Bad Things Happen

The scene......early post JD........a scavenging party and a surprise attack.

John opened his eyes, he could see nothing. For a moment he thought that he had gone blind, but slowly he noticed a light above and behind his head, and then some reflected light in front of him. His vision was coming back.

"Phew" he said to himself but couldn't hear it because his hearing was still recovering from the explosion. "Cameron?" he thought and sat up to check if she was ok, and instantly regretted it. Searing pain coursed up his left leg and he almost threw up with the intensity of it. He wasn't sure whether or not he actually screamed out loud. John searched his memory of the attack by the T-888, for clues of Cameron's safety and whereabouts. Nothing, it was a total blur. Slowly he raised his head to check his leg, to find that it was trapped beneath a huge pile of rubble, and probably broken. He was stuck.

-------

'Reactivating'

'Analysing damage.......superficial'

Cameron sat up, checked her surroundings then stood up. Looking at the remains of the T-888 with what can only be described as disgust, Cameron's first priority was 'John'. Reviewing her memory files yielded little info on John's location. A 'line of sight' check showed nothing. Thermal imaging was no use either. Cameron was forced to search for John the old fashioned way. Twenty minutes of searching rooms, moving rubble, lifting girders did not result in finding John. Cameron was now getting tearful and inefficient, she couldn't let anything happen to John. John was her life. She dare not call out to John for fear of giving away their position. No doubt the explosion would have been noticed and a Skynet re-con party would soon arrive.

Cameron blamed herself for the attack, if she had been watching for T-888s instead of playing tongue hockey with John this would have never happened. After all, John's safety was her responsibility, she hated herself for failing John.......again.

The latest update on the odds of finding John in time was at 13% probability, Cameron was loosing all hope. She had already worn the skin off the ends of her fingers but she didn't care, finding John was all that mattered. Her left hand was twitching, which made her remember the time John lovingly repaired her.

*not too far away* "Eeeaaahhhh"

"John?" Cameron couldn't believe it. She raced to the co-ordinates she had calculated as the source of the scream, and found John trapped under a huge pile of rubble. "John, at last I found you, I'm so sorry". A quick scan of John reveals that his ankle is broken under the collapsed wall. "John, I need to anaesthetise your leg so that I can free it".

"Ok, but hurry. I think I can hear something coming"

Cameron had been so absorbed with John's condition she had completely missed the sound of the HK approaching. She applied a tourniquet to John's leg and injected the anaesthetic directly into the nerves for maximum effect. John wondered "Why the tourniquet?" but then the true implications became clear when Cameron pulled out her machete.

"No, just clear the rubble, we still have time".

"I'm sorry John, we don't have time. Please forgive me".

John braced himself for the pain. He knew he would not be able to physically stop her or dissuade her, he just had to accept that he was going to lose the bottom of his left leg.

"John, tell me when you can see that HK.............John, focus.....NOW!"

John snapped back to reality. He turned to where the noise was coming from, thankful that the anaesthetics had kicked in, but not enough as it turned out. He would never forget that sound as the machete cut clean through the tissue and bones of his leg, or the pain. He was only slightly aware of being lifted swiftly, with the utmost care and compassion the situation would allow. The HK came into view as they rounded the corner, John couldn't be sure if they had been seen. There was no time to worry about that, they would just have to risk it. The tunnel entrance was not far away, but the approach was open. They would be clear targets if they were spotted. About 20 feet from the opening of the tunnel they were blasted with bullets from the HK. Most of them missing their target some of them hitting Cameron square in the back, forcing her to lose her balance. But somehow she managed to make it into the tunnel and away from the HK.

Running through the network of tunnels to the base Cameron became aware that John's vitals were starting to fail. She stopped running and put John down on a large crate to examine his leg. The tourniquet was still tight and there was no blood loss from John's leg.

"John, can you hear me?"

"I'm cold Cam, so cold"

"Tell me where it hurts........John, your vitals are falling to dangerously low levels. I'm going to have to look for further wounds". Cameron starts to remove Johns outer clothes.

"Hey, what are you doing? Mom's going to be back soon. She can't find out about us"

"John?...........I think you're delirious" Cameron finds a large patch of wet blood on John's vest. He was hit by the HK earlier. It's a bad wound.

"John" said Cameron, "you're wounded and I can't fix you"

"Cam, it's ok"

"No, you don't understand. It's all my fault" Said Cameron, beginning to cry.

"Shhh, it's ok, everybody dies eventually. I'm just glad that I got to share my life with you. Hold me, Cam".

Cameron knelt down next to John and cradled him in her arms. Trying to soothe him with cooing sounds and kissing him gently on his face and mouth. Telling him repeatedly that she loved him with all her heart. John already knew, and he loved her totally. Finally, when John had taken his last breath, Cameron broke down in floods of tears. She knew that if she could self terminate that she would do it now, but she couldn't.

Lifting John's body, Cameron headed towards the base. She was met by the perimeter guards who radioed ahead to alert Derek, the leader apparent of the resistance, that Cameron was bringing John's body back.

Cameron arrived at the base HQ to be met by a dozen armed resistance fighters and Derek at their helm. "So, you finally killed him, you metal bitch".

Cameron lovingly places John's body down on the table, not once taking her eyes off John, and not once acknowledging Derek's presence.

"I'm talking to you............soldier" shouts Derek

After straightening his hair and clothes Cameron slowly releases John from her gaze and looks Derek full in the face. "I resign" she states calmly.

"That's not an option. Guards arrest her"

Cameron quickly disarms one of the guards and holds him in front of her while aiming the gun at Derek. Derek slowly approaches Cameron aiming his plasma rifle directly at her chip.

"What do you think this will achieve? You're just adding to the charges".

"I want out. Without John my life is worthless".

"Your life has always been worthless".

"Fine, finish it then" while pushing the gun into the neck of the guard.

"Ok bitch, you asked for it"

Cameron relaxed her hold and lowered the gun "Thank you"

Derek pulls the trigger and Cameron sees a brief flash of light before her chip is vaporised.

End.