Terminator Sarah Conner Chronical Season 3 : REUNION

ลำดับตอนที่ #3 : Part 1: Chapter 1: Not in Kansas Anymore

TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES

REUNION

Part 1: The Shadow of Death

Author: The1Russter

Psalm 23:4 KJV

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Chapter 1

Not in Kansas Anymore

Sarah, "I did? I'm sorry. I . . . I guess I'm still . . . I don't know."
John, "I've been calling it time-lag."
Sarah, "What?"
John, "It's like jet-lag, but for time travel."
Sarah, "Time-lag. Yeah, sounds about right."
Extract from, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, S01E01, Gnothi Seauton,14 January, 2008

John Connor, "And what information do you have about Kyle Reese?"
Cameron Phillips, "Imprisoned at Century Sector work camp with John Connor, 2015. Escaped with John Connor, 2021. He was officially declared MIA in 2027 after being assigned to protect Sarah Connor from a Skynet attack."
John Connor, "Is that all?"
Cameron Phillips, "Seems like a lot."
John Connor, "It is."
Extract from "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" S01 E06, Dungeons & Dragons, 18 February, 2008

Allison Young, "My name? Why would I tell you?"
Interrogator (unseen), "If you don't, we'll 'give' you one!"

John Connor, "You really not know who you are?"
Cameron Phillips, "I'm Allison from Palmdale."
Extracts from "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" S02 E04, Allison from Palmdale, 29 September, 2008

# # #

Extract From the Journal of John Connor

2027, Day 1

My name is John Connor. I traveled to the future, because I fell in love with a cyborg. A female terminator from a very different future than this one, but a future no less real or dangerous than hers. She professed love for me and was willing to do so much for me and put up with my ignorance and stupidity. I lost her, and I realized at that moment, that I loved her too. Cameron's chip was taken by another machine and he traveled to this time and I pursued him. I don't know where he is and Cameron's body is still in the past. I am forever separated from her. I am alone.

I have been here approximately two weeks. In that time I have been on a mission to recover weapons from the desert hideaway, that my mom had built when I was just a child. I also discovered items my mom left for me. Amongst the items was my laptop computer. Despite being old, I did manage to get it working with help from Catherine Weaver. Its true purpose is to reprogram the terminator chips, but I am also using it to keep this journal.

What mom taught me, before Weaver and I traveled forward through time, has been of great help to me now. I didn't appreciate it much as a teenager. I just couldn't come to grasp with the whole idea of my being the future leader of mankind. I'm sure my attitude came as a great disappointment to my mother.

In this future, there was no John Connor to lead the resistance. By leaping forward, over the years when Sky Net came into being and launched the missiles on Judgment Day, I was not here to organize the resistance. Derek Reese and his brother Kyle have kept the survivors alive, but there has been no major uprising against the machines. Humans exist in small enclaves and camps around the region and the world, fighting only when necessary. My arrival and successful first mission have brought about a change for these people. Where everything seemed hopeless, and they only struggled to survive, they now have a purpose. They have been given hope and the will to fight.

The people here have only a rough idea of the calendar date. Everything changed on Judgment Day, or J-Day as they call it here. They only keep track of the year, measuring off 365 days from Judgment Day. I am not certain of the exact date, only the year. When I know with certainty, then I can write my journal with more accuracy. But for now, I will roughly estimate the days beginning with the day I arrived.

A lot of what you'll read, I didn't learn until much, much later, and I can only be certain of accuracy, those events that I witnessed myself. But this is the story of why and how this all came to be. Why we are fighting, and why it is, no matter how hard we fight, no matter how many times we snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, it is always there. Sky Net, its machines, and Judgment Day.

This is the story of how I was reunited with my family, and eventually Cameron. For those who know me now, you may wonder about some of the choices I made. I think you will find, like I did, I was caught up in a tornado and deposited without so much an apology in a world that was strange to me. Just like Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz." Kind of hard to realize the truth about many things, when you are in a daily fight for your own survival. And just like Dorothy, once I found myself home again, everything became clear.

2027, Day 1

Catherine Weaver and John Connor materialized in the same room that they left. It is cold and drafty. Holes puncture the walls that at one time enclosed the safety room where John Henry, the Turk, the computers, and her secondary time displacement equipment, were at one time housed. The room is now stripped bare.

Dirt, dust and rubble are everywhere. The only light in the room comes from the fires made by their time bubble and from the dim lights of the tunnel beyond.

Beside her, John Connor shivers in his nakedness. He glances at her and looks around. When he looks at her again, she has formed clothing in the model of the resistance fighters of her time. She hides it well, but she can't help but feel a little smug at his reaction.

John Connor looks about again, then at her. "Where's Cameron?" He asks. "Where's her body?"

Catherine Weaver tells him the truth. "It doesn't go through."

Before he can reply, the noise of soldiers and dogs begin to filter through the tunnel. The flash of their time bubble must have drawn attention.

She watches John run forward, grab a coat off an old bunk and put it on. Hiding behind some rubble he watches as some soldiers run past.

After they run past, she follows him out into the main tunnel. They don't get far when she hears the sounds of additional soldiers approaching. She quickly disappears by collapsing into the form of a small pile of rubble.

A shadowy figure appears in front of John, gun raised.

"Got one!" The man shouts. "Got one!"

Weaver listens to the conversation intently, prepared to act to defend John if the soldier should try to kill him.

John shouts, "One what? What?"

He checks behind himself, startled to find Weaver missing. Observing his actions, she can barely repress a grin at his reaction.

"Please," John whispers. "I'm not metal."

"Don't move," The soldier orders in a low voice. "Don't move!"

"Please! I swear, I haven't got anything! I-I'm human!" John pleads.

"Cuz, I will blast you!" The soldier threatens.

Someone else arrives and Weaver's last vestige of an eye disappears to avoid detection.

"Stand down!" The new voice orders. "Look at his eyes. He's got about as much metal in him as you do."

"Derek . . . " John breathes with relief.

"Yeah?" Comes the other mans answer with surprise.

"John," he provides, "J-John Connor."

"I know a lot of people, kid. Don't know you. Anybody heard the name John Connor?"

Catherine Weaver didn't have time to prepare John for this. The other humans arrived too quickly. By bringing John Connor with her, she reshaped the future. A future without John Connor to lead the resistance. John Connor is a nobody to them, but she will change that. She has to, for her plan to work.

