Lake noticed his dismay.
We haven’t had food or water since we got here, she signed.
No food? Caesar thought. That can’t be…
He had not thought that he could be any more shocked or angry. Even the worst labs and zoos back in the old days had at least fed and watered their animals; how did the Colonel expect the apes to keep working without food and water? He glared furiously at the mammoth structure that was practically consuming his people’s lives before his very eyes.
And for what reason?
Caesar didn’t understand. Why do they need a wall?
Lake shook her head, not having any answers for him, even as she strained to pass another hefty stone along the chain gang. The stone passed through Caesar’s hands as well as he pondered the need for the wall. Was it to keep the apes in—or someone else out?
His musings were interrupted by the arrival of the Colonel, who strode onto the scene to inspect the progress of the work. His eyes quickly located Caesar, fixing on the captured ape leader, only to be drawn away by a harsh shout from the upper heights of the wall.
“Hey!” an angry soldier yelled. “Hey!”
High above, Percy was at the end of his rope… literally. Swaying unsteadily upon shaky legs, the old orangutan lost his grip on a thick rope hauling up yet another painfully heavy boulder. As the Colonel and the others looked up in alarm, Percy collapsed and the boulder swung into the wall, smashing into the framework and knocking loose the other stones stacked there. An entire section of rock wall came crashing down in an unplanned avalanche that was many times louder than the screams and shouts it provoked. Panicked apes and humans alike dived out of the way of tumbling boulders, which landed in a heap at the base of the wall, raising a choking cloud of dust and grit. Caesar backed away from the collapse, instinctively shielding Lake and the other members of the chain gang with his body. As the dust cloud cleared, he looked anxiously for Percy and saw the ape lying in the rubble where the avalanche had come to rest.
“Stupid monkey!” a red-faced soldier shouted at Percy before turning his rage on Red as well. “Don’t just stand there, you useless donkey! Teach him a lesson he’ll never forget!”
“Okay, Boyle,” Red grunted. “Okay.”
Caesar couldn’t believe his eyes. Instead of tending to the injured old ape, Red and the other turncoats roughly dragged Percy from the rubble and brought him out into the yard where the Colonel could see. Down on his knees, clutching his wounds, Percy looked as though he couldn’t even stand on his own, but that didn’t stop Red from dutifully lashing the feeble orangutan with his whip. Percy spasmed and shrieked as the whip cracked against his weak and battered body.
Caesar glanced desperately at the Colonel, hoping against hope that the human commander would call a halt to this pointless brutality, but the Colonel simply looked on, seemingly unmoved by the sadistic spectacle, even as the whip came down on Percy again, wrenching an agonized howl from him.
The horrific scene drew Caesar forward, dragging the rest of the chained apes behind him. His own rage boiling over, he pulled himself up onto one of the prodigious tree trunks comprising the immense framework and finally gave voice to the volcanic fury that had been building up in him for hours.
“LEAVE HIM!”
18
A stunned hush fell over the worksite at Caesar’s outburst, broken only by the sound of loose gravel and scree tumbling down the wall in the wake of the avalanche. All heads turned toward the furious chimpanzee as he glared down at the Colonel from the wooden timbers, unconcerned for his own safety. Apes and humans alike stopped dead in their tracks, stunned by Caesar’s booming command. Even Red lowered his whip, forgetting about Percy’s punishment for the moment.
Caesar locked eyes with the Colonel for long seconds, neither leader budging, when, one by one, the other apes began to rally behind Caesar. It started quietly, with just a few low grunts and growls, but then more apes joined in, hooting and shrieking defiantly, until the sound rose into a deafening chorus that echoed off the granite walls of the canyon. Scowling apes dropped the stones they’d been burdened with or angrily tossed aside their ropes and tools.
The spontaneous demonstration shocked Caesar. He turned in surprise to see his people, who had previously rejected him, rising in open rebellion behind him, standing in solidarity with their fellow apes. His heart swelled with pride and gratitude. His people had not given up on hope… or him.
