Alex Irvine - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

They crashed into the hall behind him. He made a last turn, into the interior of one of the units about halfway down the hall. Just on the other side of the wall, the apes smashed and screeched as they ran past, trying to flush him out. It almost worked, but just as he had done in the forest, he managed to hold still while they stormed past. Their clamor began to diminish as they moved into another part of the floor. Maybe they were far enough now that he could make a break for the stairs.

He took a deep breath, let it out, then went to turn and retrace his steps—and nearly walked right into an armed ape, standing right behind him.

Malcolm’s heart stopped. He didn’t dare move. With a thud he was sure the ape could hear, his heart started beating again, and in that same moment he recognized the ape.

It was Blue Eyes.

He and Malcolm looked at each other, the chimp’s expression unreadable. Malcolm’s throat went dry, but he started to try to say something anyway. Before he could make a sound, Blue Eyes clamped a hand over his mouth.

Malcolm froze.

Outside an ape patrol went past, smashing anything within arm’s reach, still trying to flush him out.

Once they were gone, Blue Eyes lowered his hand. He had held Malcolm’s gaze the whole time, but now he looked away, and Malcolm thought he saw shame on the chimp’s face.

Take a chance , he thought. Why stop now? After all, Blue Eyes just saved your life, and if the look on his face is any clue, he’s not completely on board with Koba’s Gestapo tactics.

“Wait,” he whispered. “Your father.”

Blue Eyes froze. Then he turned, slowly, the barrel of his rifle coming up.

“He’s alive,” Malcolm said. “It’s true, I swear. I can take you to him.”

But only if you can get me out of here , he thought. Blue Eyes stared hard at him, the kind of stare you gave someone when you were trying to judge the truth of what they were saying. Liars broke under a stare like that.

Malcolm didn’t break.

He let Blue Eyes prod him out into the debris-strewn hall, where the rest of the patrol screeched in Malcolm’s face and feinted as if they were going to bite him. He looked down and ignored them. When they got tired of the game, Blue Eyes walked him down the stairs and then shoved him out onto the street, through the market, and out of the Colony. Malcolm saw other groups of apes leading human prisoners, some wounded or visibly beaten. But Blue Eyes kept up their ruse and held onto his duffel.

Ahead of them, he recognized another chimp, one of Koba’s pals. The lighter-colored one. He looked up from smashing something—Malcolm wasn’t sure what or why. When he saw Malcolm, he got a smile on his face.

I guess I’m a prize , Malcolm thought.

The gray chimp and Blue Eyes exchanged a look. The gray chimp looked as if he was about to come with them, and Malcolm had what was either a flash of insight or an episode of wishful thinking.

Blue Eyes has gotten himself into trouble , he thought. Koba’s buddies don’t trust him. The gray chimp stood and Malcolm staggered as Blue Eyes jammed the barrel of his rifle into his back, right where the rock had bruised his shoulder blade. Three times , Malcolm thought. What were the odds?

He let out a small groan of pain. The gray chimp hooted his approval, and Blue Eyes shoved Malcolm forward, marching him up the street. When they were around the corner from the Colony, Blue Eyes grunted. Malcolm looked back and saw him heading down a side street. He followed.

It was late morning by the time they got back to Pacific Heights. Malcolm went in first, and saw Caesar where he had been that morning, flat on his back on the sofa, his bandage bloody. Ellie and Alexander were nearby.

“Thank God,” Ellie said as she saw Malcolm. He held out the duffel bag and she took it, then stopped short as Blue Eyes came in, warily looking around like he still thought the whole thing might be a trap.

Caesar hooted softly from the sofa. Blue Eyes’ head snapped around at the sound, and he set his gun down to cross the room and kneel at his father’s side. The two apes touched foreheads, Blue Eyes’ face contorted in an expression that would have been accompanied by tears if apes could cry.

“Your mother… your brother,” Caesar said. “Safe?”

Blue Eyes nodded and signed something. Then he registered the bandage. He lifted it away and saw the bullet wound underneath. His body tensed and when he looked back at Malcolm, his anger seemed sudden and intense enough that Malcolm started to second-guess his decision to bring Blue Eyes here. Maybe he should have taken his chances trying to escape on his own.

“No,” Caesar said. He reached up to grasp Blue Eyes’ arm. Blue Eyes still glared at Malcolm, looking unnervingly like Koba. “Not humans,” Caesar went on, every word an effort. “Koba.”

Blue Eyes looked back down at his father, face blank with shock—and then the anger came flooding back in, only now it had a new focus. It was where it belonged, thought Malcolm. Maybe getting the truth out might still have a chance to do some good. Blue Eyes lowered his head, shamed and furious.

Ellie nudged Malcolm.

“We really need to do this now,” she said. “Caesar?” He nodded, and she started to spread out the supplies from the duffel bag.

“Son,” Caesar said. Blue Eyes turned back to his father and saw him reaching out with an open hand. Blue Eyes pressed close to his father, gripping the extended hand in both of his. Ellie leaned over him and started cleaning the surface of the wound, clipping away the surrounding hair to give herself room to work. She looked up at Caesar.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

He nodded again, holding tightly to his son.

When it was over, the three humans sat on the porch. Alexander was sketching, as he had been the entire time. Ellie and Malcolm sat on either side of him. Ellie looked exhausted. She hadn’t slept in… how long? Going on thirty-six hours, Malcolm estimated. They all needed some rest.

“How is he?” Alexander asked.

Ellie gave him an encouraging smile.

“We’ll see. He’s very strong.”

Twice during the surgery, Malcolm had thought they might lose him. They were working with inferior tools, no anesthetic, no sterile conditions, on a bullet nestled between a nicked artery and the upper lobe of Caesar’s lung. A lot could have gone wrong. Blue Eyes—to give credit where credit was due—had stayed through the whole procedure, not once flinching away as Ellie cut into his father’s body. Malcolm thought he would remember for the rest of his life—however long that turned out to be—the expression on the young ape’s face when Ellie reached into Caesar’s chest with a pair of kitchen tongs and extracted the bullet.

He’s just a kid, like Alexander.

As if he’d heard Malcolm thinking about him, Alexander leaned into his father. Malcolm mussed his hair, another one of those dad gestures that didn’t make much sense, but felt good. Ellie leaned in from the other side and Malcolm dropped his hand from Alexander’s head to rest on the back of her neck. Family, he thought. In the middle of all this, he still had his family.

Caesar stirred awake in the night, and saw Will’s living room. He thought for a moment he was young again, three years or five years old, with Will and his father somewhere in the house and ordinary human noises outside. Then he came a little more awake and that dream fell away. The wound in his chest hurt a great deal, but he could handle it. He would handle it, for the sake of his son, who was sitting near the couch.