Chapter 7 - Fight and Flight
John remembered the first time he walked in to Katrina's hideout, carrying an unconscious Allison in his arms. The rooms and hallways were filled with hundreds of candles, which stood on unused tables and chairs to light the way from room to room. The glow they made gave the whole place Katrina's people lived a homely feel to it, something which John had never experienced in his life, as he was always forced to move village to village, town to town and city to city, never staying in the same place for too long. He never admitted it to anyone, but the one thing John missed about his life was that he couldn't call anywhere home. He very much doubted that Allison could call anywhere home either, as she drifted along with Alistair from one hiding place to another, hiding from merciless machines determined to kill them. In a sense, both he and her were wonderers, drifters, travellers, been forced to move from place to place in order to survive and despite only being there three days, it did house them for a time and in that time, John and Allison had formed and built their friendship and strengthened it in a short space of time, but that friendship could end just as quickly as it had formed, as they now had to fight for their lives, as did everyone else with them. Hand in hand, they followed Kyle and Derek down the corridor. John could feel Allison shaking through their bound hands and he himself felt nervous now. He knew from what Kyle, Derek and even Alistair had told him, Burke was a dangerous individual.
Not only that, he now had over a hundred slavers with him, all desperate to kill, rape, steal and enslave, which made a already angry Burke deadly. John gave Allison's hand a firm squeeze for reassurance and her shaking lessened slightly, though it was still there. Derek groaned and grunted as he walked with Kyle's support, his wound's still only just starting to heal. Half way down the hall, Derek pushed Kyle away and walked on his own, though in doing so he moved slower. He shook his head when Kyle tired to help him again and Kyle took the hint that his brother didn't want to use him as a leaning post. Kyle then ran ahead, leaving the three of them to follow behind. Derek gave a short glance to John and Allison before continuing on without saying a word, gritting his teeth as he did though he didn't once complain, knowing that what was going to happen very soon, he needed to be able to run fast and shoot fast. John and Allison followed Kyle and Derek through in to the main entrance room, where Katrina was waiting with all of her group. All thirty of them stood huddled together, looking both nervous and scared. Those who weren't armed clung to their children, who in turn looked around wildly, some of them too young to know what was going on while those who did were simply upset they were leaving their home. Katrina stood at the back of the group, holding her baby son in one arm and holding the hand of her older son in the other. Mark stood beside them and seemed to be trying to get through to Katrina, who was pale white and John guessed she was in a state of shock. John watched them for a moment and saw the similarities between both of her sons and Mark, confirming his suspicion that Mark was their father.
Mark turned and upon seeing that they had arrived, beckoned both Derek and Kyle to join him. John stood with Allison by the door they just came through, both of them observing what was happening in the room. Katrina remained idle with her two young sons, not even flinching as her baby son pulled hard on her jet black hair. The rest of the group were just trying to keep their children quiet and keep brave looks on their faces, though those brave looks never stayed long as they quickly disappeared to be replaced by fearful and desperate looks. Allison knelt down as her dog began to growl and silenced him with a soft pet on the head and John knelt down beside her, "The first time I met Burke, he tried to force himself on to you and I think he's tried it a lot before I turned up. Am I right?" Allison turned to him, her face telling him that he had done with out her needing to say a word. He sighed and took out his pistol, along with the two spare ammo clips he had. Allison stared at them for a moment before diverting her eyes back to John's. "He hates me and he knows we're friends, he knows we're close. He'll do what he can to get his hands on you. I want you to take this, just in case. I know you don't have one".
Allison shook her head and began searching her own pockets for her own gun and was John already knew, she didn't have it. She had lost it when the tunnel had collapsed on to them. "Allison, please take it. I'll feel a lot better if you have it". She nodded her head and took the gun along with the ammo clips, which she put in her coat pocket. John was about to take the gun from her to show her how to use it, but she pulled it out of his reach and showed him she knew how to use it. She took the current ammo clip out to see if it was loaded which it was. She then reloaded it, primed it and checked the safety was on. She grinned when she saw his surprised look, "I'll only use it of I have to". John grinned back and before they could say anything else, someone tapped him on the shoulder. John turned to see Kyle, who quickly nodded his head to the door, "John, I need to talk to you alone, now. Allison, you just stay close to John here. I'm pretty sure he'll look after you". Allison nodded her had and couldn't hide her grin when she looked to John. She went red again and looked away before Kyle could notice. Kyle did notice however and he grinned at them both, "Derek will be part of the escort so he can keep an eye of you both". They both nodded in reply and Allison glanced over to Derek and though she trusted Derek, the look on her face told John she wasn't enthusiastic due to him been wounded the way he was.
John couldn't blame her as he looked over at Derek also and saw he was having trouble keeping his rifle raised for more then a few seconds due the pain of his wounds. Standing up, John followed Kyle to the back of the room where they wouldn't be overheard. Kyle made sure they were out of ear shot of everyone before speaking, "We haven't got long. We've got five minutes at the most. Burke's got himself a little lost in the tunnels but he won't stay lost for long, so here's the plan. Me, Mark and some of his guys are going to hold Burke off for as long as we can. We can't hold them off for long, there's too many of them and only a handful of us". The sound of Kyle's voice wasn't giving John much hope for what was coming soon. Kyle sounded like he was saying goodbye and though that might be true, it's not something John wanted. Kyle was his father after all and he'd only just stared to get to know him. Kyle gave a quick glance at Katrina's group and a longer one at the children and shook his head as he turned back, "I don't like this any more then you do. I doubt any of us will live more then an hour. I've been wrong before and I hope to hell I'm wrong now. Half of Katrina's men will be with me and Mark.
