Ghosts of the Future Ch. 7
John heard the gunshots, loud in the silence of the rooftop but he felt no pain. He knew when you were hurt badly enough that it took time for your body to register the severity of the injury, time for it to react and the pain to start, but he waited, heartbeats thunderous in his ears and still nothing.
He was jerked back to himself as Cassie reached down, pulling him out of the hatchway and into the sunlight of the roof, the pebbled concrete surface pricking his back through the light shirt he wore.
"You're really going to have to become a little faster on the uptake if you want to live long enough to see your own future," she said, hauling him to his feet and shoving a gun and a package into his hands. "Now make yourself useful, then run."
John looked down; his own long fingers cradled the gun to a chest that wasn't riddled with holes and blood-soaked.
The sound of bullets ricocheting off metal dissipated the last of the surreal fog that clouded his mind and he dropped to his knees, dumping the contents of the package out onto the roof; there was c4, charges, priming wire and wire cutters; John's mind quickly interpreting the items and building a plan, even while he looked up to see the terminator climbing through the open door in the roof.
Cassie stood between him and it, gun ready and started firing as soon as it's torso was fully clear, the semiautomatic in her hands looking oddly familiar for a second before John moved on to more pressing concerns. The bullets weren't slowing Bion down much, the metal seeming to melt and become incorporated within its own body, they only made his steps slow and halting rather then stopping him completely.
John's hands fumbled with the materials before him, inserting the wires into row upon row of the putty like c4 compound, then twisting the strands together into a rope that coiled beside him. Shoving the charges back into the bag, he unrolled the loops as he hurried to the edge of the roof, looking back to call for Cassie.
The terminator was almost upon her now, and John's eyes widened in horror and surprise as one of its arms became liquid, reforming into a pointed metal knife at the end of a wrist stump. Cassie ducked as it slashed at her, swerving back and under the blade-arm pushing something against its abdomen that stuck fast and then twisting away. But the maneuver cost her, and as she fell back the machine was already adjusting blade swinging to rip open her side as she dodged, leaving her scrabbling away on her back.
John stood at the edge of the roof, his hands clutching the cords so tight their entwined spiral pattern embossed into his palm. He held a lighter in the other hand, flame glowing brightly…if he set off the charges now Bion was surrounded by enough c4 to be destroyed, but Cassie was too close…she'd die in the explosion. He watched her roll away from Bion, clutching at her side and he could see the blood soaking through her fingers from here….He took a deep breath, eyes narrowing with determination and lit the primer wire, dropping it as it began to smoke and spark and running back for Cassie. He had ten seconds and if he was fast enough it might just be enough to get them both out of range.
Cassie looked up as John's hands closed around her arm, pulling her backwards and she cursed-him for coming back and herself for believing that even this John Connor would do anything else-and pushed herself to her feet, running with him to the edge of the roof. They wouldn't survive the fall, but it might be better odds then staying with the machine on a roof that was about to blow up.
She could hear it coming up behind them, and did the only thing she could…the electric shock charge she'd shoved into its body and John's c4 still had a few seconds before it went off, and Bion would reach them before that, the ensuing explosion that close would kill them just as effectively as the terminator would. Cassie dug her feet in as they reached the end of the roof and looked out over blue sky and down to rock hard concrete, yanking John to a stop she pulled him down with her as she knelt on one knee and with a practiced motion threw a grenade over her head back beyond the terminator to where John's c4 rolls waited to be ignited.
He thought it would be loud, bright red and orange flames leaping up into the sky like in the movies, but all he heard was a deep poof that seemed to reverberate into his bones and a bright light, before Cassie grabbed him, holding him tight between her body and the wall.
John felt heat scorch his face as it emanated in a wave from behind them and his hand and arm where it was exposed hugging Cassie's back bubbled and blistered from the fire.
The ground rumbled underneath them and John pulled Cassie closer as he looked back and saw the floor—the roof-- giving way and collapsing into the fire, the edges of the gaping hole crumbling towards them.
Cassie, propped herself up, arms on either side of his head and legs straddling him as she looked around, one hand moving to run through his hair, and despite himself, despite the fire, despite everything John's breath caught in his throat and he stared up at her; skin aglow and hair the colour of burnt amber in the fire. Her hand slipped down his face, over his throat then down his chest and stomach coming to a rest on the sharp angles of his pelvis and whether it was the enduring danger or the incredible impossibility of their still being alive, he couldn't help the way his body responded to her.
