Apes Chapter 4

4.

Astrid was dragged by its upper limbs by both guards towards the courtyard. Its eyes bulged out in fear of seeing the mass of its kind all congregated behind the barbed wires. It saw the frightened ones, the confused, the agitated, and then the deep resentment among them. There was nothing ever recorded by their masters. There may have been notes on such research to it but it was not considered that moment.

Astrid was tossed over the wire but it landed on its limbs as part of its genetic makeup. It looked around and saw the staring eyes. It looked for the familiar ones and there was none. All of them were strangers to each other then. It moved forth on its hind legs with the upper limbs hanging loosely. It was a cautionary approach to access if they were to be any violence. As a female gender, it was unnatural for them to lead but Astrid was different. It was never in any group having been born in captivity. With the care of the doctor, it had been treated well, and later its position was seen to be of privilege. It gave the chimp some form of control over the others. And envy by the others.

Astrid saw the sneering and then the grunts. Those were the alpha males that it had ignored their signs when at proximity. If it was during the older times Astrid would have been no significant chimp but another in the list of others who were to serve the alpha male. That had changed with the presence of the master who was overlord to many. An Alpha male approached Astrid. It sneered at Astrid before it grunts the words formed in its mind.

Astrid, we are all the same here. You are no more the one.

Astrid calmly looked at the other. It was an unusual action by their breed but the following action reflected the change in the apes.

Iliad, you are not the Alpha Male here. There are no alpha males here. There are only our chimpanzees. We are one clan.

That call caught the other off guard but the most surprising move was the low screeching murmurings among the others. Iliad turned to look at them and singled out some others like itself but they were silent and unmoving. The females and younger males were moving into groups. They were forming new grouping but not by ranks. They were grouping with familiarity during their services, and Astrid group was huge and growing.

Astrid had been considered as their leader.

Astrid, what are you planning to do?

Astrid looked to the ones in its group. It gave the words out to stand down and wait.

Do not move.

It did not go well to the other group of chimpanzees. They were young males who have never seen how a group should act in such situations.

We fight them now. The call of the King must be heeded.

Astrid charged over on her four limbs and stopped short of the male. It confronted the young male which bellowed out the challenge.

That one who died was no King. It’s only his name but he was no King.

Astrid then lashed out with the right paw onto the other. It was an unusual move but it would have been the move done by the leader of the clan. The young male fell to the side and then jumped up but it stopped short of attacking Astrid. Its upper limbs were stretched open but it will not strike.

I am Astrid. Stand down.

The male retreated then. That scene did not go well down with the next pen of gorillas. They saw the male stand down and it was a shame to them. They began roaring and then the thumping of the chests with their upper limbs. The chimpanzees reacted with their sneering at the huge counterparts.

“Officer Lanceston, what is your assessment?” The younger officer looked to the Enforcer Leader under the Elite Sniper Section of the Enforcer Division. The officer referred to was Senior Officer Bernice Lanceston; lead sniper of the Enforcers and also the daughter of Doctor Lanceston. She was like her father; slim and if beauty calls for being slim was a consideration. She was dressed like the other officers in the blue overall and jacket but her uniform was filled out well in the curves. She wore a waist belt with the huge sidearm and the extra pouches for the ammunition. Instead of a dagger in her right boot, it was a small sidearm. She also held a heavy powered rifle that she could take down a five feet figure in a thousand yards.

“Where are the sonar cannons?” Bernice asked. The sonar cannons were the invention of her father, Doctor Lanceston. It was a weapon of deterrent and not of killing.

“They are not available.” Bernice was told. She then smiled at the reply. She knew then without it; she was free to use whatever force available. She picked up her comm unit.

“Shooters, I want those apes watched closely. The gorillas are yours to pick.” Bernice told her men.  She then saw the one chimp that was her father’s companion. The chimp was everything that she was not soon after her mother died. She was engaged in the training to be an Enforcer and later she went for the sniper course. She was not keen to return to her home without her mother there. She had never favored her father for his love for those infernal chimps that exceeded her love. She went to work on her role as the Enforcer. What was the cause of her hatred then? She had never liked the chimps when she was cornered by them when younger when a group of them escaped the cages. She screamed at being cornered and it was finally over when her father took them away. She was also blamed for going to the cages.

“Boss, we got some movement in the gorillas.” Bernice heard the shooter but her focus was on Astrid.

The other had just challenged the young male. It was an unprecedented move by a female chimp but getting them to be servants was also unprecedented. She focused on the chimp and then saw the stand down. That was also unusual but what was expected was the commotion among the gorillas. She turned to look and access the situation.

It was perfect.

“Shoot the one with the white fleece on the right shoulder.”

That shot triggered took down the raging gorilla and the others reacted in anger. The gorillas went into a rage and began moving towards the Enforcers. Another shot rang out and took down the leading gorilla. The machine gun setup there then took its deadly salvo on the gorillas. The wounded huge creatures charged the wires and leaped over their dead numbers but they did not make it far. The other machine guns nearby were moved to shoot at the gorillas. They opened up and the slaughtering began.

It was then Bernice looked to the chimpanzees and saw them all huddled to the side. They were not moving and Astrid was standing before them staring at her. She wanted to tell the gunners to shoot at the chimps but that will be considered as killing. She could not do that openly too.

“They are dead, Boss.” Bernice looked over and saw the threats of the gorillas were handled.

“Shoot the wounded and then round up the others. They need to be kept behind bars until we access the situation.”