Apes together strong.
Down on the icy floor of the prison yard, Percy gazed up in awe and admiration, despite his many grievous injuries, as the human soldiers appeared at a loss as to how to deal with this unexpected turn of events. The fierce cries of the apes rising to a fever pitch, the troops looked to the Colonel for guidance, but he just stared balefully at Caesar.
In desperation, a soldier shouted at Red and the other turncoats, pointing urgently at Caesar.
“Get him!”
The ape enforcers, accompanied by Preacher and a few other humans, scaled the heaps of rubble to approach Caesar, who stepped down to meet them, unafraid of whatever consequences lay ahead. That he had roused his people from despair, and inspired them to stand up to their oppressors, outweighed whatever punishment the Colonel might have in store, up to and including a summary execution. His only regret was that he would not be able to say goodbye to Cornelius—or guarantee his son’s safety.
The other apes in the chain gang, including Lake, chanted and hooted in unison as the turncoats seized Caesar, taking hold of his arms. They started to lunge forward, but were held at bay by the raised weapons of Preacher and his fellow soldiers. To Caesar’s relief, the shackled apes did not invite the soldiers’ fire by trying to protect him; they could only roar in protest, along with the rest of the enslaved apes. A few of the gorillas beat their chests. Chimpanzees angrily slapped the ground. Orangutans shook their fists.
Visibly nervous, Preacher sweated and swallowed hard, keeping a close watch on the angry apes as he unclipped a key from his belt and tossed it over to Red, who dutifully unlocked Caesar from the chain gang. Casting a grateful look at Lake and the others, Caesar stepped away from them, glad that they would not be sharing his punishment, or at least not right away.
He couldn’t imagine that the Colonel would take this uprising lightly.
The enemy apes and humans dragged Caesar down to the yard, where Red shoved Caesar onto his knees beside Percy. The Colonel took a moment to contemplate the kneeling chimp before calmly gesturing at Red and the other turncoats. Traitor apes tightened their grip on Caesar’s arms as Red stepped behind him, bearing his whip.
Caesar braced himself for what he knew was coming.
The whip cracked savagely against Caesar’s back, the force and pain of it even worse than he had anticipated. He clenched his jaw to keep from crying out; the Colonel was trying to make an example of him, as he had the crucified apes, so Caesar was determined to put up a brave front for as long as he could. He could not—would not—surrender before the eyes of his people.
Even so, the defiant hooting of the apes faltered as they witnessed their king being whipped. Other apes gasped and moaned in sympathy, even though Caesar made no sound.
Equally mute, the Colonel nodded at Red, who whipped Caesar again, just as hard as before, with all the strength of a gorilla. More of the protesting apes fell silent, shocked into speechlessness by the brutal spectacle. Beside Caesar, Percy dropped his eyes and stared bleakly at the dirty slush, his spirit seemingly as broken as his body.
But Caesar refused to give in. Gritting his teeth against the searing agony ripping across his back, he stared stubbornly into the Colonel’s eyes as the two leaders confronted each other, neither willing to back down.
The Colonel nodded a third time, and even Red hesitated for a moment, as though surprised by the command, before lashing Caesar once more. The sharp crack of the whip rang out in the appalled hush that had fallen over the camp. Wincing in pain, Caesar stubbornl
y endured the blows without a sound, even as he felt his own blood streaming down his back, wetting his fur. His tortured back felt like it was on fire. His whole body trembled, succumbing to shock. He couldn’t remember ever experiencing pain like this, not even when Koba shot a bullet into him. He didn’t even have the strength to brace himself against the blows anymore. He tottered unsteadily upon his knees, but kept his head high.
But how much longer could he stand up to this beating? He was only flesh and blood…
Coldly, impassively, the Colonel nodded again, eliciting gasps even from his own soldiers. Preacher looked away, unable to watch. Red gulped, shaken by how far he was being asked to go, but slowly raised his whip again and did as instructed. The lash came down on Caesar’s shredded back with the vengeance of the entire human race.
