Chapter 2 - Exodus
When John next awoke, the first thing he wanted to do was to turn over and go straight back to sleep. He was comfortable, more comfortable then he though he would have been, having fallen asleep on a cold concrete floor the previous night. The sleeping bag was doing a good job in keeping him warm. The only noise that came to his ears was the crackling of a small fire. Opening his eyes, he groaned in pain as he moved his body up, his muscles and joints aching with the slightest bit of movement. His eyes were groggy and no matter how long he had them opened, he couldn't gain any focus. Sitting up, John felt two hands push on too his shoulders, pushing him back down, "Stay down, don't get up!" John thought it was Cameron speaking, but quickly remembered that it wasn't Cameron at all, it was Allison. John tried to stay up but didn't have the strength to resist and was forced back down again. "What's going on?" There was no reply as John felt her hands leave his shoulders. He heard water being poured in to a cup and then felt a hand on the back of his head, pulling his head up. "Drink this, you'll feel better!" John felt the edge of a plastic cup push up against his lips and being thirsty, he obliged and opened his mouth. John choked on the water, but Allison continued to force the water in to his mouth. When there was no more water left to drink, Allison withdrew the cup. "Don't get up! I'll be back in a minute!" John heard Allison's hurried footsteps and then a door opening and closing and then there was silence. John, despite Allison's warning, moved himself to sit up and again opened his eyes.
At first, John again couldn't gain any focus, but gradually dark shapes began to show themselves that he could recognize, quickly followed by a yellow glow which John knew was the small fire that was burning. Once he was able to see clearly again, John looked around and found he was in Allison's room again. Cecelia was sitting at the small table, slowly eating food from her plate. Allison's dog sat beside her, its eyes once again on John, but thankfully, it didn't seem as hostile to his presence as it was the night before. John ignored the dog's watchful eyes as he shifted himself so he could lean against the wall. Before he could so anything else, the door flung open and three people came in, Allison was first, Alistair was second and the third was a women John didn't recognise. Allison moved across the room to sit with Cecilia at the table and began to eat from her own plate and Alistair stood with his arms folded by the door, looking both tired and worried. Allison's dog didn't seem to pleased that the room was suddenly full of people and backed away from the group, growling softly. The woman, who was tall and had pure black hair, was carrying a large green bag over her shoulder and she threw the bag down on the floor in front of him. "Right, you're awake, about bloody time. I've got better things to do with my time so let's get this over and done as quickly as possible, so, how are you feeling?" John blinked, completely taken aback with her bluntness. She just stared at him, her face getting redder by the second, "Well, have you forgotten how to talk now? Answer the question!" John shook his head quickly, "I'm fine, I guess". The woman looked frustrated by his answer and turned away, opened her green bag and began to sort through it. John looked up to Allison, who briefly glanced at him before looking away again. When he turned to look at Alistair, his face remained unchanged, though he did give a small smile. The women found what she was looking for and pulled out a small flashlight.
She flicked it on and shined it in to John's eyes, causing him to wince in pain, "Hold still, I can't do this if you don't hold still". John turned his head back to face her and she shined it in to his eyes again, causing him more pain as she held the light closer to his eyes. He tried to turn his head away, but she took hold of his hair, forcing him to face her. Once she finished, she threw the flashlight back in to the bag and began to look for something else, "Has this happened to you before? Has something happened to you that could have caused something like this to happen?" John looked to Alistair, to Allison and back to the women, not having the faintest idea what she was talking about, "Has what happened to me before?" The woman stopped what she was doing and looked at him as if he was drooling all over himself. The women shook her head and turned to face Allison, "You didn't tell him?" Allison herself looked nervous as she put down her plastic fork, "You told me to get you the moment he woke up". The woman shook her head, looking even more frustrated, "You stupid girl, can't you do anything right?" Allison's dog, not liking the tone of the woman's voice, instantly turned and growled ferociously at her. Allison reached out and grabbed to dogs collar to stop it attacking her. Alistair quickly stepped forwards and moved in between the two of them. "Allison, please keep your dog under control. Maggie, I know you're still mourning the loss of your brother, but that's no excuse to take your frustration out on Allison. Now, apologise and get back to work". Maggie still looked furious and lowered her head, "Sorry". John couldn't have giving a less convincing apology if he tried, but Alistair seemed satisfied. He moved back towards the door, folded his arms again and looked to John, "You've been slipping in and out of conscious for nearly three days now. Maggie here found that your body has been under some sort of great physical stress but found no significant marks on you, can you explain this?"
