After the Battle of San Francisco, the colony was divided on what to do about the human army arriving to kill them. Caesar suggested standing together to fight them while the elders wanted to flee to protect the future of the tribe. Zuberi and Vanessa were both worried about the well-being of their children and the other apes, particularly the young and the elders. They thought about leaving to start a new life to avoid any conflict, but kept it to themselves, feeling unsure what other apes, particularly Caesar, might think.
Cornelia and Maurice told them to what they thought was right, as long as they stayed together strong. They gathered their closest friends and loved ones, both young and old, in a plan to try to stay away from the war with the humans before it started. They were backed by Prima, the first female member of the Gorilla Guard, and Virgil, both good friend to their son Sokwe, who wanted to ensure the group's freedom and safety.
After a failed attempt by Red, one of Koba's followers, to start a new colony which resulted in an attempt on Cornelia's life and the endangerment of the females and young, Vanessa and Zuberi thought that enough was enough and brought together their group and led them away from the conflict. Leaving behind the safety of Redwood Forest, they always looked for food and water to help them on their journey eastward. On their journey, they came across wild dogs and cats, taking them in as companions, not in the sense as humans would, however, as the apes did not consider them as pets, especially for the younger apes, as well as to help find food and dispose vermin.
They discovered by humans and were easily captured and taken to a facility along with other captive evolved apes to be used to try to find a cure for the Simian Flu through experimentation. The group devised a plan to free them and succeeded with little to no casualties. Among those freed were a group of gibbons with increased intelligence just like other apes and the tribe warmly accepted them, following Caesar's words of unity among apes. With their numbers grown, they decided to find a place big enough for them to live, eventually discovering Yellowstone National Park, inhabited by both native and exotic wildlife without any human maintenance. Vanessa, in memory of her husband, the apes' journey, and the liberation of the new apes, made herself sole leader of her new ape colony with the support of her family and friends.