Ivy ( rise of the planet of the apes )

Chapter Eighteen

"Ready?", Caesar asked, standing next to me. Blue Eyes and Ash joined him on his side, and Holly and Mia on mine.

"Set!", I grinned, crouching down and waiting.

"Go!"

"You seem tired, C", I said, trying not to laugh. I readjusted myself on his back as he carried me back through the woods. He grunted in response.

I looked across at Holly as she was being carried on the back of a defeated Blue Eyes. He seemed pretty upset when we first won, but seemed suspiciously happier when he realised he'd be carrying Holly back to camp. I'm beginning to see a trend here. And I'm not ecstatic about it either.

I looked to my left and saw Mia on the back of a very annoyed Ash. She turned and saw I was watching.

"Woooo!", she yelled, throwing her hands up in the air. I laughed, shaking my head.

As we got closer to camp, I jumped off Caesar's back and decided to walk beside him instead. I realised he had a reputation to uphold, and me being carried on his back didn't exactly help. I knew he wouldn't have said anything, but he didn't have to.

"You've gotten faster", Caesar signed, seeming impressed.

"So have you", I replied honestly. It was a pretty close race.

"Your girls. They're a lot faster than my boys", he stated. I nodded.

"Running is all the girls have known. We've been running since all this started. This is probably the longest we've stayed at one place", I admitted.

"I want you to live here. You, Jace, and the girls", he signed. I sighed, knowing this was coming.

"I can't. We don't really fit-"

"It's...your...home. You are...family", he said, turning to look at me.

"I want you to stay. Raise your baby here with my own children", he signed, putting a hand on my stomach. I put my hands on his, pulling it away to hold his hand in both of my own. It was so big compared to when I last saw him. He was so much bigger than I last saw him.

"You've grown so much Caesar", I whispered, holding my hand against his face. Tears sprung up in my eyes.

"Why..are you..crying", he spoke, wiping my tears.

"I missed you", I whispered.

Caesar pulled me in for a hug. I buried my face into his fur and cried.

"I thought I lost you forever", I cried.

"So did...I", he whispered, holding me tighter. We stood like that for a few more minutes before I pulled away, wiping my tears.

"Stay", he asked, looking me in the eyes. I smiled, nodding.

"Okay", I whispered, taking a hold of his hand again. We began to walk back to the camp, realising the kids had gone on without us. It had started to get dark. We talked between ourselves about before and after the outbreak. We had too much to catch up on, it seemed.

"I'm going to go check up on Jace", I told Caesar as we returned to the camp. He nodded.

"Meeting is in an hour", he signed, smiling one last time before walking off towards his own home.

I walked back to our tent, smiling to myself as I thought over the events of today.

"Good day?"

"Great", I grinned, sitting down next to Jace on the bed.

I looked at Jace and he looked at me and smiled, pulling me to his side. I lay my head on his shoulder and wrapped my arms around his waist as he did the same and lay his own head on top of mine.