Chapter 1 - A strange new future.
The basement of the Zeira Corporation was the last place John wanted or expected to be right now. The shock of almost being crushed by a machine drone was bad enough, but then finding Cameron's motionless body in the basement was enough to send him over the edge. With his mother and agent James Ellison in the room also, they watched as Catherine Weaver determined with a glace that Cameron had willingly given her chip to John Henry, the AI she was supposed to destroy. Sarah pointed out to John a message on a nearby computer, reciting the same three words over and over, 'I'm sorry John'. As John read the words, he felt like he'd lost something precious to him. His Cameron was gone, after everything that had happened she was gone and he wanted her back, he needed her back. Now, Catherine had started up a machine which began to emit bursts of electrical energy around the room. Catherine took her place behind Cameron's body, while John stood on her other side. John and Sarah turned to each other. "John, we can't". She was already backing away.
"He's got her chip!" John watched with a mixture of surprise and horror as his mother began to back out of the slowly forming sphere of electrical energy. Sarah didn't heed John's words and continued to back away. "He's got her!" His plea again didn't prompt Sarah to stop and she backed out of the sphere, which could clearly be seen by all. Sarah was now out of the sphere, not once taking her eyes from her son. John briefly shook his head, hurt and confused on why she was doing this, "Mom?" He hoped she would step forwards again, but she didn't. "I'll stop it!" At that moment, John knew he was now alone. He had already made his decision upon seeing Cameron's motionless body that he was going to rescue her. He just didn't expect his mother to not come with him. The time displacement sphere had now taken shape around John, Catherine and Cameron's body. John looked up at it and he remembered the first time he had jumped, how painful it back one last time at his mother, and in to her green eyes, the same eyes as his, John said goodbye without saying any words. To his left, Catherine knelt down and John did the same, just before the light become unbearable to look at and then they were gone.
John felt his feet leave the ground and then he landed again, his skin burning and his head felt like it was ready to explode. John opened his eyes, and slowly stood up, his now bare feet burning on the hot concrete he was now standing on. At first glance, it looked like nothing was different, except the darkness of the room. But as John looked up, the differences became obvious. There were large holes in the walls and thick layers of dust everywhere. He was now in the future, in the time he was supposed to be leading the war against Skynet and its machines, yet it seemed so quiet, a lot quieter then he thought it would have been. The concrete around him had buckled and shattered in to a perfect circle around him. Small fires were burning from the circle, fires caused from the time displacement field energy. John felt some movement and turned to see Catherine was with him. She was naked and John remembered that so was he.
Quickly moving his hands to cover himself he looked away and hoped a pile of warm and soft clothes would just appear before him. He looked back to Catherine and saw she was now fully clothed. Being a T one thousand, she could fashion any form of clothing for herself. John, now being the only one naked, felt cold and exposed. Trying to ignore it, he looked down and expecting to see Cameron, he saw nothing, she wasn't anywhere "Where's Cameron? Where's her body?" Catherine had taken the moment to look around the room herself and turned back and said, "It's doesn't go through". John was taken aback by the lack of answer and had to think. Cameron's face had been damaged and her metal endoskeleton exposed. She's couldn't travel under those circumstances and beside the condition of her body, Cameron wasn't really there. She was in her chip and that chip was here somewhere, she was already here. Upset by how bad the situation had become, John was startled by the sudden sound of dogs barking and voices. The sounds were getting closer. Looking for a place to hide, John spotted a coat, folded neatly on the ground next the Catherine.
Relived, John ran over and grabbed it. Pulling it on, John felt at last a little better. The coat was better then nothing and being a trench coat, his lower body and legs were mostly covered from sight. Crouching down, John looked through the large hole in the wall, and two men walked passed him. Both were armed and each of them held on to a dog's lead. The dogs were barking and pulling the men through the corridors and much to John's relief, they went right past him and Catherine, who had simply kept herself in the shadows and out of the way. Once the men had past them, John stood and made his way over to the gap in the wall, hurting his foot on the concrete as he did. He wished the coat had come with some boots. Glancing out to see that the men and the dogs had gone, John moved out and Catherin followed him. They both made their way down a corridor, which was mostly dark except for a few light bulbs which hung on wires above them. At the door ahead, a man stepped through; wearing what looked like a green military uniform. He spotted John and aimed his rifle. "Got one! GOT ONE!" The soldier advanced on John, holding his rifle steady and ready to fire.