The other half will stay escort those who can't fight". John nodded and they both looked over at the two groups that had assembled. Katrina, the women and children stood together, along with a few guards who would escort them out and with them was a disappointed Derek. He wanted to stay but in his condition he couldn't do what was needed to be done, leaving him on escort duty. The second group was the group that would hold Burke off and was much smaller. Mark was waiting with four of his men as well as both of the other survivors from Derek's group. With Kyle, that made only eight men ho would stay behind to fight. Eight men against one hundred slavers. John shook his head, very much doubting he would see his father again "its suicide. You don't stand a chance against a hundred of them". It was Kyle's turn to shake his head and he caught Mark's eye and knew they needed to go quickly, "We've got a batter chance against a hundred slavers then we have against a single machine and we're tougher then we look. We'll give Burke a run for his money and I'd gladly die if it gives those kids a chance to live. Me and Mark need you to be the rear guard of the group. I've seen you shoot; you're good enough to hit anyone who follows you at a distance. Once your outside, Derek will lead the way back to Alistair and we'll follow if we're still alive. This might be goodbye John so good luck". He held out his hand and though John was tempted to hug his father, he took his hand and said the same in return.
John watched as Kyle and Derek embraced and both brothers knew that this was a strong possibility that this was goodbye for them as well. Neither betrayed their emotions and they parted without words, though both looked a little saddened and upset. He left second's later with Mark and the other six men who would hold Burke off. Mark hesitated when his eyes caught Katrina's and it didn't take a genius to figure out that they were parting with unfinished words. Mark waved at his eldest son who waved back and he then lead the way to the door and shouted, "Right everyone, let's do this. Good luck". He, Kyle and the other six left first and took the left tunnel towards where Burke and his slavers were approaching. Katrina's people now began to leave; taking the right tunnel which John guessed was the way out. Just getting through the door took a long time due to the large number of children. Katrina gave a last look around the room, the safe haven her own father had made to protect her and the rest of the group from Skynet and its machines. Her saddened face told its own story as she was lead out of the room with her two sons by Dean, who had both the bags with the medical supplies. Allison was with them, in one hand she held the lead to her dog, which walked beside her and in the other, she held the pistol John gave her. She gave John a soft smile as she past him, one that John felt himself reddening at seeing.
Outside, The man who had been attacked by rats days before and was still covered in bloody bandages closed the door with a loud bang and just as he was moving back to join the group, a grenade fell from one of his pockets and everyone who hear it hit the floor turned to stare, fearful it would go off. A look of relief came across their faces as he knelt down to pick it up. John then suddenly got an idea, "Here, give it to me". Standing upright, the held the grenade in his hand with a sly smile, "And why should I give it to you, we might need it". John took a step to the side and pointed at the door, "Those slavers are still going to kick that door down to loot the place. I'll rig the grenade to explode when the door opens". His face didn't look convinced but he handed the grenade over to John when he caught Derek's eye and he rejoined the group. John and Derek went back to the door and John set to work. Derek watched him curiously, "First, you're able to hack in to an electrical locked vault and now you're going to rig the door to explode. I haven't seen anything like that since Hollywood was still around". John gave a weary smile as he fixed the grenade to the bottom of the door, in the dark where it would less likely be seen. "My mom taught me how to do this stuff. I never believed her most of the time, but she always said I'd find this stuff useful at some point. I guess she wasn't lying". Derek grinned as John finished his work.
He held his breath as he let go of the grenade and gave a small sigh of relieve as it didn't explode in his face. "Let's just hope Burke's the one who open's it". Derek nodded and turned to the group, most of whom had been watching John work with anxious expressions, "Lead the way and move fast. We've already taken to long". Despite Derek's insistence they move fast., the group began a slow and quiet walk through he dark tunnels. No one said a word and the only sounds were from footsteps and a few children crying from being scared of the dark. Their parents did their best to keep them quiet but most of these attempts were failure due to their own tears coming from being forced to leave their home. Derek and John brought up the rear of the group, both looking over their shoulders expecting to see Burke and his slavers appear behind them but they saw nothing but the dark. A sudden gunshot which echoed through the tunnels made them all jump and a few children cried out in fear. They all instinctually stopped and listened instead of continuing on and a second shot rang out from a long way away. A fierce gun fight had broken out between the slavers and those who stayed behind and the sound was enough to drive the group on a lot faster now. John, Derek and two men from Katrina's group stayed at the back of the group, glancing over their shoulders every few seconds.
The gunfight was fierce and they heard screams under the sounds of the gunshots. Time and again, the gunfight seemed to slow down until nothing could be heard, but then a single shot would sound and it would start up again. No matter how much further they went, John could still hear the fight clearly and it didn't take a genius to figure out it was nearly over. He felt guilt and hatred as he listened as the gunfire stopped and then there was nothing. John felt tears build up in his eyes as that silence told him his father was dead, along with the seven others who stayed to hold Burke off, including Mark. Everyone else must have been thinking the same thing, but no one stopped moving to grieve for their loss. John himself felt physically sick. He had never known his father well, he'd only known him a few weeks in fact but his loss felt like he'd always known him and it hurt him deeply. Someone he cared deeply about had been taken from him. He had felt this way only once before, in the basement of Zeira Corporation, when he saw Cameron's still body and her parting message, 'I'm sorry John'. He held back his tears as they made their way out of the dark and in to the light.