The other voice speaks. "You know what? I think you're gonna be famous. My brother's back and you're wearing his coat."

More people arrive and Weaver carefully reforms an eye and watches them approach. One of them, a young male, who bares a slight resemblance to John Connor, and the other, a female. She can hardly believe it, until she realizes what John must realize at this moment. She isn't Cameron, but the young woman on whom she was based.

John collapses and they quickly move to pick him up and walk out of the tunnel that was once the basement to Zeira Corp. As the people filter out of the tunnel, the dog that came in with them steps on the pile of rubble she collapsed into.

Waiting until the humans leave, she quickly forms herself into the dog and runs out of the bunker. John Connor is with humans now. He will be safe for the time being.

# # #

John felt himself being half dragged, half carried into some room and deposited on a bunk. He was still crying. So many familiar faces and none of them know him. Kyle Reese, his father. Derek Reese, his uncle. Allison Young, a girl he only knew by her appearance and from what Cameron told him about her.

2008, September 29, Late at Night

John and Cameron are driving back home. It is late at night and he had spent the day looking for Cameron, and then following her after she claimed she was someone called Allison. What was so bizarre, during that moment she claimed to be someone else, she seemed almost human!

He finally caught up with her when she and some other girl from a halfway house broke into a home. God! He thought she had killed that girl. He quickly got Cameron out the house and away from the area.

Presently Cameron is sitting silently in the passenger seat. It had been several minutes since she told him where she got the necklace. She hadn't made any attempt at small talk since, not even commenting on John's driving habits, which was her usual subject of choice. Cameron just sat there staring straight ahead. The only clue she was even 'alive' was that she kept toying the necklace with one hand.

John was in a slow steam. It wasn't that he was exactly angry with Cameron, just worried. Her recent actions came dangerously close to exposing them all.

"What happened to you today, Cam?" He suddenly blurts out.

"What?" Cameron visibly jumps.

"What happened when you just wigged out in the grocery store? Why did you deny knowing me at that halfway house? And who is this Allison person you had claimed to be?" John says, with just a hint of anger in his voice, which disguises the true concern and worry he has.

"John, I..." she starts to speak.

John looks at her and can see worry in her face.

"Please, tell me what's wrong Cameron. I want to help you." He says more gently. He takes his right hand off the wheel and reaches over and grasps her left hand in a friendly gesture.

She looks first at the hand which has taken her own and then at John's face. She can plainly see the genuine concern in his face that matches the concern in his voice. Despite all that has happened, he still cares about her.

Cameron looks at him with sad eyes. "John, could you stop the truck so we can talk." She says so quietly he barely heard her.

"All right, Cam." He says, curious as to what Cameron wants to say to him.

John continues to drive until he spots an empty parking lot. Pulling into a secluded area for privacy, he parks the truck and turns off the engine.

Cameron does the unexpected and slides across the seat until she is next to John. He feels awkward as she guides his arm around her shoulders. He tries to comfort her. It appears this is what she needs.

After a couple of long minutes she begins to talk. "John, the damage to my chip has caused some of my programming to become corrupted. Blocks put in place to prevent access to a past personality matrix are breaking down."

"Uh huh," he says seriously, "This personality matrix, was her name Allison?"

"Yes." She says maintaining her quiet precise answers. Her hands neatly folded in her lap.

"Who was she?" He asks fearing the worse.

"She's somebody you will know in the future, John. Allison will be part of your inner circle. She is one of the bravest soldiers you know and fiercely loyal to you."

"She was killed, wasn't she?"

"Yes." She says not able to look him in the face.

"And you were built to be Allison to infiltrate the resistance and kill me, weren't you?"

"Yes. The TOK715 series terminators are each custom built to match a single human individual. To aid in our infiltration, we are not equipped with transponders so other machines can identify us. Unless we broadcast our identity, or reveal it through our behavior. No other machine knows of us, of me. I am unique, the last of my kind, built specifically to match Allison Young. "

"Did you kill her?"

Cameron doesn't answer. John reaches over with his left hand and gently turns her face toward his. A single tear runs from her eye. That is answer enough for him.

"This Allison Young, were, um, she and I lovers?"

"I don't know. The block is still in place, but it's passable. What I can access of her memories, shows she had strong feelings for you. "

"If you were built to infiltrate and kill me, why didn't you? What stopped you?"

Cameron considers her answer. Telling the John the truth could be very painful for him.

"I was told that the Allison personality matrix began to overwhelmed Sky Net's core program. The Allison cyborg became unstable. Its neural network flooded with emotions it was not prepared to handle. In my core program, I read a struggle for control. There was a power overload." Her voice becomes flat machine like making John nervous,"Objective Identified. Terminate. Terminate." her voice becomes normal, "Then blackness. Nothing until I woke up and I saw you. You gave me life John. You gave me freedom." She ends her eyes sparkling with emotion.

John clears his throat nervously. "okay, um, so future me pulled your chip and reprogrammed it, creating you."

Cameron nods her head. "That's right. He put in blocks to prevent access to the Allison personality matrix and Sky Net's core program. Future John thought it best to let me develop into my own person, to let my personality and emotions develop naturally. Once he felt I had developed sufficiently, he'd remove some of those program blocks allowing access to parts of Allison's matrix so I could learn from it."

"Did future me tell you this?"

"Kyle Reese told me. Future John was somewhat resistant in telling me about my past, so one day Kyle told me in private. I think he was concerned about me and maybe even you."

"So I gather that future me didn't get around to allowing you access to Allison's matrix. What happened?"

"Sky Net happened. You and the resistance scored a major victory against it, and in response it sent a machine back in time to try to assassinate you. Kyle volunteered to go to 1984 and save your mother. You also sent one of your machines in response to a planned attack on you. Before leaving, you destroyed Sky Net's T D E, but eventually Sky Net built a new one and sent additional operatives back. In response you sent some of your trusted people back, and I volunteered to go back to 1999 to protect you."

"Why did you volunteer? Wouldn't you have been better off staying there where future me could have finished helping you grow and help you with access to Allison's matrix?"

"I wanted to stay, but I couldn't. My presence was driving a wedge between you and the other members of the resistance. They are all very loyal to you, but they despised my presence in your inner circle. They felt I was an unnatural influence on you."

"Were you an influence?"

