He thought of the looks on the human's faces outside, the same fear was in their eyes that Jayda had only a day before. He couldn't tell if she trusted them yet, but he knew that she was more trusting at the present than the past.
He suddenly realized how much he was picking at the fur on his arm and he quickly restrained his hands at his side.
He left the office, wandering down the hall and outside the lab building. The sky was still gray and overcast, but the rain had stopped. He found himself going right up to the edge of the cage, and sitting on the wet sand, his poncho spread out underneath him. He drew up his knees to his chest and put his hand on one of the bars of the cage.
"What am I supposed to do?" He muttered.
He didn't expect them to understand anything he said, but there was something inside his heart that felt better when he spoke aloud. They listened even if they didn't understand.
"You have no idea what's coming," He told them, "but even if you did, I wonder if you'd have hope to get back to where you're from? I hope it's nice there and that you have family and friends waiting to see you."
The humans stared at him, the longer he sat the less afraid they seemed to become. The child uncurled herself from the male's side and looked from the man to Brutus curiously. She stood, still clutching the man's hand.
"If we were intelligent at the same time, do you think we could live together in peace? Or do you think we'll just be battling for superiority forever?" He asked the girl.
The child's eyes stared at him, the innocence of that gaze struck him. Maybe she could see his struggle, maybe not. Perhaps there was something about the primitive mind that understood the way of the world better than the ape's evolved one.
The girl let go of the man's hand and she approached him slowly. She sat cross-legged on the other side of the cages bars. Brutus dared not move a muscle, but he watched the small human look curiously at his hand, then down to her pudgy one. The red-haired human reached up and touched his hand, running her tiny fingertips over his knuckles and through the hair on the back of his hand. Her hand closed around his index finger and stayed, her tiny grip warm and strong. A strange tingling spread down Brutus' arm and connected to something in his heart.
He looked at the man and the male was watching the child and ape cautiously. He was crouching, ready to spring. Brutus saw that the man truly did care for the girl, even if they were related or not. Against his will, he pictured what these two would look like in just a few hours time, the way that so many before them had looked, and his stomach turned over in horror.
There had to be a better way to find answers than this. The council had to be mistaken about something, humans might've been dangerous once, but it was unlikely they were anymore. At that moment, Brutus decided that he had to do something, these creatures shouldn't be punished out of fear of the past.
He gently removed his hand from the small child's grip and the human casually moved back to be with the man. He made eye contact with the human and got an idea, a stupid or impossible one, but his conscience was screaming at him to do something.
He stood slowly, trying not to frighten the humans, and turned to examine the gate. The lock was simple, all he had to do was push two levers at the same time to open it. He looked around and spotted a row of leather leashes, and a crazy, stupid plan formed in his mind.
If anyone had asked Brutus two days ago what he'd have been doing that week, he probably would reply with something like, "oh, fishing with my best friend" or "helping my mother organize her reports and practicing sign."
He couldn't believe he found himself creeping around the border of the city, smuggling two humans on leashes in tow behind him. The man was holding the child to his chest, rubbing her back.
"Thank the lawgiver neither of you can talk," he muttered.
The clouds grew darker and the wind began to pick up. A bad storm was coming, and he wasn't sure if they'd be safer at Julius' or the woods. Brutus entertained himself imagining the look on the others' faces if he turned up with the two more humans in tow.
A gong began ringing in the distance from where they came from and Brutus whipped around to see what was happening. He'd been waiting for the moment that the lab would send out search parties to find them. Then he would go from a sort-of heretic to a full blown traitor. He wondered if his parents would have any mercy on him, but probably not. That made him tug a little harder on the leash.
They crossed the crest of a hill at a trot, the wind whipping at his poncho and the man's loincloth. They could see Julius' hut in the distance when suddenly, a blast of horns sounded behind him. A spike of ice shot through his chest and he and the human looked back. A line of figures was fast approaching in the distance.
"Run!"
The humans didn't need to be told twice. Their strange group sprinted across the fields when behind them, they could hear the sound of horse hooves from behind. Brutus found himself dropping the leash, but the human kept up as the ape began running on all fours.
"Stop them!" A booming voice shouted from behind them.
Brutus' heart leapt into his throat and he turned his head to see none other than Anthony riding on a large white horse. He was followed by three other gorilla riders on equally large steeds. They were still quite a distance behind but they were catching up fast.
"Go! Into the woods!" Brutus shouted at the man, praying the human would understand.
The young ape then slowed and turned to face the oncoming gorillas. Later he could never fully understand what made him choose to do it, but he began running at them.
He felt in his belt and found the weapons that snared Franklin and brought them out.
"Caesar forgive me," he said, preparing his arm to throw the bolas.
He flicked his arm and sent the weapon flying from his fingers and caught the legs of one of the horses, sending the gorilla flying into his fellow. All horses that were still standing slowed, the riders looking back at their dazed companions. However, Anthony kept on coming, releasing the reins and brandishing a net, Brutus was out of weapons and out of options.
