Chapter 3
Hey guys, just want to let you know that Cameron's body is not necessarily destroyed. It's just John's irrational thinking, so don't worry about that stuff. And don't forget that this is an alternate Derek from a completely new timeline. Derek never met Cameron and Kyle never went back to protect John's mother. This would explain why Derek isn't so paranoid like the one you saw on the television show.
If you are concerned with the idea that people can exist without ever being born in the terminator universe, then you should watch Terminator: Genisys. The movie confirms that people or terminators can still exist in alternate timelines where they shouldn't. Thus, you can be certain that Sarah Connor (if she is still alive) met Kyle Reese. Nevertheless, keep in mind that Sarah would have met a different Kyle than the one that is alive right now. I know this stuff is confusing...but that's another day in the life of the Terminator universe.
So for other post-Born to Run stories to suggest that the Kyle Reese in this story needs to go back to meet Sarah Connor to ensure John's existence is pure silliness. It's not necessary because John's existence is now independent of all that.
The Reese brothers never showed up at 1600 to interrogate John Connor. It did not matter to John though, since he had no idea when or where he would face interrogation. But by 4:00 am in the morning, he felt so sleepy, so lost, he eventually succumbed to the land of nod. It could not have been more than half an hour later when he was jerked out of his bed. Someone forcibly wrapped a tight blindfold around his tired eyes. Still recovering from disorientation, John nearly fell to the ground if it wasn't for the strong arms that kept him from face-planting into the cold concrete beneath him.
"Wha...?" He moaned.
"Move!" the guard replied.
And that's exactly what he did. John had no idea where he was going but before he knew it he was forced into a chair and his blindfold was stripped off. The guard left the him in a dimly lit room and slammed the metal door shut. In front of him was a rusted metal table and the silhouette of two memorable faces burned into his mind...his father and his uncle gazing at him intently. The younger one had his hand clasped together tightly while the other brushed his fingers against the scruff on his face.
John knew they weren't the bad guys. In fact, he felt tempted to pour it all out to them. The part about looking for Allison's terminator lookalike, Kyle being his father, and even his time traveling. But John knew it would be crazy to tell them that information. If anything, they would probably throw him in a psych ward or accuse him of loading them down with bull. If he pretended to not remember anything, Derek would probably read his eyes like an open book. To survive this interview, John knew the best way to withhold information was to tell the leader of the base some partial truths.
Derek murmured, "Alright, last chance kid. Unless you start talking, you're not gonna like what happens next."
John gulped. His mouth was dry, he felt kind of dizzy, but he had to stay calm...he had to remain cool, collected, and believable. It wasn't like he was woken up like this for no reason. Kyle and Derek were obviously hoping to tire and disorient him enough to disadvantage John in his interrogation. Lucky for John, he believed he could handle exhaustion better than other teenagers his age. John took a deep breath.
Come on...you're freaking John Connor, you can do this.
"My name is John Connor." he replied emotionlessly. "I was born to my mother Sarah Connor on February 28, 2010 in a small village in Mexico...though I spent most of my life in California."
John had to add the little white lie about his birth year. No one was actually going to believe he was over 40 years old or that he time travelled twice into the future. John had no idea if they knew about time travel or what the state of the war was between the resistance and Skynet. He still had no idea what year it was but he wasn't sure he wanted to ask them.
Kyle whispered to Derek, "That's consistent with what Ally told us."
"Then what were you doing at the base John…John Connor?"
"I was looking for someone." he countered.
"And who might that be?"
"Ca-Cameron...I'm looking for Cameron."
"And what's he to you?"
John decided not to correct his use of pronoun but continued with his half-truths.
"A friend of mine." John replied.
Kyle cut in, "So what, you think he came near this base?"
"Yeah I think so." John stoically replied.
Kyle responded, "So you followed him here?"
John nodded, "Yeah."
"Then why were you naked John?"
"It's a long story."
Kyle answered, "We've got time."
John huffed and stared at the ceiling trying to come up with a believable story. He had already come up with a story last night, but John couldn't stop his hesitation.
Oh boy, here it comes...
"I live by myself on the outskirts of the base. There, I was captured by Skynet. I thought they would've killed me, but I guess the machines still had use for me. They forced me to remove my clothes and loaded me on a transport. It gave the prisoners a lesser inclination to try and escape the transport."