John quickly raised his hands, "One what? What?" Looking for support, John turned to Catherine, only to find she had disappeared. John looked all down the corridor but couldn't see her. He didn't even hear her leave; he in fact, didn't hear anything. She just brought him to the future and now had just abandoned him to someone that looked ready to kill, "Please, I'm not metal". The soldier seemed reluctant to move any closer to him, "Don't move, DON'T MOVE!" John knew that the soldier thought he was a machine. "Please, I swear I haven't got anything, I'm, I'm I'm, I'm Human". John felt like an idiot for stuttering and could see someone moving behind the soldier in front of him, "I WILL BLAST YOU!"
"Stand down!" Derek Reese walked trough the door, followed by a second soldier and walked right up to John, who couldn't believe who he was seeing. He was only a few days ago he had seen his uncle killed by a machine and now, here he was, not a scratch on him. Derek looked down at the jacket John was wearing and looked confused by it before looking in to John's eyes and he looked for a long time. "Look in his eyes". Derek turned and looked at the soldier who threatened to kill him and by now, had lowered his weapon, "He's got about as much metal in him as you do". Derek turned back and John smiled and felt nothing but joy at seeing his uncle alive again, "Derek!" Derek looked at John with confusion, "Yeah?" John's smile vanished in an instant. "John, John Connor". Saying his name was the only thing he could think off. Derek must have known him. He was his nephew after all and John Connor is a well known name in the future. "I know a lot of people kid, I don't know you". John now didn't know what to think. If this was the future, how could Derek not have heard of him? Derek turned to the two men behind him, "Has anyone heard the name, John Connor?" They both shook their heads.
Derek again turned back to John, who couldn't make sense of what he was hearing and seeing. "Well … You know what? I think you're goanna be famous. My brother's back and you're wearing his coat". Derek nodded his head to behind John and John turned and he saw Kyle Reese, his father, walking towards him. He was followed by some others but John didn't pay any attention to them. Kyle was different from what John expected. He expected to see a man with many scars and burns and too be battle hardened in every way, but he was looking at just a man, someone that better suited his father then anything he dreamed up ever did. Kyle just stared at him and he looked annoyed that John was wearing his coat but he also looked at John as if he was seeing a familiar face. Suddenly, someone moved from behind Kyle and John recognised a familiar face.
Long brown hair and chocolate brown eyes, Cameron walked forwards and knelt down next to one of the dogs and began to stroke its head. She then looked up to John and they both stared at each other, both in relative fascination. John smiled at her but his smile faded when he realised what she was doing. She was gently petting a dog and the dog wasn't barking at her. Dogs were used in the future to sniff out machines and if this was Cameron, the dogs wouldn't let her near them. This wasn't Cameron, this was someone else. Kyle turned his head to see what John was looking at and turned back again quickly, prompting John to look at him. "Who are you?" John was a little taken aback at hearing his father speck, they sounded so alike, and "I'm John, John Connor". His father continued to stare at him and John couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by the fact everyone was staring at him. Kyle opened his mouth to speak again, but the dog behind him began to growl, quickly followed by the others and then they all began to bark.
Everyone suddenly looked worried. Kyle turned to the soldier behind him and took one of the two rifles she was holding and turned back to face Derek. "Derek, take care of it. Check all south exits and see if John got in that way. I'll check the north exits". Derek and the two soldiers turned and left through the door. The two men with the dogs who past earlier returned and followed Derek through the corridors. Kyle had already turned to walk in the opposite direction before he stopped and turned back to the women who John thought was Cameron. "Allison, take John inside until we get back. Don't leave him alone and keep him away from everyone else until we can figure out what to do with him". This was Allison, she was a real person. John had thought Cameron had made up the name Allison when a glitch in her chip surfaced. He never actually believed she had taken the appearance of someone else to get close to him. Allison looked exactly like Cameron, she long brown hair and the chocolate brown eyes that melted John's heart every time he saw them, and of course, was absolutely beautiful in every way. Kyle turned again to walk away but then he turned to John, "When this is finished, I want my coat back".