He turned and ran towards the city. the horse was getting too near, Brutus could imagine the feel of the horse's breath blasting down the back of his neck.
Something caught his legs and he fell hard onto his front. The net was tangled around his legs with his poncho tied up with it, he wiggled and flopped onto his back, trying to tug himself free.
"Brutus?" Anthony shouted over the wind, puzzled as he finally recognized the young chimpanzee, "what are you doing?"
"I…" Brutus tried to answer, but the words seemed to stick in his throat.
He looked up into the gorilla's narrowing gaze, hoping for something to come to his mind. The wind was growing steadily louder, and rain began to drop from the swollen clouds.
"I told him to!" A deep voice came from the bottom of the hill.
Surprised, Brutus turned his head. Julius' huge, shaggy form was loping up the stretch, rapidly closing the distance between them.
"No! Julius!" Brutus cried, but a look from the old orangutan shut him up.
"You?" Anthony didn't miss the exchange.
"I've been saying for years, humans shouldn't live in cages or be experimented on," Julius raised his voice, "I tricked him into releasing the humans to bring to me, but now I guess neither of us get them."
Brutus stared in disbelief, what was this crazy ape doing?
While Anthony seemed to try to process this new information, Julius knelt and untied Brutus quickly before the young chimpanzee leapt to his feet.
"What are you doing?" Brutus hissed at Julius.
"You need to take Jayda and the other humans and find that ape she belonged to. Don't involve Ziro or Franklin any more, and whatever you do, don't come back for me,"
The orangutan whispered before shoving him back towards the hut.
"But-" Brutus stated.
"Go!" Julius urged.
Brutus felt his legs start to run before his brain could catch up with what he was doing. As he ran, he could feel the weight of what he was losing bare down on his shoulders, his parents, Ziro, everything. He hoped Julius wasn't making a mistake and he hoped his conscience was right.
-
Jayda heard the horns blowing for the second time in the distance and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She leapt from the chair where she'd been learning how to play a strategy game with Franklin.
"What is it?" Franklin said, standing as well.
Ziro jerked awake from the nap he was taking at the table. Julius was gone after the first round of horns and he assured Jayda that everything was alright, but her suspicions were confirmed after he didn't return- their cover was blown.
She had to escape, get away from these apes. She turned and started sprinting for the window that faced the woods, climbing onto the sill and using it as a push off point. She could hear Ziro's and Franklin's protests from behind her, but fear kept driving her to sprint faster towards the line of trees.
Suddenly, something heavy hit her back, sending her into the grass. She struggled, her hair whipping in the wind As she turned to see what landed on her- it was Ziro.
"No you don't, if you run, Brutus will blame himself," he said, using his strong arms to restrain her.
She thrashed against his grip, but there was no escaping the chimpanzee's arms.
"Look!" He said loud enough to make her flinch, "Stop trying to run, alright? We need to be smart about our escape, if you think like a human, you'll be caught like a human. We need to hide and wait for Brutus."
Jayda's eyes widened in exasperation.
"Don't give me that look," Ziro snarled, "Julius will probably take the blame, which means Brutus will be looking for us. I'm not going to let anything happen to him or Franklin so I'm going with him."
Ziro looked towards the woods, "We need to hide in there and wait."
—
Ziro grabbed Jayda's arm and began towing her to the woods. She struggled at first, but soon accepted there wasn't anything the human could do against the chimpanzee's superior strength. The trees were dark with the absence of direct sunlight and the wind was beginning to pick up, making some of the thinner trees sway dramatically. Ziro kept glancing over his shoulder like he had a nervous tick, although he considered the possibility that he may have developed one.
He spotted a lone shape moving towards them and he cursed his forgetfulness.
"Hey!" Franklin shouted when he spotted his brother.
Ziro put his finger to his lips and turned back quickly and spotted a log near the edge of the treeline. Dragging the human, he pushed her behind it, glaring the best he could, "Stay."
He rose and began rushing back out and meeting his brother. His heart pounding out of his chest.
"Franklin, go home," Ziro ordered, "if someone asks, pretend nothing's happened and say you don't know where I am."
Franklin narrowed his eyes, "I'm not going to do that."
"You are too," Ziro snarled, hoping that nothing in his voice betrayed his fear, "don't do this."
Franklin stood firm and crossed his long arms in a pout, "she's my friend too, so is Brutus."
"She's not my friend, not even an ape," Ziro snapped, "I'm protecting Brutus, that's all. Now go!"
Ziro pushed Franklin in the direction of the city and he could see the betrayal in his little brother's eyes. He hoped beyond hope that Franklin would actually listen and to his utter surprise, the young ape began running back towards the city.
Ziro turned back and moved on all fours back to the place where Jayda was hiding. He half expected the human to have run off, but to his surprise, she was still crouched behind the log.
"You listened," he said in surprise before he could stop himself.
The human nodded and her eyes narrowed as if to say of course, I'm not stupid.