Kyle said, "Who was with you? What other prisoners were with you on the transport?"
John went still, and with a blank expression, replied, "I never looked up. I was too afraid to look at anyone. I just wanted to survive."
Derek urged him, "Go on."
John continued, "I couldn't care less though and I made the jump off the transport." John proudly laughed, "Look, not a single scratch. Not even a scratch from a bullet."
John showed off his arms which were completely free of scars or bruises.
Kyle said, "Skynet doesn't use bullets."
John twitched at his fatal error. He forgot that this was 2027, they didn't use bullets, they used blasts. Could John figure out a way to get out of this one?
John said, "It was a T-600."
Derek whispered to Kyle, "He's right. T-600s are older models. They don't usually carry blasters, they are equipped with machine guns."
Kyle nodded, "Oh, you're right."
John inwardly smiled at his somewhat detailed education of terminators. All that "useless" information Cameron taught him somehow came in handy.
John further explained, "After my escape, I went looking for Cameron, the only person I know who was still alive."
"Do you know where this happened?" Derek asked.
John said, "No, not really. I have no frame of reference to figure that out...sorry. I honestly don't know where I am. I'm just happy I escaped."
"John..." Kyle asked, "Do you have anyone besides Cameron who can attest for who you are or your whereabouts?"
"I'm not sure." He said.
"And why is that?" The older brother asked.
"After my father was killed by the machines, my mother got kind of paranoid and isolated us from our friends. She did not believe we could trust anyone. That's why I've never been on base before. We only lived alone at our camp. I don't know if anyone I've met, including my mom, is still alive since judgment day."
"Smart woman", Derek thought.
"Judgment day?" Kyle asked.
John explained with honesty, "That's what my mother called it when the bombs dropped."
"And what do you think happened to your mother?" Derek asked.
John shrugged, "I'd rather not talk about it."
Suddenly enraged by John's refusal, Derek shouted "Don't be such a hardass kid...!"
Kyle interfered quickly before Derek could erupt..."Hold on Derek. John, what about the electrical disturbances that took place at the base. Do you know anything about that? Our electrical engineers assure us there was no faults in the system, and yet we know something happened."
Derek glared at him waiting for the slightest ounce of hesitation. John just smiled.
John said, "That's how I found this place in the first place. When I saw the electrical flashes, I came dashing towards the base. I'm just as confused as you are."
John was impressed with himself with his multiple lies. It seemed so clever until…
"How did you get in? Kyle wondered.
Uh oh! Never thought of that.
John had nothing. He had to make something up. He knew that if his answer made no sense, this would be over. He'd be dismissed as a liar and God only knew what they'd do to him.
John said, "Uh, I came in through the tunnel."
"But those are sealed off." Kyle said.
John said, "If that were true, then they're not sealed anymore."
"Did one of the tunnel rats let you in?" Derek thought.
John remained silent.
I really got to change the subject...fast!
John's silence started to get on Derek's nerves. Derek figured he was probably protecting someone. If there was even the slightest chance of a breach in security, Derek knew he'd have to get to the bottom of this. Kyle, on the other hand, was more compelled to let John go. Kyle didn't see John as a killer, or a liar. Perhaps Allison was right. Maybe he was just a little overwhelmed.
Kyle asked him once again, "So there's no one you know for sure who might be around to corroborate your story?"
Thanks for changing the subject.
"Actually, there is one." John said with a glimmer of hope.
"And who is that?"
Would John mention James Ellison or perhaps Martin Bedell? No, John couldn't be certain they were still alive. Yet worse, he couldn't be certain that they were on the side of the humans. John decided to stop taking risks, but perhaps get more aggressive. If he kept this up, he'd surely make a mistake.
John murmured, "You."
"What do you mean me? I've never seen you before in my life." Kyle argued
John had just turned the tables on his interrogator. It was a perfect strategy to avoid his constant lying.
"You sure about that?" John said coldly.
"Hey kid!" Derek threateningly slammed his fists on the rusted table. "We ask the questions!"
