Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm - The Official Movie Prequel

14

One of Rocket’s scouts dropped down from the higher branches. Caesar saw that he was agitated.

What?

Humans, the scout said. That way, coming this way. Many.

Caesar frowned in frustration. He’d hoped the trick with the white rectangles would have kept them busy for a longer time. But here they were again, the very next day. Would they ever give up?

He was starting to believe they wouldn’t.

Show me, Caesar signed. He motioned for the rest of his band to follow.

He chased the chimp through the treetops. The scout’s name was Jojo, and when Caesar caught a flash of his face, he saw that the agitation had been replaced by pure joy. Until they freed him, he hand never been outside. At first he had been terrified, but now he had embraced his new existence, his life as it should always have been. A lot of the apes were like this. It was as if they were waking up from a long sleep.

For some, a sleep that had begun at birth.

Eventually Jojo slowed and, down through the trees, Caesar could see the humans. It was hard to count accurately through the leaves, but Jojo was right—there was a lot of them, mostly with guns, moving in the general direction of the troop. Furthermore, they were walking side by side, spread out in a long line. This would make it easier for them to find what they were looking for.

He turned to Jojo.

Return to Rocket, he said. Tell him I’m leading them to the sunset side of the mountain. Tell Rocket to go to Maurice, have him move the troop up the valley to the sunrise side.

He glanced back down at the humans, passing beneath him. Then he glanced at Koba, and saw how taut his muscles were, every inch of him a threat.

Koba, he signed. Stay high in the trees, follow, warn us of flying things.

Koba stared at him for a moment, then acknowledged.

As Caesar turned back to his band, one of the humans looked up, and their gazes locked.

He had known many human expressions: kindness, love, fear, anger. He had seen meanness in the eyes of Dodge, his “caregiver” back at the shelter.

The gaze of this man was made of something he had never seen, and could hardly understand. But it felt very, very dangerous.

Then other heads turned toward him.

Follow me, he signed. Then he flung himself from limb to limb, down, toward the forest floor. He heard the humans shout as they caught sight of him and his band, and he began the chase. A glance back showed them following.

He felt a prickling on his exposed back, and expected them to start shooting at any moment, but for some reason they did not. That made things a little easier, since the trick was to keep them following, and avoid getting killed.

When Koba reached the top of the trees, he glanced around, but didn’t see anything in the air. He did see the city where the humans dwelt—where he had dwelt, where his mother had died, and he had been tortured.

Why had Caesar put him in the high canopy? The other chimps in the band had better eyesight. After all, he only had one eye. He would be more useful down there, where he could fight.

But it was good up there, so near the sky. He reached for it, but it was still too far away. How far could it be?

Koba shook his gaze from the heavens and refocused on his job. From this vantage point he could see what transpired below, but he was starting to realize something. There weren’t as many humans as he had thought chasing Caesar’s band. It looked like only eight or nine, at most.

He was trying to figure out what that meant when the unmistakable sound of the flying cages reached his ears. He scanned the sky, and saw the source of the sound. They were in the distance, not moving toward Caesar at all.

They were flying toward the troop.

Suddenly there was a crashing in the tree branches above. Caesar looked up as Koba came hurtling down. He was trying to swing and gesture at the same time. He kept pointing up, so finally Caesar peeled off from the band and followed him. They reached the treetops, and from there he saw the helicopters.

Most not chase you, Koba signed.

And Caesar suddenly understood. This time he had been tricked. The helicopters were moving toward the troop.

Koba, find Rocket. Bring him to the troop, he commanded. Then he turned and raced back the way he had come. As he whipped over the heads of the humans this time, they started firing at him, but within seconds he was beyond their sight, swinging as fast as he could, hoping he wasn’t too late.

The ape was gone, rushing off through the trees, but the fierce intelligence of his gaze remained with Malakai. It was like nothing he had ever seen in an ape.

He remembered the first gorilla had had ever seen, when he was with his uncle. There had been something there—an awareness, something on the level of a child, but caged in an outsized body. He had recognized a cousin, but knew it was a distant one.

When his uncle had shot it, the gorilla looked confused. It kept touching the hole and making pitiful noises. He asked his uncle to shoot it again, to make the sounds stop.

“I’ve already killed it,” his uncle said. “He just doesn’t know he’s dead yet. Bullets are expensive.”