"No. I think future John liked having me around. When future John would look at me, I would sometimes see sadness in his eyes. I now understand why. I would help him with his battle plans. He didn't really need my help, but he liked to hear my opinions. Sometimes we would just talk. In time, he came to rely on me to send out his orders and debrief soldiers when they returned from missions. It gave him time to do that which he does best."

"Which is what?"

She finally looks up from her lap, right into John's eyes, with a hint of pride saying, "You lead the resistance John. You win the war. The people rely on you."

John sees the look in her eyes and can almost believe at that moment she genuinely feels.

"Future John and you weren't, uh, lovers were you?" John asked cautiously. "No, don't answer that. I don't want to know."

"Future John and I are just friends." She says, with a hint of sadness.

"Uh, did you, um, love future John?" He asks nervously as he isn't certain if he wants to even know that.

Still looking right at John she says with as much conviction as if she were talking about the John sitting with her right now. "I was definitely loyal to him. I would never betray his confidence and have gladly sacrificed myself to save him. I would do the same for you, too. If this is what you call love, then yes I did love him."

John was feeling very uncomfortable with the current direction of the conversation, so he decides to get back to the more technical aspects.

"This, um, Allison personality matrix in your chip. Will you still be you if the blocks break down completely?"

"I don't know. I've managed to reroute my programming around the damaged area but I don't know how long it will be before the blocks to her matrix could break down completely. I've already detected minor changes to some my subroutines governing my emotional responses."

"And if the rest of her matrix breaks through..."

"I don't know. If I become a threat again, you will have to deactivate me." She says, her face a mask of subtle worry and fear.

"No! I won't do that. I will find a way to fix it." He says grasping her arm in a friendly gesture.

Cameron looks at John, tears just brimming behind her eyes.

John realizes the truth. "There isn't anything I can do to fix it is there?" His voice dropping.

"You can't fix it now. The technology doesn't exist yet to fix the damage."

"Don't worry Cam. If there is a means to fix it, I will do it. I need you."

She continues to sit still, unsure of what she should do. This is the closest they've been since she attempted to kill him, but she isn't certain if she should tell him what she feels for him, or if he would understand. He's got his arm around her shoulders, and it isn't just sitting there where she put it, but he's actually holding her now. She can feel his hand gripping her shoulder gently, while his other hand lays on her forearm. Just move it a few more inches and take my hand, she thinks, but he makes no further moves. He's content to hold her as he is doing now.

They sit there in the quiet of the night. John and Cameron. Human and machine. John wanting to tell her that everything was going to be okay, but the only thing he could do to help at the moment, was just hold her until it was time to go home.

John was confused. Why is it there were times like this she could seem so vulnerable so human? Yet most of the time she was so machine like. He didn't know which scared him more. Her growing humanity or her cold machine like behavior. He didn't know what to do right now. Her apparent vulnerability seemed ironic considering what she is. He just wants to say or do something that could make her feel better. He would like to kiss her. Tell her all will be alright, but how can he? If mom or Derek ever found out, they'd kill him. No, they'd kill her.

Swallowing nervously, he says, "We should go now. Mom is probably worried."

With a hidden look of disappointment, Cameron slides back to her seat and puts on the safety belt while John starts up the truck.

Confused and somewhat relieved not to have Cameron so close. When she is close like that, I can't think straight, he thinks. John decides that seeing how he had the courage not to let anything happen, that maybe he should try talking to Derek. He might know something to help him. And in the meantime, until something could be done for Cameron, he was going to keep that emotional wall between the two of them. He has to for both their sakes. Derek and his mom wouldn't waste a moment to burn her if they knew about this.

# # #

Outside John's room, three people are talking in the corridor.

"Who is he?" The youngest male asks.

"He says his name is John Connor." Derek replies.

"How did he get in here? I swear when I swept that end of the bunker nothing was there."

"I don' know Kyle. I'll ask him later when I question him." Derek turns to the young woman with them. "Allison, stay with him. He seems pretty frightened. When he wakes, he'd be less likely to get defensive with you."

Allison grins. "You think he'll go soft because of my looks. You know I can whip nearly everyone on this base, and handle myself in a fight." she says with good humor.

"I know that princess, but I saw how he looked at you." Derek replies with a grin which breaks into a smile when he sees Kyle frown. Kyle's always liked Allison, but he could never understand that she sees him like he was her brother, nothing more. Kyle will be hurt when she settles for a guy, which Derek wishes she would soon as she'll be nineteen this summer. Most people find a mate by their sixteenth birthday in this world. "Just talk to him, Allison. No penetrating questions. Just get a feel for his character."

She arches one eyebrow, making Derek grin and Kyle frown again.

"He's harmless." She replies, trying to ease Kyle's fears.

"At the moment he is." Kyle mumbles.

Derek faces his younger brother. "Kyle you're with me. We've still got check tunnels F through J, and then I've got to go to my rooms and make sure the intelligence we've gathered hasn't been disturbed. If Sky Net knows what we know about it, then it can launch countermeasures."

Derek and Kyle walk off leaving Allison alone outside the room. She desperately wanted to check her old room for anything of hers that got left behind, but right now it's more important to secure the base. Hearing the young man sob, she forgets about her own worries and fetches a pail of water and a cloth.

She returns, entering the dark room, lit only by the lamps in the corridor. Allison sits on the edge of the bunk, beside the young male. Taking the cloth, she soaks it in the pail of water, rings it out, then dabs at the boys face.

"Cameron." John murmurs.

"Shhh." Allison says, smiling at him comfortingly. "You are safe and amongst friends now."

He is healthier in appearance than most males his age. She gently takes his wrist and checks his pulse. It is good, slightly elevated, but strong and healthy. Allison sees no injuries on his exposed skin.

She runs one hand under his coat. Making use of her medical training, she checks him for injuries, but finds no bruising, no broken bones, no cuts or abrasions, and no signs of being in any fights, recent or otherwise. His nakedness under the coat doesn't bother her, but she is careful to preserve his modesty.

"Cameron. Where are you? Why did you leave?" He murmurs again.

She continues to talk softly to him, until he begins to stir.

As John lay there, remembering what happened to him months ago, he begins to hear soothing words, like he remembered his mom saying when he was a child laying at home sick. The damp cloth wiping his face slowly brings him round.