He then hurried off, taking two more soldiers with him. Allison stood up and beckoned John to follow her, "Come on, follow me". John hesitated to follow when hearing her speak, her voice was the same as Cameron's, but it was also different. Intrigued and not wanting to be left alone in the cold, John followed her. Three other soldiers came out of no where and surrounded John as he walked, obviously not wanting John to run off. He shook his head on how he was being treated, it wasn't like he had anywhere to go, and he didn't even know where he was. Allison led him through the room he and Catherine had arrived in and she and the soldiers looked confused by the sight of the circle and small burning fires. John heard one of the soldiers next to him mutter, "That wasn't there yesterday, where the hell did it come from?" Allison led them further one through the corridors until she came to what John thought was a plain steel wall. Allison raised her hand and knocked firmly three times. At first nothing happened and John thought she must have forgotten where she was going, then they all heard three knocks in reply. Allison knocked again, this time only twice and then the steel wall opened, leaving a small gap in the wall but it was large enough to get through. Allison looked back to John for a moment before stepping through the gap, quickly followed by the dog. John again hesitated, not knowing what he was going to see on the other side. He was suddenly pushed forwards by the soldier directly behind him, "Move it, I haven't got all day". John, now actually feeling scared, moved through the gap. He found himself in another corridor and confronted by three more soldiers, all watching him with suspicion.
The lead soldier, who looked like he was in charge, walked forwards and though John tried not to look nervous, he was making a poor go of it, he was shaking. He put most of his shaking to how cold it was. The man was a lot taller then John was, and more muscular. His face was dirty; it looked like he hadn't washed himself in years and he smelt like it to. "So this is the low life your friends found is it?" He was looking at Allison as he spoke, prompting Allison to give him a dark look, "Don't start. I was told to keep him away from everyone else, and that includes you!" She took John by the arm and tired to lead him away from the men, but the lead soldier cut his arm in front of John's path, stopping him in his tracks. "You listen to me; you won't be here for long. We don't need anybody else here, especially people like you. I'll be around to throw you out". Then without warning, the man raised his rifle so fast, john didn't have any time to react. The buck of the rifle hit John under the jaw, threw him off his feet and John tasted his own blood. He already had a strong headache after travelling through time and now John felt close to passing out with the pain. John fell to the floor amidst the laughing of the men around him. "What the hell's wrong with you, leave him alone!" Through the pain in his jaw, John could hear Allison's voice and when opening his eyes, could see her pushing the lead soldier away. "Come on girl, don't be like that.
We've known each other a long time, stop pretending to be friends with him and lets you and me have some fun". He moved his hips backwards and forwards, prompting more laughter from the soldiers. He reached out to Allison, trying to touch the side of her face. Her dog, jumped up and tried to bite the mans hand, him having retracted it just in time. The dog stood between the two of them, growling and showing its sharp teeth. The lead soldier looked furious but at the prompting of the other soldiers, he laughed it off. "I was only playing. Call your dog off, I've got better things to do with my time". Allison, looking disgusted, knelt down next to John and again took him by the arm and helped him to his feet. "Come on". She led him past the still laughing soldiers; the one who hit John was laughing the hardest. Still holding on to John's arm, she led him in to a large room. The room was filled with people, at least a hundred of them. Most were asleep on the floor, huddled up together for warmth. A few were still awake, including some children who instantly woke their parents at seeing John, who to them, was a compete stranger. The ones who woke stared at John and Allison quickly led him off to a side room, the dog following them all the way. Allison pushed the door open and stepped inside, pulling John in with her. There was only one other person in the room. It was an old woman who was asleep on t a mattress in the corner of the room.