As always, it was bitterly cold outside. The rain from the previous night had made the place seem like it had been hit by a monsoon, which in turn made it even colder. Almost instantly, John gave a groan of annoyance as he found himself once again knee deep in water. Parent's picked up their children and carried them out of the water to higher ground which was about fifty feet away. Some of the dead trees had fallen over in the previous night's rain storm, making it difficult to navigate in a straight line to their goal. The group moved slowly forwards through the water, some tripping over dead tree roots that they couldn't see in the murky water and they swore loudly when they fell. John and Derek waited until everyone else had set off through the water before following themselves. Derek's face told John everything he needed to know to what he was thinking. Derek also thought Kyle was dead and he was both heartbroken and furious. He stared back in to the darkness and all the pain from his wounds was pushed out of his mind as his grief for Kyle took hold. Despite his hatred for Burke, Derek had the discipline to put it aside to do what needed to be done, which was get as far away as possible. As they turned, they heard an explosion from deep inside the tunnels. Both gave a quick glance back before pressing on through the water. The explosion was the grenade that John had planted going off and he hoped that Burke's arrogance had made him go first through the door.
By the looks on Derek's face, he hoped Burke was still alive, so he could kill him with his own hands. They were the last ones out of the water and John could see what was left of the town in the distance. The fires the machines had started with their bombardment had been put out by the rain. Everyone waited for a minute to collect themselves. It was doubtful that many of Katrina's people had been or wanted to be outside in years. They were scared, not only because they were so exposed outside like this, but because they had their children with them. That fact alone was enough to scare John as he didn't want to see any of them die. They had to move quickly as it wouldn't be long before the slavers took the hint and followed them outside so Derek tried to get his bearings. John was fearful that Skynet's machines would find them but he could neither hear nor see anything that could indicate any threat to them. He looked for Allison within the group and saw her standing alone with her dog standing alert beside her. It wasn't barking or growling which helped make him more at ease as machines were not close by. "Derek, which way do we go?" It was the first time Katrina had spoken and she seemed to be back to her old self again, though she didn't look it. Her pale white skin made her look ill but her eyes had a certain fire to them, a fire of desire to protect her two sons, who were both terrified by their surroundings. Derek looked at a loss and shook his head with a disappointed look, "I don't know, south maybe".
Katrina some how went even whiter and John felt his something stir in his stomach. He was sure he saw something shine from the distance behind them but it was gone as quickly as it came. It was enough to make him nervous enough to point towards the town while looking at the town, "Take us there to where you found us. The dog should be able to find our scent". He was only guessing on what to do and as no one else could think of anything better, that's what they did. They moved quicker now, mostly as the children were now being carried and also because the fear of being found by the machines or caught by the slavers was strong. They moved through the ruins of the town, through collapsed buildings, passed hollow cars and over falling walls. Katrina eventfully raised her hand and pointed to small clearing where the road that went through the centre of the town was still mostly intact, "That's where we found you. We should have shot you all there and then". No one agreed or disagreed with her though John secretly agreed that she should have shot them all. Burke after all, had been part of the group then and he was no chasing them. Killing Burke then would have solved all of her current problems before they began. From here, they didn't need Allison's dog to tell them where they needed to go. All those who outside that night in the cold and the dark knew that Derek had led the group straight up the main street, which they were now on. Derek and Katina both glanced to each other, both telling each other that it was the right way to go and the group hurried down the ruined street. John saw Allison ahead of him and ran ahead to catch up. She smiled at him when he did but he smile was quickly replaced by an upset and worried look. "Is Derek okay?".
John glanced around and Derek, limping at the back of the group alone, his face telling it's own story. "I don't know. I hope so". Allison looked back herself and her face looked even sadder, "I liked Kyle, he was always nice to me. He used to stand up for me when the other girls bullied me and…" Her voice trailed off in to nothingness and she could say no more. They left the town behind them and continued on through the deserted remains of Los Angeles. Non one spoke as they walked, out of fear that they would be overheard by any machines but for John himself, machines were the last thing on his mind. The shock of Kyle's death was now getting to him and he wanted to turn around and hunt Burke down. But his urge for revenge had to be put aside for now at least. He had a job to do, people to protect. This was what he has spent most of his life training to do, protect people. They made a poor show of themselves on the move. Though they stuck together, only half of them were armed with any kind of weapon and even fewer were able to fight. John counted that including him; only nine of them could really have any chance to defend the group effectively and only then if they weren't being attacked by machines. Within the first twenty minutes of walking, they lost two people. A woman and her five year old daughter drifted off from the group without anyone noticing. Once the alarm was raised, John and three others searched for them but they were never found. John and the others reluctantly pressed on and the little hope they had of reaching Alistair quickly began to disappear. It wasn't the first time in this future when John had wished he had Cameron by his side. Just having her near would have made him feel a lot better, especially with the death and destruction which was just around the corner.