Ziro frowned and crouched behind the log as well, keeping one eye fixed on Julius' hut that could be seen through the trees. The wind was blustering then and a chill was seeping into the air, the signs of a cold rain. He looked over to Jayda who was still dressed in the orangutan tunic. It wasn't a particularly fine bit of clothing, in fact it was something that could've been worn for casual outings, but it was definitely made of summer linen. She was huddled as close as she could to the log, trying to keep out of the wind.
Ziro sighed, it wasn't entirely that cold, but he supposed that humans with their hairless bodies would be more susceptible to temperature changes, all except the stuff on their heads. Really it seemed a stupid design for dumb animals. No claws, sharp teeth, or even brains, these things were helpless.
He sighed again and slipped his rain poncho over his head and held it out to the human. She looked up in surprise, but didn't reach out.
"Come on, your teeth chattering is distracting me, just take it," he thrust the poncho toward her.
Slowly, she took it while giving him a puzzled look. He turned back to watch the hut again just in time to see a shape of an ape race around it to duck inside.
—
Brutus burst into the hut and was shocked to discover it empty.
"Hello?" He called, but no one answered.
Panic sent him frantically searching every room in the small hut, but there wasn't any sign of Ziro, Jayda, or Franklin. Cold horror fell over every one of his senses and he could only stand in the middle of the main room- trying to decide what he was going next.
One of two things could've happened, either they had been arrested, or Julius made them go hide. What if Julius didn't know what was happening beforehand? Would they hide anyway?
the sound of horses suddenly started to come closer and he began to panic all over again. He noticed the window above was Jayda's bed and he ran to it before launching himself out of the back of the hut. He found himself facing the woods and began bounding down on all fours to the treeline.
He turned just in time to see Anthony's huge shape disembark his horse and enter the hut. Praying he hadn't been seen, he moved further into the depths of the forest. As soon as he was out of sight from the hut, he collapsed into the foliage of the forest floor, the trees rising up menacing around him.
His heart was still beating out of his chest and an overwhelming sense of despair was creeping over him. Julius was arrested, his friends were gone, he'd betrayed his family, and the humans he'd released were nowhere to be found.
Was it worth it? He asked himself.
The trees around him creaked and the leaves brushed together like a thousand whispers. He wondered if in all of the noise, the answer lay just in front of him.
He rested his forehead onto his knuckles, closed his eyes, and breathed out a prayer.
"Please God," he whispered, "let them be alright. Help me find them."
He stayed there in silence, listening to the woods around him. Something small slithered through the fallen leaves about two yards to his right. The wind picked up and the trunks of the trees began creaking more dramatically. Suddenly, the sound of something larger was moving through the undergrowth. He opened his eyes and they widened in shock.
"Brutus! Thank the lawgiver!" Ziro was loping toward him, human in tow.
Relief crashed over him like a tidal wave and he was so elated that they were alright, he jumped up and embraced them each in turn. Then, Julius' words came back to him and he withdrew, looking at them both.
"Ziro, where's Franklin? You weren't caught with the human, were you?"
Ziro stood back, "No I wasn't, I sent Franklin home."
Brutus breathed out a long sigh of relief, composing himself, "Then you have to go home too."
Ziro's expression hardened, "What's happening?"
Brutus breathed, "Julius, he… he gave me an the human a head start."
"So he is arrested then," Ziro's tone was flat, "He probably told you to leave me behind didn't he."
It wasn't a question, and Brutus wasn't surprised that Ziro figured out that much. His best friend's stance showed defiance, this wasn't going to be easy.
"You don't understand, I freed two humans-"
"Other than Jayda?" Ziro was surprised for a moment before his expression hardened once more.
"Yes, a man and child from the lab, but they saw me with them, Ziro. I'm marked, you and Franklin aren't," Brutus said it like a plea for him to understand.
Ziro scoffed, "and that makes you think that I need to leave you to deal with this yourself? No, Brutus, you need my help."
"Mine too!" A voice said from behind them.
The two chimpanzees and the human turned to see Franklin dragging the makeshift cot behind him, laden with parcels and bags.
"I told you to go home!" Ziro shouted angrily at the young chimp.
"I did! You never told me to stay!" He said much too cheerily.
As much as Brutus was angery with both of their stubborn hides, he was glad to see the supplies laden on the cot, for it just occurred to him that he didn't grab one thing from the hut. He even spotted two spears.
"Thank you Franklin, but as I was just telling your brother, it's too dangerous for you to be here. You both need to stay in the city," he said firmly.
"I can't go back, I think someone saw me by the hut," Franklin said seriously.
Ziro shot a look at him, "you can't be serious-"
"Believe me, I am, and we need to get moving before they find our trail."
This made Brutus grip the fur on his head and release a growl of frustration, "Of all the pig-headed… Fine! But we have to move!"
He looked at his friends with a sour face before striding forward and taking the cot handles from Franklin and began marching deeper into the forest without a defined direction. He needed to be moving and he caught Jayda's curious eye.
"Lead us to your master," He said through gritted teeth.
Jayda looked confused for a moment before leaping into action and leading the unusual caravan deeper into the gathering darkness.