned.
After a few minutes everyone had fully broken off to do their own inchohesive activities and ventures.
Geleel as usual, greeted Cornelia, a female chimpanzee with whom he had become very close with over the years, their relationship was a strong siblinghood.
They chittered and huffed a few greetings to eachother as Cornelia playfully jutted her knuckles into Geleel's chest and bounded off in another direction.
Geleel smiled at her as she was expecting him to give chase, but he would play tag with her later, he needed a bit to get his energy up for the day.
The young ape man casually made his way up to the rock formation to sit next to Maurice, the Orangutan had become his closest friend here by now.
They greeted eachother in the same way they had for the past 8 years, but Geleel had a puzzled expression.
"What wrong?" Maurice signed.
"Did you get a look at the new ape? Why was everyone so riled up? Why does he wear human clothes?" Geleel questioned Maurice who was struggling to keep up with the swift signs.
Before the Orangutan could try to answer, both of them were alerted to the entrance of the play area...a new face had just entered the room.
Literally every ape in the play area fell dead silent and stared at the new chimpanzee clad in human clothes as he looked around incredulously...Geleel had never heard the ape play area this quiet, not a hoot or screech was heard...this strange ape had stunned them all.
Maurice and Geleel both watched as the ape looked around the play area with a dumbfounded expression.
He then began walking forward on his hind legs as every chimp presence.
Geleel looked up as he heard Rocket grunt and stand tall from his position atop a ledge, he could already see it in the Alpha Chimp's eyes, he was going to challenge this ape.
The ape man's attention is snapped back to the strange ape as Buck roared at the ape and banged against his cage when the chimp walked too close.
The chimp chose to move away from Buck's cage as he tried to find something else to do.
He took note of Cornelia, who was by a tiny pond playing with a jug.
The ape smiled at her as she gave him an incredulous look.
He then picked up a blue ball as he rolled it to her, in hopes of playing.
Geleel frowned when he noticed Rocket stop the ball from getting to Cornelia, effectively throwing it away before mean mugging the new ape.
The ape was confused as to why Rocket was menacingly approaching him on all fours but, that didn't stop the former from offering Rocket his hand to shake, Emilia had taught Geleel this gesture, it was a form of human greeting.
Rocket however, was not human, he was a chimpanzee, and the alpha at that, so this strange ape standing taller than him was basically a challenge.
The balding chimp grabbed the new ape's sleeve as he sniffed it.
Rocket then walked around the ape before swiftly ripping the shirt clean off of his body.
The ape looked at Rocket in confusion as the latter swung the shirt around wildly all the while hooting loudly.
Rocket then dropped the shirt as he ran up to the new ape and got in his face; the hooting turned into loud screeches as the other apes knew what was to come next.
Geleel was prepared to step in, only for Maurice to place an arm in front of him.
The ape man knew why Maurice had stopped him, he and Rocket had had so maby squabbles in the past, Geleel stepping in now would be him starting a problem with Rocket at that point.
So Geleel was forced to sit back and watch as Rocket riled the other apes up, causing them to hoot and screech loudly.
The bald chimp then grabbed an empty gas can as he ran on all fours and slammed it against the floor.
The new ape slowly bounded forward on all fours as he was confused as to what was about to happen.
Suddenly, the gas can flew at his head as it grazed the top of his cranium, he had no time to question it was Rocket immediately tackled him to the ground and began raining down on him with his forearms.
The play area was set into a frenzy of loud screeches as Rocket continued to beat the new chimp.
Geleel glared down at the scene before him; the new ape stood no chance in this fight.
Somehow, the ape was able to slip out of Rocket's onslaught and begin climbing the tree in the middle of the play area.
Rocket was not easily deterred as he swiftly chased after the new chimp.
As they neared the top, Rocket grasped onto the chimp's leg, only for the latter to slam into his face with a stiff kick.
Rocket snarled as that only made him angrier, he then chased the ape all the way to the top, forcing him to drop down to a lower branch.
The ape tried to hold onto the lower branch with one hand, but Rocket quickly put a stop to that as he leaped down and bit the chimp's hand; eliciting a scream from him.
The new chimpanzee then fell all the way to the floor with a loud thud as he was dazed by the impact.
Rocket immediately dropped down to the floor, poised to finish the job.
Fortunately for the new ape, a tranquilizer dart was injected into Rocket's neck, as the alpha chimp immediately fell to the ground; unconcious.
Geleel looked up at the top of the atrium stairs, ofcourse there stood Dodge, tranquilizer gun poised.
The ape man then watched as Dodge shot the new ape, who had stood up shortly after Rocket was tranquilized, this chimp soon fell next to Rocket, unconcious all the same.
Geleel sighed as he closed his eyes in disdain.
"Maurice." He signed to his Orangutan friend.
"I know." Maurice signed back as he lets Geleel go.
The buzzer then sounded through the air, the apes playtime was probably cut short due to the fight.
Maurice sighed before bounding off of the platform and falling in line with the other apes, prepared to go back into their cages.
Geleel sighed to himself once more as he jumped off of the ledge and landed on his hind legs.
He then walked over to the downed bodies of the new ape and Rocket.
Geleel eyed the new ape with pity once more...his first day seems even worse than Geleel's first day here almost a decade ago.
The ape man solemnly looks down at the ripped shirt that once adorned the new chimp, he picked it up and slung it over his shoulders, he knew the humans would be in the atrium soon to put Rocket and Caesar back in their cages.
So with that, Geleel made his way back to his cage; not before dropping the ripped jersey into the new ape's cage.
Geleel couldn't help but sit in his cage and think about this new ape...despite everything that happened recently; he was still very intrigued by the ape's oddness.
Chapter Fin