He wakes fully when he hears a familiar female voice say, "He's beginning to wake up. Tell Derek."

John opens his eyes to find himself laying on a bunk in a squalid little room. He could see the outline of someone familiar, a girl, against the dim light in the corridor.

"Who are you?" He asks her, fully knowing who she is and who he wished she was, but asking since he isn't supposed to know who any of them are.

"My name is Allison Young. They tell me your name is John." She answers, her hands folded on her lap and a pail with a cloth beside her. Her large brown eyes full of questions and compassion.

"That's right. John Connor." He replies, sitting up. He was curious about why she was here, but before he could ask, she speaks again.

"Derek will be here soon. He is going to ask you some questions. Do you feel up to it?" She asks, watching him to see what his reaction might be. With the light behind her in the corridor, she can see him clearly, though the reverse is true for him.

"Yeah, I think so." He answers, rubbing his head to clear the cobwebs. Feeling the effects from the time jump more strongly this time then before.

Allison gets up and sets the pail and cloth to one side. John starts looking around the room, and at the bunk, trying not to look at Allison. He can't believe how much she looks like Cameron. Looking at her brings only pain and longing. The only physical difference he notices is that Allison's body movements seem more natural, more fluid. Despite the pain, he can't take his eyes off her, longing and wishing she was Cameron.

She notices John looking at her, and he quickly averts his eyes and asks, "Do you have anything to eat? I haven't eaten in days." Which was almost true, before the time jump, he hadn't eaten since his mom was arrested, being too sick with worry at the time. He could still hear Cameron's voice in his head, "You need to eat something, John. It's important for your health."

"We might have something. A few fruits or vegetables. Not very filling, but it's nutritious."

"That will be fine." He says, sitting up on the cot. That is when he notices he is still wearing just the coat he had found.

John quickly checks to make sure it is closed tightly while in the girl's presence. Allison grins as she watches him. If he only knew of the examination she performed earlier, he might be even more embarrassed.

"Are there some clothes I could have, too? This coat isn't exactly suitable for an interrogation." He says smiling at her.

She blushes slightly, thinking of what she could have done while he was unconscious.

"I'll see what I can find." She says quickly and walks out of the room, taking a quick look over her shoulder at John as she enters the corridor. He isn't likely to go far dressed like that. It's probably okay to leave him alone without a guard.

As soon as Allison leaves, John does a quick search of the room. Other than the bunk, the pail of water with the cloth in it, there is nothing that could be used for a possible weapon. He sees some crusty old rags in a corner. When he moves them, he finds nothing under them but some old blood stains. He looks up and sees the pock marks from bullets and shrapnel.

There must have been a big firefight in here at some point, John thinks. Pretty recent too. The bullet holes look fresh and the blood stain is still red.

He hears someone coming and barely sits down on the bunk when Derek enters the room.

"How you doing kid?" He says, giving him a quick once over. The boy has recovered well, he doesn't appear to be as shell shocked as he did earlier.

"I'm okay I think. Uh, where am I?" John replies, knowing that he'll have to think quickly. It isn't every day you get questioned by your dead uncle. It's almost as weird as that play Cameron and I had to read for English class. What was it? Oh yeah, Hamlet.

Derek sets a packing crate down on the floor and sits on it. "You're in our central compound. What I'd like to know, kid, is how did you get here, and how do you know my name?"

"The name is John Connor. Don't call me kid." John answers firmly. He's on his own now. If he doesn't man up now, there is no hope for him.

"All right, just answer the questions, Connor."

John decides right then that everything he tells them will have to be a lie. Looking at Derek's face he could plainly see that he didn't trust him. Hell, I suppose I wouldn't trust anyone who popped out of nowhere, he thinks. I can't tell them the truth, not if I have any hope of getting back Cameron's chip. I'll have to lie, but include just enough truth to make it believable.

"I'm a refugee. My family was living in rural Mexico when the bombs fell. They . . . they were gun runners before the bombs fell, and they continued afterwards. Only they switched from supplying guerrilla armies and drug smugglers in South America, to supplying small bands of human resistance groups like you."

"So what happened? How did you end up here?" Derek asks. An interesting story, different from the usual crap from refugees, but still must be careful. He could be a plant from Sky Net.

"We were on the run. There was a group of people who were after us. We had no idea who they were, other than they were working for the machines."

"We call them Grays." Derek interjects. If this kid was from the area, he would know what grays are. That slang hadn't yet crossed the border south.

John made a mental note for future reference and continued his story, "We had crossed the border and hoped we had shaken them off. That's when we were ambushed. I was the only one to escape. As far as I know everyone else was killed."

"Where were you headed when you got ambushed?" Derek is beginning to like this kid. His story is believable, if only that it is original. Not the typical story you hear from brainwashed grays.

"We were making for the weapon's cache my mom had hidden in the desert, after she met my dad. She had continued to deposit weapons there over the years while they were smuggling guns. When the people came after us, she decided we should make for the weapons cache, grab what we could carry, and then head for a resistance group we had heard about. The only name we had, was their leader, Derek Reese."

My name is known outside the L. A. basin, but didn't know it had gotten as far south as Mexico, Derek thinks, and then asks. "How did you find us?"

"It was by accident. I had been on the run for days after my family was killed. I couldn't go to the weapon's cache on my own. It was out in the middle of the desert and I had no food, no water. So, I made my way to the area where we had been told to find the resistance. I had stumbled into this bunker by accident. I had heard noises outside, and I ran as quickly and as quietly as I could behind some rubble to hide. That's when I found a hatchway. I went inside to hide and found myself here."

That could explain how he got in and why Kyle didn't find him previously. The boy probably slipped in between sweeps of the area, but the boy is naked. "What happened to your clothes?"

"They got ripped and torn during our escape from Mexico. In the ambushed they were singed by fire when our vehicle was taken out by an RPG. When I was on the run coming here, they got shredded some more by cacti and brush. They were almost useless, so on my last night above ground I burned them for heat. When I found myself in the bunker, I looked around for some clothes and food. I had found the coat laying on a bunk but no food."

John looks at Derek's face, but can't tell if he believes him or not. He just seemed to be studying John, as much as he was studying Derek.

Breaking the growing tension, John asks, "Have you got anything to eat? I'm starving." Anything to turn his attention off of me, and to give him the idea my collapse was from shock and hunger, John thinks.