He was right, and the gorilla soon died. They butchered it while the rest of its family looked on. None of the apes really seemed to know what had happened.

The thing that had just looked down at him was not like that. The fierce intelligence, the will and purpose, were all there. And they were far from childlike.

That was him, he thought. The leader.

“They went for it,” Corbin said.

Clancy was just staring at the apes as they quickly receded from view.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen one, since we started this whole thing,” she said. “A live one, I mean. I was starting to doubt they really existed.” She turned to Malakai. “Did you see…?”

He nodded.

“It’s amazing. I wish I could just study this… this… whatever is happening. It could change everything we know about apes. About ourselves.”

“Whatever,” Corbin said dismissively. “Which way?”

“Where’s the capture team?” Clancy asked.

“We call them in when we find the herd,” he said.

“This way,” Malakai said. “Quickly.”

He heard the choppers in the distance.

Suddenly a group of chimps went racing off in front of them, screeching at the tops of their lungs. A couple of the men shot at them with their tranq guns, but he didn’t think they hit any of their targets.

“Ignore them!” Malakai said. “They’re just trying to distract us. Push on.”

“The choppers think they have them spotted,” Corbin said, holding one hand up to an earpiece. “But they want visual confirmation from the ground.”

The apes in the trees buzzed at them again, but this time no one fired.

“There are signs everywhere,” Malakai muttered, looking around, seeing the remains of nests, the scuffed areas. “They were here, not long ago. A lot of them.”

“They’re on the move again.”

“Yes,” Malakai said, “but this time there are too many for them to hide their movements.”

The helicopters were already there when Caesar arrived, yet they weren’t doing anything, as far as he could see.

Maurice had the troop in motion, but some still were not moving very quickly. Caesar was raging at himself for letting his own tricks be used against him, and terrified that more apes would be killed. What’s more, it was abundantly clear that the men on foot would find the troop this time, and soon.

With a shiver, he realized that he didn’t have a choice. He had misled the humans as much as he could. After the battle on the bridge, he hadn’t wanted to fight again. He just wanted to be left alone. But that wasn’t going to be possible.

Overhead, the helicopters turned and began to fly away. Caesar watched them, wondering why. But without the helicopters…

It could be a trick.

He didn’t have a choice.

He started moving through the troop, picking out the strongest and fastest.

Malakai noticed that he no longer heard the sound of the helicopters. He couldn’t decide if that was a good or a bad thing.

Corbin had noticed it, too, and was on his two-way, arguing with somebody.

That’s when, looking up, Malakai caught the motion in the trees, a glimpse of rust. Then another, this one black, surely a chimp.

“They’re here,” he said, his voice low. The treetops were rustling violently now as the branches above them filled with apes. He saw the orangutans first, moving almost like giant spiders above them. Then more chimps were there, frenetic, bouncing from tree to tree, screeching.

Tens of apes, maybe more than a hundred of them. Realizing what was missing, he shifted his gaze to look through the boles of the trees, searching for the ground troops. And there they were, the gorillas—not acting as gorillas should, but prowling, moving from the cover of one tree to the next.

“Do not shoot,” Malakai said, softly.

“Oh, shit,” Flores gasped, suddenly understanding the situation.

“They’re just apes,” Corbin snarled. “Keep it together.”

“Where’s the friggin’ air support?” Kyung demanded.

“It’s been recalled,” Corbin said. “I can’t get a straight answer as to why.”

“They’re recalling us, too, right?” Flores said.

“They said for us to proceed at my discretion.”

“If you tranq one of them, you’ll have to fight them all,” Malakai said.

“I’ve called everyone else in. They’ll be here in ten minutes.”

Malakai continued searching through the trees, watching the numbers grow.

“That could be a very long ten minutes.”

“Yeah,” Flores said. “And another, what, fifteen guys? Maybe if more of us had real guns, instead of Sleepy Joes…”

He looked significantly at Corbin, the only one carrying a real assault rifle.

Overhead, one of the orangs made a long call, and that set off the chimps, who began screeching even louder. Sticks began pelting down. Not big ones, but lots of them.

Malakai watched the nearest gorilla. It was staring at him as if it knew everything he had done in his life. It did not have the dull intelligence he remembered. Like the chimp he had seen earlier, this ape was different.

Clancy saw it, too.

“It’s not just one of them that’s smart,” she said. “It’s all of them.”

