Chapter: Twenty-Five Minutes to Extinction
00:25:00
Daniel's hand trembled—
not from fear of death,
but from the certainty of it.
The RPG rested heavy on his shoulder, its matte-black tube pointed toward the forest line now drowned in rolling smoke. White-gray clouds poured endlessly from deployed grenades, spreading across the clearing, swallowing watchtowers, walls, and gun nests in choking fog.
"Helicopter ETA confirmed," came the voice through the radio.
"Twenty-five minutes."
Daniel exhaled sharply.
"Then we hold for twenty-five minutes," he said.
"No retreat. No panic."
Around him, 170 armed men locked into position.
Shotguns racked.
Machine guns primed.
Grenades clipped.
Flamethrower pilots checked pressure gauges, flames licking hungrily at their muzzles.
This wasn't a poacher camp anymore.
This was a fortress.
Concrete walls reinforced with scrap steel and jungle timber formed a rough square perimeter. Elevated gun platforms lined the walls. Trip mines, fire trenches, kill corridors—all activated.
And above it all—
Lauren.
Second-in-command.
Cold-eyed.
Precise.
She stood at the missile control array—six homing missiles, their guidance systems already locked on multiple heat and motion signatures approaching through the jungle.
"Targets moving fast," she said calmly.
"Too fast."
Daniel swallowed.
"Fire on my command."
00:22:40
The jungle moved.
Not rustled.
Moved.
Smoke began to twist unnaturally, dragged sideways as if pulled by invisible hands. The ground beneath the outer perimeter softened—roots rising just enough to disrupt footing, to unsettle.
Then—
A roar.
Not loud.
Authoritative.
Every animal sound died instantly.
Men on the walls froze.
"What the hell was that?" someone whispered.
Daniel raised his RPG.
"Eyes forward!"
The Ape Army Emerges
Shapes materialized within the smoke.
First—eyes.
Hundreds of them.
Blue. Green. Gold.
Then bodies.
Camouflage Ape Vanguard units slipped into view, their fur refracting light, bodies shifting color like living shadows. Towering gorillas armored in bark and crystal-growth bone plating advanced behind them.
Baboons moved in packs, unnaturally disciplined, carrying scavenged shields and blades reforged with jungle alloys.
Above—
Canopy runners leapt tree to tree.
Below—
Rootcrawlers tunneled silently.
And at the center—
The Ape King.
Axe resting against his shoulder.
Blue-green energy pulsing slowly through thorn-wrapped veins.
Calm. Unhurried.
Beside him walked Rek'Thar—reptilian general, scales glistening, eyes burning with focused loyalty.
00:20:00
"Missiles ready," Lauren said.
Daniel stared through the scope.
"Wait…"
The Ape King stopped walking.
Smoke parted around him like a curtain.
He looked directly at the base.
At Daniel.
Daniel's chest tightened.
That look—
It wasn't rage.
It wasn't hatred.
It was judgment.
The First Salvo
"FIRE!" Lauren shouted.
Six missiles launched simultaneously.
The sky screamed.
Trails of fire tore through smoke and cloud, tracking heat, movement, life.
Men cheered.
"Direct hits!" someone yelled.
The missiles struck—
The forest erupted.
Fireballs tore into the jungle edge, vaporizing trees, blasting craters, shockwaves ripping outward.
For one second—
Silence.
Daniel smiled.
Then the ground shook.
The Jungle Answers
From the burning craters—
Figures rose.
We see Rûkar effortlessly absorbing entire explosion . Body still burning. but he was unharmed .
He inhales the smoke . The scent of explosion.
Then exhales.
Dispersing the flames in a single motion.
Smoke pouring from his mouth.
He smirks.
"HUH, WHAT A FAILURE"
Charred bark peeled away, revealing regenerating flesh. Vines hardened into armor mid-motion.
apes roared once— then stand in formation .
The Ape King lifted his axe.
He brought it down.
The earth split.
A shockwave of green-blue energy surged forward, smashing into the base walls like a living tsunami. Concrete cracked. Towers collapsed. Men were thrown screaming into smoke and fire.
"OPEN FIRE!" Daniel screamed.
00:17:30
The base erupted.
Machine guns roared, tracers cutting through fog. Shotguns thundered. Flamethrowers unleashed rivers of fire, turning smoke into blazing infernos.
ordinary apes fell.
Then rose again.
Camouflage units slipped through gunfire, appearing behind gunners—throats crushed, spines snapped.
Gorilla shock troops hit the walls.
They tore them apart.
Hands like siege hammers smashed through concrete, ripping mounted guns free and hurling them back into the base.
Baboons flooded through breaches, shrieking, coordinated, lethal.
Rek'Thar moved like a nightmare.
Bullets ricocheted off his scales. He leapt into a machine gun nest and ripped it apart with bare hands, throwing bodies aside as if clearing debris.
00:14:00
"Fall back to inner ring!" Lauren ordered.
Explosions rocked the compound as retreating men triggered pre-set demolitions—fire trenches igniting, mines detonating.
Flames roared.
The Ape King walked through them.
Fire bent away from his body.
Vines burst from the ground, strangling flamethrower pilots before they could scream.
Daniel fired the RPG.
The rocket struck the Ape King square in the chest.
A direct hit.
The explosion lit the battlefield white.
Daniel's heart pounded.
Smoke cleared.
The Ape King stood.
Armor cracked—but regenerating.
He looked down at the scorch mark.
Then back at Daniel.
Daniel felt his knees weaken.
00:10:30
Lauren grabbed Daniel's arm.
"Helicopter inbound. Ten minutes!"
Daniel nodded numbly.
"Hold the command center."
They barricaded.
Last stand.
Men formed firing lines.
Grenades rolled.
The Ape King stopped at the threshold.
He raised one hand.
The army halted.
Silence fell.
He stepped forward alone.
The Praise from the King.
His voice carried—not loud, but inescapable.
"You fought," he said.
"Not with honor—but with will."
He looked over the battlefield—dead men, fallen apes, burning jungle.
"Know this, humans."
"Bodies rot.
Weapons break.
Empires fall."
He placed the axe head against the ground.
"But instinct endures."
He turned to Rek'Thar, to the elite apes, to the army.
"Those who stand with purpose—
Those who evolve not to dominate, but to protect their kind—"
His eyes returned to Daniel.
"They are worthy of memory."
Daniel felt tears sting his eyes.
00:05:00
The sky thundered.
Helicopter blades.
"IT'S HERE!" someone screamed.
The Ape King lifted his axe.
Roots erupted upward—piercing the sky, entangling the helicopter mid-descent. The aircraft spun wildly, blades shattering, metallic body crushed completely before crashing in flames beyond the base.
Daniel screamed.
"No—NO—!"
00:00:00
Time expired.
The Ape King advanced.
The base fell.
Smoke thinned.
Screams faded.
Silence returned to the jungle.
End of Chapter