John's mouth dropped to the floor, three days, how could he have been unconscious for three days? He thought he'd only had a bad headache. "I don't know, I had a headache when I went asleep, are you sure it's been three days?" Alistair nodded his head. John couldn't believe three days had passed, and he'd spent the entire time in a coma. It wasn't the fact that he'd been bedridden for three days that bothered him. What bothered him was that he didn't know what caused him to fall unconscious. He'd jumped through time once before and was alright afterwards, so it couldn't be travelling through time. All he could think of was that he'd hit his head hard at some point. "I don't know, it's never happened before". Maggie shook her head again, just enough for John to notice but not enough for Alistair to. She then began to check John's eyes again, his temperature, blood pressure and his heart rate. John remained still while she did her checks and Alistair just watched with concern. Eventually, Maggie reached in to her bag and took out a small pack and threw it on to John's lap. Looking down, he saw it was a pack of aspirin. "Take them if you get another headache, make sure you drink lots of water and stay in bed for a few days". She then closed her bag, stood up and turned to Alistair, "Can I go now?" She and Alistair stared at each other and John got the idea that she wanted nothing more then to leave. He nodded her head and she without another word, she pushed past Alistair and out of the room. Allison let go of the dog who turned and sat down next to her, resting its head on her lap. Alistair closed the door behind Maggie as she left and turned to John again, "I'm sorry if she offended you in any way.
She's not been herself since her brother died". John shook his head, accepting the apology. "What happened to me?" Alistair didn't say anything for a moment and just stared, looking like he was thinking if John really was telling the truth, but he merely shrugged his shoulders as if he had no care in the world, "Maggie is the closest thing we've got to a doctor and she doesn't have the faintest idea. Kyle came to collect his coat and bring you some food, but he couldn't wake you. After it became apparent that you would not wake, I had you moved in here, so Allison could watch over you". John turned to Allison, who had been watching him the entire time. She quickly looked away, going slightly red in the face. John tried not to smirk, "Thank you". Allison nodded her head and turned her head slightly back to face him, "Your welcome", before looking away again and concentrating on her food. John reminded himself to think of her as Allison and not as Cameron. Despite the fact they looked identical; they were two completely different people. John turned again to Alistair, who was looking pleased again, "Well, As much as I respect Maggie's medical skills, we will have to ignore her order for you to stay in bed. Since you've been unconscious, our situation had changed and we must leave this place. The machines have been drawn to the area for some reason and we must be long gone when they get here, I don't think I need to explain what will happen to us all if they find us". John nodded his head and began to drag himself out of the sleeping bag. Alistair turned to Allison, who had just finished her food, "You better get Cecelia ready for the trip, we're leaving as soon as our scout teams get back".
She just gaped at him, looking both disappointed and annoyed, "But we've only been here a week, where are we goanna go next?" Alistair shook his shoulders again, "That's for John here to find. I'm sending him to find us a safe route out of here". Alistair turned to John whose stomach did a summersault, and Alistair seemed amused by the look on John's face, "Don't worry, you won't be alone. You be going with Derek and his team. I'll ask Derek to take you along as it's the perfect chance to show you how we do things, as every member of our group must contribute something to help us survive". John nodded his head again, despite the huge surge of nerves in him. Though he didn't exactly want to leave the room, mainly due to how tired and exhausted he was feeling, he didn't want to make a bad impression by refusing. Besides, the way on how this group did things with everyone contributing, seemed to be fair. Alistair opened the door to leave but stopped himself and turned back to John, "I'll send Derek over with some food for you. Once you've eaten, I require you both the head out at once. Don't worry, this isn't the first Exodus we've been forced to make". Alistair nodded his head to Allison and she nodded back as he left the room, closing the door behind him.
It didn't take long for Derek to arrive. He knocked three times on the door, causing Allison's dog to growl again. Allison opened the door to let Derek in, before heading back to help Cecilia. Derek looked surprised that John was awake and couldn't say anything at first, but he regained his composure and turned to leave again, "Good to see your finally awake, come on, we haven't got a lot of time. I'm sure Allison will be glad to get you out of her hair". Derek smirked and looked to Allison, who didn't respond to his comment. She was helping Cecilia out of her chair and began to guide her across the room to her bed. Cecelia looked in John's direction for a second and John didn't see any colour in her eyes. It was only then that John realised that Cecilia was blind. Derek beckoned John to follow and John got to his feet for the first time in three days, holding on to a nearby chair for support until he regained his balance. John followed Derek out of the room and in to the main room, which like before, was full of people. Most were busy packing what little possessions they had and didn't pay John or Derek much attention. The ones that did look up seemed disappointed that John had woken up. Derek noticed them staring and turned to John, "Just ignore them. A lot of us don't trust newcomers, and usually for good reason". John followed Derek across the room to a single table, which had a large sports bag on it. Derek reached in to the bag and pulled out two cans and passed one to John, "Here, I hope you're not fussy with your food". John held up the tin can and saw he'd been given peaches. His enthusiasm for food dropped instantly. He actually hoped for a large warm meal, maybe even a steak, but at least grateful he wasn't given pickles.
