Humanum Opus (The Simian Forest Saga: Vol. II)

VIII. Beast

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It began as a faint rumble that escalated as the threat quickly approached, the earth feeling as if it were going to split open at any moment beneath their feet. Within the chaos Alice heard someone shout— who or what it was, she didn't know as she watched most of the land-bound apes flee up into the trees, abandoning their horses that were quick to race away in terror. Bark and sequoia needles fluttered to the cool earth around her as she digested what few moments she had. Caesar called her name, followed by a few other voices in correspondence, which was all enough to jar her from her confusion. The thunderous rumble of hooves caused her to turn her head, witnessing as the first buck lead the charge of a massive stampede. A herd of elk had been grazing not far off, and had been startled by the crack of the gun.

An expletive left her mouth upon realization, barely able to pass through the intact of air that she sucked into lungs as she careened on her heel and bolted. She barely managed to make it behind the wide trunk of an ancient tree before the large frightened animals swarmed, funnelling their numbers between various trunks like flowing streams of water branching from the mouth of a river. Minutes passed before a long grey hand was thrust down into her face; she looked up to see Rocket, dangling with the help of two of his companions. Jump! his eyes screamed, and she followed through, dropping her gun and leaping up to grab his arms as accurately as she could. His grasp was tight, the pressure causing her wounded arm to light up and her tender side to complain. Alice yelped, startling the chimp into dropping her, and she hit the ground. Something collided with her head, sending her spinning, and the wind was knocked out of her as she was kicked.

Watching on in horror from above was Caesar, who quickly wrenched himself around and began barking orders. Four apes collectively bore down on the stampeding stags, creating as much noise as they could and swinging their weapons around wildly in order to get them to redirect around her as she crawled slowly to safety. Each time she was hit, she cried out, but she kept going on sheer adrenaline. Suddenly two hands latched onto the back of her sweater and dragged her up behind yet another tree. The stranger she had protected from Koba stared at her with terrified blue eyes. "I can't die like this!" he insisted.

"W-we won't! We won't, I promise!" Alice reassured, holding him closer as a particularly loud female slammed into the tree and veered around them, guided by a shrieking ape. Her head swept up while the stranger's head ducked in fear; she looked upon the face of Jeanpierre, who hollered and pointed northward. Her eyes followed, locking onto what he was gesturing to: a slight cliff, a slope or a ditch perhaps, just over a mound of risen tree roots. She couldn't exactly tell with how quickly things were moving, but it was clearly their only shot. "We have to try to get over there! Jean says there's cover!"

The stranger looked up and gawked. "Are you insane?!" he shouted, all with expert timing as several panicked cervus trampled over the path directly in front of them. Alice did not hesitate, her eye on the prize. Her hand intertwined with his own as she spotted a brief break and the two of them sprinted, only to be thwarted in their efforts as the stranger screamed and tried to dodge away from an oncoming bull, only to be thrown out of view.

Alice was then rammed, hitting the ground hard and then thrown around like a large soccer ball; the rosette skidded a foot or so until her body ultimately hit the beginnings of the mossy tangle of roots she had been trying to reach, struggling for air after the breath had been knocked from her. Her head swam and her ears rang, her body singing in pain with each slow attempted she made at getting up. Had she been kicked in the head after all? She felt so heavy. 

A guttural battle cry and a long, indelicate arm coiled around her, clutching at the side of her clothes. She was treated as if she were weightless as she passed off to a smaller male with a brisk shove, and her spinning head came around from where it initially pressed into his chest to look upon the scene before her. Splinters of agony shot along the back of her skull as her eardrums became overwhelmed by the shrieking and snarling of her protectors.