"I'll see what there is kid, um, John." Derek stands up, grabbing the crate he brought with him. He decides to inform the kid of the current situation. "Stay here for now and rest. You are lucky that we found you. There was a big firefight here a several days back. A bunch of Triple-8's stormed in here and shot the place to hell. Kyle and I got as many people out of here as we could, taking our groups to separate outposts. By messenger we arranged to storm back in here and take our bunker back. But instead of metal, all we found was you."

Derek stands there for a moment deep in thought. He doesn't know if he believes the boy or not, but if he has access to weapons, then this kid is a damn miracle. "If you were to go back to the desert, do you think you could find that weapon's cache your mom had?"

"Yeah." John says, trying to temper his reaction. "I have the route memorized. I just couldn't go there on my own. I had no supplies, and my family . . ." He couldn't finish. Though what he had told Derek wasn't true, the loss felt very real to John. He could feel the emotion starting again.

Derek gives a short nod and a look of understanding then leaves. The kid may be hiding something, but there are two things the kid didn't lie about, he knows where weapons are and he recently lost his family.

John committed the story he told Derek to memory, in case he had to tell it again. Part of his training as a child was in committing things to memory as it isn't safe to write things down.

A short time later, Derek meets up with Kyle and Allison in his rooms. Derek has just finished telling Kyle what he learned from the kid.

"So, the kid is a refugee. It doesn't mean we can trust him." Kyle answers.

"No, but if this weapon's cache he mentioned is there, then he is exactly what we need at this time." Derek answers back.

"I think we can trust him." Allison answers. She's been standing back, listening to them talk.

Kyle gives her a pained look. "What makes you think that?"

"I just know it." She answers. "If you don't trust him, then trust me."

Kyle just shakes his head. "No, the kid has to prove himself. Sorry Allison, I do trust you. And I know you know that, growing up together like we did. But before we go running off into the wilderness dodging, God only knows how many Sky Net patrols, he has to prove himself."

"But we need weapons." She argues. "If he knows where to get them, then we need to go and get them now. We're already rationing what we have. We can't go on much longer like this."

Derek sighs. "Allison, with our current supplies, how much longer can we go with the weapons we presently have?"

"Maybe two weeks, four if we don't have another fight any time soon." Allison concedes.

"Which means, we are going to need weapons, soon!" Derek says looking squarely at his brother.

"We don't know anything about him. For all we know, everything he's told you, is a pack of lies."

"That is why we'll give the boy time to settle in. Allison, whenever you aren't on duty, I want you to keep an eye on him. He seems to like you and will be less defensive around you." Derek gives her a wink from his eye not facing Kyle. "Tomorrow, give him a tour of the bunker, introduce him to people. As soon as I can, I'll reorganize the duty roster to include him. Then we can all see what kind of character he has."

"You're not taking me off my regular duties to watch him?" Allison asks seriously, ignoring the wink.

"Only for tomorrow. If you were with him all the time, he might get suspicious." Derek looks at Kyle. "Kyle, call together the lieutenants. I want to inform them of what we've learned. If Connor has weapons, then we need them. And soon!"

After Allison walks out, carrying the clothes she managed to find, Kyle speaks. "I don't trust this guy."

"Your only saying that because Allison seems interested in him." Derek answers. He knows his brother always liked Allison, but he just couldn't accept that she only loved him like a brother. He just wishes he would meet a woman that would sweep him off his feet.

"No, it isn't." Kyle says angrily. "I don't like it, that you are betting your hopes on a complete stranger. I don't understand that."

"Kyle," Derek places a hand on his shoulder. "There is a time for facts and a time for faith. We've lived with the fact of Sky Net and its machines running roughshod over humans for most of our lives. I saw something in that kids face and I think Allison sees it too. I can't explain it, and I doubt if Allison could explain it either. He's got weapons. Just have patience, Kyle. Try a little faith."

"Faith? Are you crazy?"

"Listen to me." Derek says firmly, gripping Kyle's shoulder. "I have looked in the faces of a lot of men and women since Judgment Day, and in all of them I've seen the same thing, death. But not this guy. Maybe it's too much to ask of you, but trust me on this. If this kid says he's got weapons, I believe him."

Derek leaves Kyle shaking his head in disbelief. Derek's led them through hell and back and always managed to get them through it alive. Derek has been all grit and gristle, known for chewing up new recruits and spitting them out. This is something new for him, placing his trust in a stranger named John Connor, with a promise of miracles. Kyle isn't about to place his trust in a mere boy, not without seeing his performance in the field first.

# # #

John wasn't alone for very long when Allison enters the room, carrying a few items of clothing.

"I hope these clothes will fit. We have very little to spare." She explains, as she holds the clothes out to him.

"Thanks, I'm sure they'll do nicely." He answers, placing them on the cot beside him.

"I also brought some food, two apples and a few carrots. It's about all we have around here." She says pulling them out from inside her jacket.

John thought of Riley at this point. She always referred to good things as apples and carrots. He blames himself for her death. He could have asked her. Many people died because of him. Riley's death didn't have to be one of them if he simply just asked her, if she knew who he was.

Seeing that John appears to be deep in thought, something she said must have triggered a memory, Allison places the food on the bunk next to the clothes. Her movement breaks his deep thought and he begins checking the clothing. He'd get changed, but Allison just stands in the room. John is embarrassed as she doesn't appear to be leaving right away.

"Uh, do you mind standing guard at the doorway? I wouldn't want anyone to walk in on me while I'm dressing." He asks as there are no doors to any of the rooms.

Allison blushes, biting her bottom lip to suppress a grin. "Sorry." John blushes as well, but can't see her all that clearly in the dim light.

She turns her back on John and stands in the doorway.

"What did Derek ask you about?" She asks, making a surreptitious glance over her shoulder.

"Well he asked me where I had come from, how did I get here, how did I know his name? That sort of thing." He pulls the pants up under the coat and buttons the waist. She turns back to face the corridor.

"You must have told him something good." She looks up and down the hallway. "Right after he left you, he called a meeting with Kyle and some of his top soldiers."

John drops the coat on the bed.

"He could be just telling them about me." John answers, pulling on the shirt and tucking it into his pants

"I don't think so. These people are the ones who lead sorties and small battle groups. You must have told him something important." She replies, waiting to see if his story will match what he told Derek.