“I say you’d better use your ‘discretion’ to check our asses out of here, Corbin.” Flores said, his voice edged with panic.

“They’re just monkeys, damn it,” Corbin snapped.

“Don’t,” Malakai said.

As he said it, a group of chimps seemed to explode out of the mid-canopy. For an instant, the one leading them looked as shocked as anyone. Then a gunshot detonated, so near it set his ears ringing. One of the chimps screamed and tumbled from the tree, falling almost at Corbin’s feet. Before anyone could react, another chimp leapt down, knocking Corbin to the ground and sending his rifle flying.

The newcomer was a nightmarish customer, with one milky eye and a visage filled with sheer malevolence. It was a kind of face Malakai was all too used to seeing, had seen many times on people whose hatred for another tribe or religion transcended all rational bounds. Everyone seemed frozen as the ape slouched toward Corbin. In that moment, it could easily have torn the mercenary’s throat out.

But instead the one-eyed chimp backed away, although it seemed reluctant.

The cacophony from the trees suddenly cut off, leaving them with a surreal silence that was almost claustrophobic. Flores started to pull his weapon up, but Malakai slapped it down.

“Are you insane?” he hissed.

The half-blind ape went over to the wounded one and pulled it up. He lifted it onto his shoulder, all the time staring at Corbin and the others. Then he turned his back, as if daring them to shoot him, before swinging unhurriedly into a tree and climbing away, carrying his fallen comrade.

“Let’s… get… the hell… out of here!” Flores said.

Malakai picked up Corbin’s gun, keeping the barrel carefully pointed to the ground. He reached out a hand to Corbin, who ignored it and scrambled up under his own power. The apes had remained silent. But suddenly from the midst of them came a single screech.

And the rest seemed to explode—the chimps screaming, the gorillas growling threats, the orangutans hooting with what seemed to be derision. But Malakai hardly noticed them. It was their unity, their singleness of purpose that sent prickles down his spine. One glance at Clancy told him that she felt it, as well.

“Yeah,” Corbin said. “We’re out.”

For a long moment, Malakai wondered if that was even an option anymore. But as they backed away, the apes just watched them retreat.

Caesar watched them leave, his heart hammering.

If Koba had killed the man…

He made his way over to where Rocket lay on a huge branch, the bonobo sitting beside him.

Rocket? he asked. Where bullet hit you?

Rocket looked a little embarrassed.

No bullet, he said. Surprised. Missed branch. He indicated his leg. Hurt, he said. Then his arm. Hurt.

Can you travel? Relief welled up in Caesar’s chest.

Not fast, Rocket replied.

Caesar glanced back up at the sky. He still couldn’t hear any helicopters.

We have to go, find new place, he said. They come back with more guns, more machines.

I’ll help him, Koba said.

No, Caesar said, Sam will help him. You lead his band now.

Koba’s eyes went wide.

You made the right choice, Caesar said. You chose Rocket. You chose ape. I am proud.

Koba supplicated.

Apes together, strong, he said.

Apes together, strong, Caesar repeated. Now go. Find thick forest beyond the mountain, away from humans.

Koba nodded. He glanced at Rocket’s band. They fidgeted, but with a look from Caesar they fell in line.

We go, Koba signed, and he moved to leave. The others followed. Soon they were out of sight. Wearily, Caesar went down to organize the move. They all thought they had just won an important victory, but he felt in his bones that they were in more danger than ever. This was only the start.

Phillips met them when they arrived back at the base. He didn’t look happy.

Corbin wasn’t happy either.

“What happened to the air support?” he demanded. “The nets, the traps, the guys who were supposed to put them down after we found them?”

“I’m sure you were informed when it was pulled,” Phillips said. “Plans were changed. We have to be flexible. I had every expectation that you had enough resources to succeed in your mission. To bring back at least one lousy ape.”

“You weren’t there,” Corbin said. “You didn’t see them. If you had let us take in our AR15s we might have had a chance. Or if you called in—”

“The goal is live capture,” Phillips said, interrupting him.

“They’re monsters!”

“They are not,” Clancy said. “They’re amazing.”

“It doesn’t matter what they are,” Phillips said. “For the moment, at least, we’re shut down.”

“Why?” Corbin demanded.

“You don’t need to know that,” Phillips said. “Just stand down and wait for further orders.”

This, Malakai realized, is where they kill us.