Derek didn't seem happy about his food either, "You better eat; I know it's not much but its better then nothing, and you could really use some food in you". John couldn't deny what Derek had said, he was starving. Derek offered John a plastic fork, which looked like it had already been used by someone, but John didn't care less as he began to eat. Much to his surprise, the small peaches didn't taste too bad. It didn't take long for both him and Derek to finish, though John could have easily eaten another ten cans. Despite this, he was grateful for the food and followed Derek out of the main room and along the corridor towards the entrance John came in through with Allison three days earlier. Half way down the corridor, were four men, all wearing the same green coats that everyone wore. They were armed and John recognised one of them as the one who threatened to shoot him when he first found them. They all looked up as Derek and John approached them and the one who nearly shot John stood up and marched forwards, holding out his hand to John, "Hey, I'm sorry about the way I acted". John was slightly taken aback but held out his own hand and shook it, "Forget about it". The man smiled gratefully and looked like a huge amount of weight had been lifted from his shoulders and sat back down with the other three. Derek seemed amused by the apology and tried not to laugh as he stood before all four of them, "Alright, you all know the drill. My brother and his team have already set out to the south tunnels. We're splitting in to three teams. Adrian and Dave, take the right tunnels to the north, Gareth and Tom, the same in the centre. Me and John here will take the left. Move quick and quiet. Meet any resistance, metal or not, fall back to a safe distance and report in. Other then that, maintain radio silence. We're looking for a route out; we're not looking for a fight. Any questions?"
Three of them didn't say anything, merely nodded their heads. One of the men however stood up, "Yeah I do, why's he tagging along with us? We don't even know who he really is. He could just be another mole". He pointed his finger at John, looking concerned. Derek's smile faded and it didn't take long for the man to sit down again, looking intimidated. "He's tagging along because Alistair said so". The man nodded his head and backed down in an instant. "Alright, move out; report back to Alistair once the tunnels have been searched". They instantly got up and moved down the corridor. John took a step forward to follow, but Derek cut his arm across him. "Where do you think your going?" John took a step back, feeling confused, "With you to the tunnels, like you said". Derek smirked, and knelt down next to a large but old sports bag which John had just noticed was there, "Yeah, we're going in to the tunnels, but you're not going when you look like that!" John looked down in surprise to what he was wearing. He was wearing the same clothes Allison gave him and they were a lot more comfortable and warmer then they looked. Derek smirked as he opened the sports bag and took out a green trench coat; almost identical to the one John borrowed from his father. Derek stood up and handed it out to John, "Here, everyone here has one; you could say it's our symbol". John took the coat and with out hesitation, pulled it on. It was heavier then he thought, but John quickly got used to it.
Derek next pulled out a rifle from the bag and a pistol and held out the pistol to John, "Hopefully, you won't need to use this. But with the luck we've had this past month, I wouldn't be surprised it you had to". John took the pistol and held it up to examine it. It was only a simple Glock 17 pistol and was a reliable weapon, but as John looked at it, an image of Cameron holding the pistol flashed before his eyes. This pistol was one that Cameron favoured more then any other weapon, she always picked this before anything else. John closed his eyes and tired to block out the image, because the longer it stayed in his mind, the more it hurt. John checked to make sure the gun was loaded and then placed it in to one of his coats large pockets. "Your team obviously don't trust me, so why are you giving me a gun?" Derek smirked and nodded his head, seemingly impressed, "Alistair trusts you, that might not be good enough for most of us, but I trust Alistair. If he trusts you, then so do I". John nodded to show Derek he was ready. Derek smiled and nodded his head down the corridor, towards the entrance, "Okay, when we're out there, do exactly what I say when I say it. Do that and we'll both get back alive". John nodded his head and felt nervous, it sounded like he was expecting to find trouble out there. John followed Derek down the corridor towards the entrance, where he could see a large group of men standing guard. Derek stopped and turned to John, "Don't say anything to these guys, just ignore them".
John nodded and looked to the large group. John's groaned when he saw recognised the ring leader of the group. It was the man who attacked him when he arrived with Allison. Derek moved along the corridor again, and John followed closely, not looking forwards the impending confrontation. As they approached, all the men turned to stare and the ringleader, upon seeing John, moved himself to block the way out and nodded his head in John's direction "He's not going anywhere Reese". Derek stopped and frowned. John had the feeling that this wasn't the first time these two had squared off against each other. Derek didn't back down and looked ready for a fight, "You don't want to go down this road again Burke. We might not know who he is but Alistair's let him join us. He's one of us now, so deal with it, now get out of the way". Despite being outnumbered eight to one, Derek was standing his ground, wiping the smirks off all their faces. Burke moved around Derek to stand face to face with John. Not wanting to be off guard again, John removed both hands from his pockets, this time ready to defend him in case he attacked. Burke stared at John as if trying to read his mind and John just stared back. "You might wear that coat now, but your not one of us. I've already told you once and I'll tell you again, I'll be there to throw you out when Alistair comes to his senses. Mind you, it won't matter soon; he won't be in charge for much longer". He smirked again and Derek grabbed the front of Burkes coat and pushed him back against the wall. "What the hell do you mean by that Burke?" Burke began to laugh, apparently amused by the situation, "Careful Reese, you're in deeper then you think". John couldn't help but agree with Burke. His seven friends all raised their rifles and aimed at Derek, who reluctantly let go of Burke, who again laughed, "I didn't mean anything by it Reese. Alistair is old, he won't last much longer. When he's gone, there's going to be a lot of changes around here". He and his seven friends all burst out laughing and they lowered their weapons and stepped aside, allowing Derek and John to pass. Derek turned to John, his face red with fury, "Lets go". John did as he was told, not wanting to stay anywhere near Burke or his friends any longer. As he took a step after Derek, Burke gave John a firm push against the wall, much to the amusement of all of his friends. John resisted the urge to pull out his pistol and shoot him and made after Derek without responding to their taunts.