Allison took John to a nearby table and turned on an old lamp that was in its centre. It didn't give off a lot of light but it was enough to light the table up. Allison then pulled out one of the two chairs, "Sit down". John stared at her for a moment before sitting down, mostly due to the dogs growls. Allison held her hand out to look at his bleeding chin. After a moment, she let go again, "You're lucky. If he had his way, he would have killed you". She moved to the other end of the room and knelt down next to the old women. Allison moved the women's white hair out of her face and the women awoke from her sleep, "Is it you? Is it you?" The women tried to sit up before Allison pushed her back down, "It's me Cecilia, it's Allison. Everything's alright, Go back to sleep". Cecilia lay back down again shaking her head from side to side, "You're a good girl Allison. Be careful, please be careful". Cecilia seemed to fall asleep again in an instant and Allison stood up again and walked back to the table, "Is she alright?" Allison was startled for a moment, not realising who had spoken at first and looked confused as she looked at John. "She's old, her minds not what it used to be". Allison knelt down next to her dog and petted its head again, "You stay here, and watch him for me okay". The dog wagged its tail wildly as Allison stood up again. "I'll see if I can find you some clothes. I doubt you want to stay wearing only a coat". She smirked before heading out of the room. John could hear that most of the people that were previously asleep were now awake. They were quietly muttering to each other but John couldn't make out anything they were saying. The only company he had a sleeping old women named Cecilia and a dog which looked ready to tear his throat out. The dog sat between John and the sleeping Cecilia, its eyes fixed on John, who couldn't do anything but stare back and hold the coat around him to stay warm and trying to ignore his headache.
After about ten minutes, Allison returned with some clothes for him. She dropped them down on the table in front of him quietly. "Kyle's just got back. Their going to decide what to do with you, so I'd be ready if I were you". John took the pair of boots Allison had brought him and checked the size. They were half a size to big for him but they would do. Looking to Allison, he wondered what she meant, "Decide what to do with me, what do you mean?" Allison looked concerned by John's lack of knowledge with what was going on but she replied never the less, "They'll decide whether to let you stay or to kick you out". John's froze in the middle of checking his new socks for holes. "What do you mean kick me out? Is this how the Resistance treats people they don't know?" Allison looked more confused then ever, tilting her head to the side. John now knew where Cameron had adopted her confused stance from. "What are you talking about? What Resistance?" John's mouth dropped to the floor. "You don't know the resistance?" He was hoping that she was joking, that there was a resistance, but the look on her face told him otherwise. Her head tilted to the side even more, her brown eyes fixed on his and John couldn't help but stare back in to them. "There hasn't been a Resistance in years. You should know what happened, everyone does. They fought back and they lost. The machines won, they always do".
Allison stood up again and walked to the door, opened it a peered out before turning to look at John, "You better get dressed, they'll all be back soon" .She glanced back to a sleeping Cecelia and then opened the door again, "Wait, what happened?", Allison stopped dead before looking at John as if he was mad, "Where have you been for all these years?, how can't you know all this?". John didn't dare tell her about travelling through time, he didn't want to sound even more crazy then he already did so he stayed silent. Allison seemed annoyed by the lack of an answer but still gave him an answer in return, "The same thing happened every time people without guns attacked machines with guns". Allison looked disappointed by her own words before moving to open the door again, "Wait, what's your name?", Allison stopped again and seemed reluctant to give John any more information, but she turned to face him again, "Allison, Allison Young". She didn't smile or even look at him in the eye before she stepped out of the room. John took the chance to get dressed as quickly as he could; now shivering more then he had ever done as far as he could remember. Finally dressed in some clothes which were strangely warmer then they looked, John felt a little better but Allison's revelation about the state of the Resistance was hard to take in. How could there be no Resistance against Skynet? How could they have failed? John tired to silently answer those questions while also trying to understand his feelings at meeting his father and Cameron's template. He could understand why Cameron never told him about Allison, but it didn't stop him being disappointed by her deception, considering he had come to the future to rescue her.
Allison didn't return for a long time and John was becoming increasingly reckless. His headache had begun to subside but it still caused him pain when he turned his head. Allison's dog had stayed in the same spot ever since John was in the room and the entire time, it stared at him and growled at every indication that John was about to stand up. John held his head in his hands, trying to ignore the headache but also trying to make sense by what Allison had told him. If there was no Resistance, then what was this group that his father and uncle were a part of and more importantly, was there anybody else? Were their other groups of people still alive in the world? John's instincts told him that there were other still alive. Before John could think anymore on it, Cecelia stirred in the corner of the room, moaning as she dreamt. Her body began to shake violently and she began to say things that John couldn't understand. John, despite the chance that Allison's dog would attack him, stood up and walked over to the women, who was now shaking her head from side to side and was saying, "No, No, No", repeatedly. John knelt down next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Wake up!" John gave the women a soft but firm push but she didn't wake up and continued to shake and talk in her sleep. John turned to see where the dog was and saw it was just sitting and watching him, now no longer showing its teeth or growling at him. A little relived, he turned his attention back to Cecilia.