Kyle just watched John in complete confusion. Meanwhile, John figured he could have told Kyle about their experiences playing baseball, their blood type, or even what they did on judgment day. But John knew what would happen if he told them that. As Cameron would say it, "They would freak." Thus, he had to keep quiet for now.
At that same moment, Derek eyed John with rage.
He said to John, "I don't know what kind of game you're playing at but I can see that you're done talking!"
Derek shoved the table into John's chest and bent forward. His nose was just an inch away from John's. His eyes were menacing. His eyes told John that he didn't have that much longer using all his antics.
"You know what, John Connor, I know you're hiding something from me...but Allison seems to take a liking to you."
John perked up at the thought, "Who?"
Derek smirked inwardly at John's sudden attentiveness.
Derek continued, "She doesn't think you're a gray, and frankly, I don't think so either. You don't have the balls to be working for Skynet. But if it were up to me, I would've kept you rotting in this godforsaken hell hole 'till you were ready to crack."
Kyle got up and knocked on the door. A guard briefly opened it up with a key in hand to unlock his handcuffs.
Kyle told John, "We are now placing you in the custody of Allison Young."
John had surmised that this was Allison Young's idea, not the Reese brothers. Allison was pretty much his parole officer now.
"So am I free to go?" John asked, while trying desperately hard to withhold his relief and excitement.
Derek grudgingly replied, "Yeah...but..."
He suddenly and firmly grabbed John's shoulder before he could walk out. John craned his neck to look at Derek.
"If you do anything stupid...if you hurt Allison...I will make you suffer." Derek gritted his teeth at the last word.
John tried to stare at him confidently, but he wasn't too successful at the attempt. He knew Derek's real intent. If he so much as stared at Allison the wrong way, Derek would kill him. John knew he couldn't give Derek any excuse to try.
Just outside of the "fiery pits of hell" (Allison's nickname for the prison-house located on Derek's base), Kyle found Allison sitting on the steps towards the entrance, taking in all the excitement. Kyle reluctantly stepped towards her and sat next to her.
He said to her, "Look Allison, I still don't like it...he seems to know…things..."
"I know you don't like it, but you still have to trust me on this, you and I both know he's not a gray." She said.
"Well..." Kyle answered...,"He could be a deranged sociopath."
Allison said, "And what's the difference between that and a gray?"
"Point taken." he smiled.
"Now, where is he?" she asked.
Kyle said, "We took him out the back to avoid attention. He's in there now."
Kyle pointed towards the infirmary.
"No! What did Derek do?" Allison asked in increasing alarm.
Kyle explained, "Relax...you know John's another mouth to feed. We might as well get some work out of him while he's around."
Allison responded, "The people might not want to work with him. Some still think he's a gray."
Kyle agreed, "Yep. I know that. That is why we have no choice but to dump him on you."
Allison grinned, "You say it like it's some kind of punishment! What's he doing in there anyway?"
"He's looking for some better clothes. I figure you two could handle transporting some goods to the LA Air Force Base tomorrow morning. No Skynet activity has been reported near the base in several weeks."
Allison replied, "Yeah, but that's what scares me even more."
"I guess, but we wouldn't be sending you if we didn't think it was safe enough. Derek doesn't like the idea of you two going alone, but we're short of men or women available to do it."
To Allison, Kyle and Derek's concern for her was no surprise. Not long after Allison's parents died, she got pretty close to Kyle and Derek. They practically raised her. To Allison, she never looked at the Reese brothers romantically. In fact, they were like her best friends, her big brothers, and her parents smashed all into one ever since her real parents died.
She said, "You know I can handle myself. I'm not a child anymore."
"Well, ya' can't expect us to stop worrying about you can you?" Kyle said.
Allison just smiled and gave Kyle a hug.
Allison reluctantly let go and ran off towards the infirmary. "I'll see you later."
"Have fun with your boyfriend" He smirked.
Allison shook her head with a smile, but didn't turn around as she continued onward in search of John. Allison believed that with herself and John trapped in a truck for several hours, she could easily manipulate him into giving up all of his secrets. It was the only reason Derek was going to allow her to be alone with John. Allison desperately hoped, however, that John was a good guy. If John turned out to be a bad guy, her heart would be broken all over again. Plus, she'd have to kill him which would have sucked too.