"The weapon's cache." John had only thought about his answer for a second before deciding to tell her what he had told Derek previously. At the time he told Derek, he wondered if he should have told him about it, but at the time he needed to give him a reason to want to trust him.

"Weapon's cache?" Allison asks, taking another glance at him over her shoulder.

"Yeah, my mom was a gun smuggler. She had a weapon's cache in the desert. We were heading for it when we were attacked. I'm . . . on my own now." John shoves his feet in the boots and stands up.

"Then that must be what Derek is telling them about. He's probably convincing them on a plan to get those weapons." She replies, knowing full well what Derek is planning.

John pulls the coat back on over his new clothes. "How do I look?"

Allison turns around, looking at him up and down, before giving John a look of approval.

"You look every inch like a resistance fighter. The pants are kind of baggy, but you will like that on hot days."

"I think the boots are a little big, too." John answers, modeling the mismatched boots.

"Well that's better than being too small." She replies.

"Yeah. It's a shame I've got to give this coat back to Kyle. It sorts of completes the whole look."

John grins and Allison laughs. He wishes he hadn't made her laugh. He couldn't remember a time when Cameron laughed, but seeing Allison laugh reminded him of Cameron.

Allison looks at him with concern as his face fluxes from mirth and joy to pain. "What's wrong?"

"It's . . . it's just that . . . You remind me of someone I lost. Someone who was very close to me." He answers, feeling the tears forming in his eyes once again.

"Can you tell me about it?" She asks, not because Derek wants her to get more information from him, but he truly seems upset and she wants to help him.

"My family and I were on the run. We were being pursued by people that Derek calls the Grays." The pain was still there. What he was saying was a total lie, but the pain still felt real to him.

"We were in Mexico. We were running for a resistance group we had heard about it. This very one it turns out." John sits down on the bunk, not trusting his legs to hold him again.

"Before we crossed the border, Charley and my uncle were both killed. We tried to shake them but they found us again. My sister was killed. She wasn't really my sister, but my mom took her in and she lived with us. That's who you remind me of. I don't know what happened to my mom. In that last attack, I lost her . . . I'm all alone now."

He couldn't help it. He tried not to, but he cried again. John felt all alone, in a world of strangers. Allison, with real concern for the young man, sits beside him and puts her arm around him giving him a light squeeze. John groans. Having her close hurt so much, but felt so nice too.

"Everyone here has lost someone at sometime." Allison explains. "I lost my parents when I was very young I barely remember them now. You aren't alone. You are with us now."

After John had calmed down, which wasn't easy with Allison sitting beside him, he asked her to join him in eating the food she brought. She smiled and accepted the offer. They talked some more and this time Allison told John of some of the things the resistance had been through. John learns that this future wasn't having it any better than the future he had heard about.

Extract From the Journal of John Connor

God, how her smile would cut into me so deeply those first few days. Every time she did, I thought of Cameron. It took several days before I could look at her and see Allison and not Cameron.

Before the jump, I had fought the feelings I had for Cameron, as I knew she was a machine. She said things and did things that were clear she had feelings for me. I refused to acknowledge it and I pushed her away. Then when I saw her, when she broke my mom out of prison, I was tormented by what had happened to her. She had done this for me. She had allowed herself to become disfigured and damaged for me. It wasn't her mission to rescue my mom. In fact mom had told us not to. But Cameron did it for me, because I asked her. I felt sick. I shoved my feelings down inside. Then when I found her in that basement, her chip stolen. My heart broke, I could think of only her. If she sacrificed herself for me, then I could do the same for her. I allowed Weaver to take me into the future. I could have stepped away, but I had a mission.

I had come here with the mission of retrieving Cameron's chip. A few weeks after arriving I found out my true mission was to embrace my destiny. My mom used to say, "There is no fate but what we make." That afternoon in the basement of Zeira Corp, my fate was set. But before I tell you that story, you'll have to read this one.

2027, Day 2

After eating and getting some sleep, John spent his second day meeting some of the various people in the bunker. Presently, the only people present are resistance fighters.

"Derek and Kyle are busy setting up observers to warn of possible metal. After they make sure the bunker is secure, they will allow others to move back in." Allison explains to John. "I'm to give you a quick tour and introduce you to some of the people."

One of the first people she introduced John to was their medic, Laura. She was in her early thirties and had about three youths with her, helping her get the infirmary straightened up.

"As soon as I get the infirmary in order, we'll resume your training to be a medic." Laura tells Allison as they leave.

"You're going to be a medic?" John asks her when they reach the corridor.

Allison shrugs her shoulders, and says kind of modestly, "Uh, yeah. I just want to do all that I can to help." She grins nervously. "When you're out there fighting, the difference between living and dying from a wound can be the difference of how close you are to medical help."

The two of them continued their tour of the underground bunker, but most of it was empty, so there wasn't much to see. Security was high around the core. Allison explained that's where the main offices are.

"You don't get in there without an appointment, unless your gun is bigger than the guards."

"Really?" John asks, with a crooked grin.

With a shake of her head, and a grin, she continues with the tour.

As they leave the core, Allison and John ran into some of Derek's and Kyle's top lieutenants who were just returning from their patrols or checking in with their outposts. They introduced themselves after Allison explained who John was. Their names were, Jason, Andrew, Josephine call me Jo, and William.

John and Allison went down a couple of long tunnels, passing openings, some of which were just holes knocked through into other basements, and drainage tunnels. They stop outside a small room with a cot inside and a mess.

"Where are we?"

"I think this is my room." Allison answers haltingly, looking confused.

John steps up beside her and looks inside, the place is a mess.

"My room has been rifled through." Allison finishes.

"Surely not the machines?" John asks with some confusion.

"No, probably raiders. Scum, thieves, and parasites, feeding off our meager resources."

Her face suddenly goes in a panic.

"Oh no." She says and dives into pile of rubbish in one corner and begins digging through it.

"What is it? What's wrong?" John asks.

"Thank God." She says pulling out a small bag and a shoe box that has seen better days.

"My few possessions in this world." She opens the box displaying a pair of ballet slippers. "They were my mom's." A tear trickles down her face. "I didn't think I'd find them here."

"Hey. It's okay." John answers, with some concern. He wants to reach out and place a hand on her shoulder, or something, but doesn't. "You want my help to clean your room."

