Amanda // Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Chapter 13

I woke up to pounding at the back door. I sat up in alarm.

"Dr. Rodman?" A worried voice called.

I sighed. It sounded like Franklin, a guy my dad worked with.

"Dr. Rodman, I need to talk to you! Can you come to the door?"

I groaned and rolled out of bed, trudging down the stairs.

"Doc!" Franklin called. I pulled open the door.

"My dad's not here." I mumbled, rubbing my eyes from the sudden light.

Franklin started coughing. "O-okay,"

I stared at him blankly. "You okay?"

He continued to cough. "Y-yeah. Listen, can you tell your father-"

He sneezed. I recoiled in disgust before realizing that it was blood on my shirt, not snot.

"Franklin...what-"

He looked at the blood before rushing down the steps and to his car.

"Wait!" I called, but he had already sped off. I stared at the blood on my white shirt and went back inside to throw it in the washing machine.

Why was Franklin that sick, though? What had made him so sick that he started sneezing blood?

-------------------------------------
(I'm sorry but this line is longer than my tolerance for Dodge)

Once my dad got home, we drove to the primate shelter to get Caesar. I tried bringing up what had happened with Franklin, but he seemed like it was a bad day, so I just dropped it.
We walked into the shelter with Caroline, straight to Caesar's cage. Landon unlocked the cage and swung open the door. Caesar looked at us.

"Caesar, come on. We're going home!" I cried happily. "Come on, we're really going."

He just stared at me, then turned back around.

"Home, Caesar." Dad said.

Caesar had a blank face, turning around to close the door.

Landon locked  the door once again.

"I guess he likes it here better, with his own kind." He said smugly.

I didn't understand. Why didn't he want to come with us? What were they doing to him, shocking him until he was completely brainwashed?

Then it hit me. He hated his life with us. And he wanted to leave, so he did.

Just like everyone else.