For a majority of the first act of Dawn, humans are larger forgotten about. Little remains of man after the virus that struck ten years ago. There were survivors of the virus, but those who lived only went on to kill each other in the chaos that came after the fall. On the opposite side of the Golden Gate Bridge the apes have carved out a peaceful existence for themselves in the Muir Woods of Northern California. Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his genetically advanced kin built not just a home, but a society. They have shelter, they hunt with tools and they have rules, the most important one being: Ape shall not kill Ape.