"Cecelia, wake up!" John gave another firm push and this time, she awoke and sat right up, her eyes staying firmly closed. "Water, I need water". John looked around and spotted a small plastic cup next to the mattress. Picking it up, he looked inside and saw there was only enough water for one gulp. "Here!" Cecilia opened her mouth and John, slightly taken aback, held the cup to her lips and poured the water in to her mouth. She gulped it down and moaned as if she was in pain, "More, I need more".
John put the cup down and looked around the area he found the cup, hoping to see some plastic bottles full of water but nothing came in to view. Allison's dog suddenly walked past John and pressed its nose in to a small black box against the wall. It looked at John and then to the box and John knew what it meant. John made his way over and opened the box. Inside were two bottles of water, one which was half full. Taking that bottle, John poured it in to the cup and moved back to Cecilia and held the cup to her lips again. Cecilia drank the whole thing and sighed when she was finished. Suddenly and again with out warning, Cecilia wrapped her arms around him, forcing the now empty cup out of John's hand. John was surprised by the woman's strength and was nearly pulled down on top of her, but managed to gain his footing just in time to stay upright. "I know who you are; you're not supposed to be here!" John genteelly lowered Cecelia back down on to the mattress. Once she was back down, she removed her arms from around him and took hold of the front of Kyle's coat that John was still wearing. "You shouldn't have come, you shouldn't have come, and you shouldn't have come!"
John tried to pull himself up but Cecilia's grip was stronger then he anticipated, keeping him pinned in place. "I was dreaming, I saw things, terrible things. I saw why you came here, you came for her. You shouldn't have come; you should have let her go". Cecilia finally let go of John and she lay back down, "You shouldn't have come, you should have stayed away. The one you have come for, she can not give you what you seek. Go back to where you've come from, and let her go". John knew she was talking about Cameron and was more confused on how she knew about her and on why he had come to the future in the first place. Never the less, he needed to ask something, "What if I can't let her go?" Cecelia gasped at the thought of it and shook her head in disbelief. "If you don't let her go, then you will loose and you will die". John stood up and Cecilia fell asleep again with out another thought. John, his head pounding with the headache and with what Cecilia had just said, walked back to the table and sat down again. Allison's dog followed him and lay down at his feet and thankfully, not growling at him anymore. John didn't know how Cecilia knew why he had come to the future or why she said what she did.
The door suddenly opened and Allison walked back in to the room, closely followed by two men. Allison walked over to Cecilia to make sure she was alright; she spotted the cup and turned to John, a surprised look on her face. "I only gave her some water". Allison smiled and placed the cup back down next to the mattress, "Thank you, but you need to go with them; they'll take you to Alistair". She pointed at the two men, who were both armed but looked friendly enough. "Who's Alistair?" The two men glanced at each other, before looking back at John, "He's in charge, and it's up to him if you can stay or if you have to go". John nodded and stood up, his head hurting more then ever; he needed to get some sleep. John glanced back to Allison, who said, "Good luck" before following the two men out of the room. Almost everyone was awake now, and they all stared at him as he walked. The older residents remained quiet while the children muttered excitedly together. Some teenage girls giggled under their breaths and whispered to each other before giggling even louder. John just ignored them and followed the two men. They led him through the back door and in to another corridor, which was dimly lit and reminded John of a horror film he once saw. The men led him along it and they came to another steel door and the taller of the two men knocked three times.
The door opened at once and a tall man appeared in the open doorway. He was an old man, he couldn't be much older then Cecilia was. His hair was deathly white and he wore small round glasses, which hung on just by the end of his nose. "We've brought him sir". The two men both stepped back and Alistair stared at John, who couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by him. "Alright then, you better come in here son, we need to talk". He stepped aside and beckoned John inside the room. John did so and found himself in what looked like an interrogation room. There was a large black table and one chair on either side. There was an old broken bed in the corner of the room and John guessed it was where Alistair slept; the mattress on top looked comfortable. "Take a seat son". He pointed to the nearest chair and John sat down, feeling a little nervous.