Any hope of getting to Alistair without them being noticed or attacked were quickly dashed when Allison's dog began to growl and bark. Children cried out in fear and their parents held them close to them, tears in their eyes as a low rumbling sound could be heard. John instantly looked to the sky, expecting to see the large air machines descending towards them. He saw black clouds and the occasional ray of blue sky in the gaps but other then that, he saw nothing. Drawing his eyes away from the sky, he looked around him and saw that many of the group were staring down the road back the way they came. Following their gaze, he saw for himself what was coming. The slavers were coming and they were coming fast. It wasn't machines which they had heard, but the engines of at least a dozen vehicles, all trucks of various sizes. Two or three of them were old millinery transport trucks but the others were technical's with mounted machine guns on the back. John stood open mouthed as he's eyes went from one truck to the next. Until now, he hadn't seen a working car or truck and presumed that since Alistair led his group from place to place always on foot and they themselves had come to Katrina and were leaving again on foot that no one used vehicles anymore. He also thought it would be impossible to drive now since most of the roads were gone or blocked with rubble. It took him a few moments before he got over the surprise to join in the rest of the group in running for their lives.
They ran as fast as they could, frantically trying to get away from the approaching slavers but it was completely hopeless. The slavers were moving a lot faster then them as they had trucks and were gaining on them. John could hear some of the cheering, enjoying the chase which was going to end very quickly. They were gaining and got close enough for the men on the lead truck got close enough to fire their weapons. The slavers took care not to hit anyone as they wanted to capture most of them but the shots never the less scared some of them to the ground where they cowered in fear. John saw a woman and her son fall to the ground where she used herself to shield him. John ran to them as fast as he could and tried to help them up but they were too scared to move. Her heard some more cheers and looked up. The lead truck had got far ahead of the other slavers and they had saw John trying to help the woman and her son. They sped towards them quickly, the slaver on the mounted machine gun fired at him, hoping for a easy kill but he was moving fast on uneven ground. John on the other hand was crouched and stationary. John's first shot missed but his second hit the machine gunner in the shoulder.
The slaver fell back and only managed to not fall off the truck by holding on to the machine gun with all his might. John aimed downwards saw the driver through the glass and fired a burst of three bullets. Three large bullet holes appeared in the glass and the inside of the window became stained with blood. The truck veered violently to the left and despite the best efforts of the co driver, the truck hit the shell of an old car and flipped over. The machine gunner was thrown in to the air to his death and the surviving co driver was crushed when the truck hit the ground. John didn't stay to watch his handiwork and pulled the women and her son to her feet, "RUN!" he ordered her and she did run this time and John followed. What John didn't anticipate was his small act of defiance against the oncoming slavers spurred the other eight men including Derek to stop, turn and make themselves ready to fight. They cried out to their families to keep running and they reputably did. They crouched by what ever cover they could find, be it a pile of rubble or a car. John himself found Derek and they crouched together behind some rubble and Derek gave John a respectful nod. John retuned the nod and looked behind him and saw Allison running ahead of him. He watched her run for a moment and he hoped she would keep running, no matter what she heard. He turned back the trucks came in to range and he, Derek and the other opened fire. The fight that happened next was short and brutal, similar to what they had heard earlier in the tunnels. They were both outnumbered and outgunned and despite having good defensible positions and cover, it did little to compensate to the slavers firepower.
They managed to stop another technical truck, killing all three slavers in it but they were quickly surrounded by the remaining slavers. John and Derek had the better position then the rest of their group and together, they killed five of the slavers, but the slavers weren't stupid and knew that they had the better position and so it was on them that they focussed their efforts. John and Derek were pinned down by gunfire and before they knew it, they had guns to their heads. The other seven men put up a fight as best they could but they too were quickly overwhelmed. Four of them were killed, including the man who had been swarmed by rats. John could recognise his body by the many bandages over his hands and face. John, Derek and the remaining three survivors of Katrina's men were disarmed and their hands were bound tightly together with rope. None of them would make it easy for them and John especially made things difficult by refusing to keep still. A firm kick in his stomach forced him to give up his struggle and he was thrown hard to the ground next to Derek. John pushed himself to his knees and watched as a larger group of slaver, around twenty of them approached from the now waiting trucks. Three of the trucks didn't stop and they continued on after Katrina, Allison and the others who were running for their lives as fast as they could. Burke led that group and he had the biggest grin on his face, "You've got no idea how long I've wanted to do these Reese".
John saw Derek giving Burke a defiant look before Burke broke in to a run and kicked Derek hard across the face, sending him back in a groan of pain. John could do nothing but watch as Burke gave Derek the beating of his life. Once Burke was finished, Derek's face was almost unrecognisable. He lay there, unmoving and unconscious, his face red with blood. Those watching laughed at the show and John watched with disgust as Burke ordered his men to strip the bodies of the four men who died protecting their families of anything they could use and then dump them in the nearby creek, an order which the slavers followed gleefully. Burke looked down at Derek and gave him another kick to make sure he was unconscious, and smiled at himself as he turned to the rest of them. He saw two of the men were the two remaining men from all the people Derek had brought with him except for John and Allison. Burke made them an offer, one which was generous given their situation. He offered them both their lives and in return, they would now become part of his gang. Neither even considered accepting Burke's offer and one even spat in Burke's face before he executed them both. John closed his eyes and he heard both the shots and their lifeless bodies hitting the ground. Burke didn't bother to question the other prisoner and executed him just as quickly, leaving his body next to the others, which meant John and an unconscious Derek, were all that was left.