Once they were outside, Derek turned to the now closed door, which blocked out any sounds that Burke and his friends were making, "Fucking two faced bastard! I don't care what Alistair says, one of these days, I'm goanna kill him". John didn't say anything as Derek slowly calmed down. He waited patiently, ignoring the cold of the damp and dark tunnel they were in. "What did he mean by Alistair not being in charge for much longer?" Derek turned to John, still looking angry and John wished he's didn't say anything, but Derek calmed down quickly, "Alistair's very old. He's our leader; it's his decisions that have kept us alive. But we have to move around all the time, we're always low on food, water, medical supplies. It's all taking its toll on him". Derek's rage had now completely dissipated and was now replaced by sadness. Derek held up his rifle and primed it nodded his head down the tunnel, "Let's go, keep your eyes and ears open. We haven't got any dogs with us, so we won't get any warning of the machines, so be extra careful. We're looking for a way out like a door outside or a shaft or something". John nodded and withdrew his pistol, and primed it with out looking at it. Derek then made his way down the tunnel, and John followed. The further along the tunnel they got, the more dark and uninviting it seemed to become. They passed through the room where John and Catherine appeared from the past and Derek glanced at the circle of buckled concrete with interest but didn't say anything about it.
They pressed on in silence, left, right, right again, left again, another right. John tried to keep track but eventually couldn't remember them all. Derek on the other hand, seemed to know where he was going, much to John's surprise as every tunnel and turn looked the same to him. Derek eventually stopped at another turn and stared down a long empty tunnel, and John stared also. To him, it was just another tunnel, more or less the same as he others he'd just walked through. But the longer he stared, the more different it seemed to become, the more dangerous it seemed to be. "You don't patrol this tunnel do you?" Derek nodded his head, "We don't normally go any further then this. We usually have a few days to find a clear rout out of places; we better hope we don't run in to anybody, people or metal". Derek primed his rifle, aimed it ahead of him and moved slowly down the tunnel. John readied his pistol and followed him, hoping more then ever that they wouldn't run in to the machines. His pistol after all, was more or less completely useless against the metal machines, and Derek's rifle wouldn't fare any better. They edged forwards slowly, not making a sound.
The only sound was of leaking water, which flowed through the many cracks and holes in the roof and walls, leaving large damp patches on the ground. At the end of the corridor was a fork, branching off to both the left and the right. John looked down the left tunnel and saw nothing but darkness, not even a single glimmer of light. The right tunnel was more or less the same, except light managed to shine from above, through large cracks in the roof, though the tunnel looked like it would collapse with the slightest touch. Derek looked from one to the other, trying to decide which way to go. He eventually decided to take the lighter tunnel and John agreed with him. They moved down the tunnel. As they past the holes in the roof, John looked up in to them, wondering where the light came from. He couldn't see far enough though, as the light blinded his eyes. The tunnel became dark again as they pressed on, and suddenly, without warning, the sounds of quick footsteps began to approach them. Derek turned and grabbed John by the arm, and pulled him with himself in to the darkness of the tunnel, kneeling down so to help better disguise them. The footsteps became louder and louder, until three people hurried past them, two men and a woman. They didn't notice either John or Derek hiding in the shadows. They stopped at another turn and looked in all directions, obviously looking out for someone or something. All three of them were dirty looking, their faces were dirty and their clothes were in no better condition. Each of them held a single pistol, and had a second around their waists in a cowboy's holster. "I'm sure I heard them, I'm telling you I heard someone. They're around here somewhere!" the woman sounded excited and was almost jumping up and down. The two men both nodded in agreement with her and were listening trying to decide which way to go. Coming to a decision, they immediately turned left and headed down another tunnel, their footsteps dying down to nothing as they got further away.