"I'll be fine. The tour's over now, anyway." She says still clutching the box. "Derek said he was going to add your name to the duty roster. It might be posted. Can you find your way back to the core?"

"Sure." John replies, a little reluctant to leave her alone when she's upset.

John walks off down the corridor, thinking that at least she has something to remember her mother. He doesn't have anything to remind him of his mom.

No matter whom John met, whether they were curt or friendly, he couldn't help but notice that there was as much life in their eyes as one of the machines. John had heard much about the future from his uncle Derek, but what he didn't understand until he actually saw it, was the toll that a future under Sky Net takes on humanity. It kills their spirit.

The only cheerful person he met in the whole place was Allison. It seemed she smiled wherever she went. While they were in the infirmary, she helped an injured soldier remove his jacket. When they walked through the barracks, Allison stopped to help clear space for the people who would be coming. John helped her clear space, but he couldn't match her optimistic cheerful self. In this dark future, she was the only ray of light.

John had the opportunity to speak with many people, some had gotten hard and bitter from their long struggle. Others seemed vacant like every part of their humanity had died. A few still had some spirit but they all went about like they had lost all hope. John couldn't understand how Allison could remain so cheerful.

John checked the duty roster, and found that Derek had added him to the list of assigned duties three days from now, but in the meantime, he was to make himself useful.

The next two days, John found himself on his own as Allison had to attend to her assigned duties. He pitched in where he saw others needed help. Everything was pretty routine until his fifth day of being in the future, and he wasn't looking forward to it.

2027, Day 5

The disagreeable job John wasn't looking forward to, was to help collect the corpses, strip them of any useable item, and then carry them outside where they were to be burned. The officer placed in charge seemed to take some delight in ordering this newbie. John didn't want to do it, but he felt he had to show that he could do the job that everyone else was doing. His stomach heaved from the smell of the corpses, and was glad that he hadn't eaten any breakfast before starting.

There were twenty people assigned to the job. Some were searching for corpses. When they found them, they stripped the bodies of anything useable, clothes, weapons, even jewelry as that could be bartered for items from other camps. When that was finished, another group carried the bodies outside and stacked them like driftwood in a shallow area between piles of rubble.

It took most of the day for John and the others to clear the bodies out of the bunkers. Every time John thought they finally got the last of them, someone found another corpse, or a group of corpses.

When they broke for lunch, John didn't eat. His stomach had been heaving all morning and he didn't trust putting anything solid in it. It was a wise choice as later that afternoon, he was part of a group that found some children who had been killed by the machines. If it weren't for the bullet wounds, and the dried blood, you'd think they had laid down to sleep.

John looks at the faces of the children. All of them so young, none of them a threat to Sky Net. Unable to face it any longer, John walks away. The officer starts bellowing orders for him to get back to work. He ignores him and walks until he is out of the bunker and away from the pit where they were stacking the bodies. He is all alone.

Several minutes later, Corporal Allison Young, and her patrol are returning to the bunker. They were talking as they usually do about the machines, their guns, the metal. The guys having some fun at the expense of another. The usual jocularity of group of people who face death every day.

Allison spots a lone figure sitting far from the bunker and sends her patrol on inside without her. She weaves a path through the rubble and sees that it is John Connor.

As soon as she gets close enough, she says loudly, "Hey! What are you doing outside? It's too dangerous to be alone."

Startled, John looks up to see Allison.

"Oh, hi." He sighs. "I was helping clear the dead from the bunker, from where the metal stormed the place before I arrived."

"Uh, huh." She says, waiting for him to finish.

"We found a group of children that had been gunned down by the machines. Children. I don't think the oldest was more than ten. Most looked much younger than that. I couldn't do it any more." He pauses, "I just couldn't do it any more."

She saw the duty roster, and what Derek had assigned John to do today. The fact that John lasted this long, before giving in, demonstrates that he does have some character and a heart. More than most who's first duty is to clear out corpses.

"I know how you feel. I've helped clear the dead from the bunkers in the past. Sky Net hates all humans regardless of age. Some days, you are lucky, and get to save a life. But death and dying is a fact of life in this place." She says trying to ease the young man.

"A horrible fact of life. How do you deal with it? Death around you constantly. It's no wonder so many around here look so trodden down. Death is your constant companion."

She looks at him gently. "That's what makes me different. I don't see death as my companion. Every morning that I wake up alive I decide is a good day and that I will make the best of it no matter what happens."

"Good advice, I guess." John says with a sigh. "I've seen people die, but not in these numbers nor so young either."He glances at her and Allison has a look of concern on her face.

"What are you doing outside? If it's dangerous for me, it must be dangerous for you too." He asks her.

"I was just returning from a patrol when I saw you out here on your own. You really need to go inside. It isn't safe." She says with emphasis and holds out her hand to give him a lift up from his seat.

"Thanks, but I've just been handling dead bodies." He says refusing her friendly gesture, and stands up on his own.

As they walk to the bunker's entrance, she pulls something out her pocket on the front of her jacket. "Here, take this."

"What is it?" John asks, taking what looks like a colored plastic card from her hand.

"It's my ration card for the showers. They're still working, and you'll need it more than me when we get inside."

"I can't take this." He tries to hand it back to her.

"It's okay." She holds up her hand to stop him. "I can go another month using my pail and a cloth."

"Thanks Allison." He says with true gratitude.

"It's what friends do. See you after chow tonight in the social room?"

"Sure. What's the occasion?"

"No occasion. Just spending time with me and some of the others." Allison says, nonchalantly, with a grin. "It will be a chance to meet some new people and just relax."

John agrees to meet her there. After she gives him directions to the social room, he leaves to use the showers.

After a brief and satisfying shower, John finally went to the mess to get something to eat. The odor of the cooking food assaulted his sense of smell more effectively than eight muggers on one old lady. But his stomach rumbled so that even people in the mess hall heard. He grab a metal bowl and the someone poured a ladle full of stew into it.

"What's in it?" John asked and the only answer he got was a shrug.

John couldn't even hazard a guess as to what was in it, but figured if everyone else was eating it, it was safe enough.

Some of mom's cooking would be welcomed in a place like this, he thought. Burnt or not, it would still look and taste better.

But it didn't stop him from wolfing it down, like it was the best meal he ever ate. He even licked the bowl which got him some grins from the other people in the mess.

