Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: The Official Movie Novelization

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Caesar had worried that the bear might have killed the horses. It had happened before.

This time it had not, and he rode now at the head of his troop. They followed the banks of a river, with the giant trees looming in the thick mist on both sides. Around him were other apes on horseback, his closest and most trusted friends. Rocket, who had also survived from the shelter, and who had been Caesar’s rival before becoming his friend. Ash, Rocket’s son, near Blue Eyes in age. And Koba himself. Next to Koba came two apes who were close to him, Grey and Stone. They dragged a sled made from boughs.

It had taken several apes to drag the bear to open ground and onto the sled, but it was not a prize they would leave behind.

They had brought down five elk before Caesar’s call for help had drawn the troop away from the herd. Those lay across the backs of horses, which were led by apes. The rest of the troop stretched out behind, walking on two legs.

Caesar watched his son touch the ragged gashes that ran across his chest. Sensing his father’s attention, Blue Eyes looked up.

You must learn to think before you act, Caesar signed.

Blue Eyes looked away. Again Caesar was angry, and again he held it back. The boy had learned, or he had not. If this lesson had not taught him anything, neither would his father’s anger.

Caesar turned away, his watchful gaze sweeping the tree lines on either side of the river. They were about to pass a human ruin—the one closest to the apes’ home. On top of a tall steel pole, entwined with vines, was a large orange ball. It had numbers on it. Caesar had learned his numbers a long time ago, in Will’s house: 76, the ball said. He had seen many places like this one, where humans brought their cars. Will had brought him snacks from inside them, but those snacks had all been gone for a long time. Now the inside of that…

Gas station. That’s what Will had called them.

The inside of that gas station would not even keep out rain anymore. Apes avoided it, as they avoided most other places where humans had once gathered in large numbers. The forest was their home.

The troop crossed a shallow, rocky stream that fed into the river just beyond the gas station. Then the ground started to rise. Ahead of them, wreathed in fog, was the base of a high ridge. Caesar rode a little faster, but not so fast that the walking apes had to drop to all fours. It was important to them that they were able to stay on two feet.

They climbed through the fog. It swallowed the world, baffling the apes’ ears and filling their noses. The ground beneath their feet and the closest boulders and trees were the only things they could see. The rain stopped when they turned away from the river, and around them the forest was quiet… until he heard the sound of a small waterfall ahead. That low rumble, signaling the approach to home, was one of Caesar’s favorite sounds.

Cornelia would be there.

The fog began to clear as they climbed the base of the ridge and felt a wind coming down from above. It always did, late in the day. Caesar tilted his head back and sniffed. The wind brought the smell of just-after-rain, and with it the scent of their fellow apes. His horse clip-clopped out of the fog and Caesar smiled.

He always did when he saw what the apes had built together.