Then Burke stopped before John and he never hated anyone more then now. The only thing John hated more then Burke was Skynet and its machines. John looked up and his and Burke eyes fixed together, both sets of eyes full of loathing. John expected a bullet to the head but Burke didn't raise his pistol to do that. He just stared at him and then he grinned as something crossed his mind. "You know something Connor; I saw how close you and your pretty little friend Allison got so here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to make you watch while I have some fun with her. I'm going to make you watch as she screams your name, while she moans for you to help her. And once I'm done with her, I'm going to make you watch as all my men have their way with her. And only after that will I kill you. Do you understand that? She's said no to me for a long time and once I have her, she'll wish she never said no to me". Burke and the surrounding slavers laughed and a few even cheered. "And once you're dead Connor, she, Katrina and the other women are going to be a great help to us. We've got to keep the Human race going one way or another, even if we have to force them". He and the slavers laughed again and John felt something in him snap. Disgusted and feeling sick by Burke's words and unable to keep his anger under control, he lunged upwards so quick that even Burke took a step backwards in alarm. John then lunged forwards but with his arms bound by rope behind his back, Burke had no trouble in putting him down with a punch to the side of the head. John tired again to get up but an amused Burke put his foot on his throat and John managed to calm himself down enough to stop. Many of the surrounding slavers laughed and jeered at John, amused by the show. Burke grinned down at him and John looked right back, the exact opposite of a grin on his face. Burke looked up to his men, raised his hand they went silent, "Put them both in the truck. The others should have the women and children by now. Next stop is Alistair's. Plenty of women there for all of you".
Cheers greeted the news and Burke removed his foot to allow his men to take him to the truck. Derek was dragged behind him, still unconscious. John was forced in to the back of the closest truck and Derek was thrown in beside him. One man climbed in to the truck to guard them and he sat opposite John, his rifle resting on his knees in case of trouble. He didn't seem bothered by his role of guarding the prisoners and judging by the look on his face, John guessed that it was a job he enjoyed doing. John was sure he was just waiting for John to try something so he had an excuse to hit him. John, his head hurting him worse then ever now, sat still, hoping some sort of opportunity would present itself for him and Derek to escape. He found it almost at once. He felt something behind him, something sharp attached to the inside of the truck. He slowly repositioned himself and slowly began to use what ever it was to cut the rope, though he had to work slowly to not attract attention. Derek regained consciousness and groaned in pain, he tried to raise his hands to his face but found his hands were bound like John's and he could do nothing but lie there. The guard laughed and kicked Derek in the stomach to shut him up which Derek did, though he was clearly in a lot of pain. After a minute or so, the rope which bound John's hands snapped and the sudden freedom of his arms made him move enough to attract attention. The guard stood up and aimed his rifle at him and John went still, "What's that behind you?" John didn't answer or reply in any way, hoping that his guard would do exactly what he wanted him to do. "I said what's that behind you? Are you deaf or just stupid?" John still didn't move and then the guard made the mistake he hoped he would make. He stepped over Derek and it was then that Derek attacked. Lifting himself up, he knocked the guard off his feet.
John, his arms now free, pounced and he wrapped his arms around the guard's neck. Before the guard got a chance to call for help, John pulled back hard and the guard's neck broke. John stayed still for a few seconds, listening hard and was relived to hear that no one had heard the commotion. He dropped the now lifeless body and picked up the rifle before turning to Derek, who was trying and failing to stand up. "Just go John. I'm not going anywhere in a hurry. I'll just slow you down. Get yourself out of here". Shaking his head at Derek, he looked out from the back of the truck and saw Burke and his slavers had finished stripping the bodies of their own fallen comrades and those they had killed. All the bodies had been dumped together in a pile and some of them were debating whether or not to burn them. He saw Burke In the middle of the whole group, waiting for the return of those who chased after Katrina, Allison and the others and John aimed his new rifle at him. He had a clear shot and just as he was about to fire, a worried and nervous look came across Burkes faced. Even this was enough to stop John from shooting him and then he heard why Burke's facial expression had changed. It was the sound John hoped he wouldn't hear on their way back to Alistair, it was the machines. Three hunter killers, huge flying machines flew buy, each of them unleashing rockets down on to the trucks. John grabbed Derek and somehow managed to throw both himself and Derek out of the back of the truck just before it exploded.
He then somehow managed to get Derek to his feet and put his arm over his shoulder. The machines made quick work of the remaining trucks, making sure that the slavers were effectively stranded. Some slavers were killed outright, some ran for their lives but the others fought back despite the fact it was a futile effort. The underbellies of the three machines opened and more machines, T eight hundreds jumped out from the inside to fight the slavers directly. At least twenty or thirty T eight hundreds landed, all holding what looked like large machine guns, similar in appearance to mini guns. Once on the ground, it was more or less over. The slavers scattered as quickly as they could. Screams filled the air as some were gunned down and when John looked back, he saw a T eight hundred grabbed a slaver trying to flee and then threw him in to the flames from the burning trucks where he kicked and screamed as he burned to death. Derek suddenly tried to remove his arm from around John's shoulder, "John, just go, get out of here, you can make it if you run". Rolling his eyes, John moved forwards again, keeping Derek moving with him "What would your brother do if he was me right now".