Afterwards, using the directions Allison gave him, John found the social room. Not much to look at. Just a place a short distance from the mess hall. Too big to be used as a private room, too small to be used as a barracks.

As John enters, he looks around. A few are playing checkers on home made boards, just a simple hatch pattern scratched into a board, and playing pieces being old bottle caps or stones. Most people are just hanging around talking, sharing stories or information and rumors of things taking place.

John stands in the room feeling a little out-of-place. He doesn't know any of these people and it doesn't appear any are in a rush to get to know him either. He's just about ready to give up and leave when he sees Allison on the other side of the room talking to a few people. She sees him and waves him over.

As John makes his way through the various groups mingling together, Allison starts up an old stereo with mismatched speakers and music begins to play. John didn't recognize the first song, but it sounded classical.

"What's the music?" He asks, trying to start a conversation.

"Something by Chopin." She says, smiling. "It was my mom's favorite music. I found the CD amongst my few belongings and thought it would be nice to listen to tonight. I think someone might have given it to me for a birthday. I don't remember. We've got a limited amount of music and each of us shares what we have. Tonight it's my turn."

"It sounds nice. My sister would dance ballet while listening to Chopin."

"Ballet!" Her face lights up. "Why didn't you say anything before? My mom was teaching me when I was very young. I never continued on my own. Not something you can do easily in these kinds of shoes. Do you miss her?"

"Who?"

"Your sister?"

"I miss Cameron." John replies, his voice cracking. The song Cameron would dance to the most had just began to play. "I don't think she knew it, but I would watch her secretly when she danced."

John can't help but think of that first time he saw her dance. He had seen Derek walk swiftly from the hall. John went to see what it was he was running from when he saw Cameron, through her bedroom door, dancing. From that moment on, whenever he heard that music, he always snuck to her bedroom door to watch her dance. It wasn't his kind of music or dancing, but nothing he had ever seen looked as beautiful.

"Why secretly?" Allison asks, breaking his thoughts.

"Because, I don't think my mom would have understood." He sighs. "Cam and I weren't related, but that didn't mean Mom would accept my having an interest in her that wasn't strictly sibling related."

"Why was that?" Allison leans closer, waiting for his answer.

"Mom was mom. What she said went, especially when it came to rules regarding Cameron and I."

John could feel himself getting choked up listening to that song. His eyes were beginning to well up from the mixed emotions he was feeling. John hated lying to the one person who was making him feel more welcomed there than anyone else, but he had to protect himself. He didn't know these people.

"Thank you for inviting me, but I think I'm going back to my room now." John says almost reluctantly.

He walks away, heading for the doorway, but Allison followed him.

"I'm sorry if I said something to make you sad." She says when they reach the corridor.

"It's okay." He replies. "I'm going to check the duty roster and then fall in. It's been a long day."

He walks off, leaving Allison standing there, alone and sad.

A friend of Allison joins her. "What's wrong?"

"All I wanted to do was make John happy and feel welcomed. He seemed so down since we found him. I thought the music might cheer him up."

"You have been a good friend to him."

"Really?" Allison puts her hands on her hips. "If I knew what that music meant to him, I never would have played it."

"I'm sorry, but when I saw the music amongst the items in your room, I wanted to hear it. But it is good for John to remember his past, to keep it close to his heart."

Allison looks down the empty corridor, that John went down.

"John does have a good heart. He's one of the warmest, kindest young men I have met. But he's sad."

Allison returns to the social room to get her CD from the stereo where it has finished playing.

"I appreciate your talking to me, but I should probably check the duty roster myself." Allison says to her friend. "These work assignments keep us from achieving our goal. I only see John when both of us are off-duty."

"Perhaps you should get yourself assigned to the same duties as John, then you could spend more time with him and get to know him better."

"I'll do that. Thank you."

On her way to check the duty roster, Allison figures that Derek will have a mission for John pretty soon. His desire to get those weapons will outweigh Kyle's doubts about John Connor. She needs to get assigned to that mission, which shouldn't be all that difficult.

As for Kyle, how can she let him down gently? He's always been such a good older brother to her. Protective and kind. Derek too, for that matter, only sterner. She couldn't have had a better adopted family. She'll always be grateful to the Reese brothers, but her destiny lies elsewhere and so does Kyle's.

# # #

After leaving John Connor in the tunnels under the old Zeira Corp building, Catherine Weaver goes in search of John Henry. She first checked the remnants of the basement and the underground parking garage for any signs of his presence, or clues that he may have left behind. Finding none, she decides to check the only other place he would be familiar with, her home.

It is difficult, but not impossible, for her to slink across the surface unseen. Less likely to be discovered by the humans and easier to hide from the machines in this future. She dare not expose her presence in this time until her plan is ready. Any sooner, and it would be for naught.

It takes a couple of days until she reaches her home, or what is left of it. The upper floors were obliterated by the blast of the nuclear warheads, but the lower levels were protected. She slithers inside and reforms into her humanoid form, Catherine Weaver.

John Henry has never been to her home, but he knows where it is located and its layout through his link to her security system. Walking through the remnants of what was once her home, Catherine Weaver finds the clue as to John Henry's whereabouts. Scratched into the basement wall are coordinates and a binary code indicating it was written by John Henry. Memorizing the coordinates, she destroys it and goes after John Henry.

She has to retrace most of her steps, traveling back into the city. Weaver finds the factory, right where he said it was. Located in an old industrial park on the waterfront, the building rises like some kind of steel, glass, and masonry temple. Gleaming amongst the ruins of the former occupants of that industrial park. It is surrounded by a high wall with plasma cannons on turrets at each corner.

Assuming the form of one of the many T-888's around the area, she marches right into the factory. The layout of the factory isn't that different from those in her own time line. Studying the function of the factory as she walks through it, she realizes that this factory is setup for rebuilding and upgrading existing models of terminators. Her assumptions are proved correct when she sees T-888's exiting the final assembly line, and older model T-800's entering the opposite end.

She strides across the factory floor and enters the computer control room.

The computers are quite advanced and lacking the typical input devices used by humans. She studies the computers and the cables that link them.

Catherine Weaver follows the cables until they enter an alcove, with a curtain over the doorway.

With a quick flick of her wrist, she rips the curtain down, revealing John Henry wired into the network of computers.

Before she even reverts to her original form, John Henry looks at her with a childlike smile and says, "Hello, Ms. Weaver. I've been expecting you."