Starting in 2016, Hunsiker, the first known carrier of the ALZ-113 virus, spreads the infection first in France, then to Europe, then all over the world. Entire governments trace where the virus started, which is San Francisco. As entire governments of every nation in the world, is trying to find a cure but proves difficult. The virus causes many nations to declare martial law, and massive civil unrest breaks out, followed by power outage, and causing millions of deaths worldwide. The virus finally causes the collapse of human civilization and the economic collapse of every country in the world. Ten years later, Caesar now leads and governs a new generation of apes in a community located in the Muir Woods Park. The group includes comrades from the ape sanctuary (notably Rocket and Maurice) as well as Koba, the scarfaced bonobo formerly experimented on at Gen-sys. Caesar leads the apes on a hunting party for deer, where his adolescent son, Blue Eyes, is scarred by an attacking grizzly bear but is saved by Caesar and Koba. Afterwards, Caesar is summoned to his home in the apes' newly built village, where his sick wife has given birth to a newborn son Blue Eyes and Ash (son of Rocket) encounter a small party of armed survivors in the forest led by a man named Malcolm. In a panic, Carver, holding deep distrust for the apes, shoots and wounds Ash. Caesar and the other apes appear ordering the humans to leave the woods, but sends Koba and two other apes to allow them. It is revealed a group of humans genetically immune to the virus have established a guarded safe-haven inside a semi-built tower in the heart of post-apocalyptic San Francisco The Ape Council then debates over to wage war against the humans since they attacked one of their own. However, Caesar is against this, stating the apes have created so much and can't afford to lose themselves in war. He is soon told by Koba that he will do anything Caesar ordered due to him liberating him from human torture, but states the apes most show strength to which Caesar agrees