Even through his bloody face, John could see Derek looked both angry and upset, shaking his head at the obvious answer that didn't need words. "Exactly, he wouldn't leave you, so do us both a favour and shut up, and try to walk a bit faster". John couldn't look back but he could hear what was going on. The slavers were running for their lives and the machines were mercilessly hunting them down. He knew it was a matter of time that he and Derek would both be gunned down and killed. They kept moving until they could feel bullets flying past them so they threw themselves to the ground. Derek didn't need throwing due to his wounds and he just fell to the ground and lay there like nothing mattered to him anymore. They fell in to a small ditch which provided some protection from the hundred of bullets being fired at them but not enough protection to allow them to move anywhere else, they were trapped. John held his rifle up above his head and fired blindly until he was forced to reload. He doubted he hit anything and even if he did, he wouldn't have done any damage. Derek tried to do the same but he had no strength left to raise his arms. John tried desperately to look for places to go, somewhere they could run to, some more cover maybe but the closest cover to them were some empty farm buildings next to a empty field of dead grass over fifty metres away. The only other cover available were the burning trucks and they were in the wrong direction, through the machines. He thought about running for it, to the farm buildings but the distance was too far. They'd be gunned down before they got anywhere near them.
The battle was over before it really began. Around half of the slavers had been killed and the other half were now running for their lives in every direction. From where they were hidden, John could some of them running. He saw two of them fall as the machines gunned them down. Somehow, one of the trucks was still working and tow slavers tried to drive away. They didn't get far before a well aimed rocket form a hunter killer put an end to them both. John could hear the footsteps from the machine that had them pinned down moving towards them. John quickly reloaded and aimed up but the machine beat him to it, kicking his rifle aside and pressing the chamber to his forehead. John's eyes met the red ones of the machine and in his mind, there was no possible way that he was going to survive this time, but he was once again wrong in thinking that it was his time to die. He saw the machines fingers moving slowing on the trigger, but as it was about to pull the trigger, someone began shooting at almost point black range at the machines face. Within seconds, its eyes, its only real weak spot had been blown apart and its chip was damaged beyond repair. The machine fell forwards and John only just managed to move out of the way before it crushed him. Looking up to the man who saved them, he couldn't quite believe it was his father he was looking at. Kyle, the most determined look on his face, quickly pulled John to his feet and then moved to help his brother.
He didn't bother with waiting for Derek to get to his feet himself and threw Derek over his shoulders, "This way John, now". What few machines that had remained behind from chasing the slavers by had seen what had happened and turned their attention on them. Now, six or seven machines were firing at the three of them and John could only put it up to pure luck that they managed to reach the farm house without getting hit. Kyle led him around the back of the house and to his surprise, one of the slavers technical trucks were waiting. Kyle ran towards it and more or less dumped Derek in the back before getting on himself and manning the mounted machine gun, "John, get inside, quickly!" Still in shock at his father's survival, it took a moment for Kyle's instructions to sink in before he opened the door and got in to the passengers seat. Behind the wheel was one of the men who had been with Mark. He gave John a dark look but didn't say anything as Kyle shouted at him to drive. He started the engine and they were off but they weren't alone. In a truck, they could out run the T eight hundreds on the ground but not the hunter killers in the air. Within seconds, they had one of the three hunter killers following them.
Kyle opened fire with the mounted machines gun but the bullets harmlessly bounced off its metal plating and kept on following. The driver turned quickly left and right to avoid being hit by the machines rockets which were fired at them. The rockets exploded and blew debris in every direction and also shattering the only window that was left of the truck. They turned on to a highway which led deep in to downtown Los Angeles and so were forced to dodge between the many cars which were there, all now tombs for their former occupants. The driver was forced to ram in to some cars just to keep moving and keep them from being killed. The hunter killer were baring down on them and John joined Kyle in firing at the machine, handing out of the passenger window to do so, though like Kyle's mounted machine gun, he did no damage due to its thick armour. Even Derek managed to regain enough composure to fire back at the machine.
John didn't know if it was him, Derek or Kyle who destroyed the machine after a hectic chase in which they used up most of their ammo and the truck had been almost torn apart by the machines bullets and plasma shots once it ran out of rockets. One of the machines plasma shots blew a hole in the side of the truck and as both John and Kyle held on as hard as they could before they were thrown out of the truck. In doing so, both fired and random burst of bullets at one of the machines twin engines. John had fired countless bullets at the engines but to no effect but suddenly, its right engine exploded and the machine came crashing down. John was sure the machine attempted to land on top of them in a last attempt to kill them but the driver managed to turn out the way just in time. The machine crashed and its second engine exploded with a colossal bang, send metal fragments everywhere.
Kyle saw one of the fragments coming right at him and ducked just in time as it nearly cut him in half. They skidded to a halt not to far away and the three of them got out, leaving Derek to watch from the truck and slowly approached what was left of the machine. Two red eyes shone brightly still and the three of them aimed their weapons but they all quickly saw that the machine had no way of attacking them now. Its weapons were destroyed or too badly damaged to work. Its red eyes were slowing fading to nothing. They focussed suddenly on John and John stared right back. He was sure it recognised him as the eyes seemed to focus more suddenly and then less as if it were surprised. Then the red eyes died, leaving the machine as no more then a heap of metal on the road and all of them gave a sigh of relief. Kyle immediately ran to his brother and they both embraced as if they hadn't seen each other in years. Derek's injuries had seriously begun to take their toll on him and he had trouble not to pass out. The driver gave John a sour look before walking away and sitting down with his head in his hands. John, despite his relief at some how once again surviving and that they were safe, at least for the time being, felt uneasy. He had a bad feeling that the machine had somehow recognised him before its power supply dwindled enough to cut power from its chip. The thought that Skynet might know he was here, alive and in the future now was enough to scare him and all he could do was hope the machine was to badly damaged to relay a signal back to Skynet or any other machines.
