Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC Willow and any alterations to the original storyline plot her presence creates to various readers amusement everywhere across the globe.

Born To Lead Chapter 12

Malcolm was reeling his head practically spinning. He'd claimed the satchel from his son keeping it close to his person as proof that what actually just happened wasn't some sort of delusion. But this shock was, also mixed with fury.

After the apes had left the entire human colony was thrown into a full-blown panic. They were all terrified and justifiably so after all they'd been through. To quell their rage instigated by fear Dreyfus had told them that even if they couldn't get to the dam to fix it, they'd have power once their last drop of fuel ran dry, there were other alternative power sources on hand. He outright lied to them, but that wasn't all. In providing the colony with this rallying point to fall behind he turned Malcolm into a martyr. If by some chance Malcolm didn't find an available power source by the time their present fuel was gone he'd be facing down a mob out for blood, not Dreyfus. Needless to say, Malcolm didn't appreciate the blame would be pointed at him now.

Malcolm had an idea. It's crazy, but he had a feeling it might succeed if handled carefully. He just didn't know how well it would run by Dreyfus. Speaking he heard the man climbing the steps to his level. He sat there listening until Dreyfus stepped into his line of sight.

"That was a great speech," said Malcolm, making his presence known. The look on his face revealed he felt the contrary.

Dreyfus stopped at the top step. He knew exactly what Malcolm was upset about. He expected this the second told everyone Malcolm had found an alternative power source ready to use if they couldn't get to the dam.

Standing from his seated position, leaning against the concrete wall, Malcolm said "There is no alternative power source. That dam is our only option."

Considering that piece of information, Dreyfus stated "Well, then, we fight them."

Rolling his eyes Malcolm scoffed hugging his son's satchel tight to his chest. Voice trembling, Malcolm said "We can't fight them. They have an army. Do you think we can just hand out a bunch of guns and go after them? We'll be massacred."

"Then what are we supposed to do," retorted Dreyfus. "We're two weeks away from running out of fuel. Maybe three tops."

"I know," muttered Malcolm, nodding, acknowledging the predicament.

"And once that happens I won't be able to go out there with a bullhorn and calm everybody down," said Dreyfus. In a sense, he wasn't wrong. If the mob outside couldn't be quelled there'd be an unstoppable riot on their hands. "We need that power to get the radio transmitter working. It's our only chance of reaching the outside world. We have to find other survivors."

"Yeah. Yeah, there's not that many of us left," said Malcolm, sullen. "We can't afford any more casualties."

"We founded this place, you and I…," said Dreyfus, "on the idea that power would lead us back to the life we once had. If we can't stick together maybe we can't survive."

"I know," whispered Malcolm. "I lost everything. The idea of losing what little I have is…" All Malcolm had remaining dear to his heart was Alex. His voice trailed off not even able to speak the very prospect of losing his child after his wife.

Dreyfus had nothing to say to that. He'd lost children to the plague too.

"I want to go back up there," said Malcolm.

Dreyfus was already shaking his head, no, eyes wide. He'd figured out what Malcolm wanted to do.

"Listen to me. Give me three days. Let me talk to him. If it doesn't work then we do it your way," requested Malcolm. "We have to be careful how we handle this. He wants to protect his family, we want to protect ours. If you threaten his family he will retaliate."

"And what if it backfires? What if he gets violent," spat Dreyfus, listing all the things that could go wrong one bit at a time. "I mean, how do you know that he'll even understand you?"

In answer Malcolm held out the satchel, saying "He's more than just an ape." The leader didn't have to bring back his son's possessions, but he did anyway. Such a good-faith gesture wasn't to be dismissed. Malcolm played his trump card. "Besides, I don't think she'd let any of them hurt me."

"What do you mean, 'she'," demanded Dreyfus.

Malcolm looked at him as if he were an idiot, saying "The female chimp. The one that actually gave Alexander back his bag. Don't tell me you didn't see how she got the other apes to stand down when she ordered them to?"

"Oh I saw it all right," said Dreyfus. "I, also, saw how riled up they got and how furious the leader was by her actions."

"That's precisely my point," said Malcolm. "To invoke such strong devotion from them she's someone high up on the chain in rank, important to their society. She isn't their leader, but she definitely holds a certain amount of authority over them. I've got a gut feeling she'd never allow any harm to come to me."

"You trust her? All because she brought your son's comics back," asked Dreyfus.

"That's part of the reason," said Malcolm. "Dreyfus, she's the same female chimp Carver shot at in the woods."

"Are you sure," said Dreyfus.

"Yeah, I am," said Malcolm. "She wasn't wearing those daisies on her head, but it was her."

Slowly, breathing heavily, Dreyfus said "I'm going to take some men up to Fort Point. I'm going to go through the armory. I'm going to see what's still working." There was a slight pause. "Three days. You're not back in three days we're going to go up there and we're going to kill every last one of them."

Only a three-day deadline to create some kind of peace treaty preventing all-out war. Sure no pressure there, right?

Authors Note:

Told you she'd cause a stir.

I hope you all like this one! I certainly did while writing it for your vast enjoyment! ;D

For those of you just starting out with my stuff there are other works on my profile that may catch your interest. I highly recommend you take a look as soon as the opportunity presents itself to you. Who knows, you may be pleasantly surprised by what you discover.

Stay safe everyone. Especially with all of these crazy natural disasters occurring a lot lately due to global warming and climate change everywhere for sure. I swear it's like they're getting worse and worse all the time and it's like officials are simply just ignoring it or pretending it doesn't exist entirely just to go on with their daily lives. Especially those in multi-million dollar companies that rely on certain elements of our planet that we rely on to naturally keep us safe instead of adapting and finding new safer ways to keep in business. There are so many options out there where they can adapt, but they just refuse to see it because all they care about is money. Climate change is altering so much faster than anyone can really keep track of.

So, in light of all this, it is important to live life to the fullest as much as anyone can.

I know I am. ;) See you guys next time.