Once Derek was satisfied that they were gone, he let go of John's arm. They moved back out of the darkness and listened hard but John couldn't hear them, they were long gone, "Who were they?" Derek didn't answer right away and was still listening for them, but once he'd was satisfied that they were gone, he turned to John. "Thieves. They knock you out and take everything you have, guns, clothes, food, water, anything and everything. Then they leave you for dead. Those three might have been the ones who attacked you". John tired not let his face move. He didn't want Derek or anyone to know that he lied. Derek shrugged his shoulders, looked down both ways of the tunnel and then began to move down the tunnel where the thieves originally came from. "At least they were only thieves, anybody else; we would have been in real trouble". John couldn't help but be curious, "Like who?" Derek gave him a glance, looking like he was checking if John really wanted to know. "It could have been slavers, rapists, anybody. There's dozens of gangs. The slavers speak for themselves. They attack groups, usually at night when most people are asleep. They kidnap women and children. Some they keep for themselves, the others are sold to the rape gangs or other slavers. They're careful who they attack and who to take. They always take children and only pick good looking women. The better looking the women, the more other slavers and rape gangs are willing to pay for them". Derek looked angry as he spoke and John felt sick. Slavery was something that the western world stopped doing a long time ago, and now it was back, and seemingly worse then before. "What do the slavers get paid in? Money's worthless now". John wasn't sure if money was worthless or not and was hoping his hunch was right. He didn't was to arouse Derek's suspicion. Trust was a hard thing to earn and as he already had Derek's, he didn't want to loose it. Thankfully, his hunch was right, "Yeah, money's worthless. They mostly get paid in alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. They spend a week partying after a slave grab and a good sale. Once they're out of stuff again, they do another slave grab and do it all over again".
They turned another corner and found themselves facing a dead end, the tunnels having collapsed. After seeing there was no way around it, they turned around and looked for another way around it. "Have we…, I mean the group been attacked by slavers before". Derek nodded his head and for the first time, John saw Derek was upset and was close to tears. "We've come across a few of them before and we've lost people to them". John knew that Derek had lost someone close and so didn't press the subject. They carried on moving slowly, through the tunnels found themselves near a sewage pipe, which had burst and had allowed sewage to spill all along the corridor. Holding their noses, they rushed through it, moving carefully to avoid stepping in the disgusting mess. Neither of them moved their hand from their noses for a while. When they finally had clear air to breath, Derek's radio beeped, making them both jump. Derek saw the funny side and laughed it off before holding the radio up to listen. "Derek, we've got metal in the North West tunnels, about three miles from home, we're pulling back as instructed". Derek put the radio down and turned to John, "Dam it, three miles is cutting it close, way to close. We've still got a mile until we're that distance so lets take things slow, just in case". John nodded, knowing that if they took it slow, they were less likely to be heard.
They pressed on, turning more corners and sometimes having to double back as they hit dead ends and or a collapsed tunnel. John understood the need to stay quiet, but the silence was just as unsettling as their location. "What about the other gangs? What do they do? You've told me about the slavers, what about the others?" John was relieved to see Derek was happy to talk again, like him; he didn't seem comfortable with the silence. "Rape gangs do exactly that, they rape women. They raid other groups like the slavers do, kill the men, take the women and rape them. They keep raping them until they get pregnant. Once the baby's born, they rape her again until she's pregnant again. We caught a small group of them who tired to raid us; they didn't know how many of us there were. The leader told us they were saving humanity from extinction by forcing women to have children. That's when Alistair killed them". John's mouth fell open. "Alistair did what?" Derek turned to John, smiled and nodded. "You'll learn that the only thing Alistair hates more then the machines is a rapist. He's never told anyone why, but he despises them. Me and my brother have tried to get him to tell us, but he won't budge. We have ideas, but nothing more then that. We think one of his daughters was raped years ago, before all this happened, before Judgement day. We're also pretty sure the guy who did it, he got away with it. That's why he and Burke hate each other.". John nodded, understanding Alistair's hatred in an instant. "What did Burke do?" Derek stepped and shook his head, realising what he had said. He'd obviously not intended to say what he did. "I'm not saying anything about it. That's between Burke and Alistair. I'd be careful what you say in front of both of them. Only a few of us know about Burke and it's going to stay that way, don't' say anything to anyone, alright?" John saw that Derek was serious and quickly nodded his head. John already hated Burke, but now, he hated him even more. After turning another corner, Derek's radio beeped again and Alistair's voice came threw this time. "Derek son, your brother has us a place to stay. Radio your team and come on back and we can leave immediately". Derek gave a sigh and turned to John, "I'm glad that's over. The only thing I'm worried about now is Kyle's new place. Last time, he put us next to a burst sewage pipe. It stank worse then what you smelt back there earlier". John couldn't help but laugh and Derek grinned as he held up his radio, "Hey Tom, we've found a new home". Derek lowered the radio slightly and waited for a response.