She leaned down, body fitting to his. "You're alright," she breathed, voice shaky with relief, before pulling away. John followed, he couldn't help but follow, his hands with a mind of their own refused to give up their hold on her shoulders.
He tried to find his voice, but only succeeded in sucking in a breath full of smoke and bent over coughing.
"You've got to get out of here," she said, looking around the rooftop that had become an inferno and the crater that was the middle where Bion had stood. It's ragged edge was only a foot or so from where they sat, and as John watched something brighter then the fire caught his attention and his hands tightened on Cassie's arms, as shiny metal fingers appeared at the rim, followed by a second hand, then the glistening sinister metal skull with burning eyes staring straight at john.
"Impossible…" he stuttered, shaking Cassie in demand that she tell him that it was only smoke blurring his vision and Bion couldn't possibly have survived the explosion…the fall…the fire.
Her face closed, turning back to John he read the desperation in her gaze. "Trust me," she said using his arms to get to her feet and then pulling him with her. "Hold on," and as Bion's red hot metal hand reached out, closing around her ankle which was closest, she pushed John off the roof, the floor crumbling out from underneath them.
------------------------------------------------
John felt the air whip past him, clutching at his clothes. It was oddly cold after the heat of the fire and he wondered if it was the early chill of death that he was feeling rather then just the breeze of falling swiftly off a roof. He tried to brace himself; any second the concrete of the street below would shatter his bones, piercing organs and resulting in immeasurable pain on impact.
He saw the trees that adorned the front of the school, watched as their green leafy tops rushed by, replaced too quickly with thick branches and then trunks…soon now.
And then the sharp pain of landing brushed all thoughts from his head…but it wasn't the bone crushing pain he'd anticipated, rather hard and defined but cushioned also, and then a second collision that sent the air rushing out of his lungs.
But amazingly the pain was confined to a few sharp points on his arms and legs and what would surely amount to many many deep bruises. He tried to move, only to feel something shift beneath him, and rolling he saw Cameron sit up; one side of her face scraped raw from Bion's beating and her arm twisted out of joint.
"You…you caught me," he stumbled, stating the obvious… there was no other way he could have survived fall.
"Yes," she said, glancing down at herself and then back up at John. "We have to go. Now." Cameron got to her feet, one leg dragging and waited while John struggled up, feeling all the pain that shock had staved off as his muscles cried in protest. He leaned on Cameron, pausing to look back at the school, flames sprouting from the windows as the glass exploded out of them in a loud shower.
A black SUV skidded to a halt in front of them and Sarah jumped out of the drivers seat, running to John and quickly looking him over, hands framing his face and then settling on his shoulders.
"Are you alright?" she screamed at him, voice barely registerable over the fire and sirens. "John," she shook him, "are you alright?" She pulled up his shirt looking for the source of the blood that stained his clothing, the wound.
"I'm okay," he yelled, brushing away her hands. "It's not my blood."
She guided them towards the car, pushing them into the backseat, and looking around. "Where's Cassie? Did she do this?"
John shook his head, telling himself that the burning in his eyes was from the fire and smoke.
Cameron spared him from answering, "the terminator found us," she outlined the facts as Sarah drove, speeding in her desire to get somewhere safe.
"John?" his mother's voice cut through the haze that his mind had become. "What happened while Cameron was rebooting?"
He swallowed, tasting smoke and ash on his tongue. "Bion cornered me on the roof," his voice sounded high and strange to his ears. "I would have died, but Cassie showed up…she fought him and set off the explosion that started the fire…it didn't kill him mom. He just kept coming…so I jumped. And Cameron caught me."
Sarah's hands tightened on the wheel and she glanced in the side mirror to see if anyone was following them, taking in the dried blood slicking back her hair on one side. She'd never been so afraid as when she'd woken up on the floor, her gun missing, the door open and Cassie gone.
"Where is she now?....John, where is she now?"
He looked up, meeting her eyes in the rearview mirror, his own eyes hard with anger and pain and guilt that he was far too young to bear. "In the fire. Bion pulled her into the fire when he was reaching for me."
John bent over, resting his head on his chest and wrapping his arms around his knees as they drove the rest of the way to the safe house in silence.
