Terminator: Extinction
Chapter 2
JD was still shaking by the time they got onto the street and into traffic. She had no idea what was going on, except she witnessed a guy getting burned to death in a semi that erupted into flames. She shakily glanced over her shoulder at the male sitting behind her, seeing that he was solely focused on the road. She turned her attention back to the road and finally had enough, as her nerves were just about shot.
"Okay, stop the bike! Time out! Come on, stop the bike, please!" JD said, making the time out gesture.
The man obediently drove into a side street, complying with her demand. When he stopped behind a building, he moved his arm so JD could get off. She stared at him in fear and awe. "Holy fuck...okay, so don't take this the wrong way, but you are a Terminator, right?" she asked.
"Yes. Cyberdyne Systems Model 101." he replied, taking the empty shells out of the shotgun and putting new ones in.
JD circled around the Terminator once, looking him over. From what her mom described, this was the same kind of Terminator that killed her father. Then her mother wasn't crazy. "You're...you're not the same Terminator that killed my father...are you?"
"No, that was a different Terminator." he answered.
"Okay...so why are you here?"
"My mission is to protect you." he said, putting the shotgun in it's holster.
JD almost scoffed. Protect her? "Oh yeah. Who sent you?"
He looked right at her and even though he was wearing sunglasses, she knew he was looking at her. "You did. 25 years in the future from now, you reprogrammed me and sent me here to this time, to protect you."
JD pinched the bridge of her nose. This wasn't a dream. It was really happening. "Jesus Christ...I can't believe this is happening. I thought my mom was just crazy and paranoid...no wonder she never let me have a cell phone..." she mumbled to herself, pacing back and forth a bit. "Fucking supposed to be all connected by next year...okay..." she took a deep breath. I can do this.
The Terminator looked around a bit before speaking. "It is not safe here. We must go."
JD sighed and nodded, then got on behind him and held onto his shoulders as he took off. JD couldn't help but worry. What was going to happen to her, her mom or even anybody else she knew? It was already nearing sundown and she was starving and tired. "Shit. Hey, I need to stop at my best friend's house to grab some stuff." she told him.
"Negative. The T-1000 will be waiting for you there." he replied.
T-1000? Was that the thing that tried to kill her? "Was that the thing that tried to kill me?"
"Affirmative. An advanced prototype."
"You sure that thing would be waiting there for me?" she asked.
"I would." he said, glancing at her for a brief second before turning his attention back to the road.
"Can we stop at a payphone just so I can check on her?"
The Terminator gave a brief nod. He pulled up to a local gas station and up to where the payphone was. JD got off and rummaged around for the few quarters in her pocket, pulling them out as the Terminator got off the bike and stood close to her, in protection mode and to make sure there were no threats around. JD inserted the quarters and dialed Mika's number, hearing it ring.
"Come on, pick up Mika..." she said to herself.
Finally, the line clicked and Mika's voice answered. "Hello?"
"Mika? Mika, it's me."
"Jayden?"
JD almost frowned. Mika never called her Jayden, said it didn't suit her. "Yeah, it's me. Did you make it home okay? That cop didn't follow you or anything, did he?"
"No, I'm alright. Are you alright?" Mika asked.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Just a little shaken up."
"Good...I was beginning to worry about you. If you wanna hurry back, I've got pizza on the way. And I know how you like your pizza, Jayden."
JD pulled the phone away from her ear and covered the mouth piece with her hand. "Something's wrong. Mika never calls me Jayden." she said softly to the Terminator.
"Jayden, where are you? Are you sure you're okay?"
Jayden heard Mika's dog barking in the background loudly. "The dog's really barking...he never does that either." she murmured.
The Terminator took the phone from JD, speaking, though JD's voice came out instead of his own deep one. "I'm okay, Mika."
"You sure, hun?"
The Terminator took the phone away from his mouth and covered the mouth piece with his large hand. "What's the dog's name?" he asked JD.
"Max." she replied.
He put himself back on the phone and spoke in JD's voice. "Hey, Mika. What's wrong with Max? I can hear him barking. Is he okay?"
"Max is just fine. Where are you?" Mika asked.
The Terminator suddenly hung up on Mika and looked at JD, speaking bluntly. "Your best friend is dead." he said and walked away from the payphone.
JD stared at him in disbelief and shock. How did he know her best friend was dead? JD had to admit; Mika did sound strange, but that couldn't mean that Mika was dead. "What do you mean Mika's dead?" she asked, following him.
"The T-1000 killed her after taking on her appearance." the Terminator spoke.
"So wait..." JD sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "This thing, T-1000, can take on the appearance of others?"
"Affirmative." he said. "Anything it samples by physical contact."
"Fuck...so say it can take on the appearance of a pack of cigarettes?"
"No, only an object of equal size."
"Then why can't it just become a fucking bomb or something to get me?" JD asked, growing frustrated.
"It can't form complex machines. Chemicals and moving parts, it doesn't work that way. But it can form solid metal shapes." he explained.