He waited and he waited and after every second passed, the more concerned Derek's face became. "Tom? Gareth? Come in!" Again there was no reply and the look on Derek's face told John everything he needed to know. They were dead. Derek held the radio up again, his face full of worry, "Alistair! Gareth and Tom are missing. Get out now. If it's metal, they can follow the route they took back to you". There was silence and John had a horrible feeling that the machines were already there, but thankfully, Alistair responded. "I understand son, we'll start moving, are you coming back now?" Even over the radio, John could tell Alistair already knew the answer to the question. "No, if they're still alive, we'll find them". Derek moved the radio towards his pocket, but before he did so, Alistair spoke again. "Does John agree with you to go in search of our men? I don't want you to take him against his will". Derek looked up to him and John was surprised that Derek didn't do exactly what he would have done, which was lie. John thought Derek much hold a lot of respect for Alistair to go against his wishes and Derek was waiting to see if John agreed. To John, there was only one answer, and he took the radio from his hands. "I agree. We'll find them and catch up with you later". He handed the radio back to Derek, who nodded with respect. Alistair's voice came through the radio a final time, "It means a lot to hear you say that John, Thank you son". Derek smirked and finally, put the radio back in his pocket, "It's rare for Alistair to say something like that to someone, especially to a newcomer". He smirked and walked past him and John couldn't help but be confused, so decided to take it as a compliment. They backtracked half a mile until the found a tunnel which led them towards where Tom and Gareth were supposed to be. They again walked in silence, which John thought was prudent as they had quickened their pace and were making more noise then before. Derek became more frustrated with every dead end they came to and after a while, so was John. Every time they thought they had found a way, it was blocked off by a collapsed tunnel. Eventually, they found what they were looking for, which turned out to be a half collapsed tunnel and both of them rushed through just in case the rest of it collapsed before they could do so. Once through, Derek stopped and stared down the only tunnel they could next go through, but he didn't move, "Derek, what's wrong?" Derek shook his head and turned to him quickly, "We're either going to find them both dead or walk in to a trap, or both. Neither of which are something I'm not looking forward to". John nodded his head and this time, against his better judgement, he took the lead, holding his pistol out in front of him, ready to fire at the slightest movement. John led the way, taking extreme care to check around every corner to make sure it was clear.
The further they got, the colder it seemed to become and it didn't take long for John to start shaking. It wasn't just the cold that was making him shake, it was also fear. He'd only been here in the future for a few days now and he'd been more terrified now then he had ever been in his life. This wasn't going to stop him however, he came here to find Cameron and get her back, to save her. Nothing was going to stop him from that. He didn't care how scared he was; only a bullet to the head would keep him from Cameron now. John stopped and peered around another corner and that's when he saw them. Both Tom and Gareth were halfway along the corridor, and both were motionless on the floor. "Derek, they're here!" His voice was little more then a whisper but it was enough for Derek to hear him. He peered over John's shoulder and groaned as he saw them on the floor. John eyes weren't on them, but on the darkness of the corridor. The corridor was strangely darker then the others he'd been through and he couldn't help but feel that something was in the darkness that shouldn't be there. John turned to look at Derek, who seemed to be debating on whether to go forward or not. Eventually, he nodded his head, "Keep your eyes open for red eyes".
John looked blankly at him for a moment before he remembered that the eyes of the machines were red. They moved side by side and held their weapons up and ready, moving very slowly and taking one step at a time. John had his eyes fixed on the black darkness, thinking that two red dots would appear from nowhere and a machine would appear seconds later, but nothing came, no red eyes appeared in the darkness. "John, you check them, I'll keep and eye out". John did as he was told and knelt down next to the first man. He was lying face down so John rolled him over. His face came in to view and John knew he was dead without needed to check him. He heard Derek whisper to him that it was Gareth. His eyes were wide open and his face was fixed in a shocked like state. John pressed his fingers to his neck. He already knew he was dead, but he felt that he had to do it in any case. John couldn't find a pulse, confirming he was dead. By looking at the body, John came to the conclusion that his neck had been broken, as his neck looked slightly twisted. Before moving on to Tom who was lying just over three meters away, John raised his hand and closed Gareth's eyes, an act which Derek seemed to take note of. John then stepped over Gareth and knelt down next to Tom. He was lying on his back, his wide eyes and scared looking face looking up to the ceiling. John checked for a pulse again and again, he couldn't find one. They were both dead. John closed Tom's eyes, and stood up next to Derek. "I'm sorry". Derek nodded his head in thanks, "I've known them both for nine years. Good guys, both of them". Before either of them could say anything else, a sound came to John's ears, a sound that sent cold chills all the way up his spine. He could hear footsteps, metal footsteps, and they were getting closer. "Do you hear that?" Derek looked up from the two bodies and listened hard. The look on his face told him everything John needed to know, "Take their guns, quickly!" John grabbed Gareth's rifle and handed it to Derek, who now aimed both rifles down the corridor in the direction of the metal clanging footsteps. John quickly moved to Tom's body and grabbed his rifle, but Tom's hands were tightly gripped around it and no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't pull the rifle free, "Hurry up John!", Derek was already beginning to back away.
John couldn't stop himself from looking up towards where the machines were coming from; their metal footsteps seemed to clang louder with every step. John resorted to getting the rifle by pulling each of Tom's fingers free. Each finger seemed to be fixed in place and John reluctantly was forced to break three of them to get the rifle from his grip. Just as the rifle came free, John looked up and two machines came around the corner, their red eyes fixed on John. Everything from John's nightmares all through his life seemed to be in the tunnel with him. He was more or less defenceless against not one but two machines. Every instinct in him told him to run but he was fixed in place, unable to move in fear. Gunfire echoed through the tunnel as Derek, using both his own and Gareth's rifle pulled both triggers and John could see the bullets from both guns hit the machines, bouncing harmlessly off their metal chassis. At seeing this, John finally found that he was able to move again and ran behind Derek, who continued firing rather pointlessly at the machines, who had now begun to move towards them. Once John got to the end of the corridor, John stopped himself from running away and resolved to stand and fight. Turning around, he held up Tom's rifle and his own pistol and readied himself to fire, "DEREK, MOVE!" Derek turned and after getting over the surprise of seeing John ready to fight, turned and ran towards him. Once Derek had past him, John fired his rifle and pistol. Like Derek, John aimed the rifle at the machines chassis, but he aimed his pistol at the second machines head. The pistol being smaller, it was easier it aim with it using one hand. Despite this, the bullets carried on bouncing harmlessly off the machine's metal bodies.