They stayed where they were for a while as Kyle tore of strips of his own shirt to use as bandages for Derek, who did eventually pass out again in the back of the truck. John kept a watch out; looking for the two remaining hunter killers who he knew would show up eventually in search of the third. Knowing they couldn't stay there for long, they got back in to the truck and drove off the road and across the wasteland, away from the burning remains of the machine. After a couple of miles, they ran out of fuel and had to move on foot, Kyle carrying Derek over his back. The driver, who had remained silent the entire time so far, eventually asked, "How far is it to this Alistair guy?" John didn't have the faintest idea and Kyle merely grunted a response, clearly not in the best of moods. "What's wrong with you, are you deaf? I said how far it is". Kyle stopped and gave him a long look before responding, "Look, one more word out of you, and I'll shoot you in the leg. If you haven't already noticed, we're in the middle of no where, we've got hardly any ammo and there's only three of us able to fight back if we run in to trouble. So, shut up, keep walking and keep your eyes and ears open". Kyle left him standing there in shock and disbelief as he pressed on. Kyle winked at John as he passed and they continued on. The driver followed at a distance and they eventually lost sight of him. They never saw him again. They heard a loud scream from far away along with gunfire, but they couldn't tell if it was him or not.
They couldn't risk going back to check and so pressed on, hoping to find some water to drink. Luckily, they came across a small stream and they stopped for a drink. The water looked safe enough though Kyle advised him to only drink a little as they couldn't be sure. Derek woke up again and sat in silence as he and John listened to Kyle's account of what happened in the tunnels. He told them how the slavers had simply overwhelmed them with their numbers and firepower. He told them that they fought as best they could but Mark yelled at them to run. They did so but Kyle and the driver were the only ones to get away. Kyle told them that Mark went back to save one of his men, but was killed in the attempt. John was saddened by Mark's death, as he was the few people he had met who were willing to fight for those they care about, for those they love. John then recounted to Kyle on what happened to him and Derek once they left the tunnels. Kyle closed his eyes as he heard about Burke executing Katrina's men and shook his head in anger when he hared of Burke's threat to Allison and Katrina. "We told Alistair years ago that he couldn't trust Burke that he wouldn't change. He never listened. He was sure that if we gave Burke enough time, he would come round; he would change for the better. Well, you can see how that worked out. All those people now dead because of one man's greed". He shook his head again before taking a drink of water himself as did Derek, who continuously rubbed his head and groaned in pain. "Hey bro, this whole new look you've got going. The blood and cuts. I don't think the girls are goanna like it". Even with everything they'd been through, they all managed to laugh at that. Derek took the comment to heart and used the stream to wash most of the blood away, though it was clear that he needed bandages to help them heal alright. Kyle eventually stood up and looked around them, trying to get their bearings, "We better get going. We don't want to be out here when it get's dark. We've got one hell of a walk to get back to Alistair".
John quickly stood up also, "We can't go back yet. We've got to go back for Allison, for Katrina and the others. We can't just leave them". Kyle gave a long sigh before replying, "Look, I like Allison just as much as the next guy and believe me, I'd like nothing more then go and make sure she's alright. But you ran right in to a machine patrol John and hardly anyone come's out alive from those. We were very lucky, very lucky, luckier then most to get out of there like we did. We have to face facts. She's probably dead, they're all dead". Kyle's words hit John like a sledgehammer and he quickly turned to Derek, "Come on Derek, help me out here". Derek looked at him for a long time and then he did the exact thing John didn't want him to do, he shook his head, "I'm sorry, but Kyle's right. If we go back, we'll end up getting killed. Those machines will be there for the rest of the day, longer even". John lowered and shook his head. He never thought he could feel so betrayed and angry at the same time. His own father and uncle were giving up on people that they couldn't be sure were dead or alive. These weren't just people either, these were people they knew, who they said would take them to safety and John couldn't believe that they were abandoning them so easily. Shaking his head in reply to Derek, he grabbed his rifle and turned back towards the way they came. "John, don't be an idiot. Don't throw your life away. Come back". He ignored Derek's plea and kept on walking, "I'm not just going to abandon them, dead or alive. Go back to Alistair if you want or come along, it's your choice", he shouted back. He didn't really care what they did either way but was a little glad when he heard, "Alright, fine, wait up", from behind him. The three of them were now heading back. To search for those they didn't even know were alive.
They walked slower then they would have normally would have. Derek was still suffering with being shot and then beaten senseless limped painfully along behind them while Kyle and John took the lead, their rifles raised. They stayed as low as they could, moving in between cars and through what ever cover they could find. They were forced to stop and hide in a ditch as a large group of machines went by. John had never seen so many machines at once before and it was clear by the looks on both his father's and uncle's face that they hadn't either. John saw T six hundreds, T eight hundreds, a handful of hunter killers and at least a hundred more machines of numerous designs. Some looked fearsome, others didn't but all of them were dangerous and deadly. It was clear this wasn't a simple patrol hunting down Humans, it was something else, something more organised. These machines weren't searching for them and must have been heading for a certain destination. The machines went on by without finding them and John, Kyle and Derek continued on, the only machines they saw were those in the distance, always hunter killers flying low and occasionally firing rockets at their targets on the ground. They walked for hours and John feared they had gone in the wrong direction but Kyle confine med they were in the right place by pointing out to the farmhouse ahead of them, now a burning wreck. Both Kyle and Derek were wrong in thinking the machines would stay after the slaughter. John couldn't see a single machine anywhere and could only presume they had moved on or were still hunting down what was left of Burke and his slavers. Kyle stood on John's right hand side and looked over at a nearby body of one of the slavers, who had been gunned down by the machines.
