War Technicalities [UNDER REVISION]

Chapter 3: Fortress Of The Heart [R]

Haley remembers a scream. It had been a high-pitched, shrill sound, which wasn't uncommon for boys Haley's age. But the man who screamed wasn't a boy; he was a man whose voice had grown deep and serious. Even his laughs usually sounded hoarse, as opposed to that girly screech. "Haley, what are you doing!?" He kept yelling, and Haley remembers giggling at the man who stood a hundred feet below her. "Your father will kill me and then you if he sees you up there!"

"Then don't tell him." She had laughed and struggled to climb farther out on the branch. Her fingers had hurt more than she had expected they would, and she winced. She could hear Will's heart stop when she stumbled and start again when she found her grip. "Phew," She sighed softly and dangled. But, seemingly out of nowhere, something scurried across her fingers and Haley jolted back. Her young face paled when she slipped, and the squirrel flinched at her own terrified scream. At the time, Haley thought she was really going to die - Will thought she was going to die - but she only fell ten feet before she was saved.

Haley barely remembers the sound of Caesar's frantic, worried gibbers, and his horrified face. All she clearly remembers was how soft his fur had been against her shoulder, how his arm felt gentle yet desperate around her middle, and how he smelled surprisingly like maple and grass, despite it only being his third day in the wild. She had closed her eyes and basked in being swung through the trees, feeling safe so soon after thinking she was going to die. Caesar had felt warm - so unbelievably warm - and not human at all. She still does not understand why that was a good thing.

But this was not that.

Haley felt her ribs already begin to bruise, and she punched and scratched at the rough arm around her middle. "Let go!" She kept yelling. The moment she was caught, the shrewdness had gone quiet, and made her voice echo across the still woods. The grip around her was too tight and her body struggled to regain the oxygen it had lost. Haley felt lightheaded and her neck jerked painfully at her captor's every swing. She knew she was too delirious to put up a successful fight, but trepidation was a powerful motivator and she couldn't stop hitting and kicking at whatever she found.

There were too many apes, and she knew they were taking her towards more; the chance was too high that Caesar would be one of them. Haley wasn't ready to see him again, or to see the loathing he built towards her for what she had done -- for what she hadn't done.

But it was pointless, and all-too-soon, she was tossed into the mud with a revolting slosh. Her shoulder popped under her weight and her arm fell limp, but the apes didn't notice; they grabbed its wrist and dragged her away through the filth. Haley could only gag at the wave of pain that stabbed through her shoulder, down towards her toes. The growing cold did little to numb the torture, and she barely had the strength to uselessly kick at the perpetrator. When she was finally left alone, her arms lifelessly tied to the pole above her head, Haley's body collapsed -- drained.

Her chest rose and fell rapidly. She couldn't comprehend how she had been relaxing on the rooftop only a few short hours ago. Every muscle stung and throbbed.

It took a while for Haley's heart and lungs to settle. It made her cuts, bruises, and presumedly-dislocated shoulder throb louder, but she was happy to breathe. Her frantic brain was calming, and her vision was clearing, and despite her pain, Haley found herself gaping at the clearing view. She had been worried about there being maybe a hundred apes at their destination, and as it turns out, she was an underestimating fool.

The rain was cascading across the ape village. More than a dozen baby chimps were chasing and splashing in the mud directly ahead of Haley. Another group of young apes sat in front of a bulbous orangutan. For each baby, a couple of older apes busied themselves with shielding food from the rain. Dozens more could be seen in the trees or be seen disappearing over the mountainside. There were bonobos, gorillas, chimps, orangutans -- every moment, there was a new, rubbery face. Haley watched in awe as some apes skinned animals, peeled fruits, weaved rope, sharpened stones, fastened stones to sticks, and some showed the younger apes how to write.