Birth of the Planet of the Apes

Trails and Fangs

Alex woke to a pound in his head and a tingle in his limbs. When he rolled to a seat, the vertigo hit him like a hammer. He had never had a hangover before, non-the-less ever drank alcohol, yet he was pretty sure this was what it must've felt like. He sent out a long, nasally groan and sunk his head into his knees. What in the world did Riley given him?

Though his head beat at an annoying pace behind his eyes, he tried his best to take in his surroundings. Riley's sleeping bag was still lying in a heap on the ground beside him so it must've been early morning. He looked around and got a shot of light from a few cracks in the rusted barn walls. The shock made him wince and cringe back, which caused another wince as his injured shoulder stretched. The pain brought back flashes of the night before and he instantly looked around for Blue Eyes.

His blue blanket was lying near his feet, folded sloppily but with care. He picked up the fabric with his good hand and sighed before guilt drove him to his feet. He tripped over his wobbly legs several times before he made it to the door of the barn and craned open the door.

Even though the sun was low and shaded by a heavy fog that covered the entire area, Alex couldn't get passed feeling like he was looking directly at it. His eyes squinted into slits and groaned again.

"About time you woke up!" Riley scoffed as she came up to his side, "How's the shoulder?"

All Alex could do was let out another groan.

Riley bit her lip to hold in a laugh, "Meds give you a little hangover did they?"

He glared at her candor then squinted over to the unlit fire circle. "Wh...where's Blue Eyes?" he asked after noticing the chimp was missing.

Riley's face sunk slightly and Alex felt his heart drop. Did Blue Eyes leave? Did he feel so ashamed at what he did yesterday that he felt like he couldn't stay? Alex looked over at the small paddock where Blue Eyes had stabled his horse. It was empty.

"It's okay, Alex," Riley said reassuringly, clearly seeing what was going through his mind, "Blue didn't leave. We've just...ran into a little snag that's all."

Alex raised his eyebrow.

"Well," Riley shrugged, "Apparently, Blue's horse is a pretty good jumper. He must've gotten over the fence sometime last night because what tracks I've found are quite a few hours old. I told Blue that I'd be able to find his horse a lot better than he could, but, being stubborn as always, he insisted I stayed here until you woke up."

"H...how long's he been gone?"

Riley sighed again and motioned up the hill, "About half an hour. I pointed him off in the right direction, but I doubt he'll find anything."

Ignoring his still shaky legs, Alex walked past Riley in the direction she gestured to.

"Alex. Alex! What the hell?!" she ran after him and cut him off abruptly, "Now hold up! I'm not about to let you leave camp right now! You're in no..."

"What if he's hurt?"

"You're hurt you bonehead! And still high as a kite I might add! Let's just wait here until you pass the sobriety test, then, if Blue isn't back yet, we'll go out and look for him. Sound good?"

Alex swayed on his feet. Maybe he was still a little too out of it to go wandering around on uneven ground. With another small sway, he dropped his head and nodded.

Riley led him back to camp, set him down, and then grabbed him a canteen of water and a small meal of miner's lettuce. Alex was quiet for a while, but as his head cleared and the sun started to burn off the fog, he noticed that even Riley was beginning to get antsy. She kept looking up to the hill then over at the shadow of a tree, apparently estimating how much time had passed. Each time she did, she looked even more anxious.