"Like what?" she asked.
"Knives and stabbing weapons."
JD sighed heavily and ran a hand through her hair, hearing her stomach gurgle. She needed food. "I need food...I'm going inside to grab a few things." she said, heading around the corner to go into the gas station.
The Terminator was right on her heels, obviously wanting to make sure nothing tried to harm her. There wasn't a lot of people in the store, just a couple paying for gas and/or grabbing snacks for the road. JD grabbed a couple of sandwiches, a couple bags of chips and a soda. Once she had what she wanted, she went over to the register and paid for everything, then left with the Terminator. As the sun went down, JD wanted them to go somewhere alone to talk. They went behind an abandoned building, with a couple of punks talking quietly among themselves.
JD hopped onto the hood of an old car and started eating, watching as the Terminator stood there, keeping guard for any nearby threats. After she got down to the last bag of her chips, JD started to ramble. "Mom and I spent a lot of time with friends, well, her friends at least. She'd shack up with anybody so she could teach me how to be this great military leader. Then...she gets busted." she sighed, causing the Terminator to look at her. "It's like "sorry kid, your mom's a psycho, didn't you know?'. I thought all of this was bullshit...and I hated her for that."
JD paused for a moment, fighting back tears. "But everything she said was true..." she whispered, slowly looking up at the Terminator. "She knew and no one believed her...not even me. Look, we gotta get her out of that institution." she said, hopping off the car.
"Negative. The T-1000's next move will be to copy Sarah Connor and wait for you to make contact with her." he spoke.
"Cool. But what happens to her?" JD asked, worried.
"Typically, the subject is terminated."
Terminated?! "Fuck, why didn't you tell me?! We gotta go get her now!" JD shouted and made her way towards the motorcycle, but the Terminator's large hand grabbed her by the collar of her leather jacket, stopping her right in her tracks.
"Negative. It's not a mission priority." he said bluntly.
"The fuck you talking about? She's my mom! She's a mission priority to me!" JD shouted, banging her fist against his muscular chest. It was no use, since the Terminator was skin over metal. He merely looked down at her. "Motherfucker! We gotta get her! Lemme go!"
To her surprise, he did let go of her and she fell right on her ass. JD didn't know how to react for a moment, before she sat up, glaring at the male in front of her. "Why the hell did you do that?!"
"Because you told me to." he said.
Eh? JD thought and stood up, confused and surprised. She brushed the dust and dirt off her pants. "What..? Huh...you have to do what I say, huh?" she asked, a slow grin coming onto her face.
"That's one of my mission parameters." the Terminator answered.
"Prove it." she said and looked him over once, then shrugged. "Stand on one foot."
As with her wishes, he lifted one foot up. "Yes!" JD said cheerfully, chuckling. "Cool, my own Terminator. Wow..." she said to herself.
JD glanced over as the two punks from across the street came over to them, looking worried. "You okay, sweetheart?" the taller of the two asked.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm good. Take a hike." she said.
"Man, let's get out of here!" the other male sighed, turning to leave.
"Fuck you, you little bitch!" the taller one said to JD, causing her to arch an eyebrow.
"Bitch, huh?" she muttered to herself, crossing her arms over her chest. It wasn't the first time she was called a bitch and it certainly wouldn't be the last. "Put your leg down." she told the Terminator and he did as she asked. "Did you call moi a bitch?" she asked, taunting the taller male.
"Just wanted to help." he said.
"Grab this guy. Can't believe he called me a bitch."
The Terminator complied and went forward, grabbing the man by his hair and lifting him a few inches off the ground. The taller male shouted out in pain and yelled for his friend to help, causing JD to laugh at their effort. The Terminator was way too strong for them to even imagine. When the guy's friend tried to pull the Terminator off of his friend, the Terminator let the taller guy go and grabbed the other guy's hand, twisting it and JD heard the sound of bones cracking as the Terminator broke the guy's hand. He shoved the guy against the car and brought out his gun, taking the safety off.
JD's smile vanished right away and she quickly lunged forward. "NO!" she said, quickly pushing the gun away as the Terminator fired just a second after, the bullet hitting the ground. "Put the gun down, now!" she demanded and he gave her a look, before putting the gun down. "Get out of here, man!" she told the two men and they scurried off, clearly in pain and fear.
JD quickly picked up the gun, looking around before she looked back to the Terminator. "Fuck, you were going to kill that guy!"
"Of course. I'm a Terminator." he said bluntly.
"Well, no shit Sherlock! But you can't just go around killing people whenever they piss you off!" she scolded.
"Why?"
Did he just ask me, why? Motherfucker. "Because you can't."
"Why?"
"Because you just can't. Trust me on this." JD said, letting out a deep sigh. "Look, I'm gonna go get my mom...and I order you," she pressed the handle of the gun to his chest. "to help me." she finished.
The Terminator took the gun from her and slid it to rest in his belt. JD shook her head and went over to the bike, rubbing her face.
What a hell of a day.