Alistair sat down opposite him and held his hands together. "If you don't already know my names Alistair". He held out his hand to John, who after a moment's hesitation, held out his own and shook back, "I'm John, John Connor". Alistair smiled as they let go of each other hands. "It's nice to see some people have the decency to use their manners every once and a while. Well then son, we're here to talk, just talk. I want to ask you some questions and I would like you to answer truthfully. If you do lie however, I will understand". John was completely taken aback by this. Why would anyone not care if he lied or not? Not knowing what to expect, he decided to play along. "Okay, ask your questions". Alistair smiled again. "First things first, I was told that you were found just outside our hideout here and you apparently stole a coat, which I presume you were still wearing and you had no other clothes, can you explain that for me?". John froze and thought on what to say. He couldn't exactly say he jumped through time and explain that whole time travel process, so he decided to make something up. "I was attacked, I dunno. Someone hit me from behind and I woke up with nothing on me. Who ever they were, they took everything I had, clothes, food, water, everything!" He waited for Alistair to see through the lie, but to his surprise, he nodded his head. "It's not the first time that's happened. We've found people who have been in the same situation. Even I was attacked and robbed, me, an old man, six years ago, can you believe that? Thieving gangs prey on people who wonder alone. They take everything you have but they don't kill you, that's their code. They leave the killing to the elements or to the machines".
John took this information in easier then expected and nodded his head, "Thanks for the clothes by the way". Alistair looked down at what John was wearing and nodded his head. "Not a problem son, but you might want to give Kyle his coat back when you next see him. He's protective of what is his". John nodded again and an image of Kyle's face popped in to his head again. He wanted to take the coat back to him then and there, anything to see his father again, but Alistair spoke again. "What were you doing wandering alone like that in any case? You were lucky only thieves got to you before the machines or anyone else did". John wasn't surprised to hear that other people were alive and was both pleased and relived by it, but again, he couldn't tell the truth. He came to find a machine which had stolen Cameron from him and he couldn't exactly mention her either so he decided to lie again. "I lost my family lately, my mom, my uncle, everyone. I'm on my own and something was stolen from me, something important. I was looking for the guy who stole it". John didn't think that that lie would get through but somehow it did as Alistair nodded his head. "Well son, I'm sorry about your family, we've all lost people we care about. You're lucky to be young enough to have never had grandkids. Their all gone now though and I've got others to look after now. I'm curious, what did this person steal from you?" John didn't dare tell him anything that would give him away, "That's private, I'm sorry".
Alistair raised his hands and shook his head, "No matter, everyone has their secrets. Now, I must ask you one final question, what are your plans? Are you planning to leave and continue your search or do you want to stay with us"? John didn't know how to reply to this, he hadn't thought far ahead. He wanted nothing more then to find John Henry and get Cameron back from him. "I don't know. I was kept underground most of my life. I didn't know how dangerous it was until today". John tried to sound like he was scared though he doubted Alistair was convinced by it. Alistair just stared at him, this time with a serious face, "Allison told me that you didn't know about the Resistance, about how the world is now. I was unconvinced by that until now, you really don't know?" John shook his head, both eager and scared to hear more. Alistair sighed, took off his glasses and leant back in his chair. "Well son, I think you must know how it all started. Skynet, Judgement day, the rise of the machines, you know about that, correct?"
John nodded his head and Alistair continued, "The machines rounded those who they could find and imprisoned them in work camps. All over the world, Here, Europe, China, Russia, everywhere. More people died in those camps then in every other war of the twentieth century. After a while, a small group in Century work camp, here in LA, or should I say, what's left of LA, began to plan their escape, to fight back. The Resistance started then and it grew. I was a part of it. I may have been old, but I was just as eager to smash some machines with my bare hands. But something went wrong". Alistair stopped and reached in to his pocket, pulled out a small bottle of whiskey and took a large gulp. He put it back in his pocket and continued. "I don't know what happened, no one does. We began the break out, we had the machines beaten but then, people started running for it. It became every man for himself. They all ran off and left thousands behind, women and children. The machines came back and killed them all, every single one. I was one of those to stay behind and try to save them. I lost my wife, two sons, three daughters and all of my grand children in century work camp. Very few of us made it out". John couldn't believe what he was hearing. The break out of Century work camp was supposed to be the turning point, where the Human race fought back against the machines, but he was now being told that they had all been massacred.
