Apes Chapter 26

 

Episode 5

26.

A week had passed since Lances had set up their base there, and the place was soon filled up with more survivors. Soon, Lances have his attention on the group there having a dispute on the allocation of shelter.

“We need that corner. It’s within our boundary.” The leader of the group which was named the City Boys which was a tough-looking guy although he lacked the height of the one that he was confronting.

“I am telling you to back off. That’s no man’s land and it shall remain as so.” The taller one confronting the City Boys’ leader replied. “Unless you want to fight us, the Survivals.”

The Survivals are less than twenty-five in their group but they are hardened fighters. They used to be from the section of the previous city which was considered the ghetto then. The City Boys were equally tough but they were from the skilled groups and among them was the muscled frame and they hold a bigger count at nearly fifty.

“Okay, all of you back off.” Lances stepped in with the fashioned metal rod of over two feet. “I will decide on the boundary here.”

“City Boys, back off to your turf. You can expand the east side.” Lances looked at the leader. “Be careful there, for the Latino are there.”

The leader looked at Lances and then backed off. His retreat drew some cheering from the other side which Lances have to suppress then.

“Survivals, you will move back one level to below. You can have the floor but no one gets here.” With that Lances strolled off to meet Leroy at the ground level of the unit block they had called home in Sanctuary. He saw Leroy seated there holding guard on the storage area. He was armed with the rifle watching then a group of hunters returning with the daily catch.

“We are low on food. I had to chase off some of the desperate ones.” Leroy told Lances. The storage area was a secured location with a strong room, and they found some quantities of salt to keep the meat palatable.

“How much did we get?” Lances were looking at the new hunt and the figure was meager in the kills. He knew that with the scarcity of the hunt, he had to get the hunters out more often and far. The hunts were not his main concern but hunters were holding casualties from the apes when snared or in the hunt. The hunters are not equipped to handle a raging ape although each pack of hunters was a minimum of three to five at most. Like the others, they were all armed with crude weapons.

“We need more food.” Lances muttered to himself.

It was the same for the Colonel who stood at the Control Section looking at the multi-screens that displayed the main sections of Alpha Base. He had no communication with the other cities. He assumed the worst then.

“Doctor Julius, we would appreciate it if you could speed up the testing requested.” The Colonel was looking at the screen in communication with the doctor.

“Colonel, we are working on it. As you probably know …”

“Doctor, do it.” The Colonel terminated the call. “I have to attend to other matters. The Colonel looked to the gathered Senate members of the defunct City.

“Prove to me your worth. We have a war on our hands.”

War was it then when the Section named as the Fortress at the City was taken back by the survivors there. John ‘McCabe’ Anderson kicked at the dead ape in his path. He swung the four feet halberd to remove the right upper limb of the ape.

“That’s mine for the night meal.” Officer Anderson told his men who had fought with him to retake the Fortress. They lost it three months ago and have fought hard for the last week to retake it. Soon, after the apes have withdrawn from the Fortress, it was the front line against the others. The Fortress had over five hundred attackers including members of the Dark Ones to strike and then formed defensive barricades to hold the wave of attacking chimps and gorillas. More survivors were also going there.

“We got the reinforced armory opened.” The armory was untouched by the apes for they were not able to get in. They had tried and later gave up. They left a small group to guard it but Anderson made short works of them. He had the codes to open the locks and soon armed his defenders.

“Take these weapons and fend yourself.” Officer Anderson told them.

“Commander, we have held them off at Gate.” Anderson taken off his inner thoughts looked to the officer reporting to him. With the Colonel disappearance and assumed dead, he had taken command and named himself Commander. He stepped off the wall where he was earlier and approached the main structure inside the Fortress. He went in through the front guarded gate and was soon passing the makeshift for the survivors who had reached the Fortress before it was sealed. He saw then the ones that had taken their rest thereafter their round of guarding or those were wounded.

He had a strict policy on the fatal ones; they are thrown over the wall. He ignored the glaring then and took to the inner chamber and then to the basement where the storage was maintained. It survived the last takeover by the servants when the servants could not break the sealed steel doors. He was one of the few with the codes. And with it, he has the armory at his disposal. And food which was kept there for such events.

“How much is our food level?” Anderson asked the officer in charge.

“We have enough to last us for another six months if we ration it.” The officer in charge replied. “We could supplement by consuming the servants.”

Anderson looked to the officer and nodded. It was a supplement guideline that the guards were advised on during the training. It was part of the survival course mandatory for all the guards.

“Serve it to the arrivals. Mixed it in their food.”

Astrid crouched low on the lower limbs with the eyes on the surroundings. It was being careful and then reached for the dead chimpanzee. It did not know how the other died but the scent was there. It followed it and then saw the dead one. It picked the left arm of the chimpanzee and saw the wound. The wooden stick was seen protruding from the armpit. The blood was there but it stopped flowing. It reached into the wound and then pulled aside the skin. It pushed the fingers in and reached the softer flesh. It pulled at it and dragged the untampered flesh. It placed the small piece of flesh into its mouth. The taste of the soft flesh was refreshing like the first drink after a long hike in the desert.

It is food.