Caesar’s strength faltered; even he couldn’t stand up to this much physical punishment. Mournful gasps and murmurs rippled through the other apes as his head sagged at last.
Satisfied, the Colonel nodded at the turncoats, who finally released Caesar. The tortured ape crumpled to the ground, his face landing in the cold, muddy slush.
“Okay,” the Colonel said. “Back to work.”
The soldier yelled at the apes to resume their labors, but the apes ignored them. They stared anxiously at their fallen leader instead, as though afraid that he might never rise again.
Caesar lifted his head. Mud smeared his features, clinging to his flesh and fur, but he was not finished yet. He looked back at his people, who were counting on him, then glowered furiously at the Colonel.
“Apes need food,” he growled. “Water.”
The Colonel contemplated the recalcitrant apes, as well as his own hesitant troops, then looked down at Caesar.
“Please,” he said. “Tell them to work.”
Caesar’s body had surrendered, but not his will. Defiance seethed in his voice as he repeated his demands.
“Give them food and wat—”
Before he could finish, the Colonel drew his sidearm and shot Percy in the head, killing him instantly. The orangutan’s body dropped onto the snow beside Caesar, who barely had a heartbeat to react to the gunshot—and Percy’s sudden demise—before, with chilling speed and efficiency, the Colonel placed the barrel of his pistol against Caesar’s temple. The cold metal felt hard against his skin and skull.
“Tell them,” the Colonel said calmly. His voice was eerily contained and level, unlike those of the agitated apes, who vocalized in fear, even as the sharp report of the gunshot still rang in Caesar’s ears.
He glared at the Colonel fearlessly, hating him as he had never hated any human or ape before. Percy’s pointless death was one more atrocity to add to the Colonel’s list of crimes against the apes. No human words or speech could convey the depths of Caesar’s fury. His abused body trembled with rage.
“Five,” the Colonel began. “Four…”
The gun pressed against Caesar’s temple, but he didn’t flinch. If he had to die to prove to the Colonel—and his people—that apes could not be treated like animals, then so be it. He had given his life to the defense of his people. He would gladly do so one last time.
“Three… two…”
Loose stones clattered by the wall as a lone ape picked up one of the fallen boulders, straining under its weight. Turning his head, Caesar saw that it was Lake, frantically returning to work in a desperate attempt to save his life.
No, he thought, distraught. Don’t do this for me.
But it was too late. Another ape bent to lift a rock from the pile, then another and another. As Caesar watched in dismay, his people resumed their labors on the wall, reclaiming their burdens and tools, making all his suffering in vain.
I failed, and he’s won.
The human lowered his gun, putting it back in its holster. He turned toward Red and barked out a command.
“String him up, donkey.”
19
A platform had been erected in the center of the prison yard for all to see. Red bound Caesar to the tall wooden X on it, tying his wrists and ankles with thick lengths of rope, while armed humans stood guard. Caesar put up no resistance, but merely sagged weakly upon the cross. Dried mud caked his face.
That’s not like him, Maurice thought. What have they done to him?
The orangutan lowered the binoculars, horrified by what he had just witnessed. He and the others peered down at the sprawling camp from a ledge overlooking the bottom of the canyon. Rocket and Bad Ape lay beside him, keeping low and out of sight from the humans below, while the girl clung to his back as usual. Maurice had spotted among the guard one of the human soldiers Caesar had spared before.
So much for gratitude, he thought.
Rocket watched his expression, anxious to know what Maurice had seen. The orangutan handed him the binoculars so he could see for himself, too shaken by what he had just witnessed to speak or sign.
“Bad place,” Bad Ape insisted, not for the first time. When the other apes did not respond right away, he addressed his warning to the girl instead, fearfully seeking anyone who might listen. “Bad, bad place.”
The girl stared at him blankly.
Peering through the binoculars, Rocket grunted unhappily.
“What?” Bad Ape asked anxiously, looking as though he was on the verge of fleeing at any moment. He fidgeted restlessly, too frightened to keep still. “What you see…?”