It didn't take long for John to run out of ammo and as he turned and ran around the corner, the two machines fired their own rifles. Much to John's surprise, they didn't fire bullets like he and Derek were, they fired something else, some sort of blue light. They both missed as John turned the corner and as he looked at where they hit the wall, two smoking black marks could be seen on the wall. "JOHN!" John ran towards Derek, who had taken up a position next to another turn, back the way they came. John ran and stood behind him, "I've got no ammo!" Derek just realised what John had said when the machines came around the corner and fired. Derek and John couldn't do anything but duck and run down another tunnel towards then next corner. The machines didn't seem to be in any hurry to kill them, as they didn't run and instead just walked after them. Once at the next corner, Derek reached in to his pockets and pulled out two ammo clips, one for John's pistol and the other for his rifle. John took them and began to reload his weapons, just as the two machines came in to view again. Derek opened fire, using small bursts instead of wasting the entire clip. Derek only just managed to duck out of the way as the machines fired again. John nearly cried out in shock as the machines missed Derek by an inch. He'd already seen his uncle killed by a machine; he didn't want to see it all over again. Derek ran past John, who readied himself for the machines next appearance. The machines metal clanging footsteps got louder as they got nearer and John couldn't help but think the machines were doing it on purpose. Hearing them coming was just as bad as seeing them coming. Once they again came in to view, John felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as their red eyes focussed on him. To save ammo, John put his pistol away and followed Derek's example by firing short bursts from the rifle. This time, John aimed for the machines head, firing one burst at the first machine and then a burst at the second.
Again, the bullets bounced harmlessly off the machines metal frame. John repeated this process another three times to no effect until the machines fired again. John now had to duck and felt the heat of the blasts as they hit the wall behind him. Right before John turned and ran; he fired a final time, and hit one of the machines in its right eye, which shattered. The machine shuddered slightly, before continuing to advance. John turned and ran again towards Derek, who was waiting at the next corner, "Aim for their eyes!" Derek nodded at John's instruction and fired as soon as the machines came in to view. The machines this time didn't give Derek a chance to fire, as they fired multiple times with their rifles. Derek managed to fire a few times but was forced to run again. "JUST RUN!" John had positioned himself again to fire but did as he was told and ran. He didn't know where he was going but he kept running. He could hear Derek was right behind him and not far behind Derek and quickly catching up to them both were the machines, their metal feet clanging loudly with every step. Every time John looked back, he could see Derek right at his heels and behind him, closer every time, he saw the machines red eyes, three eyes in all, fixed on them, getting closer for the kill. The machines could have easily killed them both with their rifles but they didn't shoot, they wanted to kill them like they did to Gareth and Tom, they wanted to break their necks.
John didn't know what happened next. He suddenly couldn't move his legs and he fell face first to the floor. Gunfire echoed through the tunnel and John held his hands over his ears. Through the gunfire, John could hear Derek shouting, "THEIR EYES! SHOOT THE EYES!" He could tell Derek was also on the ground next to him by the direction his voice came from. The gunfire seemed to go on forever and John couldn't more, no matter how hard he tried. Even when the gunfire died down, John didn't dare look up. He waiting for cold metal hands to grip and break his neck. He heard footsteps drawing closer and he braced himself for the inevitable attack. Instead, he felt someone give him a soft kick against his arm. Looking up, he saw Kyle looking down at him, a large grin on his face, "Your not goanna do any good lying on the floor there kid". Kyle held out his hand and John, taken aback once again by the presence of his father, took his hand and was pulled to his feet. "Thanks!" Kyle nodded and moved to Derek, who was sitting on the floor beside them. Derek looked up at his younger brother, "What took you so long; I might have killed them both before you got here". Kyle held out his hand again, "Next time, I'll leave you to rot. Then I can have that bottle of vodka you've been hiding under your pillow. Besides, you two were making enough noise to bring every machine in the city down here; it wasn't hard to find you". Both the brothers grinned at each other and Derek accepted Kyle's hand and was pulled to his feet. "Gareth? Tom?" Derek shook his head and Kyle lowered his in disappointment. Other then himself, Kyle and Derek, there were five other men with them. All their rifles, including Kyle's had smoke drifting from the barrels. Turning around, John could see the both machines lying on the ground.