"John, these guys were armed to the teeth and the machines slaughtered them. Katrina, Allison and the others had nothing but pistols. If the machines found them, they wouldn't have stood a chance". John shook his head quickly, "I don't care about that. If there's a chance that one person is still alive, hiding out there somewhere, then I'm going to take that chance. You should think about that". He was shocked at himself for talking down to Kyle, who gave him a confused and angry look. Kyle nodded his head and nodded to John to take the lead which he did, in the direction where Katrina led her group. In just over ten minutes, they found them and John hated what he saw. He had hoped to find them all, women and children, alive and well, hiding and waiting for the chance to leave for safety. But all they found were bodies. One of the first John saw was Dean, his body lying over that of two children, both not even five years old. He had used himself as a shield in an attempt to save their lives but all of their lives were taken by the machines. All around them, the bodies of men, women and children lay across the landscape, their blood staining the ground around them. John fell to his knees, his eyes filling with tears despite his best attempts to prevent them.
No matter what will ever happen to him in his life, he will never get over the sight before him of dead children, not having a chance to live their lives. The only small mercy of their deaths was that they no longer had to live in fear of the determined machines, which were programmed for nothing more then their deaths. Kyle was also fighting back the tears, looking down at Dean whom he was friends with. Derek's face was one of anger instead of grief. His face still bloody, it was a terrifying sight to see the anger and blood mixed together. He stood motionless and alone, looking from one corpse to the next. John stood and began his search for Allison. She was his own real friend here and the best he could do was to bury her now, she deserved that at least. But as he moved from one body to the next, his hopes were raised because none of them were Allison. Once he found the last body and the head of the group, he turned around and looked over them all at once and noticed that some of them were missing, "Allison's not here, neither is Katrina!" Kyle and Derek looked up and from their trances of grief and anger and also began their search, confirming what John already knew a minute later. John looked around them hoping to see anything which would indicate on where they would run to. The only way he could see was somewhere he was sure he would have run to if he was in the situation Katrina and her group were in. A few ruined buildings, the remains of an old gas station were close by.
John quickly made towards them, closely followed by Kyle and Derek who both must have been thinking the same thing. Kyle was now carrying an extra bag, Dean's bag which held the medical supplies they had risked their lives for to collect. The gas station wasn't badly damaged and most of it was still standing, though most of the structure had succumbed to rust. The shop inside had been largely cleared of food by people long now gone or dead and its fuel pumps were long empty. A loud explosion sounded no to far away and they could see a fresh pillar of black smoke rise just over a mile or so away in the distance. Both Kyle and Derek raised their rifles, concerned but focussed looks on their faces. Derek turned to him and said. "Moment of truth John, go check inside and hope to hell their all in there. Make it quick, we can't stay here for long". John found the door inside had already been forced open and recently which raised his hopes further. Inside, old magazines and newspapers covered the floors and animals had clearly used the station as a home at some point due to the mess they had left behind. John checked every room from top to bottom and found nothing. He was so sure that when he opened the door to the last room, they would all be there, safe a sound but the room was empty, with no one in sight. Giving up all hope, he slowly walked towards the door when he noticed something by the counter. Half hidden beneath newspapers was wood which stood out from the stood floor. He used his foot to move some of the newspaper out of the way, revealing a trap door which he guessed must lead to the cellar. As this was the only place he hadn't checked, he cleared the last of the newspapers and took hold of the handle and pulled.
The door had long come off its hinges and the door came clean off from the floor, revealing a wooden staircase which descended in to complete darkness. John peered down but couldn't see a thing and so looked around him for something he could use as a light. He stood up and looked out of one of the broken windows, "I need a flashlight!" Both Kyle and Derek looked at each other and Derek groaned as Kyle shook his shoulders. Derek knelt down and searched his bag for the flashlight and threw it to John, who now descended the wooden stairs slowly. The stair's creaked loudly as he took step after step. He doubted that they could hold his weight and braced himself in case he fell. Even then, when one of the steps broke under his weight, he fell face forwards and crashed hard on to the dusty, cold concrete floor. He dropped the flashlight in the impact and it had rolled ahead of him. He had also lost his rifle in the fall and so felt very venerable when he heard something in the dark. He stopped moving and listened hard. At first, he heard nothing and then he heard something move again. He though it must be rats as the sounds were muffled and soft but when the sounds got closer, it was clear that it was something much bigger. He fixed his eyes on where the sound was coming from and tried to find his rifle with his free hands. He became more and more desperate to get the rifle as the sound approached him, faster and faster. Suddenly, his hand touched the rifle and he moved quickly to aim it at the approaching figure and found himself aiming his rifle at Allison's dog. He had only just stopped himself from shooting him at the last possible moment. Getting to his knees, he dropped his rifle again and clapped his hands together twice, "Come here boy". The dog sprang forwards to be stroked and to lick his face. Then another figure emerged from the darkness. He stood up saw a tearful Allison emerge from the dark. She moved slowly toward him in disbelief. "I thought you were dead" she whispered before she fell in to his arms sobbing with relief. "You came back! You came back for us". John held her tightly and looked behind her to see six other people had emerged from their hiding places, "Of course I came back", was all he could say.
