PART 7- THE TRUTH IS DISCOVERED...
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Talking about the mission and what went wrong...

While Farrow is gone to get some clothes for the astronauts, Burke and Virdon decide to step out and do a little impromptu exploring on their own.  After all, they are explorers among the stars...

They of course find trees, bushes, flowers, and a bird.  On an alien world?

Well, I certainly don't see any apes around here...

Their short lived excursion is interrupted by a rifle shot which just narrowly misses Burke's head.  The two astronauts run for their lives, chased by a pair of gorillas on horseback armed with rifles.  Note exploding rock behind Burke's head and the astronauts' reactions to the shot in the next few frames.

Oh, those must be the "apes" that the old man was talking about...

And they have guns!!

Run!

"My God!  Apes with rifles!   What kind of world is this that we've crashed on!?"

The two astronauts hide from a gorilla patrol, their curiosity shelved in light of going back to the shelter and waiting on Farrow to find out more answers to this strange world that they have crashed upon.

Farrow gives the astronauts 'suitable' clothes and shows them a book that he kept hidden.  He had used all the other books he found for starting fires, since they just had words and he didn't read.   However, he kept this one book because it was a 'story book' and had lots of pictures in it.  He liked the pictures...

Curious, Virdon begins to flip through the 'story book'...

What he finds chills his soul...

He calls Burke over to look at the discovery...

It is a picture of New York City, in the year 2503 AD!

Realization dawns on the two astronauts.  They can't go home, because they ARE home!  Virdon realizes they have to go back to their ship to find out what happened.

PREVIOUS / NEXT  PART 8- SEARCHING FOR THE ANSWERS
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