Both their faces were damaged and all of their eyes were gone. The machines still twitched but they lay more or less harmlessly on the floor. Two of the men moved passed John to the machines and took their rifles from their hands. Instead of keeping them as John thought, they both threw the rifles down the corridor, out of reach of the machines, "Why don't you keep them? They should be effective against the machines". John looked to Derek who shook his head, "True, they are, but the machines put tracking devices in every rifle. We can't take the rifles apart. The machines aren't too fond with us having their weapons". John nodded and turned his head back to the twitching machines. They were both moving in the same fashion as Cromartie did when Cameron blew his face apart with her shotgun. They were still active. "What are you goanna do with them?" John looked to Derek again, who looked at the machines himself before looking back to John, "Nothing, they've already sent a message out for help. More machines will be here soon, so we better get out of here. They'll be repaired and thrown back to look for us, they always do". John just stared at him for a moment, not liking the idea of the machines being repaired. Deciding to do something about it, he pulled his pistol out of his coat pocket. The other five men all aimed his rifles at him, but Derek and Kyle raised their arms to stop them and they lowered their rifles again.
They all watched him as John made his way to the closest machine. John stood over it, looking down threw its destroyed eyes. With its eyes exposed, John could see a small red glow from within its head. He knew he could destroy the chip. He knew where it was thanks to Cameron. Raising his pistol, he fired three times. The machine shuddered more violently before it powered down, the red glow in its head disappearing from sight and the machine stopped moving all together. "How the hell did you know how to do that?" John ignored Derek as he went to the next machine. Its face was in more or less the same shape as the other, with both its eyes destroyed and a red glow could be seen. Even the chip was slightly exposed. Raising his pistol again and aiming at the chip, it took only one bullet to destroy the machine, which stopped moving in an instant. John stood back up and turned back to the group, who all had a surprised look on their faces. John waited uncomfortable for them to say or do something and thankfully, Kyle turned to his brother, "Come on, everyone's already leaving and we've got to catch up with them and Alistair will want to hear about this". Kyle turned to look at John, who thought Kyle was going to say Alistair would be angry by what he did, but Kyle grinned and said, "He'll be impressed!"
They headed back to their hideout, no one saying anything. They all had their eyes open. Even John found himself looking behind him and down every tunnel and passage way they passed, expecting to see machines hiding in ambush. Thankfully, every tunnel and passage way was empty, except for a small number of very large rats. The next thing John knew, he was walking past the room where he and Catherine Weaver appeared in from the past again and moments later, he was passing through the door in to the hideout. The group came in the main room, which looked surprisingly larger then it was the last time John saw it earlier. It was almost completely empty, except for a few people who were hurriedly packing the last of their things in to backpacks. Everyone except John moved off to get their things, Kyle and Derek both disappearing through one of the nearby doors. John, who didn't have anything to pack, just waited and watched as the last of the people left through the door to Alistair's office. Alistair himself appeared from that same door and looked relived when he spotted John and marched over, "John my son, your back. I feared I lost you and Derek. Did you find Gareth and Tom?" John didn't like what he had to say next but he wasn't going to lie to someone he respected, "I'm sorry, but they didn't make it". Alistair nodded, seemingly expecting that answer. "It is a shame; they were young and had their whole lives ahead of them. We're hold a service for them once we're all safe and I'll ask Derek for details on what happened. Come with me John, we're leaving now, don't worry about the others, they know where to go".
John nodded and followed Alistair towards the door. Behind him, he heard a door open and he casually looked back to it. Allison was in the door way, weighted down by four large bags. Cecilia was holding on to her right arm for support and Allison's dog chased its tail behind her. Allison was having trouble moving with the weight of the bags and John could see that she was also carrying his sleeping bag, which he had left in her and Cecilia's room earlier. Feeling instantly selfish for leaving there for her to carry, John handed Tom's rifle to Alistair and put his pistol back in to his coat pocket. He walked over to Allison, who didn't see him until he was standing right in front of her, "Here, let me help you". He held out his arm and took hold of a strap on what looked like the heaviest bag, but she shook his hand away, "No I'm fine, I don't need any help". Allison's dog began to growl again from behind him and looked ready to attack him. Cecilia, despite her blindness, took hold of John's coat, "You're not supposed to be here. Go back and forget about the one you came here for". She let go of his coat and again took hold of Allison's arm. John, slightly taken aback by Cecilia's words, turned again to Allison, "Look, I know you don't know or trust me, but I'm offering to help, so please, let me". He held out his arm again and after a lot of hesitation, Allison gave John the bag. Knowing that with Cecilia's blindness, Allison would need to help Cecilia to walk, John took three of the four bags, including the one with his sleeping bag, leaving Allison with the lightest one.
She seemed surprised that John was offering to help and even more so as John picked up the bags and threw the straps over his shoulders. The bags were indeed heavy, the straps dug painfully in to his shoulders, but he ignored the pain and stepped out of the way, allowing Allison and Cecilia to pass. She tried to hide the small smile that became fixed on her face as she passed him, guiding Cecilia towards the door, her dog following her faithfully. Alistair had watched and listened to everything John had said and he smiled from across the room, looking admirably at him. John then followed Alistair the rest of the group and moved out to their unknown destination.
