Birth of the Planet of the Apes

Detours

Alex and Riley's hike out of Tamalpais Valley was more difficult than getting in. The roads to Panoramic Highway were so filled with abandoned cars that they finally had to leave the road and cross through the woods. With Riley's compass, they found Muir Woods Road within thirty minutes, but the detour used up more time than planned. All the while, Alex kept quiet, even for him. Riley didn't seem to notice, but his fear of the future kept his thoughts away from any form of communication.

"We shouldn't be too far from the creek now," Riley said, breaking the silence.

They had been on Muir Woods Road for about twenty minutes and the redwoods had slowly been growing in height the whole way, a sure sign they were headed down into the canyon.

Alex pointed to the wooden, moss-covered signs that listed park directions, "The visitor center is down that road there," he pointed, then looked down the road the other way, "The 76 Station is down that way across the bridge. That's where we went to get to the dam." He kept everything short and to the point, not wanting to break his thoughts too much.

"Good," she turned to him, "Now, before we head to the dam, is there anything here that you recognize? It'd be splendid if we didn't have to backtrack."

Alex shook his head. He sunk his head in his hood as he thought back. He remembered the gas station, and that they passed it often, but details about the dam were more vivid. He hoped that he didn't lead them in circles when they got there, then again he had a feeling it would end that way anyway.

Riley looked discouraged but she shrugged it off, "Alright, off to the dam then."

They hiked down the road to the gas station, the lights still fluttering with the little bit of life left in their florescent bulbs. Riley stopped them there for a few minutes while she looked through the store for anything they could possibly use in the future.

There wasn't much left on the shelves. Thieves and other desperate people had cleaned it out years ago. She did manage to find a few lighters, a box of steel wool—something she said could easily start a fire with the solar battery of the radio if the lighters somehow went missing—and some spools of fishing line. There were other knick-knacks she found strewn around the floor that she said she could use for different survival things, but Alex hadn't paid much attention to her after she found the fishing line. His attention had fallen to a thick magazine with an unmistakable yellow border, the bright green eyes of a chimpanzee staring back at him.

'Apes of the Redwoods: The Truth Behind Green Eyes', this had been the last issue of the National Geographic published, just six months before the fragile society of man finally crumbled under the flu outbreak. He never had the chance to read the article; honestly, he was too young to pay the magazine much notice then. He did remember though, that it was one of the biggest stories to come out at that time; its fame mixed in with coverage of the flu outbreak.

"What'd you find, Alex?" Riley asked as she came up behind him. He showed her the faded issue. She stared at the chimp on the cover, seemingly as mesmerized by its eyes as he had been when he found it. After a few seconds, she shivered out of the trance-like stare, "Woo, it's kind of creepy how much his eyes look like that Afghan girl picture they took back in '84. Do you...do you think that's Caesar?"

Alex shook his head, "It's just one of the other chimps that escaped with him. Caesar is...pretty easy to recognize."

The click of her backpack clip caught his attention, "Why don't you bring that with us and you can read it tonight when we make camp. I know I want to read it now, same as you, but we need to cover as much ground as possible today." She glanced outside, "It's almost two from what it looks like, so we've got a good amount of light before we need to stop."