Greg Keyes - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Firestorm

“Damn,” she said.

“Is it that bad?”

“It could be a lot worse,” she replied. “You’ve made it this far. Let’s get you upstairs.”

She helped him to the elevator and up to her apartment. She had gotten a new couch since he had last seen it, and moved things around. It looked like she still lived alone, though.

She moved him to the bathroom and pulled his shirt off.

“How did this happen?” she asked, as she examined the wound more closely.

“I met a source in Delores Park,” he said. “Somebody shot her, then shot me. Then someone shot him… Ow! ”

“That’s a lot of shooting,” she observed.

“Some old guy walking his dog just happened to have a gun, or I’d be dead.”

“I think probably everyone who owns a piece is carrying it right now,” she told him. “I’ve seen more gunshot wounds in the last few days than in my entire career.” She looked over at him. He’d forgotten what beautiful, dark eyes she had.

“I think it just went through the ribs,” she said. “I don’t think it nicked your intestines. If they were perforated, that would be bad. Still, there’s enough tissue damage that some of it might go necrotic.”

“How bad is that?” he asked. “Can you fix it?”

“I can sew it up,” she said. “Stop the bleeding. But you need antibiotics, which I don’t have here.” She caught his gaze and held it. “I don’t have any anesthetic, either.”

“How about vodka?” he asked.

“You know me that well, anyway,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

David woke up, head throbbing, and realized that between the pain and the vodka he had made it all the way through the operation. He was lying on Talia’s bed. She had cleaned and sewn him up in the tub, and so she had stripped him down. He was still naked.

She lay about a foot away. She had changed pajamas.

He contemplated the fact that he had never seen Talia in pajamas. Lingerie, yes. T-shirt, yes. Birthday suit, check. Never pajamas. He didn’t even know she owned any. And they had seen each other for the better part of a year. It had been good, really good, but then things had gotten busy for both of them, and they hung out less and less. Nowadays he never saw her in the bars and restaurants where they used to go. He guessed that she was either too busy at work, or had hooked up with a different crowd.

Fortunately for him, she hadn’t moved to a different apartment.

She stirred, and her eyes flickered open.

“Well,” she said, smiling. “You finally stayed the night. How about that.”

“I never stayed over?” he said, trying to remember. “That was stupid of me.”

“No, that was just you,” she said. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got hammered while someone worked a needle into and out of my skin.”

She touched his cheek, and for just an instant he thought it was a gesture of affection.

“You’re warm,” she said. “I should check your temperature. And you need to hydrate.”

She brought him orange juice, and found that his temperature was just over a hundred.

“I go back on shift this afternoon,” she said. “But I’ll try to get you some antibiotics before that.”

She looked so tired. “You should rest,” he said.

“I got a few hours of sleep,” she said. “It’ll do. Hey, I’m young, right?”

“It’s bad out there, isn’t it?” he asked. She nodded.

“And getting worse,” she said. “Half the staff are down with it.”

“Don’t go back,” he said. “Just don’t go back.”

She gave him another weary little smile.

“Don’t think I haven’t considered it,” she told him. “But too many have already taken a walk. Somebody has to try.” She patted his arm. “I’ll be back. Hopefully with antibiotics.” She rose, went to her closet, and selected a pair of scrubs.

“Talia,” he asked. “Why did we stop hanging out?”

She looked down then, frowning a little.

“I liked you,” she said. “A lot.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I liked you, too.”

She drew her gaze up to meet his.

“I was tired of liking you,” she replied. Then she left the room. A little while later, he heard the front door open and close.

He lay there for a moment, then gingerly levered himself up. He went into the living room, got the satchel, and brought it back to the bed. Inside were an ultralight laptop and several file folders. He switched on the laptop and waited for it to boot up as he flipped through the files.

“Holy shit,” he said, after a moment. He found his cell phone, but he didn’t have any service, so he picked up Talia’s landline and called his editor.

“Sage,” he said, when he got hold of her. “Flynn here.”

“Where the hell have you been?” she demanded. “I have an assignment for you.”

“I’ve already got a story,” he said. “You’re going to want to leave some space on page one. And if you’ve got anybody inside the mayor’s office, I’m going to need to get a couple of things vetted.”

“You’re going to have to give me a taste,” she said.

When he was done, there was silence on the line for four, five, six heartbeats.

“You’re sure about this?”

“I’ve got original Gen Sys documents,” he said. “Paper and ink. With signatures. I just want to see if we can get corroborating information from House’s office.”

“I think I can swing that,” she said. “Are you at your place?”

“No,” he said. “Somebody actually tried to kill me, if you can believe it.”

“Are you kidding?”

“No. He shot my source, and he shot me. Then someone shot him—it gets complicated.”

“Are you all right?” she asked. “Are you safe?” “Yeah. You can reach me at this number. Do not give it to anyone else.”

“Don’t you need medical attention?” “I’ve got the best I’m likely to get,” he said. “Just get that stuff for me.”

“I’ll get back to you,” she said. “Go, write. You’ve got six hours.”

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.