Rocket turned the lenses away from Caesar toward the front of the canyon. Maurice knew what he saw there: masses of chained apes laboring on an immense wall. And not just any apes, but the apes from the fortress, the ones who were supposed to be on their way to a new home. The ones Caesar had ordered them to seek out if he did not return.
Our people, Maurice thought. Enslaved.
The situation in the canyon had proved many times worse than they had feared. They had descended the cliffs searching for Caesar, defying his orders to abandon him if he didn’t return before dawn, only to discover that there was no exodus to rejoin. All of their people were here in this forsaken place, held captive by the Colonel and his troops.
Rocket set the binoculars down.
Must do something, he signed. We are the only ones who can save them now.
Maurice nodded gravely, although it was unclear what they could do under the circumstances. They had already lost Luca, and perhaps Caesar as well. How could only three apes free their people from an army of humans?
“Oh no!” Bad Ape exclaimed.
Maurice turned to see the addled chimp squinting into the wrong end of the binoculars with a look of horror on his face.
“Why they so small?”
Shuddering, he lowered the binoculars. Maurice and Rocket looked at each other; it would have been comical had Bad Ape not been their only remaining ally at this point. Sighing, Rocket reached out and flipped the binoculars around before handing them back to Bad Ape, who still looked puzzled as he lifted them to his eyes once more.
“Ohhh,” he said.
* * *
Red finished binding Caesar to the X, tugging on the knots to make sure they were tight. Caesar winced, but said nothing, too exhausted and discouraged to object. Preacher frowned at the rough treatment.
“All right,” the human said. “That’s good.”
Red looked at Preacher, who cocked his head toward the steps leading down from the platform. Red glanced back at Caesar, his lips curling as he gave the other ape a contemptuous sneer before heading down the steps. Lingering, Preacher watched Red depart, then approached Caesar hesitantly. He glanced about to make sure no one was watching and lowered his voice.
“Look, I owe you one,” the soldier said, “so let me set you straight here, okay? I think he respects you, he does… that’s why you’re still alive. But believe me, he can do a lot worse than this. I’ve seen it.”
A haunted look in his eyes hinted at past horrors. His voice descended to a whisper.
“You do not want to agitate the man. Und
erstand? So just…”
Back off, he gestured.
Still glancing about nervously, Preacher retreated down the steps, leaving Caesar alone upon the platform. The young soldier’s disturbing warning made Caesar all the more fearful for his people’s safety. If even the other humans were afraid of what the Colonel was ultimately capable of, what did that mean for the apes?
Hours passed as Caesar hung upon the cross, with nothing but pain, hunger, thirst, and despair to keep him company. His lips were cracked and dry, while the welts on his back rubbed painfully against the wooden beams, making any true rest or sleep impossible. His wrists and ankles chafed against the ropes. A cold winter wind chilled him to the bone. Darkness fell, dragging the temperature down with it. A diesel generator coughed noisily to life. Harsh security lights assaulted Caesar’s eyes.
Averting his eyes from the glare, he was startled by a loud commotion heading toward him from the rear of the camp, where the mountain resided. Puzzled by the clamor, he saw a large contingent of soldiers rolling various pieces of heavy artillery toward the wall—and the apes working there. Missiles, rocket launchers, and other lethal hardware provided more than enough firepower to destroy every ape in captivity. The sight jolted Caesar, despite his exhausted state. He strained helplessly at his bonds.
Was this it? Had the Colonel decided to end his war against the apes once and for all?
The other apes were alarmed by the approaching weaponry as well. Chained and unarmed, they didn’t stand a chance against the soldiers and their artillery. More soldiers, toting heavy M2 machine guns, appeared and hoisted the formidable weapons up to the tops of the sentry towers, where they were positioned atop sturdy steel tripods. These chores the humans wisely handled themselves, not wanting to place the high-powered guns in the hands of the apes. Caesar feared he was about to witness a bloodbath.
It would be just like the Colonel, he thought, to make me watch my people being slaughtered.