Corbin pulled the Humvee to a stop and Malakai got out.
“Everyone quiet,” he said, holding up his hand.
The forest stretched out into the valley below them. A helicopter was making its way along what must be the perimeter not far away, spraying tear gas. But as they watched, it suddenly veered and began moving down the valley.
“See?” Corbin said. “They’re calling it in. That’s because they’re on the western perimeter.”
“They’re wasting their airpower, then,” Malakai said. “Listen.”
Corbin shut up, and a little frown appeared on his face.
“What?”
“Follow me,” Malakai said. “And whatever you do, don’t start shooting unless I tell you to. If they know we’re here too soon, this won’t work.”
He led them to a line of rocks just next to and overlooking the upper end of the valley.
“I hear them,” Clancy whispered.
“Shh,” Malakai admonished. He could already see movement in the trees, not in one spot, but everywhere. A thuttering, thumping sound came from woods, almost like a cattle stampede. The limbs of the trees began thrashing.
And then they burst into the clearing—first a chimp, running furiously, one hand gripping what looked like a spear. Just behind him were the gorillas, their knuckles tamping out the beat of the charge. Flores raised his rifle, but Malakai pushed it back down.
Now chimps and orangutans were sailing by overhead, carrying wounded and infants, and without doubt some of them were armed with spears. He remembered being thirteen, and holding a spear, surrounded by children holding spears and clubs. He remembered the flame spitting from the machine-guns of the mercenaries as they charged with those crude weapons, confident that the bullets could not hurt them.
But the shamans had lied, of course, and they fell by dozens. He didn’t remember how it ended—only later, being carried by his uncle once more into the shelter of the forest.
Only when he judged that most of the apes had gone by did he raise his rifle and take aim at a young, straggling orangutan.
His shot went true, the tranquilizer dart striking it in the neck. He worked the bolt action and put in another dart as Corbin and Flores began to shoot, as well. Malakai aimed and knocked another one down, this time a limping gorilla. A chimp traveling beside him noticed, and her gaze flashed to him.
Flores shot at the chimp, but she skipped behind a tree and darted off through the branches. The gorilla, looking confused, went a few more steps before slumping against a rock, panting.
Then the last of them were past.
“That’s six,” Corbin said. “That’s good enough. I’m calling in the strike.”
Higher up the slope, the forest began to break up, and Caesar brought them to a halt. They were clear of the stinging gas, and the helicopter was gone. They had succeeded, for now, and his troop needed rest. Then they would go over the mountain and keep going. His dream—of living in his beloved woods, where Will used to bring him—was over.
He wondered if Koba had survived. He hoped so.
He heard excited Waaa!-calls from downslope, the kind that signified danger. He dropped from his branch and went to see what the matter was.
It was Cornelia.
Humans, she signed, pointing downslope. Hiding. Shot Herman with sleepy gun, shot others, too.
Caesar felt his belly tighten. Then he began singling out apes.
Maurice came down.
You need orangs, to carry. Herman heavy.
Caesar nodded, and with six orangs, three gorillas, and five chimps, he started back downslope.
He noticed that Cornelia was with them, and motioned her back.
I know where, she signed, defiantly.
He realized she was right, and he couldn’t waste time arguing with her or putting her in her place. So he gave her a curt nod as they continued on.
* * *
Corbin took the walkie-talkie from his belt.
“Stop,” Clancy said.
Malakai turned, but he already knew what was happening. He had known last night, for that matter.
Corbin didn’t turn until he heard the gun cock.
Clancy was pointing a pistol at him.
“They deserve their chance,” she said. “We had ours. They deserve theirs. Don’t you see? They’re not just apes anymore. They aren’t human either. They’re something… different.”
“I’m just calling the capture team.”
“No,” she said. “You’re not. We’ve live-captured all the apes Gen Sys needs. There’s no need to capture all of them for what they want. You said ‘strike.’ You’re going to bomb the shit out of them, aren’t you? That was always the plan.”
“Smart girl,” Corbin said. “But you’re being real stupid right now. Drop that thing, and I’ll forget about it.”
“They haven’t done anything,” she said. “They could have killed us. But they didn’t.”
“They started the plague,” Flores said.
“No,” she said. “Gen Sys did. They’re just cleaning up their mess. Call the strike somewhere else—anywhere. In a week no one will know or care about these apes. Then they can survive or not, on their own terms.”
“Put the gun down, Clancy,” Corbin said.
At the moment, several apes broke into the clearing. Clancy’s hands were already shaking, and now her eyes shifted. Corbin drew his pistol and shot her. She looked vastly surprised and backed into a tree.
Corbin lifted the walkie-talkie with the other hand.
“HQ, we have the flock, repeat, we have the flock. Outside strike radius from these coordinates, running north. Will advise when clear.”
Malakai had never felt so calm, so at peace in all of his life as when he drew his pistol and shot Corbin between the eyes. Flores still hadn’t figured out what was going on when the next bullet took him out of the bright world. The next was for Kyung, who almost got his rifle up in time.
Then Stillman shot, and a white heat exploded in Malakai’s gut. He turned a little and shot Stillman. He fired at Ackers as he felt two more bullets strike him. Ackers fell—that left only Byrd.
But now he couldn’t raise his gun arm, and Byrd had a bead on his head.
Ah, well, he thought.
But then a gun fired, and it didn’t belong to Byrd. He saw Clancy, sitting with her back against a tree, her pistol raised, breathing in great heaving gasps. Byrd dropped without a word.
“Thank you,” Clancy told him. “It was… the right thing.”
“Yes,” Malakai gasped, looking with mild disbelief at the damage done to his body. It wasn’t only gorillas who looked confused when they were shot. He had seen plenty of people who didn’t know they were dead.
Then Malakai saw the apes approaching.
“You have to stop the strike,” Clancy said weakly. “You…”
Her arm dropped and her chin fell to rest on her chest. She took one more breath.
Malakai looked up into the eyes of the chimpanzee, its strange, green-flecked gaze, so full of life and intelligence.
“If you can understand me,” he said, “You need to get your troop out of here, and go fast. There’s going to be fire, do you understand? A lot of fire. I can give you a little more time. Hurry.”
The chimp held his gaze for a moment, and he was suddenly back on Mount Virunga, staring into the eyes of his first gorilla. Into the eyes of every ape, every man he had ever watched die.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“Thank you,” it croaked.
For a moment he was so stunned that he couldn’t say anything.
“For God’s sake,” he finally gasped. “Run!”
And with no more hesitation, the chimpanzee ran. The other apes followed, carrying their drugged comrades.