"Any thought of a Resistance ended that day. The one hundred people you saw in the main room earlier, most of them were never in the camp; never saw its horrors but they've all suffered. Me and only six others in our group were in century, including the owner of that coat your wearing, Kyle Reese". Alistair put his glasses back on and looked again at John, and John couldn't help but shed a tear. "We formed this group not long after, just trying to survive. We hide from the machines; we hide from the other gangs. Most of them are just as bad as the machines. They fight the machines and they kill each other. Kill each other over food, water, women, anything and everything. I don't know why Skynet bothers trying to flush us out. Fighting each other is killing us off; we're doing the machine's job for them". Alistair smiled again and sat forwards and John was now feeling upset. He couldn't help but blame himself for everything that had happened, even though he wasn't sure he was the reason for it. "Why do you do it? You lost your family, yet you lead this group, how can you go on?" Alistair's smile faded a little, "Yes, I lost my family, but I just have to look at the faces of those in the next room and that's what keeps me going. I'll see my family again when I die, but for now, those people need me". John nodded and felt a growing respect for Alistair for his actions. "I still don't know what to do. I need to find what was stolen from me, but…" John couldn't finish his sentence.
The revelation was what he had just heard, leaving his mother behind in the past and losing Cameron, who he cared about far more then he should was catching up to him, he was emotionally and physically exhausted. "I understand son, but please listen to me. I've spend the last ten minutes of my time talking with you and I already find myself trusting you. That is a rare thing and I would like it if you joined us. We move around a lot, we never stay in the same place for more then a few weeks. On our travels, we might run in to the person your looking for. You are free of course to decline my offer and you are also free to leave us at any time if you accept, as long as you do not reveal our location to anyone else, including the machines, especially the machines". John was taken aback and surprised by his offer, and couldn't stop himself from staring at him, "Well, will you join us?" Trying to ignore the ironical question, John nodded his head in agreement and Alistair smiled once again. "Excellent, I'm glad to hear it. I must warn you that though I have accepted you in to our group, the others will not be so trusting. We've been betrayed before and we've lost a lot of people because of it, but I'm sure you'll make some friends soon enough". John by this point was close to passing out; his headache now had his entire head aching with pain. Alistair stood up and walked to a black large cabinet in the corner of the room, which John hadn't noticed until now.
As Alastair opened it, John could see some rifles, pistols, boxes of ammo, some canned food and a pile of sleeping bags. Alistair took the sleeping bag from the top of the pile and closed it again. "Here, take this son. It's late and I think we could all use some sleep. We'll talk again tomorrow. I'll ask the boys outside to find you somewhere to sleep". John nodded and followed Alistair to the door. He opened it and John stepped in to the corridor, the two men looked at him curiously. Alistair waved at them to get their attention, "Find John somewhere to sleep for me and head to bed yourselves, I believe the Reese boys are on guard duty tonight". They nodded and Alistair, after giving John a firm pat on the back, went back in to his room and closed the door behind him. "Follow us then, John". They both seemed tired themselves and John followed them back to the main room. Nearly everyone was once again asleep. Parents lay with their arms wrapped around their children in an effort to keep them warm while some simply slept alone, using only their sleeping bags for warmth. The two men led John to an empty spot at the back of the room before departing to where they slept, each of them going through different doors which led off the main room. John removed Kyle's coat, folded it and placed neatly on the floor beside him before wrapping himself in the sleeping bag. Despite his headache, John had a hard time trying to sleep. He had a feeling he was watched and he didn't exactly blame who ever was watching him. He was after all, a stranger and after all that had happened to these people, he didn't blame them for not trusting him straight away. His mind was racing with what he had learnt in such a short space of time.
There was no Resistance, no organised army against the machines. John didn't know if he could believe such a thing could have happened and needed to see it for himself. He'd met his uncle, which he'd seen killed only a few days ago, to him at least. Then, he'd met his father, the one person who he'd always wanted to meet. Kyle was different from what John expected. He expected to see a man with many scars and burns, a description he made up of his father as a child but Kyle didn't look anything like that, and he was more or less, exactly the opposite. He'd also met Allison Young, the person Cameron had killed in order to get close to him in the future. All of these things ran through John's mind as he lay there, surrounded by people he didn't know and he was more scared now then he had ever been in his life, more scared then when he was being hunted by the machines. This was, with out a doubt, a strange new future, a strange new world.
