Birth of the Planet of the Apes

Shelter Part 1

Though Blue Eyes helped Alex because of his shoulder, he couldn't help but notice the state of the previously ignored tent as Riley tried to discreetly stuff it up into her backpack. The fabric looked fine but there were at least two poles that were snapped clean through.

His heart sank. Even with his rescue from the cougar and their treatment of him afterwards, he felt like all he had done since he met them was bring them problems. The idea of leaving ran through his head again, however he made a promise to help them get to the colony to talk to his father and a promise was a promise.

Riley made a move to look up and he quickly turned his eyes away, focusing on the stitching of a pocket on Alex's bag. She was obviously trying to keep him from seeing the ruined tent, so he hoped his feint at inobservance was convincing. Luckily, she didn't seem to notice him and was soon tying her and Alex's packs together and helping them onto his back.

"You sure they're not too heavy?" she asked as she clipped the front snap across his chest, "I can carry mine you know."

Even though they were a little cumbersome and he was still winded from their run-in with the cougar, he didn't voice any of these discomforts out loud and instead shook his head with a low snort and dropped down to his knuckles.

Riley raised her eyebrows, not believing him in the slightest, and turned to Alex, "You good?" he gave one of his jerky nods, "Good. Let's go."

They traveled at a quick pace, with Riley leading them northward and Alex and Blue Eyes following close behind. Blue Eyes started the trip on three legs, carrying his spear in his free hand, but after thirty minutes of switching the spear between tired arms, Alex noticed his fatigue and offered to take the spear off his hands. He gratefully obliged.

Once able to focus on something other than keeping up with them, he noticed just how good humored the others were, especially after what happened that morning. Though he initially thought it odd, in retrospect, it wasn't all that strange. His father had laughed after almost being crushed by the bear that scared his chest, so the humans acting the same way wasn't too far-fetched. In fact, seeing Riley facing the cougar unarmed was probably more strange then them laughing over it. Humans weren't very intimidating when they didn't have their guns to hide behind, and seeing such a small human take on an animal like that with nothing but bare hands definitely warranted some respect.

An odd, throaty noise came from in front of him, catching his attention. The noise seemed to be coming from Riley. Confused, Blue Eyes grunted over to Alex and motioned with his eyes towards the girl, hoping the boy would understand the question.

Alex grinned, "She's humming. Not sure what though," he whispered.

"Carry On My Wayward Son, Kansas," she called back, "I know I'm tone deaf but it's too quiet and I'm bored." She slumped her shoulders and stared at the darkening sky for a few seconds before turning around with a lighthearted skip. Blue Eyes felt himself shrink down as her eyes fell on him. "So, Blue," she said with a smirk, he tried to keep from eye contact, "This has been bugging me for a while now and, since we've got nothing better to do, I figured now's as good a time as any..."

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep the worried look off his face. A quick glance at Alex showed the same look, which wasn't comforting at all.

They both seemed to hold their breath when Riley took a big lungful of air, "How old are you?"

"Really?" Alex said in a grumble. Blue Eyes huffed through flared nostrils.

Riley shrugged her shoulders innocently, "What? Like I said...bored. What's wrong with a little suspense? Besides, the look on y'all's faces was worth it."