"TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES - ALL CREATION"

The characters and related properties of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" do not belong to the author.


2028

John Connor was still clutching his stomach when he threw himself into the bunker. He was losing blood, and fast. The bullet in his stomach roared with his each and every movement. But he ignored it. He had too. All that mattered was the chip in his left hand, and even that had found itself covered in much of his own blood as he stumbled down the stairs near the bunker's entrance.

"It's alright. I got you." Derek Reese quickly swooped down and put John's hand onto his shoulder. "We're almost there."

They proceeded into the darkness that blanketed the hallways, ignoring the ongoing chaos that was taking place outside. A squad of TechCom soldiers, or what was left of them, rushed past them as they made their way to the TDE.

John was drifting in and out of consciousness at this point. The Resistance had fallen. The screams of the fighting men and women dying outside overshadowed those moments when he regained his composure. And there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Derek gently set John into the chair next to the control panel of the TDE. He began making adjustments to the many dials and mechanisms that decorated this last chance at survival.

"Okay, if I got this right, we should be heading back to 2009, the time when you first jumped, right?"

John gave a weak nod and Derek proceeded to gently pick him up and guide him to the pad where the time displacement bubble would form before he returned to the controls.

"Alright, you got a ten second warm up time and then we should be good."

The screams outside were growing in intensity. John barely noticed Derek's hand on his shoulder.

"This is it, kid. Make it count."

The ten second timer appeared onto the screen nearest to John. He clutched the chip in his hand tighter than ever, and drops of his blood began to trickle down to the floor as he closed his eyes and prayed to whatever deity that might give him this one last chance to make things right.

Derek took up a defensive position with his plasma rifle right next to the door. Both of them could hear the machines advancing down the halls killing everything in their wake.

They might not have those ten seconds.

8…

Derek yelled something that John couldn't make out and fired blindly down the hallway.

6…

Derek's generosity was returned with an explosion that knocked him clear of his feet, and took much of the doorway with it. He shook it off and jumped down to the lower platform where John was at. They were coming through any second.

4…

Bullets decorated various parts of the wall near Derek's head as he ducked under some cover near John. He then proceeded to use up his last remaining rounds against the fatal doorway and letting out a curse once the fleeting moment arrived. This was it.

2…

John saw the T-600 walk patiently through the door and John stared at the machine's head, the large metal skull that had haunted him his entire life. It met his gaze with almost a curious notion, ignoring the seasoned Resistance fighter than was previously discouraging its entry. Derek frantically tossed his empty plasma rifle down and began unloading his pistol onto the emotionless being, but it was doing little good. The T-600 kept its gaze with John, as if in a trance, and the minigun down by its side began to come to life. It was time.

"Derek!" John screamed as a cloud of electricity amplified his voice a hundred times over.

0…

The roar of a dozen bullets echoed throughout the room. When the darkness took over, John had only one lingering thought.

I'm sorry, Cameron.